Posts by jwfacts

46

Homosexuality, the GB and the Bible

by Oubliette in

the recent topics addressing the shamefully bigoted talk by jw gb member, anthony morris, on the subject of homosexuality got me thinking.

what the heck is up with the gb's obsession with this subject?.

as far as i can determine, jesus never said a single thing in reference to homosexuality.

jwfacts

well, another poster mentioned an elder that used to constantly harp about fornication who ended up being guilty of that himself.

I had an elder in Bethel tell me off for having a classical CD with a very romantic picture of a man and woman kissing on it. He was shortly after disfellowshipped for having a 7 year affair. One of my room mates in Bethel used to regularly berate gays, yet later told me he had been in a homosexual relationship a couple of years prior to coming to Bethel. People can make a big deal over things they have a personal struggle with.

Another reason they fear homosexuality, is that it is a great threat to numbers. Homosexuality cannot be "cured", as much as they argue otherwise, and they know that if a person is disfellowshipped for homosexuality it is very unlikely they will return.

31

Bizarre exchange with witness after being away for a year..

by Dis-Member in

i few moments ago i received a strange text message.

it read:.

russian government is opening a case on banning our jw.org website in russia.

jwfacts

She initiated contact, which basically constituted spam. You had every right to question her over her actions.

I doubt she will contact you again, but if she does, in order to gloat how Jehovah intervened, since the court decided the ban was not legal, ask why Jehovah has not bothered to intervene in China, where jw.org is blocked and unaccessible to one fifth of the world's population.

34

I am new here and had so many laughs for the first time in years. It took me a long time to find the courage to sign up. Thank you for existing

by umbertoecho in

jwfacts

umbertoecho Welcome, I'm from Sydney.

24

World's Greatest Music: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, voted # 1

by compound complex in

jw
friends

now playing at kdfc.com.

interesting that dvorak's symphony no.

9 was voted to the number two spot .

jwfacts

No live music is just as bad.

I used to play a clarinet in the kingdom hall band.

24

World's Greatest Music: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, voted # 1

by compound complex in

jw
friends

now playing at kdfc.com.

interesting that dvorak's symphony no.

9 was voted to the number two spot .

jwfacts

Dis-member - I have a music collection of over 170,000 albums and have been collecting for over 30 years.

That is remarkable. How do you get time listen to each album, let alone remember them. There was a collector in Hobart congregation, though he specialised in soundtracks. He had two room filled wall to wall with vinyl records. I am not sure what will happen to them, as he must in his 90s and in a home now.

This topic fooled me, as it is just limited to Classical music, and it would be impossible to pick a list spanning all genre's. How is "greatest music" judged. Most intricate, highest IQ of listeners, highest IQ of composer, most popular, most sold, most listened to, oldest still being listened to?

You also make a good point about Eminem. Eminem's Love the way you Lie has had 650 million views on youtube alone, not counting radio plays and albums sold. In his song Rap God, he raps 97 words in 15 seconds, or 6.5 words per second. Genius. In hundreds of years, I think there will still be some of the classics from the 20th century being played. I was at a very cool bar in Sydney last week filled with mostly alternate 20 year olds, and they were dancing to rock songs that spanned the 50's to the 90's. I was impressed that several generations on, people are still listening to the best rock of those eras.

40

Don't Miss the Meetings - Hebrews 10:24, 25 Re-examined

by Oubliette in

i recently got an unsolicited lecture from a well-intentioned but nevertheless misguided jw friend.

the gist of it was that i needed to go to all the meetings or i would miss out on "everlasting life.".

i responded that i do not need to go to meetings to have a relationship with god.

jwfacts

Good points. I came to a similar conclusion about Hebrews when I started examining Watchtower doctrine. Growing up I would never miss any of the meetings because of that Scripture, and never noticed that it says nothing about how often to attend. Amazing how easily people are controlled to read into scripture what they are told to.

28

FEWER NEW ZEALAND CITIZENS AFFILIATED WITH JWS IN 2013 THAN IN 1996: SUCCESSIVE YEARS OF DECREASE

by steve2 in

fewer new zealand citizens affiliated as jws in 2013 than in 1996: over 15 years of successive decreases.

the first table shows the new zealand census from 1976 to 2013. typically, numbers of citizens affiliated with the witnesses are higher than the number of active publishers because it includes children and those who are affiliated with the witnesses but who may not be active publishers.. of note, more citizens were recorded as affiliated with the witnesses in 1996 (19,527) than in 2013 (17,931).

the decline in numbers affiliating with the witnesses in new zealand started in 2001 and has continued across two further census reports - so this is not just a temporary blip.

jwfacts

interesting. I have not seen the results for the latest Aussie census, but it has been the same trend over the last few years. Interesting how publishers continue to rise, but census figures are falling.

34

How do Jehovah's Witnesses get from 1914 to 1919?

by God_Delusion in

hi guys and gals,.

i have written an article that explains how the watchtower society gets from 607 bce to 1914 (http://www.jehovahswitnessblog.com/faqs/why-is-1914-important/) but i need some input so that i can write an article on how they get from 1914 to (via 1918) 1919.. are we talking about ezra, 1:2-4 when the persian king cyrus allows the israelites to go and rebuild the temple 3 and a half years after exiling them?

if so, how has the watchtower used this passage to get to 1919??.

jwfacts

Following are the steps required to arrive at 1919, which is based largely on Revelation 11. Each step is a failure in logic, as shown by bullet point.

The starting point is October 1914, the year Jesus is said to have commenced ruling in heaven.

1914 is not Scripturally supported as the start of Jesus heavenly reign, and is a topic in its own right.

In June 1918, Jesus came to inspect his earthly organisation. Revelation - It's Grand Climaxp.32 explains, "Jesus was baptized and anointed as King-Designate at the Jordan River about October 29 C.E. Three and a half years later, in 33 C.E., he came to Jerusalem’s temple and threw out those who were making it a cave of robbers. There appears to be a parallel to this in the three-and-a-half-year period from Jesus’ enthronement in the heavens in October 1914 until his coming to inspect professed Christians as judgment began with the house of God."

This also parallels with Revelation 11:2,3, where is speaks of the temple being trampled for 42 months or 1260 days (3 1/2 years). June 1918 corresponds to the jailing of the Watchtower board of directors. (See Revelation - It's Grand Climax pp.164,167)

Jesus rulership is said to have commenced in October 1914, but the 42 months are said to have started in December. There is no explanation for the 2 month gap, other than it is required for the 42 months to end in June 1918.

9 months later, in March 1919, the Watchtower board of directors were released. The 9 month period is based on the 3 1/2 days of Revelation 11:9-11. (See Revelation - It's Grand Climax p.169)

The 42 months of Revelation 11 is said to be a literal 42 months, but the 3 1/2 days from the same passage in Revelation 11 is said to be figurative of 9 months. (3 1/2 years = 3 1/2 years … 3 1/2 days = 9 months)

According to Revelation - It's Grand Climax p.170, this led to great fear amongst all other religion; "There were truly great convulsions in the realm of religion. The ground seemed to move under the leaders of the established churches as this body of revivified Christians got to work."

The release of Rutherford from jail was irrelevant to most people, and it can hardly be said that the result was that "great fear fell upon those beholding them." (Rev 11:11)

The release of the Watchtower directors from prison in 1919 is supposed to correspond with Jesus appointing the Watchtower Governing Body as his slave.

"Anointed Christians who survived the testing period of 1914-19 were freed from the dominating influence of the world and from many Babylonish religious practices. The remnant went forward as a cleansed and refined people, willingly offering sacrifices of praise to God and having the assurance that they as a people were acceptable to him."Watchtower 1998 May 15 p.17 "In 1919 the cleansed slave class could look forward to ever-expanding activities."Watchtower 1993 May 1 p.16

There seems to be no Scriptural reason or parallels provided as to why the raising of "two witnesses" or the release from prison of the Watchtower directors in 1919 should indicate that Jesus has chosen them as his Faithful Slave.

22

Resurrection without a soul that survives death.

by Pronger1 in

one thing (among many) that always bothered me about jw teachings is what happens to the soul when we die.

sure god could be capable of creating a body and implanting it with all of our life experiences an memories.

but how would not be a just a clone instead of being actually us?

jwfacts

Good point, the Watchtower soul sleep doctrine is not nearly as satisfying as that of an eternal soul.

But how would not be a just a clone instead of being actually us?

It would be just a clone, which means there is nothing to stop God creating hundreds such clones whilst we are still alive.

40

2014 Yearbook Stats - 7 Countries account for > 50% growth

by Westenddave in

i thought i'd share the 2014 yearbook stats.

i converted the file to excel format & sorted the increase in publisher's column from largest to smallest.

as i suspected, the growth is limited to a very few # of "lands.

jwfacts

That is a great table. I hope you don't mind if I take your figures add it to an article I am writing for jwfacts.com. Interesting to see that the relgion is having very little success in the majority of the world.