Topics Started by BurnTheShips

8
The Economist Magazine's Special Report on Religion
by BurnTheShips in
1. jw
2. friends
the current issue of the economist includes an 18 page special report on the global rise of traditional religion.. in god's nameo come all ye faithfulthe power of private prayerthe new wars of religionholy depressingbridging the divideback to the ottomansstop in the name...the lesson from americathe report is pretty extensive and balanced i think.

even a report of this size can only give an overview of such a large topic.

they conclude some things that religious observers have known for some time.
14
A question for the Christians.
by BurnTheShips in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i think that for christians there are two ways of viewing the religious history of the world.. 1) that god has always tried to reveal himself to all peoples, and that people have understood him imperfectly at different times, until he revealed himself perfectly in his son.

all religions have prophecies that point to similar ideas about god because he has tried to speak to them and they have tried to seek him.

the human spirit is designed to seek certain symbolic ways of representing the divine, and, while god has placed limits on these to avoid us worshipping the representation instead of the reality, common religious rituals and symbolism can be understood by looking at the psychology of the human mind that god created in all of us.. 2) (the basic jw view) that god only ever spoke to moses, jesus, st paul etc.
4
Looks like a great book, "What is so great about Christianity?"
by BurnTheShips in
1. jw
2. friends
i am going to orderit:.

http://www.amazon.com/whats-so-great-about-christianity/dp/1596985178/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=utf8&s=books&qid=1195479248&sr=1-1.

it's by dinesh d'souza.
3
Mosaic idea of charity.
by BurnTheShips in
1. jw
2. friends
charity and the "abrahamic" religions .

maimon schwarzschild.

the new york times ran a front-page story recently about an elderly man who starved to death in japan, having been denied help by the welfare bureaucracy.
3
Possible Cure for Cancer uses.....gasp.....Blood!?!
by BurnTheShips in
1. jw
2. friends
if this one works, one wonders how the jw's are going to allow this "fraction".. .

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/19/ncancer219.xml.

cancer cure 'may be available in two years'.
23
Elder is calling friends, JC any day now!
by BurnTheShips in
1. watchtower
2. bible
yes, i have been working on "the fade" since before my baby was born in january and trying to keep as low a profile as i can.

will be moving out of the neighborhood soon and i had hoped to disappear.

so anyways, leaving the dubs has not made me lose my faith in god or christ.
2
Self-identifying JW's on the wane?
by BurnTheShips in
1. jw
2. friends
we all know that those that identify themselves as jw's in surveys are usually a great deal more in number than official wt publisher figures.. even though the wt figures show a minimal growth, these survey figures show an actual decrease!.

http://www.adherents.com/rel_usa.html#families.

any thoughts?.
31
How long before the Society's growth goes negative?
by BurnTheShips in
1. jw
2. friends
it seems that growth just slows and slows.

http://home.zonnet.nl/rsingelenberg/web-images/graphs/stats_05/annualgrowth_05.htm i suspect if it was not for hispanic immigration the us would have been negative for a long time now!

i go to a spanish congregation and i hear the english bros always say how there is no growth any more.
2
Latest statistics off of JWfacts.com
by BurnTheShips in
1. jw
2. friends
no wonder they are doing such a big campaign push with the new kingdom news tract 37. http://jwfacts.com/index_files/statistics.htm

burntheships-desperately trying to find a way to get out of passing this rag around.
43
Last talk at the District Convention
by BurnTheShips in
1. jw
2. friends
first post here.

a full fledged ms in the borg in south florida usa!

yep, you got a live one here!