i have a jw friend that i ran into about a month ago from my kh.
he is not going to the meetings.
i get to talk to him occasionally.
My answer is that the Pope is imperfect as well...give the guy the same slack you give your own people...why judge others then? They are all imperfect.
Ditto about the pedophiles. If Catholics are right to quit the Catholic Church in light of the pedophile scandals, then any thinking JW is right to cut all ties to an organization that not only admits it has a list of approximately 23,000 of them in the US alone, but also "settles", albeit with a gag order, eleven(?) or so cases in California...
for me, my life as a jehovah's witness was tiring, depressing & miserable.
surrounded by negativity i felt utterly supressed & unhappy.
to carry out my 'responsibilties' became very difficult.
So true! The thing is, while we were "in it" we didn't realize how unhappy we really were; now that we're out, we can't believe what we put up with all those years...life does indeed get better the longer you are OUT!
in doing research on this subject, i noticed that the society uses this fragment as a basis for the canon of the nt.
theevidenceofearlycatalogs.
a glance at the accompanying chart reveals that a number of fourth-century catalogs of the christian scriptures, dated prior to the above-mentioned council, agree exactly with our present canon, and some others omit only revelation.
Great thread!
Since it's over a year since we last attended a meeting, I wonder if the "All Scripture is Inspired" book is still being used at the Theocratic Ministry School? It was that very study "The Bible and its Canon" where it says something to the effect that the Roman Catholic Church takes credit for the canon of the Bible that started my research...
Anyhow, that book is a ticking time bomb. No wonder they haven't updated it yet - still using the 1990 revision (18 years old) and you can bet most of the quotes in it are even older yet (e.g. 1956). If they updated it and put in all the info regarding canonicity that has come to light since 1990 (but even before that date which they have purposely excluded, etc.), the JW world would see clearly that THE EMPORER HAS NO CLOTHES.
Which is why I always say that I believe in a God DESPITE THE BIBLE!
i honestly believe that the watch tower's insistence in silencing disent will eventually destroy it.
no one knows at this point how many doubters and closet apostates are still inside.
and the wt itself is unable to identify most of them.
Hiddenwindow:
I am with you! I give it to 2014 and that's being generous...there is far too much information out there for the Watchtower doomsday cult to carry on with their charade much past that date...there hasn't been a date for a few years now and you can already see the fallout...this religion NEEDS A DATE to continue and there isn't one...even the diehards are getting sick of the soon, soon, soon, soon, soon, soon, soon, soon, soon, ad nauseaum.
being a scotsman i find myself pround of the history of scotland.
however, there are many events that took place in scotland that are simply shameful.
consider the time period of 1500 - 1650 where in scotland over a 1,000 woman were burned at the stake accused of being a witch.
Ok, so I see I am definitely in the minority here...but I still believe THE END IS NIGH for the Tower despite all ye naysayers! Even mainstream religions are taking part in the exposing of the cult and its revisionist history so knowledge of its negative aspects is increasing.
The head honchos seem to be scrambling pretty bad already, what with donations down and soon to trickle dry in light of the current economic outlook WORLDWIDE. No charity to even its own members will look increasingly negative in view of the efforts even governments are currently undertaking to minimize the pain caused by the financial meltdown...More and more people are waking up to the dichotomy that is the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society...
They are a doomsday cult and if doomsday does not arrive before 2014, their very reason for existence will be moot. Hope I live long enough to see it!
being a scotsman i find myself pround of the history of scotland.
however, there are many events that took place in scotland that are simply shameful.
consider the time period of 1500 - 1650 where in scotland over a 1,000 woman were burned at the stake accused of being a witch.
Excito-are:
I have been thinking this very thing...I think the whole JW ideology is on its last legs...to die out before 2014...we are indeed in the days when "knowledge is abundant" as per Daniel(ha ha!); especially with the advent of the internet the flaws in the JW thinking are available for all to see...it is a house of cards ready to fall and I strongly suspect those at the helm are very much aware of the exact same thing but dare not reveal same to the rank and file...I believe we are very near the tipping point...good post!
could it be that the phrase "giants in those days" refer to men in high towers keeping guard and control over those within its city walls?.
could "giants" also refer to tryannical rulers; 'giants' being a euphemism for power and stature rather than a physical quality of height?.
could this tower of watchers be the origin of a prototype religion to usher in the end time changes and the last deception which entails a paradise earth?
Cameo d:
Thanks to this thread, the term Watch Tower now conjures up a completely different mental picture in my mind, namely a Tower built up of 'elder' men intent on watching (controlling) all in their domain, namely the r & f sheeples.
Somewhere on the first or second page of the Watchtower mag is a blurb stating that the magazine is so named to connote the watching of events in the world unfold as they supposedly fulfill Bible prophecy and relaying that info (to their minions), but in reality, they have been so poor in even making sense of world events as they relate to Bible prophecy (lol) that even in that sense, it is a misnomer...
dear and gentle readers,.
kindly apply the sweet words of our dear emily to why small deeds have been so meaningful to you or another individual in time of need.
no kindness is ever for naught.. deepest gratitude,.
I would just like to say, too, that I find this a beautiful thread! There is truly nothing greater than kindness.
So many gods, so many creeds,
So many paths that wind and wind,
While just the art of being kind
Is all the sad world needs. (Ella Wheeler Wilcox)
Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. The third is to be kind. (Henry James)
You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
just got this in my email.
exjws&friends: rome to engage exjws & jws more; will brci?, sixscreens etc according to the "catholic news service," ex-jehovah's witnesses will be receiving more attention from the catholic community, and catholics themselves may become more educated about watchtower society/jw misteachings: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0805537.htm it would appear that now-catholic, ex-jws have been holding dialog directly with the pope or some archbishops.
in the past some baptists have put at least a little more or nominal emphasis in these same areas.
Apparently the previous P*pe and his right-hand man, now the present P*pe, have a particular interest in engaging fundamentalist Protestant sects (or, cults); to wit, the promotion and backroom encouragement of fundamentalist Catholic sects like F*colare, NC (Ne*chatecumenate) and CL (C*mmunion and Liberation). A good book on this topic is The P*pe's Armada - interesting reading!
the memorial season.
what does it conjure up in your mind?
longer daylight hours?
Memorial Season was just the lamest conjured-up slogan I ever heard, even while in. By every stretch of the imagination, just how can the Memorial of Christ's death be a season???? Next thing you know, they'll be printing up Season's Greetings cards for this supposed 'season'...I digress....anyhow, at least none of the folks in my cong ever used that phrase...I think I might have gone ballistic if I had actually heard it from someone's lips but it seemed to me it was just the slogan for the particular KM that would tout the increased call for pioneers during same....thanks for that memory - NOT!
