The "crystals" are called tektites. Naturally occuring tekties are thought to be either lunar in origin, or products of large meteor impacts. They are also found at sites of nuclear explosions, although the article I'll link doesn't mention that. It is possible that the scientific community is using a different name for the examples of nuclear origin since I can't seem to find any references to nuclear explosions in any of the articles I've checked (see below about the ones found at the site of the first nulcear explosion, the trinitites). They are not "crystals", rather, they are glass made up of material fused under high temperatures. I would assume that the tekties associated with nuclear explosions would also contain unused urainium or plutonium, since not all of the fissionable material is used up in the explosion.
Wilkipedia on Tektites
The tektites found at the site of the Trinity explosion are called "trinitites", whether that name has been extended to other tektites of nuclear origin, I don't know.
Trinities
Forscher
JoinedPosts by Forscher
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22
Bizarre Comment from Platform about Blue Crystals and Elijah's Fire
by Severus incomment heard from the watchtower conductor from the platform today regarding elijah versus baal showdown at mount carmel:.
the conductor states that he used to have a 1948 magazine (watchtower ofrawake!
is unknown) that quoted a scientist that had discovered "blue crystals" on mount carmel.
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Forscher
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Library containing early Watchtower mags & books
by cyberdyne systems 101 ini would be interested to be able to look up references made from now unavailable literature, does anyone know of a library that contains them?
by the way i am in england.
its not that i doubt the many quotaions i have seen, but its frustrating to not see them in the flesh.
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Forscher
If you can't find it, just be patient, the material is slowly coming online. Almost all of the Russell-era literature is already online because the Bible Students want people to have access to it. Their are some rare books missing because they were published by the WTBTS, but were not written by Russell.
Since there isn't much of anybody outside the Ex-JW community that is all that interested in Rutherford's writings, that is coming online more slowly. One can buy CDs out there with the literature from that era, but you have to look around to find it. I have a number of the books from the 20s-30s that I am thinking of scanning and making availble some way, perhaps through Reexamine.org if he is interested in it, but that is going to take a little while since I am preparing for a move.
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26
Can a JW be disfellowshipped because of "Materialism"?
by JH inkeeping in mind these verses below:.
for we have brought nothing into the world, and neither can we carry anything out.
8 so, having sustenance and covering, we shall be content with these things.
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Forscher
Seems to me that materialism is a prerequisite to becoming an elder in most cases. So why would they DF anyone for it?
Seriously, most of the elders I've known, even fairly good ones, usually own better homes than the rest and drive better cars. I can always tell an elder's meeting from a meeting for field service when I drive past the local hall because of the Luxury cars and SUVs. I've never heard of a DF'ing for materialism, though in theory a person could be DF'd for it. But then, money and possessions tend to insulate a Dub from negative actions on the part of the leadership just as much among the Witnesses as elsewhere.
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33
JW husband destroyed my life
by Chimene inpost 1 of 1. since 30-jan-06.
newbie.
oh my goodness, could i tell you some things..... i could write a book.
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Forscher
Welcome to the board Chimene!
I am sorry to hear about the reason which brought you here. JWs are taught legalism and salvation by works as the foundation for their lifestyle. Just as that combination bred selfrighteousness and judgmentalism among the Jews in Jesus, it continues to do so today among the Witnesses. That is unfortunately what you are going to have to put up with.
We all feel for you in your situation. Come back anytime you have some questions or need support from folks who've been there. You should be able to find whatever answer you need.
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35
Whose been ripped off financially by his JW brother?
by Spectrum ini posted this in another thread but it is more relevant here.
i worked for jw doing back breaking work for a while only to be told by another jw that he was ripping me of - he was paying me half the going rate.
i was only 17 and naive didn't know anything about the world of work.
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Forscher
I was ripped off more than once. I lived in a small country town. I later found out that some of the Dubs, who were businessmen in the community went around slandering me to other businessmen. That, and one other incident I am not at liberty to detail, made it where I coudln't get a job outside of whatever brother would hire me. So for years I had to put up with wages so substandard that I couldn't even keep up with the bills, much less get together the money to leave. One was even bold enough to rip me off to the tune of over a thousand dollars on one job I did for him and never got paid for. And he is now an elder! Such is life in the Borg!
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39
Why did Jehovah give the job of writing the BIBLE to the Catholics?
by gumby inthis is a thread which was inspired by our own hot little mary.. jehovahs witnesses claim that since pentecost of 33 c.e., there has been a faithful and discreet slave class that was appointed by jesus himself and that this slave class was "entrusted" with all of jesus belongings ( dispensing spiritual food to his followers and the rest of mankind).
oddly, when it came to gods own word to mankind being compiled ( the bible), ......jehovah chose the catholic church to dispense, audit, compile his message!
imagine that!
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Forscher
Really? The Bible was was collated while the Bishop of Rome was still just one of many, with no supemacy over the other bishops. The oldest manuscripts extant, appear to have from the 50 complete copies ordered made by Constantine after the Council of Nicea. The Bishop of Constantinople would've enjoyed what ever prestige or supremacy that would've come from being the bishop of the capital of the Roman Empire at the time. It would seem the the Orthodox Church would have a better claim to that title.
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91
Which massacres did Jehovah sanction?
by Spectrum inthe ones i'm familiar with are from the repercussion of the rape and murder of the levites concubine.
judges 19-21 .
about 100,000 died in battle then all the towns of benjamin were put to the sword as were the people that didn't join in against the benjamites.
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Forscher
Hellrider said:
What the fuck do you know about his experiences, his life, the choices he has had to made!?! And you dare speak about "judgemental attitude"????
Thanks for coming to my defense HR. I saw that you really got a debate going with that! I was in a situation that forced me to do a little soul searching on the issue of abortion. I can't tell the story because it is unique enough that I might as well send a letter of resignation to the WTBTS as well because I'd be ID'd in a New York second. Just know that I've been there and learned that it is not a black and white issue.
As to my being "judgemental", I was pointing out to those who are themselves judgemental of God's actions and say unrestricted abortion is a "right" are in no position to judge God on any level. Millions of humans have been terminated for no other reason than they were inconvenient to the mothers who concieved them. The methods used are brutal, agonizing, and cruel. And yet many of the same people who so righteously condemn God just don't see the inconsistency in their views as evidenced by many posts on the matter. Who really is being blind and judgemental here? I think the answer is self-evident, whether one chooses to see it or not.
As for the legal side of things. I've not seen an effective rebuttal of what I presented. Let me remind folks that the Supreme Court has not found a right to an abortion in the Constitution, period. It has consistently held that abortion can be restricted, or even prohibited, subject to the one restriction that it must be available for women who's health makes it necessary. I have no problem with that. Sadly, that provision has been used as a way of circumventing any restrictions by the abortion industry. The "right to privacy" has also been used to hide the misdeeds of predatory pedophiles, something most people on this forum claim to loath. So now we are being treated to the disgusting spectacle of Planned parenthood fighting tooth and nail to keep those crimes covered over. What insanity! You champions of abortion may not see anything wrong with that. But I do. If standing up for the victims means I'll take some flack and be called "judgemental", then so be it!
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23
Ever meet someone in the field service who knew their bible better than you
by JH in.
once a brother told me that he knocked at a door, and it was a catholic priest who lived there, and that brother thought that he knew his bible better than that priest, so he showed him a couple of verses to prove that the jw's had the truth, but that brother didn't expect the priest to know his bible that well, and the brother didn't win his biblical debate.... wouldn't it be fun if more people knew their bible really well, and could use the bible to make the jw's go away... .
gee, i hated that when i knocked at a door, and the person would go get their bible, and i saw that they had a decent knowledge of it... usually i left quite fast.
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Forscher
No, but then that doesn't mean they weren't out there, it just means I didn't encounter any. I wasn't just good at regurgitating WTBTS interpretations, I tried to know something of what my neighbors believed. To that end I was familiar with material published by folks other than the WTBTS.
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43
Did the elders ask for sexual details at your Judicial meeting?
by kid-A in.
i personally know of two cases where the witness being disfellowshipped was asked to provide excruciating details about the exact nature of the "sex crime" that they had committed.. having read the secret elders manual "pay attention to yourselves and all the flock" i know this is standard operating procedure for a judicial hearing.
for those that were disfellowshipped for a "sex crime"
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Forscher
I was present at a Hearing on a minor girl who was raped. The elders demanded a blow by blow and stroke by stroke account of the experience and asked all those disgusting questions, then DF'd her anyway. That started me down the road to questioning the organization's stand with God.
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13
150+/200 New Congregations in US are Spanish
by daniel-p ini have a friend who speaks spanish and likes to go to their meetings once in a while.
she was visiting a nearby congregation who was having their co's visit and he mentioned that out of 200 congregations that were formed in the states last year, 150+ of them were spanish!!
this, of course, was mentioned in light of how fast the spanish are growing, but all i could think about was that if the spanish consists of so much of the growth in the us, then the english congregations must really be doing horribly in order to break that 0% growth!
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Forscher
Well, it is a logical out growth of the influx of Latino immigrants, both legal and illegal. It wasn't that many years ago I heard an elder say of the Latinos "if they want to learn the truth, let 'em first learn English!" Now the Spanish language congregations are the main area of growth! There are plenty of opportunities for publishers, who are locked out of the power stucture in the English congregations and hungry for advancement, in the foreign language fields. And especially the Spanish speaking fields since most of those folks are illegal and cannot currently be given positions according to WTBTS policies. So the English speaking congregations are being left to the deadwood by those who want to get somewhere in the system, and it is showing in the growth figures.
Forscher