quietlyleaving

Joined

• started 23 topics
• posted 2,961 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by quietlyleaving

• 
  40

  Proof Jehovah's Witnesses have been declining for nearly 20 years? (At least in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand)

  by slimboyfat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  see the tables on pages 124 and 125 of this book:.

  http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=mtw90ykkb3gc&oi=fnd&pg=pa117&dq=scientology+jehovah%27s+stark&ots=0-yvd6jk_o&sig=vualoe-l3bxezaqktnbfhpsdj8u#v=onepage&q=scientology%20jehovah's%20stark&f=false.

  admittedly these statistics don't measure the same thing official watchtower statistics do (i.e.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  quietlyleaving

  nice to see unitarians and pagans doing so well - most of us seem to head that way too
• 
  106

  Russian JWs in Serious Trouble - about to be banned

  by Dogpatch in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  although it has been leading up to this for a long time, it appears russia has made up their mind to get rid of "extremist" groups by banning them, and jws are pretty much at the top of the list.

  the last few years under putin they have been giving them heaps of trouble.. .

  i am not for bans as it usually backfires, but under the "new" admnistration it looks like hard-core responses are in order.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  quietlyleaving

  JWs do have a choice - they can modify their message instead of being so provocative
• 
  88

  What do you make of the Alpha Course?

  by boyzone in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've recently been invited to attend an alpha course at my local baptist church and for the last 2 weeks i've gone along.

  its all been very amiable and pleasant until this week.

  the subject was "why and how should i pray?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  quietlyleaving

  Jesus was led by holy spirit into the wilderness and he was tempted there for 40 days and forty nights. He didn't try to evade the situation

  edit: hope this helps - metaphorically speaking that is
• 
  6

  I'm now a proud blood giver!

  by Newborn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  go figure!!!???.

  i'm happy to be able to help people in this small way.

  /newborn.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  quietlyleaving

  congratulations
• 
  71

  Graph from Dec 15 09 Wt on How to Apportion Your Time to Remain Joyful. Crazy....

  by Hopscotch in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  here is a scan from the dec 15 09 wt (study ed) with a graph of how a witness should apportion their time to remain joyful.. .

  so according to this graph, to remain joyful a witness should spend 3 times as much of his waking hours in 'theocratic activities' as he should in secular work!

  hopscotch.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  quietlyleaving

  the chart makes more sense if you also consider the vertical height of each wedge - this would put recreation and entertainment on a par with work, and just below family care and responsibilities . However spritiual activites (time devoted to the WBTS) has 3 wedges, and althought their vertical height is lower than the others, taken together they minimise the rest of one's life.

  okay here is another way of looking at the chart

  we know how much time meetings take up per week - 3 1/2 hours. So based on this the other 2 wedges in the spritiual group could be 2 hours per week for ministry and 2 hours for personal study. That gives us 7 1/2 hours total for the week. On a daily basis this would give us just over an hour for JW related spiritual activities

  I'm assuing that work has to be allowed 8 hours per day

  family care has to include sleep so at a squeeze I'd say 12 hours per 24 hour period

  so far we have 21 hours leaving 3 hours per day for recreation and entertainment and travelling to and from work.

  lol In conclusion 1 hour per day for the WBTS doesn't seem too bad. (it always amazes me how they seem to undermine themselves).

  However even if taken like this, recreation and entertainment doesn't really figure and there is no time for the internet
• 
  88

  What do you make of the Alpha Course?

  by boyzone in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've recently been invited to attend an alpha course at my local baptist church and for the last 2 weeks i've gone along.

  its all been very amiable and pleasant until this week.

  the subject was "why and how should i pray?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  quietlyleaving

  I had started reading parts of the new testament when JWs knocked and I clearly remember thinking I wish someone would explain this to me (lol a bit like the eithopian eunuch). But the way I see it, sooner or later I'd have picked up a bible and sooner or later JWs would have knocked. The relationship between the two would have stood out to me even if there was no relationship.

  This also reminds me of my experience with a plumber.

  I found him in a local paper and after he'd fixed a leak he said "do you realise your pipes are made from different metals and your drinking water is slowly being poisoned. As you have children I'd advise you to install copper pipes and get rid of the old ones". I did not have the money to take up his offer. My children were small and fell ill quite a lot. I naturally connected this with the condition of my pipes and was very glad that he'd provided me with a reason for their many illnesses.

  About a year later I heard that this plumber made a nice living out of telling this story.

  But I hope I don't sound pessimistic or belittling because that is not my intention as I do believe that there are lots of opportunites waiting to happen and whatever does happen can lead to something rewarding.

  edit: re alpha courses - I almost attended one last year but didn't in the end.
• 
  86

  Death: Friend or Foe?

  by Narkissos in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the jw and the (pseudo?

  )scientific "hopes" of individual "everlasting life" (which have been connected on a couple of recent threads) have at least something in common: they all seem to take for granted that death is a bad thing.. as amazing as it may be to you, this amazes me so much that i don't know even where to start.

  of course death hurts in reality when you lose people you love, or in imagination when you anticipate your own extinction.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  quietlyleaving

  I was just thinking about how we mark time. Isn't it by means of all the different things that happen to us and the world we live in. When each day runs into the other with hardly any differences, then, imo we tend to lose track of time.

  hope that makes sense
• 
  24

  Lukemia Witness dies due to lack of blood.....the horrific sad story.

  by Witness 007 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the nicest 41 year old brother i have ever met in my life, kind and helpful to all, goes for a routine blood test and finds he has lukemia.

  everyone was in shock, he of course refused all blood products advised by doctors.

  his blood cell count dropped dramatically and he began to suffer alot.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  quietlyleaving

  sad
• 
  86

  Death: Friend or Foe?

  by Narkissos in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the jw and the (pseudo?

  )scientific "hopes" of individual "everlasting life" (which have been connected on a couple of recent threads) have at least something in common: they all seem to take for granted that death is a bad thing.. as amazing as it may be to you, this amazes me so much that i don't know even where to start.

  of course death hurts in reality when you lose people you love, or in imagination when you anticipate your own extinction.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  quietlyleaving

  has anyone here seen the film Surrogates. It depicts a futuristic world in which humans live in isolation and interact through their robots. It is based on Issac Asimov's I, Robot. In the film humans are too embarrassed to go out as themselves. The robots can be as beautiful and pristine reps of onself as one wants.
• 
  86

  Death: Friend or Foe?

  by Narkissos in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the jw and the (pseudo?

  )scientific "hopes" of individual "everlasting life" (which have been connected on a couple of recent threads) have at least something in common: they all seem to take for granted that death is a bad thing.. as amazing as it may be to you, this amazes me so much that i don't know even where to start.

  of course death hurts in reality when you lose people you love, or in imagination when you anticipate your own extinction.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  quietlyleaving

  Jesus died so others could live, (his life and death rightly has special significance) - but we all die so others can live. Death affirms life.

  Narkissos I'm reminded of one meaning of the word tragedy in ancient times - tragoidia τραγωιδια - song for the prize of a goat