Indeed. JWs regularly use the term "being in the truth". To the lurkers: think about this for a while, don't you agree it sounds silly? Yet this phrase is so engrained in the mind it's hard to get rid of. Takes a long time. The word "truth" is so emotionally overloaded... Actually within context of the organisation it doesn't really have any meaning. It just means you agree with and follow the Watchtower's lead.
Posts by nelim
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35Lurkers: A truth is either true, or it isn't. There is no in between.
by cappytan intruth is absolute.
there is no such thing as 2=1 or 1=2.. if one starts out with the equation 2=1, one has already failed.. truth = truth.
you cannot change whether something is truth or not.. when the organization teaches one thing as a truth (ex.
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15
A Linguistic Argument for the Existence of God
by konceptual99 inhttp://www.etsjets.org/files/jets-pdfs/58/58-4/jets_58-4_771-86_baumgardner&lyon.pdf.
my favourite "logical" progression.... we demonstrated that because meaning is non-material, linguistic expressions likewise must be non-material.
we further showed that there is no indication that matter can generate non-material meaning-bearing linguistic expressions.
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nelim
There is also a sort-of contradiction in this text. This:
We further showed that there is no indication that matter can generate non-material meaning-bearing linguistic expressions. Why should we expect that even to be possible, given that matter and meaning are in separate ontological realms?
and this:
It seems indisputable that the source of our thoughts and other language expressions is our mind.
Creating a fake paradox, and then the conclusion sounds to me like: "it seems like I have contradicted myself here, so therefore DNA origin must be God." LOL
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Elders, oh my God what a bunch of losers!
by Crazyguy inok i don't mean to put all of them into just one box so to speak, their are some that are smart successful etc.
but my god most of them are just wasted space, ignorant, no drive, horrible jobs, make nothing for income and the only thing in life they have going for them is this title.
no wonder so many will not wake up and hold on to this stupid cult, it's all they have.
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nelim
I also don't agree with elders having horrible jobs or "no drive". But I do feel the sentiment that most elders don't have a "drive" to really care for the people. Those are only a few. And even then the rules, the organization will always come first. What good is an elder crying with the family when someone has been DF'ed anyway? What good is compassion then? Are you then "doing the right thing"? No. Participating in evil is always bad, there is no excuse for it. But ex-elders who dropped the job and recognize the evil now don't have to feel bad about it either anymore now. What's done is done. -
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Revisions to the Faithful & Discreet Slave.
by Ben131895 inhttp://avoidjw.org/2015/12/revisions-faithful-discreet-slave/
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nelim
Thanks for the references, good work, very useful. I have a comment though. The June 2009 article says the GB represents the slave. That's not quite the same as the slave being the GB. The 2013 watchtower was more explicit about that, that was really a change. The 2009 watchtower said:
As a class, “the faithful and discreet slave” is one body, but as individuals, they have various work assignments.
Which suggests that somehow the GB and the remaining 144.000 function as "one body", but as the GB never consults the rest; the GB effectively is the slave alone. Splitting hairs here though. Confusing as hell, as always ;)
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Anthony Morris Says The Governing Body Is Not Dogmatic, But Simply Must Be Obeyed If You Want Jehovah's Blessing
by Brokeback Watchtower inwarning lots of compartmentalization going on, with huge leaps in logic and a whole lot of just beleive me because i say so.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhyfm-zikbq.
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nelim
Is this from Bethel morning worship?
I find most interesting why do they feel the need to even talk about this subject? It's a minefield for them. Either they are that stupid, or they feel the need to defend themselves, or ... I don't know, I am quite confused actually. He also doesn't sound very convincing, almost mumbling as if he realizes it doesn't make sense what he is saying but also afraid to face the facts so must believe it.
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Interesting video with direct quotes about failed prophecies
by stuckinarut2 inhttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c-stpnzh8yo
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nelim
Hmm a pity that a video needs to be paused to be usable. Wouldn't a web site or a blog article with a table or something not have been better?
The advantage of video is that you can more easily explain things graphically. E.g. draw a timeline with causes and effects. Visual you know...
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Statistics - Spreadsheets - Opinion
by berrygerry inso, spent a fair bit of time on the stats.. the 2010-2015 numbers are available here: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0bwv5uvzb3-67axpzavk0m0nttfe&usp=sharing.
also there are spreadsheets of: ratios, peak-pubs, and the best is a combo of ratios, peak pubs & average pubs.. you can play with these by "select all" and "sort" according to your preference.. if you would like any other combination, i would try to create it and post it for you.. of interest:.
as has been noted, the biggest standout of 2015 is the increase of only 18k in peak pubs while having 260k baptized.
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nelim
stuckinarut, baptisms alone have been fluctuating already, from 2001-2006 baptisms were barely above 250,000. -
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Statistics - Spreadsheets - Opinion
by berrygerry inso, spent a fair bit of time on the stats.. the 2010-2015 numbers are available here: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0bwv5uvzb3-67axpzavk0m0nttfe&usp=sharing.
also there are spreadsheets of: ratios, peak-pubs, and the best is a combo of ratios, peak pubs & average pubs.. you can play with these by "select all" and "sort" according to your preference.. if you would like any other combination, i would try to create it and post it for you.. of interest:.
as has been noted, the biggest standout of 2015 is the increase of only 18k in peak pubs while having 260k baptized.
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nelim
My guess is that there still is a "rebound" and a decline going on at the same time. The rebound is inactive or partially active JWs becoming (more) regularly active (fear due to ISIS, the Syria war, the big stream of refugees etc.). This rebound has been going on for a couple of years now since the economic depression (taken from jwfacts.com statistics page). This is why the average publishers is going up.
At the same time many JWs are fading/leaving, and there are so many that even though new people are coming in, just as many are exiting at the moment. This is why the peak is only such a little bit higher.
If this is true, then next year I expect also a standstill in average publishers growth, and after this a decline setting in. I hope things will settle a bit in the Middle East, and the economy will continue to pick up. So far not really convincing, people in general are still a negative about the future and therefore not spending much; delaying an economic boost.
I also noticed this year there still has been in increase in both spending and Bethelites. Spending increased about 5% ($224M to $236M). Evidently (pun intended!) the GB was still quite hopeful in their May broadcast, or they can't change direction as fast as they like. In that case this end year's news about the cuts should show next year. 2016 is going to be interesting year!
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New Light on the Choice of Mary as the Mother of Jesus
by Slidin Fast inthis interesting manuscript unearthed in nazareth throws up new information on this important subject.
who knew?
wow, i mean wow!.
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nelim
LOL! -
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Candace Conti Settles
by Nitty-Gritty inhot topic on topix seems to be candace conti settlement.
but it's all quiet here.
are you guys aware that your hero, who was not in it for the money but to change policies, settled without changing anything?
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nelim
For the record, WT policy already has changed with the Oct 2012 letter. Pedophiles are not allowed to go door-to-door anymore alone; elders have to take care they are assigned to work with someone else and are to be supervised.