steve2

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Posts by steve2

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  14

  The RCC is out-pacing the JWs in the USA

  by Amazing1914 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ranked #1: roman catholic church - 66,407,105. .

  see: http://www.ncccusa.org/news/04yearbook.html.

  ranked #1: roman catholic church: 62,391,484. .

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  steve2

  The RCC is just like the borg except they have been at it longer.

  I agree. In fact, I think that one of the reasons that the watchtower used to speak out so venomously against the RCC was because they were so alike in many respects: The Pope's edicts are final; there's no negotiation; the Bible is not the final authority; the Pope is. In recent years, the tone of the Watchtower's criticism of the RCC has changed, but the basic message is still the same: It's supposed to be the main part of Babylon the Great.

  I say three cheers to the RCC having greater increase compared to the JWs; especially after all the loud predictions I heard from my JW elders when I was a kid that the Catholic church was rapidly losing members and that the then huge increase in the numbers becoming JWs would lead to the Witnesses being persecuted by the other religions.
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  34

  Homosexuality and how should a JW or 'Study' view it?

  by AnitainFlorida in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i am sure the subject is not very descriptive and for this i appologize.. i would like some assistnace in biblical references that say how homosexuality should be viewed and how one should deal with another that is homosexual or that has homosexual friends even if they non study's daughter says she and this other girl aren't 'doing anything'.

  i know this is long winded, so i will just now finally get to the point.. i am a grandmother that has recently taken back up studying after a 1-2 year pause.

  when i had first started studying, my daughter was also studying and we had our study togeather as i was staying with she and her husband because she had medical trouble and could not care for their 3 children when he was gone to work.

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  steve2

  Hell, granny, why bother getting quotes from a book that legitimises genocide in order to ban something else such as private behaviour involving consenting adults? More to the point, Why put a message on this site saying you don't want any pro-homosexual replies. For a mature woman, you're way off target.
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  20

  What is Jacko's status as a JW????

  by mrd83 in

  1. social
  2. current

  i know he was raised as a witness and he wrote the apology letter(which was published in the watchtower) as well as giving the wts a boatload of money($$$millions$$$) over the fallout of his thriller album.

  recently he proclaimed his faith in jehovah as if he is still a jw and his father who kicked the crap out of his kids(requisite to raising a fine jw family) as well as his mother are attending court.

  what is this guys status??

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  steve2

  Michael Jackson could be considered a "success" in terms of his being raised under the JW influence: Unlike unknown numbers of his peers raised in the religion, at least he's still alive!
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  65

  How Would You Feel If A Poster Just Vanished?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  can you imagine suddenly never hearing from gumby, blondie, metatron or simon again?

  think about never hearing from your favorite poster or online friend.

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  steve2

  Now, if we were still JWs, we wouldn't need to worry about "friends" just disappearing. The elders would be promptly onto the matter and soon we'd know what had happened to these people who tried to disappear. Ah, such sweet memories...

  I actually prefer to just lightly wonder what has happened to posters and try not to think in terms of how much poorer I'd be if I never heard from them again. As an earlier poster said, People come, people go; that's life.
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  55

  Signs of the end, are they so clear that we don't see them anymore?

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  7 ?for nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another.

  8 all these things are a beginning of pangs of distress.

  9 ?then people will deliver you up to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be objects of hatred by all the nations on account of my name.

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  steve2

  As I get older, I believe less in the nearness of the end of the world and more in the nearness of my own end...it's called (1) a rational conclusion in the face of the world not ending and (2) mortality.

  I recall a special Awake! magazine published in the mid-1950s. The big title on the cover screamed out: "Is it later than you think?" I can now confidently answer that stupidly simplistic question: "No, it's not".
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  25

  "There's A Great Influx Coming In!".....per the Circuit Overseer

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  "there's a great influx coming in and it's all those that left us".......so said the co when visiting my mother.

  what a crock!

  i know of no one wanting to go back "to the vomit".

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  steve2

  I've been out of the org over 20 years, but family ties keep me informed of "progress" in numbers attending meetings in New Zealand and updates on those who have supposedly "returned" to the fold.

  Let's put it this way: The numbers attending meetings are larger than the decreasing numbers of publishers only on special occasions (i.e., memorial attendance) and the only ones I ever hear about going back to meetings are those unfortunate souls who are strongly linked to the org through other family members (e.g., JW mother puts pressure on disfellowshipped adult children to come back, mixing three quarters emotional blackmail with about a quart of fear about the latest catastrophe in the world).

  Take away "special" meetings and family ties and the numbers would reveal way more significant decline than the official statistics show. JWs are no longer a growing religion in most western countries.
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  30

  What is the WORST TEACHING of Jehovah's Witness religion?

  by yesidid in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  i have my ideas, but i am very interested to know yours.

  yesidid

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  steve2

  No birthdays is easily the JWs worst teaching because if you can accept and follow that mean-spirited teaching, you're a sure sucker for every thing else the Watchtower teaches.

  The crappy reasons they give for not letting your own children have birthday parties simply exemplify the "back to front" mentality of the JWs: They make huge issues out of normal human pleasures and interests and minimise really important issues such as family connections and individual differences. Everyone gets stamped with the same bland uniformity and at the end of the day, there's no freedom for anyone to celebrate their own or other's birthdays.
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  27

  Tone of the current literature

  by TheListener in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i haven't started a thread in some time but this is something that has got me thinking.

  i want to know if i'm off-base here or if others have noticed this too.is.. over the last several months (perhaps 6-9) i feel that the tone of the wts and kms have been very strong.

  not strong in the sense of legalistic do's and don'ts but strong in the sense of do more!!!!

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  steve2

  It's a while since I've responded - moved to a new part of the country, setting up house, busy, busy, busy - and I was attracted to this post. I think the JWs are actually way more worldly today in their outlook than when I was an active JW.

  Most of my mother's siblings are JWs and she tells me that even though they share the same religion, her JW siblings have had big arguments over family-related matters and refuse to talk to each other! This is unheard of among them (they're all in their sixties and early seventies) . I think they're plain tired and worn out from it all, having been raised with the end of the world hovering over them for decades. They'll probably never assert themselves enough to do anything about their stale relationships and discontentment. All I can think is that if my deceased JW grandparents could see what was happening among their JW children, they'd accuse them all of being worldly. Trouble is, I think my JW relatives, including their "inactive" children, are typical examples of what's happening in the religion.

  Life's hard enough without having the end of the world hanging over you, prodding you along to do more, more, more, year in and year out when all you feel like is being left alone.

  I think the governing body are well aware of a general slowing down among the older rank and file, and are finding it increasingly difficult to motivate the JWs to stop all the moaning and just door-knock.
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  46

  JW Lawyers getting fed up with cleaning up after the GB?

  by ithinkisee in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i hope that those that are jw lawyers get tired of the governing body and quit bethel because of the bull shit theyv'e had to clean up after the gb.

  it may be happening right now.

  think about it the gb have issued the call for more lawyers to the congregations,, perhaps there is some disloyalty growing towards the gb being manifested in the legal department and the gb needs help desparately.

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  steve2

  Lawyers and ethics go together the way the governing body and love go together: Way more talk than action.
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  46

  JW Lawyers getting fed up with cleaning up after the GB?

  by ithinkisee in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i hope that those that are jw lawyers get tired of the governing body and quit bethel because of the bull shit theyv'e had to clean up after the gb.

  it may be happening right now.

  think about it the gb have issued the call for more lawyers to the congregations,, perhaps there is some disloyalty growing towards the gb being manifested in the legal department and the gb needs help desparately.

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  steve2

  I hope that those that are JW lawyers get tired of the Governing Body and quit Bethel because of the bull shit theyv'e had to clean up after the GB.

  Any lawyers worth their salt love cleaning up and cleaning up and cleaning up ad infinitum after clientele. Bull shit means loads more money. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Lawyers don't want people's dumb behaviours to change - they'd be out of a job!!