my only prowess in making predictions stems from my 77-years of life in the united statesgrowing up under president truman, eisenhower, kennedy, nixon, .....etc.
etc.i was a widdle kid sitting in front of a tiny black and white tv set when the very first broadcastsof political conventions, deal-making, debates (nixon vs kennedy), assassinations (jfk, rfk, martin luther king, etc.
) i grew up with duck and cover under my elementary schooldesk, the cold war, the iron curtain, the korean war, the vietnam war and i went to federal prisonas a jw conscientious objector while hippies, flower children, political activists protested and universitystudents were fired up on by troops.i grew up reading newspapers (2 of them).
Which polls?
Nationwide polls listed on the page below are at about 1% Harris ahead on average.
The seven battleground states have Harris very slightly ahead too. Might not like it but that’s the reality at the moment.
The betting odds are shortening on Harris win too.
my only prowess in making predictions stems from my 77-years of life in the united statesgrowing up under president truman, eisenhower, kennedy, nixon, .....etc.
etc.i was a widdle kid sitting in front of a tiny black and white tv set when the very first broadcastsof political conventions, deal-making, debates (nixon vs kennedy), assassinations (jfk, rfk, martin luther king, etc.
) i grew up with duck and cover under my elementary schooldesk, the cold war, the iron curtain, the korean war, the vietnam war and i went to federal prisonas a jw conscientious objector while hippies, flower children, political activists protested and universitystudents were fired up on by troops.i grew up reading newspapers (2 of them).
About as likely as scenario as my cat fixing breakfast for me in the morning, FedUp 🙄
I just saw a story that Harris is ahead in a poll in Iowa. If so, it could be a big win for Harris overall. It’s looking more and more likely Harris will win - not a great prospect for peace in Ukraine if Harris wins, that’s the biggest drawback as far as I’m concerned.
my only prowess in making predictions stems from my 77-years of life in the united statesgrowing up under president truman, eisenhower, kennedy, nixon, .....etc.
etc.i was a widdle kid sitting in front of a tiny black and white tv set when the very first broadcastsof political conventions, deal-making, debates (nixon vs kennedy), assassinations (jfk, rfk, martin luther king, etc.
) i grew up with duck and cover under my elementary schooldesk, the cold war, the iron curtain, the korean war, the vietnam war and i went to federal prisonas a jw conscientious objector while hippies, flower children, political activists protested and universitystudents were fired up on by troops.i grew up reading newspapers (2 of them).
I’ve seen it argued every way by various pollsters and commentators, but the latest polling, and early numbers seem to suggest Harris will win. If so, then Trump will have lost due a combination of various factors including young women turning out to vote for abortion rights and a lacklustre and off key Trump campaign. Personally, I wish they could lose because neither deserves to win and neither appears up to the job of averting global catastrophe. Jeffrey Sachs says he refuses to vote, given the lamentable choice, which seems like a reasonable response to me.
the seniors in our family were scammed by watchtower, for over 7 figures.
an interesting read today to give some insight.. one of the most egregious con-artists is watchtower bible and tract society the “legal” entity for jehovah’s witnesses.
many retired jehovah’s witnesses have been targeted over the years to “loan” money for various “special projects” to further the “preaching work”, only to find they are never to be repaid.
I didn’t mean to say that there wasn’t manipulation involved in this case or in other cases of strangers extracting money from vulnerable old people. That happens often, and in clear cut cases people can be prosecuted under the law. What I mean to say is that sometimes older people do things with their money that their children disapprove and in some cases this is motivated by the fact the children think the money would be better spent on them. This can include donating to Watchtower. If older people and parents want to give their money to Watchtower that’s their choice even if you think it’s a poor choice. You might argue, “if they knew what I know they wouldn’t give the money”, therefore Watchtower are getting the money under false pretences. Maybe, but maybe not. Some JWs continue to believe in the religion despite listening to information against their religion. Others refuse to listen to any such information. That’s a choice too. We don’t need to like a choice in order to recognise they have a right to make their own choice.
As the baby boomers steadily die off there commences an almighty tussle over the accumulated capital gains of the most financially fortunate generation in history. Watchtower is making a case for getting some of that money and their children reasonably believe they have a claim on the money too. Ultimately, under most legal and moral frameworks it’s up to the individual how they dispose of their assets regardless of the wishes and views of others.
the seniors in our family were scammed by watchtower, for over 7 figures.
an interesting read today to give some insight.. one of the most egregious con-artists is watchtower bible and tract society the “legal” entity for jehovah’s witnesses.
many retired jehovah’s witnesses have been targeted over the years to “loan” money for various “special projects” to further the “preaching work”, only to find they are never to be repaid.
Too many people think they’re entitled to their parents’ money, and get very annoyed if they start spending it instead, is another side of the story.
my grandmother, an immigrant from austria, was.
two of my aunts, their husbands, both elders, various cousins and two of my sisters are witnesses.
so is my grand uncle.
My wife’s gran has been in an old people’s home since 2018 and she gets a visit from an elder every Sunday afternoon, which I think is quite good. There are two JWs in the home and the elder visits them both at the same time. And it’s not a particularly easy visit because she is very forgetful and not particularly interested in JW things now. I think she does watch the videos the elder shows her but I’ve no idea what she makes of them.
On the negative side, it’s always the same elder who visits and always alone. Can’t they mix it up a bit? And it’s not anyone she knew when she was younger because the home is in a different territory some miles away. To my knowledge, none of the JWs she knew has come to visit her, although she had dozens of JWs in her home over the years. To be fair, a majority of the JWs she knew are no longer around now because she is 94 and most of them are dead, but there are a few younger JWs around who should remember her.
i have known a jehovah’s witness for approximately 15 years and i have considered her a friend although i know that jehovah’s witnesses cannot have friends who are not jehovah’s witnesses.
approximately two years ago, i was going through a very difficult time and i asked my friend if we could have bible study.
she said yes and we have been studying the bible since.
I don’t think we want to over characterise and contrast a lack of true friendship inside JWs with a utopia of unconditional friendship outside JWs. Non-JWs are just as capable of having ulterior and self-interested motives for friendship, they just take different forms. Plus conditionality is surely a spectrum, not an all or nothing, because genuine friendships may be stronger than commonly promoted by Watchtower, but neither are they completely unconditional, nor likely would we want them to be. After all there are surely red lines we would all set beyond which friendship would not survive, and these can include the beliefs of the other person as well as actions, just not usually the narrowly defined set of beliefs Watchtower sets out. I find that I can be friends with someone who supports different political opinions and religious beliefs quite easily, but I honestly find it more difficult, or in fact I simply don’t find it appealing to try to maintain a friendship with someone who regularly makes racist comments or who thinks it’s okay to cheat on their spouse, for example. In one instance even though I’ve known the person for a long time. So I would not say true friendship is unconditional nor is it particularly easy to find or maintain inside or outside JWs.
i have known a jehovah’s witness for approximately 15 years and i have considered her a friend although i know that jehovah’s witnesses cannot have friends who are not jehovah’s witnesses.
approximately two years ago, i was going through a very difficult time and i asked my friend if we could have bible study.
she said yes and we have been studying the bible since.
She might be under pressure from a group overseer or something to stop counting the study or even to stop conducting it if it’s “unproductive”. If you flat out said to her let’s stop the study at the moment, but still meet from time to time and discuss spiritual and other things, my guess is she would probably go for that. I think that’s even the instruction, if I remember right.
But generally, I think the JW attitude to “unproductive” studies is pretty counterproductive. Because there isn’t exactly a long list of people waiting for a Bible study, so why not just continue as long as the person wants? In the long run, it often pays off, though sometimes it is in the very long run. I know JWs who only got baptised after decades of Bible studies on and off. For one local couple it took over 40 years to get baptised, and some of their children and grandchildren have got baptised too now. For others, 10 or 20 years before making a decision is not unheard of.
some sources cite that the word or concept of hell appears 167 times in the old and new testament.
jesus spoke about hell more than anyone else.
how can such consistent warnings by many different writers over 1600 years all be parables?
To interpret Sheol as referring to hell would be a grave mistake
a black mass is a ceremony celebrated by various satanic groups.
it ... is intentionally a sacrilegious and blasphemous parody of a catholic mass.
- wikipedia.
nicolaou, I don’t know what the answer is why the God of the Bible is depicted killing children, it doesn’t seem there can be a justification for that. Perhaps those passages misrepresent God? Because there are certainly parts of the Bible that say God wants everyone to live. One of my favourite verses is 2 Peter 3.9
Jehovah is not slow concerning his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not desire anyone to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance.
If that’s true, then perhaps everyone will be saved in the end because why can’t God do what he wishes to do?
