eyeslice

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Posts by eyeslice

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  35

  Do You Believe In "God"?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know many people simply think that believing in a "god" is simply ridiculous.

  i don't.

  i can't necessarily "prove" that god cares, or that god exists but i'll tell you what---when something awful happens i do pray to god and hope for the best..

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  eyeslice

  Yes - I still do.

  I no longer believe, however, that the spirtual journey to find God is as simple as we were taught as Jehovah's Witnesses.
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  298

  Why is the US so afraid of Social Health Care?

  by eyeslice in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just don't get why the us is so afraid of social health care, and is so opposed to the canadian and british models.

  the plain fact is that there are far more americans without access to health care than the combined populations of sweden, norway, denmark and finland.. a measure of the maturity of any society has to be how it sees fit to re-apportion its wealth.. we are quick to criticise african leaders who line their own pockets but leave the masses in poverty but cannot see that blindly following capitalist principles is much the same.

  if we live in a wealthy society then part of that wealth has to be put back into society as a whole.. .

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  eyeslice

  I just don't get why the US is so afraid of social health care, and is so opposed to the Canadian and British models. The plain fact is that there are far more Americans without access to health care than the combined populations of Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.

  A measure of the maturity of any society has to be how it sees fit to re-apportion its wealth.

  We are quick to criticise African leaders who line their own pockets but leave the masses in poverty but cannot see that blindly following capitalist principles is much the same. If we live in a wealthy society then part of that wealth has to be put back into society as a whole.

  Most of us here at some time in our lives regarded ourselves as Christians in one form or another, so surely we must still value the ideals of social justice and caring for the less fortunate. We haven't yet become heartless cynics have we?
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  61

  What the Family Worship Evening Arrangement Really Entails

  by cantleave in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as most people here know the combined book study allows an evening for "family worship".. the co visits march - august 2009 is really focussing on this.

  if a jdub family head doesn't do a full evening of family worship and uses this time to do recreational activities he is as guilty as isrealite who didn't use the sabbath for worship.

  the result, will of course be same as the unfaithful isrealite, death!!!!!!!!!

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  eyeslice

  cantleave - I agree with your speculation that it won't be long before there is some sort of schedule for the fanily worship evening. That would be certainly one way round the problem. Perhaps they would outline most of the items and then have a 'special needs' item like in the service meeting. I also agree with your observations about elders not studying with their families. When I was an elder I always tried to lead by example but sad to say this wasn't always the case with other elders.
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  53

  When will they realise that the bus isn't coming?

  by eyeslice in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was still a kid and living at home at the time, and so that must have been well over 30 years ago, that i heard ron drage (now a senior member of the uk bethel) say "if you are waiting at the bus stop it, is better to be 10 minutes early rather than miss it".

  what he was referring to of course was the then then 1975 issue; in other words armageddon has arrived yet but it just round the corner and we are a little early for it.. i don't know what brought this to my mind the other day but i got to thinking, surely if you are waiting for a bus and you get there 10 minutes early and it doesn't then turn up, how long do you wait?

  10 minutes, 15 minutes, half an hour, an hour, two hours?

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  eyeslice

  I think that Lady Lee makes a good point. Many have spent so long that they don't/can't give up now. I do detect a certain sadness and sense of frustration amoungst the old-timers, my mom and dad included, that they don't seem the end coming in their life-time.
  
  If the leadership had the courage to say we simply don't know, to lessen the emphasis on the 'preaching work' and move more towards being far more charitable and Christian, may be I would still be in. But as it is, I cannot see that they are anywhere near being on theright spiritual path.

  PS Just read Siddartha by Herman Hesse - a great parable of one man's search for his own spiritual path
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  53

  When will they realise that the bus isn't coming?

  by eyeslice in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was still a kid and living at home at the time, and so that must have been well over 30 years ago, that i heard ron drage (now a senior member of the uk bethel) say "if you are waiting at the bus stop it, is better to be 10 minutes early rather than miss it".

  what he was referring to of course was the then then 1975 issue; in other words armageddon has arrived yet but it just round the corner and we are a little early for it.. i don't know what brought this to my mind the other day but i got to thinking, surely if you are waiting for a bus and you get there 10 minutes early and it doesn't then turn up, how long do you wait?

  10 minutes, 15 minutes, half an hour, an hour, two hours?

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  eyeslice

  I was still a kid and living at home at the time, and so that must have been well over 30 years ago, that I heard Ron Drage (now a senior member of the UK Bethel) say "if you are waiting at the bus stop it, is better to be 10 minutes early rather than miss it". What he was referring to of course was the then then 1975 issue; in other words Armageddon has arrived yet but it just round the corner and we are a little early for it.

  I don't know what brought this to my mind the other day but I got to thinking, surely if you are waiting for a bus and you get there 10 minutes early and it doesn't then turn up, how long do you wait? 10 minutes, 15 minutes, half an hour, an hour, two hours? At some point surely you realise "this bus isn't coming". Then any reasonable person would start to think about making other arrangements. Perhaps I should walk, perhaps I should look for an alternative form of transport.

  I have been out for 5 or 6 years now but I still believe that life is a spiritual journey. I am no longer sure what exactly what this journey is or indeed what real spirituality is. On the positive side though, I am no longer just waiting at the bus stop wondering. I have decided to walk; I am not sure how or where it will lead me but I am least moving on.
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  61

  What the Family Worship Evening Arrangement Really Entails

  by cantleave in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as most people here know the combined book study allows an evening for "family worship".. the co visits march - august 2009 is really focussing on this.

  if a jdub family head doesn't do a full evening of family worship and uses this time to do recreational activities he is as guilty as isrealite who didn't use the sabbath for worship.

  the result, will of course be same as the unfaithful isrealite, death!!!!!!!!!

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  eyeslice

  Personally, I think they will find this whole Family Worship Evening to be a total disaster.

  The fundamental problem is that majority of family heads are not good teachers. Just think about the general quality of teaching/speakers in the Ministry School. Generally, the handful of good teachers rise through the ranks to become elders (though even amoungst elders the general standards are not high) and these are the ones who lead the meetings. The majority of people I have spoken to hated the old 'family study' arrangement; most found it tedious, boring and unexciting.

  At least with old bookstudy arrangement if you had a good conductor it could be interesting and fun and there was an opportunity for a coffee, biscuit and chat afterwards.
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  2

  Any one for cricket?

  by eyeslice in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it's the world's greatest game; played by the english gentry and kids in every slum in the indian sub-continent.. but like peanut butter and marmite, you either love it or can't see what others see in it!.

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  eyeslice

  That's the mystery of test cricket - a single game (a test match) can be played for up to 5 days - and there still be no winner!
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  18

  Wife attending DC today.....

  by insearchoftruth in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  my wife is attending the dc today.

  i know she will be all dubbed up when she gets home tonight and i was wondering if there are any comments or questions i can ask or is there anything i should be ready to respond to based on her attending.

  i know that the theme is "keep on the watch", i have listened to the audio that auntbee so kindly provided and from what it seems to me, they are merely driving home the point that folks need to be more faithful in there service because even though we do not know when the end it, it is so very very close.

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  eyeslice

  My wife attended the assembly last weekend - and I attended it with her!

  Though I no longer have any association with the congregation I do attend the Circuit and District assemblies in order to support her.
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  26

  "Special" campaigns a cause of JW malaise?

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  one of the principal problems the wts has is, how do they motivate the rank & file witnesses to do more in the preaching work?.

  over the past 3-4 years, one thing they have tried is a series of "special" field service campaigns.

  two or three times a year, there is a concerted effort made to cover all the congregation's territory with district convention invitations, memorial invitations, "special" tracts, etc.. but, in effect, with these special campaigns comes along a subliminal message that the society expects, indeed demands, that it will be a colossal failure.. for example, consider the campaign to invite the public to the district convention.

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  eyeslice

  I think that most Witnesses would agree with the comments here. In my experience these campaigns stir up very little enthusiasm anyway.
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  14

  Watchtower Society greedily steals Witness Tsunami relief fund...Sick!

  by Witness 007 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  just after the tsunami brothers donated millions in relief funds, marked "for the tsunami victims"....not realizing few brothers lived in these muslim areas.

  problem is the society wanted this money for itself so..... kingdom ministry nov 2005 {11 months after tsunami} "last year brothers donated towards those effected by the tsunami disaster...however, when donations are earmarked for certain disasters it is...to use these funds only as specified by the donor {so what?

  } and within a certain period of time, whether the needs of the brothers have been cared for locally or not.

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  eyeslice

  I am sure that many of us would still be in if they were truly a humanitarian organisation.

  There is lots of talk about down-sizing but no talk about building up any humanitarian efforts. There is nothing this organization could not do if they had the will but the hard fact is that they cannot see beyond the door to door ministry and printing and distributing of literature and all that goes with it.

  Are they truely greedy? Perhaps not, but they are totally mis-guided with regard to the love of God.