Posts by anakolouthos

23

Original 1914 comments compared with what the WTS claims it said

by jwfacts in

vol.

anakolouthos

That was a fantastic article, jwfacts. It should be required reading for anyone who wants to study with the Witnesses. Keep up the great work!

3

Old light seems brighter...

by mebaqqer in

studies in the scriptures, volume 6 - the new creation, study vi order and discipline in the new creation, pp.

but the most important meeting in our judgment, the most helpful, next to the devotional meeting first described, is one in which the whole company of believers take part under sometimes one chairman, or leader, and sometimes another.

for these meetings either a topic or a text of scripture may be taken up for discussion, and the leader, looking over the subject in advance, should be intrusted with authority to divide it amongst leading brethren, if possible appointing them their parts a week in advance, that they may come to the meeting prepared to offer suggestions, each along the line of his own particular department of the topic.

anakolouthos

mebagger, I know what you mean. I've been reading some of the older publications, especially Russell's writings, & have really enjoyed some of what Russell had to say. You can't deny he had a lot of crazy ideas, but I thoroughly like his style & the warmth that comes through in his writings. Your topic made me remember my favorite quote from the "old light": "Beware of "organization." It is wholly unnecessary. The Bible rules will be the only rules you will need. Do not seek to bind others consciences, and do not permit others to bind yours. Believe and obey so far as you can understand God’s Word today, and so continue growing in grace and knowledge and love day by day." (WT 9/1895) It would be nice if the Society's leaders still felt this way! You don't see anything like that in today's Watchtowers. It's a shame so many good things that Russell built up got crapped on by Rutherford. The light is still flickering today...

126

WATCHTOWER loses in court!

by Nathan Natas in

anakolouthos

This is incredible news... Love & Norris, you rock! Keep fighting the good fight! I hope we will all see the day when this twisted organization crumbles... this is a huge step in that direction.

30

Music, what are some single cuts that helped keep your sanity?

by restrangled in

jw
friends

any artists, any time period........please let me know, i need some sanity.. r..

anakolouthos

"War All the Time" by Thursday. "Blinded by Fear" by At the Gates... nothin' like swedish death metal for catharsis. :-) "The Last Word is Rejoice" by Mineral... one of the prettiest songs ever written. "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" as sung by Josh Groban. Such a beautiful song. "One Step Closer" by Linkin Park. Great to blow off steam to. Pachelbel's Canon in D. & lots more! But these came to mind first. If it wasn't for music I would have gone crazy a long time ago.

70

NEWBIES how many of you

by plmkrzy in

jw
friends

have joined in the past month or two?.

i can't keep up there seems to be so many so i wanted to start a welcome thread for new newbies.. sorry if this was already done recently.. note: the in-built search system is currently being redeveloped so i am not able to check for this topic without looking through tons of pages.. anyway...say hello!.

plm.

anakolouthos

*raises hand* I'm pretty new too... I've been lurking for a long time & I read pretty much everything, but I haven't been able to post much. I still feel like a noob. I'm really thankful for this board though, & all the great people here. Thanks for this thread Miss Plum Krazy! We've had a lot of growth on here lately... does that mean God's blessing us? :-D

love & hugs to all of y'all, anakolouthos (of the long-arse alias class)

42

another evolution thread...

by anakolouthos in

i've been scanning thru geronimo's recent thread on evolution, & have really enjoyed reading all the fascinating responses.

i was going to post in there, but was worried it might get buried.

many may not know me here, as i've barely posted, but in a nutshell, i'm still in the org (somewhat trapped at the moment) but consider myself a christian with somewhat leftish leanings.

anakolouthos

I've been scanning thru Geronimo's recent thread on evolution, & have really enjoyed reading all the fascinating responses. I was going to post in there, but was worried it might get buried. Many may not know me here, as i've barely posted, but in a nutshell, i'm still in the org (somewhat trapped at the moment) but consider myself a Christian with somewhat leftish leanings. :-) I'm kinda writing on the spur of the moment here, so please be kind if i make any bonehead statements. I don't want to polarize everyone, i just want to discuss a few things & hopefully get some answers. Anyways, to the matter at hand... evolution has always fascinated me, but my knowledge of it is limited to regular readings of Discover magazine & a bit of research on the internet. I understand that evolution (microevolution, at least) occurs currently & is observable, for example with viruses & bacteria adapting to treatments, with birds developing beak adaptations to compete for food, etc. You can't really argue about that. Some might say that that is not actually evolution, since a new species wasn't created, but might these kinds of slight changes over many years form a new species?

But on the other hand, it seems a very great stretch to believe that nonlife spawned life, in any form whatsoever. I have no problem accepting some adaptations over time, as the case for these seem pretty solid, but i can't wrap my head around the idea that from inanimate matter came life. It just doesn't seem logical. That is but one thing that solidifies my faith in God. I don't see any reason why He couldn't use evolution as part of his creative process, though.

A question that's nagged me about evolutionary theory ("theory" being used in the scientific sense of the word) for a long time: How are the two sexes explained? Wouldn't it have been far simpler, assuming that the simplest, most effective adaptation usually wins out, (let me know if this is a bad assumption) for all animals to reproduce asexually? I realize that sexual reproduction has a lot of evolutionary advanteges, what with the genetic diversity & such, but what is the evolutionary explanation for sexual reproduction coming about in the first place? There's a crapload of extremely complex biological processes that go on when a couple of critters make a baby critter... it just seems like it would be safer & simpler for the critter to just split in half, amoeba-style. Is it completely foolish to think that a complex multicellular organism could reproduce asexually? This may have been a very ignorant question, but i have never seen it answered, so please humor me. :-)

To confuse the issue even more, i refer you to this article: http://www.fredoneverything.net/EvolutionMonster.shtml I loved the way this guy thinks... i stumbled upon this a couple years ago & really enjoyed it. If anyone would like to address some of the questions that he presents, i'd love to hear that too. Here's a thought-provoking snippet from the article, & my other big question: "Or consider caterpillars. A caterpillar has no obvious resemblance to a butterfly. The disparity in engineering is huge. The caterpillar has no legs, properly speaking, certainly no wings, no proboscis. How did a species that did not undergo metamorphosis evolve into one that did? Pupating looks like something you do well or not at all: If you don?t turn into something practical at the end, you don?t get another chance." How in the world can we explain a process like this with evolutionary theory?

I leave you with another quote from that article: ?Whatever you most ardently believe, remember that there is another side. Try, however hard it may be, to put yourself in the shoes of those whose views you most dislike. Force yourself to make a reasoned argument for their position. Do that, think long and hard, and conclude as you will. You can do no better, and you may be surprised.? I have sincerely been trying to apply this ideal in my life ever since i stumbled out of the mental fog of the WTS. It's nice to finally be able to think, although it does feel a bit strange at first. :-)

Thanks for reading, & again, i apologize for any ignorant statements i may have made. Please educate me, all you knowledgeable folk.

Love & peace to all,
anakolouthos

20

Do we need to experience the bad to know the good??

by lowden in

inspired by a few posts from the 'suffering' thread, i pose the above question.. is it really necessary to experience or even know of evil deeds in order to appreciate good, benevolence, peace.. certain peoples and indigenous tribes have lived in peace and probably still do with little, if any, disturbance and malevolence within their communities.

they don't need evil to appreciate good, surely.. one current headline story over here in britain is of a 7yr old girl murdered, shot in the back by a drug dealer because she'd seen his face.

he's just got 40yrs in jail.

anakolouthos

Lowden, i'm with you on this too. I feel we should evaluate each situation on its own merits, or lack thereof. The story you told breaks my heart... :-(. Knowing about the atrocities & injustices in the current world & in history help me appreciate the relative peace around me now, but i don't feel i would have any trouble identifying good in the world if i was ignorant of the bad. It's a good point to ponder.

I think negative experience in our personal lives have more of an impact on most people & their perceptions of the world. For example, i probably would not appreciate the love of my wife as much if i hadn't had my heart broken as a teenager. Does anyone else feel this way? It's very easy to take good things for granted if you haven't experienced the bad things, but i don't think all positive experiences must have a negative backdrop to be compared against. Negativity can help us not take positivity for granted.

Happiness, & life itself, are so transient, so fleeting. I do my best to enjoy the good my life is blessed with & to share good things with others.

Well that's enough of my pseudo-philosophising. lol. Carpe diem, everyone.

Love & goodness,
anakolouthos

23

Suggest Year Texts that you'd like to see

by Scully in

i can think of a couple off the top of my head:"make it your aim to live quietly and to mind your own business.

this is what jehovah of armies ... has said: "drink and get drunk and puke and fall so that you cannot get up.

" ~ jeremiah 25:27. anyone else?

anakolouthos

AK - Jeff: I loved your post... man, it would be awesome to see something like that. I'll keep wishing.

These scriptures came to mind...

(Deuteronomy 18:20)
20 “‘However, the prophet who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded him to speak or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die.

(2 Peter 2:1)
2 However, there also came to be false prophets among the people, as there will also be false teachers among YOU. These very ones will quietly bring in destructive sects and will disown even the owner that bought them, bringing speedy destruction upon themselves. . .

39

Small, but meaningful, moments of joy...

by daystar in

in my office building we have a cafeteria that is run by another company.

there is this one mexican woman who has just the most pleasant demeanor, every day.

she greets everyone with a smile and a "how are you today, my friend?".

anakolouthos

There are some pretty jolly folks at my job too, daystar. A sincere smile from someone can really help me on a crappy day. I always try to stay positive too. I like your post a lot. It's easy to overlook how much of an impact a simple act or a happy demeanor can have on those around us. I think this can sometimes have a "butterfly effect" if others are receptive to our joy, sending ripples of happiness to all involved.

Shucks, i'm feeling all warm & fuzzy now.

10

curious about the history of the disfellowshipping practice

by anakolouthos in

a few weeks ago, someone made a comment that the disfellowhipping policy had changed considerably throughout the society's history, with the early organization showing a much gentler attitude toward disfellowshipping.

it was stated the the society has even used the same scriptures to justify different attitudes toward disfellowshipping.

has anyone researched this?

anakolouthos

LRG, i remember someone mentioning that on here too... they do indeed go far beyond what is written.

Forum Assistants: My net connection is kinda flaky today, i accidently posted the same topic twice. If someone could consolidate them that would be great. Sorry for the bother.