slimboyfat

Joined

• started 539 topics
• posted 17,733 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by slimboyfat

• 
  169

  Are the statistics out yet?

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  isn’t it about time they released the report for the service year?

  or have they stopped publishing it?

  did they released selected figures at the annual meeting as they usually do, such as the memorial attendance or record number of pioneers?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  Can you name some Christian groups that have 30 to 100 million members and are growing? The vast majority of churches are in decline.

  DFing probably keeps some JWs and loses some others. Other groups that disfellowship, such as the Christadelphians, are in decline. JW growth is probably due to a number of factors.

  I can’t understand how JW growth can be described as a “disaster”. Churches in the UK, such as the Methodists, Church of England, and Church of Scotland, are losing around 2% to 5% of their membership annually. This trend has been steady or getting worse for the past 40 years or more. Unless the trend improves rapidly, these denominations are set to disappear by around 2050. By contrast, JWs are still growing in the UK, despite the country’s heavy trend toward secularisation. I don’t see how this is in any way a “disaster”. It’s the kind of “disaster” that most other churches would dream about for themselves.
• 
  169

  Are the statistics out yet?

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  isn’t it about time they released the report for the service year?

  or have they stopped publishing it?

  did they released selected figures at the annual meeting as they usually do, such as the memorial attendance or record number of pioneers?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  The JW numbers look “bad” … until you compare them with most other Christian groups which are in severe decline in the west. Compared with other Christian groups the growth of JWs bucks the trend of decline.
• 
  2

  RIP Pele - the greatest footballer of all time

  by LoveUniHateExams in

  1. social
  2. current

  rip pele (born edson arantes do nascimento).

  he was an unbelievably talented footballer and a great ambassador for the sport.. .

  i've been hearing lots of talk recently calling lionel messi the greatest footballer of all time.

  1. 
  2. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  I hear he was a good person too. 👍

  I was brought up to believe Pele and Jimmy Johnstone were joint best footballers ever. ⚽️ 🙂 I can’t say I’ve kept the faith, because I don’t watch much football.
• 
  29

  New poll shows public knows Jehovah's Witnesses and dislike them....almost as much as the Church of Satan

  by Balaamsass2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  wow.

  while not a pew survey, i found these to be surprising results.

  " a recent yougov poll explores americans' attitudes toward 35 religious groups, organizations, and belief systems.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  Yes I am familiar with Unitarian principles and practices, Disillusioned JW. I am a Unitarian. What surprises me is that their tolerance doesn’t extend to conservative groups as well. Or at least it extends to some groups but not to others - they give traditional Muslims/Hindus/Sikhs a lot more slack than traditional Christians. Tolerance of intolerance does involve internal tension, but there are thoughtful individuals, among Unitarians too, who attempt to strike a balance.

  This video captures the vibe of a certain strand of Unitarian Universalism embracing everything except the Bible:

  https://youtu.be/Z78_rAg4Ldg
  
• 
  14

  Andrew Tate on the news

  by slimboyfat in

  1. social
  2. current

  i hadn’t heard of this guy, andrew tate, until a few days ago, when he was mentioned on novara media (which is practically the only news i watch).

  then i saw a clip with him where he explained why he moved to romania: he said he ‘likes romania because the police are corrupt and you can pay them off’.

  (practically a direct quote) i thought to myself at the time that sounded a bit complacent!

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  I hadn’t heard of this guy, Andrew Tate, until a few days ago, when he was mentioned on Novara media (which is practically the only news I watch). Then I saw a clip with him where he explained why he moved to Romania: he said he ‘likes Romania because the police are corrupt and you can pay them off’. (Practically a direct quote) I thought to myself at the time that sounded a bit complacent! Not to mention stupid.

  News today is that the Romanian police have arrested him on all sorts of serious charges against women. I’m not terribly surprised that, as corrupt at the police in Romania probably are, they have a low toleration for being publicly mocked too. Oh bad, so sad, Andrew Tate. I guess your hustle was fun for you while it lasted.
• 
  16

  Clever Misdirection

  by TD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was looking at the (mostly) wrong answers to a riddle that's making the rounds on social media and thought it was a good example of how something simple (in this case, grade school math) can be distorted with words.

  the riddle goes like this:.

  i bought a cow for $800.. i sold it for $1000.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  Mmm

  There are two trades in the first riddle.

  In the first trade you buy for $800 and sell for $1000. That’s $200 profit.

  In the second trade you buy for $1100 and sell for $1300? That’s also $200 profit.

  That makes $400 in total. The fact that it’s the same item that is bought and sold twice makes no difference. That’s a red herring. (I hope I got this right because it’s trades like this that I’ve made a living for the past 20 years nearly.)

  The second one I didn’t try to get to terms with, seems more tricky.
• 
  29

  New poll shows public knows Jehovah's Witnesses and dislike them....almost as much as the Church of Satan

  by Balaamsass2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  wow.

  while not a pew survey, i found these to be surprising results.

  " a recent yougov poll explores americans' attitudes toward 35 religious groups, organizations, and belief systems.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  jhine I didn’t understand the response.

  BluesBrother that’s true, but on the other hand JWs are quick to quote praise for: clean stadiums, paying taxes in full, love among members, diligence at school and work, and so on.

  I am a bit surprised by the poll finding. Yet I have experienced it to some extent. Over the past few years I have interacted with a number of Unitarians and I find that many Unitarians really dislike JWs. They are liberal when it comes to almost everything else, but when it comes to JWs (or other Christian fundamentalists to be fair) they really can’t stand them.
• 
  29

  New poll shows public knows Jehovah's Witnesses and dislike them....almost as much as the Church of Satan

  by Balaamsass2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  wow.

  while not a pew survey, i found these to be surprising results.

  " a recent yougov poll explores americans' attitudes toward 35 religious groups, organizations, and belief systems.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  I suppose a JW might respond that the early Christians would have got a low rating by their contemporaries too. Pliny the Younger, for example, was pretty scathing about the impact of Christians on society. As with other successful movements in religious history they are well adapted to interpret both praise and criticism from outsiders as indications they are on the right path.
• 
  29

  New poll shows public knows Jehovah's Witnesses and dislike them....almost as much as the Church of Satan

  by Balaamsass2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  wow.

  while not a pew survey, i found these to be surprising results.

  " a recent yougov poll explores americans' attitudes toward 35 religious groups, organizations, and belief systems.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  Those are some striking results. According to that chart, as many people have an unfavourable view of JWs as have an unfavourable view of fundamentalist Mormons. Isn’t that the group whose leader went to jail for isolating and financially exploiting his followers, and marrying and abusing dozens of women, some of them underage? That seems a pretty harsh verdict and comparison.
• 
  34

  Ted Jaracz a molester?

  by Confession in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  i've seen little bites about this for over a year.

  i understand that somewhere there is a video in which a woman named pat garza publicly accuses wts governing body member ted jaracz of having molested her as a child.

  does anyone have this video?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  Is there anyone from Australia who has ever confirmed the rumours about him being expelled from the branch?

  If that did happen, it was a remarkable comeback for him to work his way onto the GB.

  I think he creeped a lot of people out by his arrogant comment on the Panorama programme, “you have privacy laws in the UK, don’t you? We have issued you a statement, we don’t go beyond the things written”. At the time I remember a pioneer sister saying to me the following day that she didn’t like the man. Back then GB members were pretty unknown to ordinary JWs, and the Panorama programme was the first time really noticing Ted Jaracz, and he didn’t make a good impression.