marmot

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Posts by marmot

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  37

  Were any gadgets/new technology condemned in your congregation?

  by badboy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  any takers?

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  marmot

  Believe it or not, there are still some who are hardcore against the use of aluminum cookware.
  
  You know those stereotypically hilarious crackpot articles from the Golden Age magazine back in the 30s? I guess some of that fear percolated through a generation or two and still survives among a select few in my congregation.
  
  One of my friends who just got married had a wife who was adamant that Microwaves give you cancer.
  
  I'm an avid shooting sports enthusiast (archery, airguns, powderburning guns) and I had to keep that a secret. On time I got caught on a camping outing teaching RESPONSIBLE gun handling and target shooting to a younger teen in the congregation using a little .177 pellet gun and I got a massive verbal drubbing for it. Even archery is considered a "martial" sport so I had to keep my bow under wraps too.
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  13

  "God Hates F@gs"? No, he REALLY hates...

  by AlmostAtheist in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ... people that picket servicemen's funerals!

  "a grieving father won a nearly $11 million verdict wednesday against a fundamentalist kansas church that pickets military funerals in the belief that the war in iraq is a punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

  http://www.cnn.com/2007/us/law/10/31/funeral.protests.ap/index.html.

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  marmot

  Look up the seven-part BBC documentary on YouTube about these psycho clowns. I think the full thing has been taken down, but here's a preview:
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O228AQRvcqQ
  
  Makes the Jehovah's Witnesses look like Mother Theresa on ecstasy and valium.
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  12

  Quote From This Weeks Revelation Climax Study-Any Comments?

  by Justitia Themis in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  thelittlescrolltoday.

  18 what john sees foreshadows remarkably the experience of the john class at the beginning of the lords day.

  their understanding of jehovahs purposes, including the implication of the seven thunders, was then incomplete.

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  marmot

  I don't even bother anymore. Trying to comprehend the Climax book is less fulfilling than slamming your head repeatedly against a concrete wall.
  
  I mean come on, WHAT scroll were they given in 1919? Nobody seems to have realized for the better part of the century that this had happened. Arrrrgh!
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  13

  Dog Owners -- Help!

  by Inkie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we have a four and a half month old chihuahua--the cutest little male dog.

  in the short while that we have had him, my wife and i have fallen very much in love with him.

  i haven't had a dog since i was a young lad of about 9 or 10 (i'm way older now) so i've long since forgotten how male dogs behave.

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  marmot

  Look up "the dog whisperer", he's got tons of information in his books and TV shows about reinforcing correct behavior in dogs.
  
  Your little stud needs to learn that he's not the alpha male, and only the alpha male is supposed to "mate" (not suggesting anything improper between you and your kids, but that's the way the dog sees it).
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  31

  Can you say SATAN?!?!

  by Uzzah in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what is your stance on the devil, satan, demons etc?

  personally i find the concept of the devil as presented in scripture to be purely symbolic of humankind's ability to chose to do good or evil.

  the development of a moral compass unique to each person.. with many ancient beliefs, people tried to humanize concepts in order to better understand.

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  marmot

  Satan is a cop-out for people who don't want to take responsibility for their own actions.
  
  Seriously, "the devil made me do it" is now a cliché but that is in effect what people are saying when they define "evil" as the result of Satan's influence on the world. The sad part about all this is that it's a part of human nature.
  
  Here's an excerpt from Dr. Stanley Milgram's report following his infamous electroshock behavior experiments from the 60s:
  
  "Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority."
  
  Well whaddya know! Having an "independent spirit" is actually a GOOD thing. It seems pretty clear that the easiest path towards "evil" is to be a conformist sheep.
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  2

  Simple answers to complicated situations

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the jw's always seem to have a simple answer to any problem.. give examples of how jw's would answer a specific problem.

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  marmot

  Unemployed? Trust in Jehovah.
  
  Depressed? Trust in Jehovah.
  
  Have doubts? Trust in Jehovah.
  
  Might die for lack of a blood transfusion? Trust in Jehovah.
  
  Feel anguished for shunning your disfellowshipped family member? Trust in Jehovah.
  
  Have a yeast infection? Trust in Jehovah.
  
  If two trains depart from Denver to New York at 9am and one train is travelling at 100mph the other at 80mph, in which state will each dining car serve dinner? Trust in Jehovah.
  
  See? Three words that can answer ANYTHING!
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  7

  Babylon the Great, is it religion or not?

  by avidbiblereader in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in a recent thread about could the wts be right about religion coming to their end, i find this thought very interesting, is babylon the great really the world empire of religion or is it something else, not saying i am right but would love your thoughts on it.. .

  i am not saying that i am right, but i have been reading rev and especially 17-19 over and over again doing research with cross references with various bible translations, i actually want to do a small paper on it for my own.

  i really think this is one that the wts has wrong again, in reading and praying and researching, it could be that babylon the great is not religion but rather the entire commerical or commerce of the world in which the political leaders throughout history have had immoral relations with and religion (which many agree, has become big business) is just a part of.. in looking at rev 17-19 take a slow look at yourself, get out of wt mindset and actually look at the scriptures and ponder with cross references, you wont get religion as babylon the great, read the context and ask yourself, .

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  marmot

  I'm siding with Thomas Jefferson on this one:
  
  "It is between fifty and sixty years since I read it [the Book of Revelation], and I then considered it merely the ravings of a maniac, no more worthy nor capable of explanation than the incoherencies of our own nightly dreams." -- Thomas Jefferson, letter to General Alexander Smyth, January 17, 1825
  
  You can make the Bible say whatever the heck you want, and an examination of history shows that it has been used countless times to do just that.
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  6

  The Bible - all heart (and kidneys), but no brains.

  by Awakened07 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  - the topic title is a little 'tabloid' i'll admit, but actually more literal than you'd think:.

  a thought - or should i say memory - from my active jw days came to me, and that was the often mentioned 'fact' that jehovah is the god who "tries our heart and kidneys".

  this was a very common expression used at meetings while i was growing up.

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  marmot

  It's only relatively recently (within the last few hundred years) that medicine has recognized the role the brain plays.
  
  It was previously believed that the physical heart had more to do with thought.
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  25

  Famous JW's

  by jwfacts in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have updated my page on famous jws.

  it is by far the most viewed part of my site.

  it seems michelle rod, and michael jackson are far more popular searches than 1914 or jehovah.. i still need to add some quotes that identify each individual as a jw, but i thought you may enjoy the list.

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  marmot

  One of the most influential American writers of the 20th century - Mickey Spillane - was a Witness but he ran into trouble because of the sexy hyper-violent content of his books.
  
  We can credit the modern action hero stereotype to him.
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  26

  Bets on when the UN prophecy will be dropped?

  by marmot in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  now that i'm free to bet, i figured it would be neat to start a pool on when the watchtower is going to change light bulbs on the prophecy about the united nations turning on worldwide religion.

  there is no doubt in my mind that this prediction will be dropped.

  not only is this the longest-running unchanged prediction in the wt's history (1925 and 1975 had much shorter gestations) it's the last detailed concrete prediction the society has left in its bag of tricks.

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  marmot

  Wow, I've been to all (well, most) of those Watchtower studies and I never noticed that stand creeping in. The first time I ever noticed they were distancing themselves was in the last Kingdom News tract, where they show a picture of the wild beast but they only give a vague reference to "learn more in the book 'Revelation: Its Grand Climax at Hand' - publishedbyJehovah'sWitnesses(tm)."
  
  It seems like they're laying the groundwork for a cover-my-ass campaign. Stating that "certain militarized elements within the United Nations" will turn against false religion is a completely vague cop-out. That's like saying "certain members of the human species who breathe air" will turn on false religion. The only world governments who aren't active members of the UN are Taiwan and the Vatican. Wow, I'm relieved to know they're not a part of the prophecy.