Posts by BluesBrother

35

What are your thoughts about Mormons?

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

any takers?

BluesBrother

When I lived away from here I seemed to keep meeting Mormons through other social activities. I used to enjoy discussing religion with them . The ones I met were totally sincere and ,I believe, very good people. Their teachings on family life and conduct are not dissimilar to the JWs .

I’d agree though that the Mormon beliefs are not in the least credible .If you can accept that angels appeared to Joseph Smith , that new scripture was written on golden plates that have disappeared….and Jesus will set up his kingdom in North America…. Then you can accept anything.

Says me , who once fervently believed the Watchtower teachings!

27

News story claims: "Jehovah’s Witnesses" are QAnon believers"

by Balaamsass2 in

i was googling the subject and came across this story.

i just had an incredible phone conversation with a long-time jw who has strong "q-anon" "sovereign citizen" beliefs.

the wife(first gen) says she is not surprised.

BluesBrother

No....... J W’s have their own solution to the world’s problems and it does not include right wing politics.

However, if you ask if JWs distrust society ? Yes.

I found a larger than normal following within it for unconventional medicines and certainly some are gullible for a good conspiracy .

I guess if you take an opinion poll, it is all about how your question is worded.

27

4 New GB Helpers

by Reservations in

jw
friends

apparently 4 new gb helpers as per reddit.

1) paul gillies.

2) johnathan smith.

BluesBrother

Paul Gillies..... ex PR man of the London Bethel. I last saw him online streaming giving evidence to the British enquiry into child abuse. I heard he was now in NY, seems to be on a course to the top.

35

Refuting the Alleged Evidence of Jesus' Resurrection

by truth_b_known in

in the past few months there have been a few debates on this site over alleged evidence of the resurrection of jesus.

this can be a hot topic as most would agree that without the resurrection of jesus there would be no christianity.

i am not so sure of that, but i am more sure that dr. gary habermas' minimal facts approach to the resurrection has no evidentiary basis.. here is a 22 minute video on the topic.

BluesBrother

I accept the resurrection of Jesus as the basis of Christianity. As Paul wrote “ If Christ were not raised up your faith is useless ……we are men to be pitied” ( 1 Cor. 15 . Summary of it)

Such an event, however, is not supportable by historical evidence. He died as a criminal with no official record. His resurrection was only seen and accepted by his followers so is not in any secular history. Contemporary writers like Josephus and Tacitus comment on his living and gaining followers but not being raised.

So , I see it as a matter of faith. We “ walk by faith, not by sight “ .

5

Different versions of the NWT?

by HowTheBibleWasInvented in

having noted in the last 3 days a romour of a new revisal of the nwt etc i thought i would see if i have all the nwts in my collection:.

1. christian greek scriptures.

4. job- song of solomon.

BluesBrother

I think we have covered them all. When I was young I really wanted that big compilation of the Hebrew and Greek scriptures, we called it a Jumbo Bible, but it did not stay in print long and was replaced by the famous bright green NWT of the whole bible.

I still use my maroon de luxe 1980’s NWT . I much prefer it to the 2013 revised text.

Personally, I would be surprised if they revised it again so soon, but….you never know.

32

Who are the 144,000? Considering the immediate context of Revelation chapter 7

by raymond frantz in

who are the 144,000?

a critical examination of the teaching of the 144,000 from the perspective of an ex jx considering context and other references .this is from a series of videos called new light where i scrutinise all the major teachings of the watchtower.. https://youtu.be/aaseuzr-sxs.

BluesBrother

Revelation is a book of signs and symbols. Why select that number to be literal when all around it are considered symbolic?

22

Lies, Damn Lies.

by Lost in the fog in

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/home-and-garden/jehovahs-witnesses-to-resume-in-person-services-opt-not-to-resume-door-to-door-ministry/ar-aavnxv0 .

so apparently robert hendricks the spin doctor of the wt society has been proudly telling news channels how wonderful the wt org has been during the 2 years of the pandemic, checking in with each and every member to meet their needs on a weekly basis.. except, based on the comments of former jw friends on facebook, it's news to most of them since they are screaming out that they were totally neglected by the elders/ms throughout most of that period.

a couple even said that because of being ignored by the congregation during this time, that they have walked away completely.

BluesBrother

I have said before, particularly in the first year of lockdown that my wife was totally forgotten by he cong. It is only because she upped and complained that she now gets occasional phone calls

That direction to elders to keep in touch was certainly given in the beginning but did they do it? No way!

To my mind the problem starts at the top. When I was an elder we did get told to shepherd our groups. However we had much stronger direction to put in good hours in the Ministry, so shepherding often slipped.

Elders need to be like managers and accountable for seeing and helping their group members.

10

Minions - new Smurfs?

by Festus in

a friend of mine told me that her witness relative from west coast had reacted to minions (child animation) in a same way that some jdubs reacted to smurfs.. aka she claimed that minions are "from satan".. has anyone else heard this?.

well i guess harry potter, lotr etc has received similar recption....nothing new in that sense..

BluesBrother

Very wise Blondie..... Mind you , I would not put it past some JW extremist to say this, but we should not judge an organisation by its nuttyist member.

BTW it is great to see you on here. I see now that I have missed your recent posts .

6

Damned if you do, damned if you don't - Religious Shunning and the Free Exercise Clause

by AndersonsInfo in

damned if you do, damned if you don't: religious shunning and the free exercise clause.

https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=3827&context=penn_law_review.

BluesBrother

I skipped to the conclusion, which said…….

“When courts ignore the free exercise rights of individuals and look only at the religious claims of groups, they elevate the group's religion over the individual's religion. This is a dangerous path to follow. It gives religious groups virtually unfettered coercive power over their members and former members and blocks dissent and doctrinal development.”

10

Alan F

by scholar in

jw
friends

have received news of the passing of alan fuerbacher today having just turned 70 years of age.

alan was an earlier and frequent poster on this forum and was a strident critic of wt bible chronology.

i enjoyed the continuous debate on matters relating to 607 bce and will miss his intellectual contributions and his scholarship even though i disagreed with much of his contributions on this subject.

BluesBrother

If scholar is late , then I am nowhere because this is news to me…..sad news at that.

Alan F was a hero to me when I first dropped out of the WTS and found this forum. Alan was a towering presence with a great intellect and turn of speech . I learnt a lot. I did not always agree with him but I could still respect him.

The ding dong debates with Scholar about things made great reading…

Alan F ….. gone but fondly remembered.