slimboyfat

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Posts by slimboyfat

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  81

  Japan closes 638 Congregations!!!!! Why???

  by Witness 007 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  japan since the 1970''s has had amazing publisher increases!

  every year the number of witnesses shot up by many thousands.

  this peaked in 1998, since then the number of witnesses and congregations has continued to drop!.

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  slimboyfat

  Every single census that has been compared with WT numbers finds more claiming to be JWs than the WT figures. This surely counts as some evidence at least that WT numbers are reliable. The same isn’t true for other groups such as the Mormons who claim far more members than censuses ever show.

  Plus WT does publish declines when they happen, such as after 1975, and now in Japan as is the subject of this thread, as well as Poland and even in the United States itself declines are published.

  That’s not to say there isn’t some inflation in what a “publisher” is over the years. That’s true too, but not enough to invalidate all the reported numbers to a significant degree. It’s a feature of all kind of statistics, including GDP and other accepted measures, not peculiar to JWs. And anyway, it’s the reason I advocate using the number of congregations as the best measure of growth over the long term.

  So there is a lot of evidence that WT numbers are broadly reliable. The only counter argument seems to be scepticism about WT in general. That’s not a great argument for determining the reality of the situation, it’s just an attitude disguised as an argument.
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  18

  Toasting allowed - BIRTHDAYS will soon follow!

  by BoogerMan in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  "jehovah’s witnesses do not celebrate birthdays because we (the g.b.

  ) believe that such celebrations displease god.

  https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/birthdays/.

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  slimboyfat

  Proberly true.

  They used to claim that putting away birthdays, Christmas, the cross and so on were all part of the Jesus-sanctioned reforms that removed Babylonish practices from God’s people during Rutherford’s presidency. I wonder if they’ll revise that concept or scrap it altogether.
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  18

  Anyone explain the generation idea!

  by Witness 007 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i don't understand we went thru a phase where we down played the generation so now it's the generation that knew the 1914 generation???

  is that correct?

  how does that even work.

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  slimboyfat

  How does it work? It doesn’t. It’s wild and it will melt your brain if you think about it too hard.
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  3187

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  uh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.

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  slimboyfat

  We have a choice whether we speak out about it or not.
• 
  3187

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  uh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.

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  slimboyfat

  The question was raised how could someone keep going to the KH while not agreeing with what is said there. Trying to relate to that sensation I expressed my increasing dissonance living in a society that tolerates and participates in ongoing genocide. The moral unease is much greater in the latter instance in my experience, and I have been in both. It’s been said often enough by now but I really feel it: if you ever wondered how you would act if you lived in the Third Reich then look at what you’re doing right now as your government commits genocide. I speak out to the extent I can and express solidarity with those who are being starved and murdered while it is still possible to do so.
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  26

  2 Peter 1: 1 Corruption in the NWT

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  here's how this verse should read: simeon peter, a servant and apostle of jesus christ, to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our god and savior jesus christ: - 2 peter 1: 1. here's how watchtower prints this verse:.

  simon peter, a slave and an apostle of jesus christ, to those who have acquired a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our god and the savior jesus christ: - nwt.

  why did watchtower change this verse by adding the word "the" ?.

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  slimboyfat

  Posting AI garbage helps nobody. You perhaps think it looks clever and is a morale boost for ‘your side’, but in reality nobody is reading it all including, ironically, probably the poster who is posting it himself. Nothing it says can be relied upon. If it says a scholar takes a position who knows if the scholar really holds that view. If it quotes somebody it’s hit and miss if it’s a real quote. And if you read it carefully, and are not just impressed by the formatting, you realise that the conclusions don’t always follow from the points made. It’s a complete waste of everyone’s time and a real disservice to people who are actually interested in the truth the about the subjects we’re discussing.
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  81

  Japan closes 638 Congregations!!!!! Why???

  by Witness 007 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  japan since the 1970''s has had amazing publisher increases!

  every year the number of witnesses shot up by many thousands.

  this peaked in 1998, since then the number of witnesses and congregations has continued to drop!.

  1. 
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  3. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  Indeed, a big drop. The days of fabulous Japanese growth are well and truly over. (Mexico, Brazil and Italy too)

  It's worth bearing in mind that the population of Japan itself is also declining, so JWs are not declining as much in relative terms as the absolute numbers indicate.
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  15

  Slimboyfat: Why did you decide to write a topic on this site saying you were going back to the Jehovah's Witnesses?

  by silentbuddha in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  the topic concerning why the other user allows jw's by to eat is what prompted this thought in my mind.

  maybe i am not remembering this correctly, but seem to remember a number of years ago that you decided to stop posting here and then all of a sudden you posted that this was an apostate website, you didn't want to be here, and that you were returning to jehovah.

  ( i may be slightly off, but it was something along those lines.. i am just wondering if you ever offered an explanation of why you did that?.

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  slimboyfat

  Groups I’ve visited:

  Unitarians

  Christadelphians

  Seven-day Adventists

  Church of Scotland

  Mormons

  Brethren (needed truth)

  Brethren (mainstream)

  Pentecostal (Struthers Memorial)

  Grace Communion International (formerly Worldwide Church of God)

  Quakers

  Methodists

  United Reformed Church (local mission)

  Free Church of Scotland

  Scottish Episcopal Church

  Catholic Church

  Swedenborgians

  Iglesia ni Cristo

  Baptists

  Non Christian groups:

  Brahma Kumaris

  Sikh Gurdwara

  Hindu Mandir

  Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishnas)

  Muslims (Ahmadiyya)

  Jewish synagogue

  That’s about it. I may have forgotten some.
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  15

  Slimboyfat: Why did you decide to write a topic on this site saying you were going back to the Jehovah's Witnesses?

  by silentbuddha in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  the topic concerning why the other user allows jw's by to eat is what prompted this thought in my mind.

  maybe i am not remembering this correctly, but seem to remember a number of years ago that you decided to stop posting here and then all of a sudden you posted that this was an apostate website, you didn't want to be here, and that you were returning to jehovah.

  ( i may be slightly off, but it was something along those lines.. i am just wondering if you ever offered an explanation of why you did that?.

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  slimboyfat

  Yes I liked joining other groups and reporting back here what I found. A lot of people enjoyed the threads but one or two posters really didn’t like my threads for some reason and tried to shut them down each time and I couldn’t be bothered with it. I gave up posting about joining in other services but I didn’t stop actually visiting me.
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  15

  Slimboyfat: Why did you decide to write a topic on this site saying you were going back to the Jehovah's Witnesses?

  by silentbuddha in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  the topic concerning why the other user allows jw's by to eat is what prompted this thought in my mind.

  maybe i am not remembering this correctly, but seem to remember a number of years ago that you decided to stop posting here and then all of a sudden you posted that this was an apostate website, you didn't want to be here, and that you were returning to jehovah.

  ( i may be slightly off, but it was something along those lines.. i am just wondering if you ever offered an explanation of why you did that?.

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  slimboyfat

  That was so long ago I can hardly remember Buddha. 😉

  What are we talking about more than 10 years ago or something?

  It’s a bit complicated and probably still not worth talking about really. (In brief I was attempting to avoid DFing)

  What is relevant and I could usefully say to you is that there are some things about JWs I disagree with and other things I do agree with and my views fluctuate over time. At the moment my attitude is JWs have a point on a lot of things and I have a darker view on the world in general than I’ve ever had.