Posts by under

36

HI

by youcanhaveago in

.

after years of lurking - i'm on.. am i doing right i don't know.. confused ?

- yes i am..

Hello and welcome.
I implore you, I beg you, not to make the mistake of thinking that we are one united group of people, linked by our beliefs.
We are not. We are a fractious, argumentative, passionate group, with an entire world of beliefs.
We speak freely. We discuss things. We agree, and we disagree.
Yes, there is bitterness, but there is also hope and laughter.

9

Video of Kingdom Hall building in developing lands doesn't mention Jesus

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

you could be forgiven for thinking that jehovah's witnesses acknowledge jesus christ as a central figure in the society.. last week, we had the co's visit and he showed us the video.

i forget the title, but it was about building halls in developing lands and the work that goes into them.. a number of brothers, and sisters!

were interviewed.. there didn't seem to be much begging for money in the video itself, however, the 5 minute co talk afterwards made it quite clear that "if we are moved by what we saw, we will do everything we can to support the kingdom hall building work, either by volunteering our time and skills or by contributing to the world wide work.".

under_believer

Witnesses are for all intents and purposes an ancient Judaic religion. Their beliefs and teachings, their social structure, their leadership hierarchy, their understanding and conception of God, and their focus on sacrifice are far more closely aligned with ancient Judaism than Christianity. There is a perilously thin veneer of Christ overlaying everything, like spray-on butter.

79

What's Wrong With Some Parents?

by XJW4EVR in

today, i go over to a fast food place for lunch, and while i am walking to find a table with my food, a group of rowdy and unsupervised 10-12 year olds come tearing through the restaurnat, and one of them runs into me.

my food and drink goes flying, and i shoot daggers at the stupid brat.

this brat doesn't even apologize.

under_believer

People correctly objected to the punchline of your original post, which was a logical fallacy. When you were called on that, you went on the attack, impugning all of those people's character.
I attempted to tell you why people objected to this, and you suggested that my head was up my ass and that I needed to "get over myself."
This is not good behavior.

48

Was Simplification the Downfall of the Watchtower?

by NotBlind in

a thought i had daydreaming while at the recent convention .

old timers in the organization often reminisce about the way the wts was many years ago.

attending a convention meant (a) getting hot meals, (b) orchestra music before and during sessions, and (c) two, three, or even four dramas.

under_believer

My oh my, what a great post this is. How can someone capable of putting that together only have posted a hundred times in five years?
I absolutely endorse this point. The Spiritual Paradise that I remember fondly from my youth (no doubt tinted by the hazy golden glow of false nostalgia) is utterly gone. The organization and the worship that people offer is a shadow of its former glory. People are depressed, sad, and businesslike. There is no joy in the congregations anymore, especially not springing from or related to their worship. The most joyful people get these days is when they are visiting with other believers before and after the meetings. People used to be able to point to the stuff that the Organization could pull off--food service, wonderfully produced and bound publications, construction work... sure, you and I know that this stuff was accomplished through free labor, but even so, it was pretty amazing. These days, challenge a JW to prove that it's the One True Religion and all they have to point to is the preaching work, a preaching work that every Witness in the Western world believes is happening off somewhere else across the sea. It's sure not happening to them, though.
Was Simplification the downfall of the Watchtower? Or was the downfall of the Watchtower the cause of the simplification?
I think both, it's a vicious cycle. This organization is clinically depressed. Have you ever suffered from depression? The depression makes you do and say things that cause effects in your life that in turn make you more depressed. We're observing a feedback loop.
God, writing this depressed me. I bet I could still be a Witness if it was still like I remember it being in the 80's.

60

Last Night A Young Elder Got Announced As Being---- Deleted!

by minimus in

jw
friends

my mom told me that the new elder that just got appointed 6 months ago was now deleted.

this young man is in his early 30's, unmarried, and now history.

what could've happened??

under_believer

We've discussed this before--it is a bizzare word.
To make it match up they should say "brother so and so has been INSERTED as an Elder" when someone is appointed.

79

What's Wrong With Some Parents?

by XJW4EVR in

today, i go over to a fast food place for lunch, and while i am walking to find a table with my food, a group of rowdy and unsupervised 10-12 year olds come tearing through the restaurnat, and one of them runs into me.

my food and drink goes flying, and i shoot daggers at the stupid brat.

this brat doesn't even apologize.

under_believer

Come on, XJW, that's really not fair. I speak only for myself, but as far as I'm concerned you're welcome to blow of steam all you want. But your closing comment defined the message and made politics the real point of your story.
If that was unintended on your part, as you seem to be indicating, fine: but read your original post and tell me what impression people are going to come away with after reading it. Is it simply a story about what happened to you in a restaurant, or are you using that story to illustrate a point about a certain class of people?
Clearly the reaction here shows that at least half the people reading it read it as a political diatribe and not simply blowing off steam.

39

Earthquakes and rumors of war or whatever ;o)

by Hellrider in

i was so inspired by the ridicolousness of thirdwitnoid in that other thread ("the gentile times reconsidered again...but this time i am using the bible"), in which he actually dared bring up the old "increase in earthquakes"-fairytale from the wt and asleep.

it really had nothing to do in that thread, which was about 607 vs 587 (oh no, not that again.... datelocationdeathsmagnitude.

jan. 23, 1556. shansi, china .

under_believer

Let's see if I have your prophecy straight, 3w, and I'll also line Jesus' up next to it so we can compare.

Sign	3W's Prophecy	Jesus' Prophecy
Earthquakes	2 Million Deaths	Earthquakes Happen
Wars	100 Million Deaths	Wars Happen
Famine	Famines Happen	Famines Happen
Preaching Work	Happens in all lands; millions reached	Happens in all lands
Doctrines	No Trinity; No Hell; "Earthly paradise conditions"	Didn't specify

Okay, is that about right? You're saying that for it to be the time of the end, there have to be specific numbers of people who die of different causes, and at least "millions" reached by the good news. The revelation God inspired you to write appears to be quite a bit more specific than the one Jesus is recorded as prophesying back in the first century. Perhaps God felt that it was time to shine some new light on the situation and to tack into the wind on this understanding.

Interestingly, Jesus' prophecy could have applied to just about any period of human history. Perhaps it was the failure of this prophecy to outstandingly match our period of history more than any other that prompted God to inspire you to make a new prophecy.

79

What's Wrong With Some Parents?

by XJW4EVR in

today, i go over to a fast food place for lunch, and while i am walking to find a table with my food, a group of rowdy and unsupervised 10-12 year olds come tearing through the restaurnat, and one of them runs into me.

my food and drink goes flying, and i shoot daggers at the stupid brat.

this brat doesn't even apologize.

under_believer

Economic Left/Right: -5.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.95
...if you must know.

79

What's Wrong With Some Parents?

by XJW4EVR in

today, i go over to a fast food place for lunch, and while i am walking to find a table with my food, a group of rowdy and unsupervised 10-12 year olds come tearing through the restaurnat, and one of them runs into me.

my food and drink goes flying, and i shoot daggers at the stupid brat.

this brat doesn't even apologize.

under_believer

This isn't us or them, though I do appear (much to my surprise) to be liberal. I never said people who subscribe to that ideology are any less prone, on average, to the kinds of logical fallacies that you appear to indulge in at every opportunity.
No, I'm just here to point at the fallacies and laugh.
Ha! Ha!

79

What's Wrong With Some Parents?

by XJW4EVR in

today, i go over to a fast food place for lunch, and while i am walking to find a table with my food, a group of rowdy and unsupervised 10-12 year olds come tearing through the restaurnat, and one of them runs into me.

my food and drink goes flying, and i shoot daggers at the stupid brat.

this brat doesn't even apologize.

under_believer

Nice ad hominem; can I use cite it in the future as an good example of the type?

under_believer

Posts by under_believer