Big Dog

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Posts by Big Dog

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  26

  How frequent is this among Jehovah's Witnesses

  by vienne in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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.

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  Big Dog

  Absolutely, the WTBS is the most uncharitable institution and certainly religion I have ever seen. Think about it, there are absolutely no support networks of any kind for anything. No soup kitchens, no canned food drives, no meals on wheels, no pensions for the Bethel crowd that I'm aware of, etc. It is without a doubt the coldest religion I have ever seen. Works of charity are not a part of the culture. My kids had to do community service hours to graduate from high school for goodness sake. They pay lip service to it occasionally, but the fact of the matter is that it is not and never was in any way a priority. Hammer doors and place magazines, which was the be all and end all. I remember saying to my parents, if a guy is laying in the street and hasn't eaten in 3 days, don't you think he might benefit more from a sandwich than a magazine at that point? Nope, spiritual food I was told would do him more good. My parents were actually decent people but that's what they were told from the platform.

  It's no shock then that the adherents of the faith reflect that. Attitude reflects leadership. Most of my family is still in the Borg and I personally know of more than a few parents rotting away in facilities because to take care of them at home would cut into the preaching work.
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  6

  Is there a 'dark mode' available for this site?

  by ProdigalApostate in

  1. forum
  2. tech-support

  i view this site on my mobile browser and would prefer to use it in dark mode (white text on black background).

  dark mode helps conserve battery on an oled display used on most phones.

  how do i enable it for this site?

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  Big Dog

  I have gone dark mode on everything that has it. I have found it to be much easier on the eyes than all that acreage of white background frying my retinas, especially in the evening.
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  124

  JWLITE

  by Teddnzo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  even elders can be part of the new jw lite brigade these days.

  they don’t need to go on door to door anymore and there is no requirement for anything really.. taking meeting parts is all dead easy you could turn up on the day with zero preparation because it’s all in the meeting workbook.. quarterly elders meetings are just old men having a good old natter just like old men do down the pub.. congregations could be likened to pubs or bars these days just without the drinks, those come at other times.. no need for territory maps, these almost went away with covid letter writing now they are extremely slow getting finished as those who still go door to door only do ten mins.. you could even voice your questions these days about things the gb say and then just say “we can’t be dogmatic we just don’t know”.

  i predict they will say this about 1914 soon..

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  Big Dog

  No matter how much they dilute it, unless they go all the way I would question what would be the attraction? Why would you want to join? Why not be Catholic, Orthodox or mainline Protestant and get your holidays and birthdays and so forth?

  The big draw and I say that with dripping sarcasm was based in being different and elect with an early expiration date. If you are going to move in from the fringe towards more mainstream faiths, I fail to see the much to recommend JW-Lite.
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  33

  THIS is how Jehovah operates? Examining GB Jefffrey Winder's words

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  governing body member jeffrey winder on jw dot org:“we are not embarrassed about ‘adjustments’ that are made; nor is an apology needed for not getting it ‘exactly right’ previously.

  we understand: this is how jehovah operates.”

  1952 no wt 6/1/52 p.338 1965 maybe they will be resurrected .

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  Big Dog

  Like I said in my last post, this is how they all operate. Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, and the fringe lunatics like the WTBS. From the very beginning there have been arguments, schisms, inconsistencies, retractions, and on and on and on.

  I've said it before and I'll say it again, you either believe in the magic or you don't. The rest is window dressing, interesting conversation over coffee and reliant on faith and not verifiable to any significant extent.

  All of the apologists and the tortured logic applied to scripture and prophecy, if anything in my opinion, make people less likely to believe than to do so.
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  33

  THIS is how Jehovah operates? Examining GB Jefffrey Winder's words

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  governing body member jeffrey winder on jw dot org:“we are not embarrassed about ‘adjustments’ that are made; nor is an apology needed for not getting it ‘exactly right’ previously.

  we understand: this is how jehovah operates.”

  1952 no wt 6/1/52 p.338 1965 maybe they will be resurrected .

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  Big Dog

  No, this is how people operate and they've been doing since 33AD. There were all sorts of different schools of thought after Jesus' death. Different interpretations and conclusions reached. Jesus was God, no Jesus wasn't God, actual blood and body in the bread and wine, and on and on and on. As time went on various councils "settled" things, until they weren't. The JW's don't have a lock on this one that's for sure.
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  15

  J.W org and Noah's Flood

  by Phizzy in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i remember when i was "in" the org.

  had a ridiculous public talk outline defending the genesis flood myth.. do they have a current one doing that ?.

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  Big Dog

  @ PetrW

  Yes, the flood account was just one of many issues that I had over the years while growing up in the Borg. As I got older the theological issues multiplied until I had quite a bill of particulars. The issues with the WTBS were in my mind separate and distinct from the theological issues and those got to the point to where by the time I was 15 I had decided that the WTBS was a complete sham.

  The theology can make for interesting discussions and ponderings but in the end, I subscribe to the very simple mantra of, you either believe it or you don't for whatever reasons make sense to that individual. Trying to "proof" it like an equation is a waste of time, it's a mystery is as good an explanation as there is for most of it.

  Science has its own problems, mainly that it's wielded by humans and its "truth" is often subservient to politics, greed, economics, academic infighting, crackpots and so on. One only needs to revisit the recent pandemic to see that in action. Anyone that holds up science as the ultimate authority on everything and proclaims with absolute certainty this or that needs to check themselves as well. Science has the potential to answer far more than theology, but we aren't quite there yet either.
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  15

  J.W org and Noah's Flood

  by Phizzy in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i remember when i was "in" the org.

  had a ridiculous public talk outline defending the genesis flood myth.. do they have a current one doing that ?.

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  Big Dog

  The flood story was one of the first things that started me thinking as a child being raised in the Borg that maybe something was amiss. I remember thinking even at middle school age this whole thing makes no sense at all. I'm going to kill everyone because humanity sucks so hard, but then no, I'll save a handful of people so they can, wait for it, start the whole species that I want to wipe out all over again and we will be right back to square one.

  I remember thinking about the logistics of the whole thing and I asked questions about that. I had been to the zoo and seen elephants take a dump, and hippos and rhinos and I'm thinking, man that's a lot of shit for a handful of people to shovel everyday. I was counseled that well with God anything is possible, and I thought well hell, why not just float them around on a cloud then for 40 days instead.

  I remember looking at my old playschool Noah's Ark toy as a high schooler and thinking, man, that's a pretty weird thing to give a kid to play with. Ok Johnny, get all the animals on the toy ark before every other living thing dies a nasty death by drowning.
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  11

  Why do Catholics pray to Mary/saints?

  by BoogerMan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a very good friend of many years told me that he prays to mary and makes requests.

  i didn't try to discuss/debate the subject - his choice - but wondered how catholics would view these scriptures: .

  (john 14:6) jesus answered, “i am the way and the truth and the life.

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  Big Dog

  Why ask a bunch of ex-JW's? Why not go to the source?

  Here is one explanation from Catholic Answers, there are other even more detailed answers out there if you look. Being raised a JW I always thought Catholics were complete loons and made no sense, these days I think they make as much sense as anyone else in the religious sphere.

  Why Pray to Mary? Because Jesus has given us his Blessed Mother as our great spiritual mother (Rev.12:17), a heavenly advocate who intercedes for us.

  Some Christians will ask, “Why pray to Mary when we can go directly to Jesus?” And yet they have no problem asking others here on earth to pray for them, instead of simply and solely praying to Jesus on their own. Indeed, St. Paul says that God grants blessings “in answer to many prayers” (2 Cor. 1:11). And if the prayer of a righteous man on earth avails much with God (Jas. 5:16–18), how much more would prayers from one who has finished the race and now reigns with Christ in heaven?

  Scripture elsewhere speaks of the “the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven” and “the spirits of just men made perfect” (Heb. 12:23, emphasis added). Given their heavenly perfection in Jesus, which would include perfection in charity and thus concern for their brothers and sisters in Christ on earth (see 1 Cor. 2:12-26), we should not be surprised that Scripture presents these holy men and women of heaven bringing our prayers to Jesus the Lamb (Rev. 5:8), and that from the early Church onward Christians have asked the intercession of the saints who have gone before them to heaven.

  In this light, we see that the saints—as faithful disciples of Jesus—are his collaborators, not his competitors in interceding for us. Consequently, because Mary is the Mother of God and the disciple par excellence (see Luke 1:28, 38), we should not be surprised that she is our preeminent intercessor among the angels and saints.
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  543

  Encouraging scriptures for the day

  by Kosonen in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hello my friends,.

  here are some encouraging scriptures for the day:.

  revelation 21:2 i also saw the holy city, new jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from god and prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.. hebrews 11:10 for he (abraham) was awaiting the city having real foundations, whose designer and builder is god.. revelation 21:24 and the nations will walk by means of its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.. revelation 22:1 and he showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, flowing out from the throne of god and of the lamb 2 down the middle of its main street (of the holy city).

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  Big Dog

  There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy
  
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  34

  My goodness! Fourteen years since I began posting here...

  by garyneal in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm not sure if anyone remembers me since i do not post here much anymore.

  i sometimes pop in around christmas time to see if anyone is interested in exchanging christmas cards like we used to back when i first posted on this site.

  speaking of which, the holiday season will soon be upon us.. if you recall, i was married to a jehovah's witness and i had a daughter i spoke of a lot.

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  Big Dog

  Hello Gary, I have stopped by myself after a 15-year hiatus from posting for a return visit. I think I had already left by the time you arrived. I came back by because someone I never thought would wake up from the Borg did and it got me to thinking about all of us who passed through this site and I wondered if they might be here right now, the same place I was 19 years ago.

  It has been interesting to see what has changed and what remains the same and for sure the soul sucking, life hating and fun adverse mindset that the Borg wears like a badge of honor is tough to shake but given enough time it's possible.

  Best wishes for a satisfactory outcome on your personal issues.