Its not a requirement, but frankly, I don't see the big deal. Its the only thing they celebrate. So why not put some heart into it? No birthdays, St-Valentine, {country}’s day, veteran day, Halloween, thanks giving, Christmas, new years eve, new years day, virtually nothing else but their “memorial”. Even if we don’t agree with the procedure, I see nothing wrong in putting a lot of efforts into it.
StephaneLaliberte
JoinedPosts by StephaneLaliberte
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33
Memorial Prep question
by ExCircuitOverseer inso are individual witnesses being told to prepare bread and have wine on hand for the zoom memorial?
are they saying it’s “vital” or is it just a “suggestion?” .
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34
Colorado Mass Shooting
by Simon interrible news out of colorado this morning of a mass shooting in a supermarket leaving 10 dead.. missing from the homepage of cnn is any description of the shooter.
that's because it's a muslim refugee from syria who was apparently anti-trump and not a "maga white guy" which would otherwise be included in every headline.. more kids in cages than ever before (but strangely, now no one in the media seems to care) and now this.. biden doesn't have the magic wand he promised after all, right?.
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StephaneLaliberte
Muslims follow a hate filled religious code. That is that. I think that very few if any Muslims are really peaceful.
There are close to 2 billion Muslims in the world. That's 1 in 4 humans on the planet. I doubt that hate actually extends to all these people that come from different background and cultures. You're logic could equally apply to the Christians as a whole who are also plagued by violent, terrorist sub groups of their own.
The problem with the media is that they often seem to ignore the violent terrorist sub groups when they originate from minorities and make a big firework show when its a white/Christian.
The fact that the media is bias doesn't mean that we need to lean on the complete opposite of the spectrum and make broad sweeping statements on a 1/4 of humanity.
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34
Colorado Mass Shooting
by Simon interrible news out of colorado this morning of a mass shooting in a supermarket leaving 10 dead.. missing from the homepage of cnn is any description of the shooter.
that's because it's a muslim refugee from syria who was apparently anti-trump and not a "maga white guy" which would otherwise be included in every headline.. more kids in cages than ever before (but strangely, now no one in the media seems to care) and now this.. biden doesn't have the magic wand he promised after all, right?.
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StephaneLaliberte
It's a distraction to avoid talking about the ethnicity and motivations of the attacker.
As we are often unable to face the real issues, we often resort to placing the attackers in "convenient" groups.
- He's white kid that shot other kids? Must've been bullied.
- He's an Arab shooting down white people? Must've been influenced by terrorists.
- He's a white shooting Arab's? He's a white supremacist.
- He's shooting just about anything he could shoot? He's a nut job.
Placing people in groups like that make us feel a bit more in control of what happened cause we can try to take actions to prevent these things by targeting these groups.
- Bullied? Let's prevent bullying
- Terrorist? Let's limit immigration further and enforce police/government monitoring
- Supremacist? Let's provide more education to "de-program" them
- Nuts? Lets pass laws that prevent the nut jobs from owning guns.
Reality is far from being this simple and by placing these people into "convenient' groups, we are not getting any closer to preventing such situations.
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66
Watchtower fined in Belgium
by Vanderhoven7 injehovah's witnesses in belgium have to pay €12k fine for shunning policy.
news.
you have probably heard of the trial going on in belgium about the shunning policy of jws.
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StephaneLaliberte
becoming a JW is a voluntary association.
I don't think people who sign up to become JWs truly understand what shunning is all about. Sure, they certainly mention it, but never really go into the details, or when they do, they do it so briefly that it is difficult to grasp its true nature.
They make it sound like the people being disfellowshipped are truly bad people, on par with murderers, adulterers, violent alcoholics and lying deceitful cunning sinners that actively want to harm you. They make it sound like a good thing, for your protection! They dehumanize them. As for the others, well, its only a brief temporary disciplinary measure; they’ll be back in a year or so.
Newcomers generally fail to grasp that disfellowshipping is not about the sin, its about the adherence to the group membership. Consider that many people get disfellowshipped for some sin they eventually stop practicing, and yet, their shunning continues to the end of their lives. They are not shunned because of what they did, they are shunned because they did not try to get back into the group. And so, the group simply takes the position that the person must still be actively practicing some sin or another. For instance, think of all the young ones who got disfellowshipped for practicing fornication and have since married; yet, they remain shunned by their family.
We can also doubt that new commers grasp the following possibilities: When you get baptized today, you agree with several teachings and practices that will change over the years to come. You may not agree with some of those changes and refuse to remain a JW. Or perhaps, as you study into greater depth the history of your religion and the basis of its teachings, you may choose to leave the group. Then again, you will be treated as a relentless sinner, a perpetual evil doer and loose contact with all of your JWs connections (friends and family).
Absurd situations like these will happen because all these people will not have the right to make this assessment for themselves, or to review their position over time. They are ordered by their religion to do this and as a result, the majority of them entirely avoid the process of thinking and considering the matter; there is no options, only the one that is ordered.
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Do You Get Easily Offended By What People Do or Don’t Do?
by minimus indoes using uncle ben’s food products offend you?.
are you offended if you see a flag?
what about a confederate flag?.
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StephaneLaliberte
Quite frankly, I'm starting to be offended by all the people that feel offended. The topic of genders, races, sex preferences, discrimination, etc is starting to get on my nerve. There's no escape from it. Its in the news, the radio, all over facebook, on this site, and even in mandatory training from the company where I work! I'm fed up with that topic.
Can we just live in piece???!!!!
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50
Prove That Jehovah’s Witnesses Do Not Have The “Truth”
by minimus insomeone is researching jehovah’s witnesses.
they happen to come on to this site.
do the witnesses have the truth??.
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StephaneLaliberte
They are the ones making the claim, they should be the ones to prove it. Its like someone asking: Prove that a tea pot is not orbiting around the earth. Wouldn't it make sense for the burden of proof to be placed on the one making the claim in the first place?
Nevertheless, here are some reasons I can think of :
- JWs don't practice forgiveness in a Christian manner. For instance, a women is disfellowshiped for fornication; then marries to fix the situation. She will remain disfellowshipped until she follows several man made rules. In the meantime, she will be treated the same as someone God hates. Logically, the moment she says "I DO" should be it.
- They judge people excessively. They will shun people for smoking, voting, celebrating birthdays. If they stop to think about Jesus' teachings, it is excessive.
- They made prophecies that have not come to be true. They try to weasel they're way out of it playing with words, but the bottom line is: They made assertions claiming to be God's teachings and they failed.
- They conceal and lie about their history. Anyone who talks a bit too long on their troubled past and teachings will be considered apostates or spiritually weak at best.
- They teach that God, who loved humanity so much that he gave his only son, will soon come to destroy its greater majority, a majority who never heard their message!
- A group of man demand the same authority as Mosses and other prophets in the past had while claiming NOT to be inspired. You cannot have it both ways.
- JWs don't practice forgiveness in a Christian manner. For instance, a women is disfellowshiped for fornication; then marries to fix the situation. She will remain disfellowshipped until she follows several man made rules. In the meantime, she will be treated the same as someone God hates. Logically, the moment she says "I DO" should be it.
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Was the latest letter about not having unauthorized studies announced yet to the congregation today is 3-18-21
by goingthruthemotions ini am just curios if the letter about not having unauthorized studies has been announced yet to the congregation?.
i am just wondering if it will opens anyone's eyes.
i sure hope it does.
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StephaneLaliberte
I remember there was a ministry article that went along the same lines right around the time I became PIMO. if you have the truth, no matter how you look at it, from which ever angle, it will still be the truth. That kind of rule is obvious fear of loosing control over people that don't have a firm grip on reality.
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When You Were A Witness Did You Believe Everything Taught?
by minimus inobviously at some point you stopped believing the witnesses had the truth or else you wouldn’t be here.
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but for the most part, were you a true believer or were you typically a rebel or a doubter?
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StephaneLaliberte
First time I disagreed with the WT teachings was in the revelation book we studied when I was 9 (1988). There was a bit on conventions in the states that accomplished the prophecy of the trumpets and I felt they were incredibly self-centered and boastful to make a claim like that. Then, as the years progressed, I never fully believed the prophecies based on dates. A lot of people around me got disfellowshipped for that and I perceived it as a weakness to believe the “dates” to the commas and periods.
When I was old enough, I had a conversation with an elder who asked me why I didn't want to be a ministerial servant. I explained that I could not, in good conscience, teach things I doubted. He advised me to "wait on Jehovah". That many things he personally disagreed with were eventually fixed on Jehovah's schedule. In the meantime, people came to the meetings, not to hear what we personally believe but what the faithful slave is teaching. So, when we’re on that podium, we may, from time to time, need the humility to teach things we don’t agree with.
That explanation appeared valid to me, and yet, I could never really shake off the idea that I needed to believe things in order to teach them. So, even though I stayed in for another 15 years or so, I never was able to become a ministerial servant. And as the years went by, I did notice many brothers who were teaching in some capacity or another seemed to be following that advise.
The breaking point was when I was supposed to teach these things to my kids… unable to do that, my family and I faded out.
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66
Watchtower fined in Belgium
by Vanderhoven7 injehovah's witnesses in belgium have to pay €12k fine for shunning policy.
news.
you have probably heard of the trial going on in belgium about the shunning policy of jws.
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StephaneLaliberte
what other religious beliefs or practices might state legislation prohibit?
Anything that is abusive, violent, or causes harm to others. That's not too difficult. Do we accept stoning? Or cutting your hand if you steal something? Or do we accept the concept that a women might be owned by any man? Of course not. You want to wear a cross or a head covering? Go ahead! But black mailing people through organized shunning is clearly abusive.
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66
Watchtower fined in Belgium
by Vanderhoven7 injehovah's witnesses in belgium have to pay €12k fine for shunning policy.
news.
you have probably heard of the trial going on in belgium about the shunning policy of jws.
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StephaneLaliberte
The basic situation is this:
Some religions/cults are actively abusing their members by breaking apart their family and social circle. What ever the legal arguments and path to make it punishable, religions are presently orchestrating the emotional abuse of thousands of people and this needs to stop.
Now, I understand that the legal systems is not easy, but it doesn't mean that it can't do anything about it. I believe this type of judgement is a step in the right direction.