the horrific scenes from se asia we have seen on tv over the past week will have an effect one way or another on many jws.
yes, the hardliners will see this as a part of the prelude to armageddon; "famine and earthquakes in various places".
(mat 24) this sort mentally dismisses the unequalled loss of human life, reasoning that most of these would have died at armageddon anyway.
Hi WildHorses,
I think that was partly my point. JWs will reason these people will be resurrected. But if Armageddon came tomorrow, then presumably all their surviving friends and relatives would perish. Jehovah will use the natural elements to destroy people at Armageddon but in the meantime people perishing in natural disasters may be ressurected. No logic at all.
Eyeslice
the original figures are in pounds () stirling.
i have also approximated them into us dollars.
these are as appeared in today's times:.
I am not so sure that who's pledged what is the real issue here.
I think the facts and figures go to prove that the majority of people are basically decent and good. If anything good at all has come of the terrible event, it is that it has united the world in grief and concern. It has shown people can dig deep if necessary.
Eyeslice
that you may prove yourselves sons of your father who is in the heavens, since he makes his sun rise upon wicked people and good and makes it rain upon righteous people and unrighteous.
for if you love those loving you, what reward do you have?
are not also the tax collectors doing the same thing?
No. There is a caveat to this, unless they see it as an opportunity to make a convert.
Eyeslice
the horrific scenes from se asia we have seen on tv over the past week will have an effect one way or another on many jws.
yes, the hardliners will see this as a part of the prelude to armageddon; "famine and earthquakes in various places".
(mat 24) this sort mentally dismisses the unequalled loss of human life, reasoning that most of these would have died at armageddon anyway.
The horrific scenes from SE Asia we have seen on TV over the past week will have an effect one way or another on many JWs.
Yes, the hardliners will see this as a part of the prelude to Armageddon; "famine and earthquakes in various places". (Mat 24) This sort mentally dismisses the unequalled loss of human life, reasoning that most of these would have died at Armageddon anyway. Hence, they rejoice that only one or two brothers and sisters lost their lives, failing to grasp the magnitude of the disaster.
On the other hand, I know that many sincere JWs are genuinely upset and saddened by what they have seen. Surely, these are intelligent enough to realize that God is not going to destroy 6 billion people in an Armageddon that would be a thousand times more devastating.
The Armageddon message is going to be a difficult one to sell to the public over the next year, and I can see many JWs slowing down and beginning to ask some searching questions relating to this disaster.
Eyeslice
for those of you who haven't read a previous discussion on why the watchtower hasn't mentioned anything on their website regarding the tragedy in south east asia, check out the following link... .
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/82640/1.ashx.
started by germanxjw... to whatever religion's website you surf, all have a comment on the tsunami in south asia: be it catholic, protestant, adventist, mormon, new apostolic or whatever.
Many of us here would have been staunch supporters of the WTB&TS at one time.
However, I cannot see how I could have possibly defended such a pathetic Jan 01 news release, given that in the last week, we have witnesses perhaps the greatest natural disaster of our time. Not even a passing mention of the victims.
http://www.cofe.anglican.org/ - Church of England
http://www.mcb.org.uk/ - Muslim Council of Britain
Eyeslice
just had this garabge in my e-mail from a sister.
this report is not verified.
yet if true, our prayers go out to.
A few thoughts;
Eyeslice
.
i've read a few very interesting stories about people's experiences when they decided to purchase coc.i'd like to share mine and read yours also.. in 1999,not long after we purchased our first computer i started reading material about jw's.before long,i got really interested in the ray franz story because even up here in northern ontario,i had heard about the apostasy of 1980.in the fall of '99 my wife decide to take a college course(bucking the jw trend),and she would stay at her sister's place during the week.one day i called a christian book store to see if they could get me this book.i was very nervous,changed my name and i wouldn't give them my phone number.i told them i'd call back in a few weeks to make sure they had it before i went in to pick it up.. when the day came,i picked up my courage by two hands and took off for my 40 mile drive to get my book.the book store is located in a small shopping mall,which had me really nervous that another jw might see me going in or out of the store.i walked in the mall looking around,making sure there was nobody in sight that i knew.when i walked in the store,i had cash ready in my hands,walked up to the counter,gave my fake name and the book i was purchasing.now i just had to walk and make it to the car and i was home free.. i know buying a book isn't that hard,i do it all the time,but at that time the implicationsof having this book in my possesion was tremendous.. anyways,it's been 5 1/2 years and still nobody here knows.the book has really opened my eyes and mind to the realities of the wts.i would definitely recommend this book to everyone here who has yet to read it.it's worth the effort to acquire it and will take away your fear of the watchdollar.
I read CoC a year or so back. It was an eye-opener for me and I sure that the sort of things Ray describes still goes on in Brooklyn Bethel.
Aside from the actual factual content, one of the most powerful things for me was that Ray's approach was free from anger and bitterness.
Eyeslice
Homme,
Is this a question or a complaint?
I always out my site name at the bottom - I think of it as being the equivalent to signing a letter or note.
Eyeslice
for education or just for fun?
usually i read for self-improvement-always trying to figure out why i am the way i am and stop it!
but sometimes i read just for fun.
Paulo Coelho's '11 Minutes'.
Eleven Minutes tells the story of young Maria living an innocent life in a Brazilian village and is played out in a measured fashion, but with all the author's brilliant scene-setting (very lush here) fully in place. But then Maria experiences love and suffers great pain. From this point, Coelho has us inexorably in his grip. Maria's disillusionment with love leads her to Geneva where she finally ends up selling her body (Coelho may offer us the beauty of life, but never at the expense of its harshness). Maria's approach to sex is complex--this is no mere revulsion arising from what she is now doing with her life. And then she meets a seductive young painter, who may or may not offer her a new path in life. But does she prefer to continue on the dark sexual odyssey she has embarked on, at the expense of real love?
Coehlo is an inspiring writer and as with all of Coelho's work, he manages to find humanity by showing us that even (and I don't mean that in derogatory sense) prostitutes are real people with real emotions and needs.
Eyeslice
omg!
what a dream i had last night!
in it, we had discovered a plot by the governing body to hasten armageddon.
Sounds like you should write a WTB&TS sequel to Dan Brown's 'The Da Vinci Code'.
Synopsis from AmazonIt appears that the clandestine Vatican-sanctioned Catholic sect Opus Dei has now made its move. Unless Landon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine code and quickly assemble the pieces of the puzzle, the Priory's secret - and a stunning historical truth - will be lost forever.
Eyeslice
