Posts by Doug Mason

15

Help needed with some research

by Doug Mason in

i was reading the wts 2103 brochure "how can you have a happy life?".

in section 3, it relies on "professor george zinsmeister, formerly of the university of massachusetts".. at: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/jehovahs_witnesses_coming_to_a.html.

i located reference to:.

Help needed with some research

by Doug Mason in

i was reading the wts 2103 brochure "how can you have a happy life?".

in section 3, it relies on "professor george zinsmeister, formerly of the university of massachusetts".. at: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/jehovahs_witnesses_coming_to_a.html.

i located reference to:.

Doug Mason

Riley,

I simply put my stuff on my web site.

If anyone wants to make a donation, I suggest they go to their nearest blood transfusion service where their gift will give hope and life.

Doug

15

Help needed with some research

by Doug Mason in

i was reading the wts 2103 brochure "how can you have a happy life?".

in section 3, it relies on "professor george zinsmeister, formerly of the university of massachusetts".. at: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/jehovahs_witnesses_coming_to_a.html.

i located reference to:.

Doug Mason

Apologies for my slow old excuse for a brain. The answer was there all the time in front of my eyes.

The brochure says that the Professor "believes in God", which I take to be code for "is one of us". Who else on this planet "believes in God" apart from JWs?

Doug

15

Help needed with some research

by Doug Mason in

i was reading the wts 2103 brochure "how can you have a happy life?".

in section 3, it relies on "professor george zinsmeister, formerly of the university of massachusetts".. at: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/jehovahs_witnesses_coming_to_a.html.

i located reference to:.

Doug Mason

L3G,

Thanks for your support and help.

I am looking at the WTS's 2013 brochure "How Can You Have a Happy Life?" (My suggestions would make the WTS leaders decidely unhappy.) I am considering a range of areas presented in that booklet.

Our man George is presented immediately after this subheading:"How do we even know that there is a Creator?"

George is then written up as saying that he "believes in God and answers this question in a single word - entropy. He is referring to what scientists term 'the second law of thermodynamics.' "

Research at archive.org reveals that he worked in "heat transfer in composite materials".

In the overall scheme of things, George plays a most tiny part in my analysis of that brochure. Possible worth only two sentences out of many pages of notes. But that's the nature of research and investigation.

It's more an issue of the WTS failing to be completely honest, and open.

Any thoughts on the brochure are glady accepted.

Doug

15

Help needed with some research

by Doug Mason in

i was reading the wts 2103 brochure "how can you have a happy life?".

in section 3, it relies on "professor george zinsmeister, formerly of the university of massachusetts".. at: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/jehovahs_witnesses_coming_to_a.html.

i located reference to:.

Doug Mason

Riley,

My assumption is that this guy has reached retiring age. The WTS booklet says he is "formerly" of the Uni, so I have no email address to reference. I see a mention of a George Zinsmeister of Sunderland, Massachusetts in the obituary for a JW lady in New York (she might have been his mother-in-law):

http://hosting-5049.tributes.com/show/Doris-M.-Cantoni-88275629

If George has written a book, I would be able to contact him through his publisher; I have used this tactic several times, with success. I have emailed a newspaper reporter and I am hoping to receive a reply.

Thank you for your kind words.

Doug

15

Help needed with some research

by Doug Mason in

i was reading the wts 2103 brochure "how can you have a happy life?".

in section 3, it relies on "professor george zinsmeister, formerly of the university of massachusetts".. at: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/jehovahs_witnesses_coming_to_a.html.

i located reference to:.

Doug Mason

Thanks, blondie!

I will keep note of them.

Doug

15

Help needed with some research

by Doug Mason in

i was reading the wts 2103 brochure "how can you have a happy life?".

in section 3, it relies on "professor george zinsmeister, formerly of the university of massachusetts".. at: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/jehovahs_witnesses_coming_to_a.html.

i located reference to:.

Doug Mason

I was reading the WTS 2103 brochure "How Can You Have a Happy Life?". In Section 3, it relies on "Professor George Zinsmeister, formerly of the University of Massachusetts".

At: http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/jehovahs_witnesses_coming_to_a.html

I located reference to:

"George Zinsmeister of Sunderland, an elder of the Amherst congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses" arranging a meeting for them (June 22, 2012) at the University of Massachusetts.

Is anyone able to tell me if this "Professor George Zinsmeister" referenced in the WTS brochure is the JW Elder mentioned in the news article?

I have no interest in any communication with him; I simply want to know if the WTS has resorted to using one of its own as an authority (probably because it could not find another, particularly a Jewish source - given the intention of the brochure). I do not have a clue about US geography.

Doug

9

Ironic: g73 2/8 p. 4 The Wisdom of Admitting a Mistake

by 4thgen in

what ya all think about this?

of course, admitting we made a mistake is the right, honest and decent thing to do.

it is also the course of wisdom.

Doug Mason

" It is a serious matter to represent God and Christ in one way, then find that our understanding of the major teachings and fundamental doctrines of the Scriptures was in error, and then after that, to go back to the very doctrines that, by years of study, we had thoroughly determined to be in error. Christians cannot be vacillating—‘wishy-washy’—about such fundamental teachings. What confidence can one put in the sincerity or judgment of such persons? " (Watchtower, May 15, 1976, page 298)

3

WBATS APPLICATION OF THE BIBLE AND SCRIPTURES...

by ADJUSTMENTS in

it seems the wt publications and study articles, as the one used for today's meeting, literally and directly try and apply bible accounts to us today.

as if the bible is directly talking about jws and only jws, and how they are to live and serve god.

it seems to me the wbats tweak words, scriptures (always wondered why we would read only the b part of a scripture?

Doug Mason

Each Bible writer was addressing their own immediate community, using their concepts, their idioms, their culture, their political ambitions. They were not writing to or for a future generation, let alone one that would exist 2000 years later - and more. Therefore to comprehend what they were writing, it is critically important to fully understand the times, the culture, the politics of the times when each piece was written.

Since they wrote on perishable material, their writings had to be continually copied. When this happened, the copyist edited the material to make it suit his understanding, making it relevant to the time when he was living. Thus changes were deliberately made as well as accidentally introduced. This process continued from generation to generation.

The Bible writings are the records of humans; it is not the "word of God". So the WTS is simply repeating the unacceptable practices of their predecessors. But why does the WTS accept the Bible when it denigrates the people who decided which books would be used to make the Bible? It's like saying that I reject Islam but I fully accept the Qu'ran.

No Bible writer, including the writer of Revelation, was writing to a future generation. What would be the point of Jesus going around Galilee preaching to the people about the "kingdom" when he was actually talking to people who would be living 2000 years later. Why tell those people repeatedly about the kingdom when it was not relevant to their times? That would be totally meaningless to them. If Jesus wanted to talk to people today, he would do so.

Doug

48

Talking with a nonbeliever...

by suavojr in

in my search for the truth and the burning desire to become free from all forms of dogma and wishful thinking.

i have approached my first crossroads in my life, should i continue to believe in a god or not?.

currently i am leaning toward agnosticism, but all the suffering in the world, all the loss and pain in my own life makes it hard for me to simply let go of the idea and hope that at the end justice will prevail, that one day god can make it all good.. .

Doug Mason

suavojr,

I have travelled the road you describe.

Remain true to yourself; respect the right of others to their beliefs, and ask for the same in return. Break free from the regimentation imposed by religious leaders; recognise that all wriitngs, including the Bible, are the imaginings and assumptions of men and women.

Theology, eschatology, soteriology are interesting but nothing more. It does not matter what you think of God - every believer has a different idea anyway - what matters is that if there is a God, what she/he/it thinks of you.

Do good to others, be satisfied that during your life you have made a contribution to someone.

Go outside and hear the birds, smell the flowers, marvel at nature, the clouds, the real things that matter.

As I said, I have travelled the journey you speak of. There is the desire to dip the toe in the water but to hang on to the land. I have gone from rabid believer to agnostic, probably verging as an atheist. I have survived the journey, just as you shall.

Know with complete confidence that the feared Armagedon and the Divine "Coming" will not take place.

I wish you freedom - freedom from religion, from the pressures of religionists, freedom from people who want you to feel guilty. Break out.

Doug