Posts by Fadeout

70

For Those of You Trying to Quit Drinking - Even Temporarily...

by cognac in

jw
friends

figured i'd do a topic for it.

i'm trying to quit for at least a month - just found i was drinking a bit to much with all the stress.... anyways, its been 10 days since i last had a drink.. how long has it been for you?

how long are you trying to go without drinking?.

Fadeout

I didn't know the WT recommended the 30-day test. I thought it was just from that episode of The Simpsons. I've done that before, wasn't too terrible.

6

The Finished Mystery- 1918 Predictions

by Fadeout in

how does the society view the finished mystery today?.

229), the angel of rev.

how did the wts and the bible students view c.t.

Russell taught that the Great Crowd was a separate group from the literal 144,000. They still would get into heaven, but they were soiled by Babylon's religion and would need to wash their robes, unlike the 144,000 who kept unspotted. Russell went even further than the WTS does today, taking the 12 tribes of 12,000 literally as well. He thought that each "tribe," or class, would be made up of similar people depending on their attributes on Earth (whether they were brave, joyful, reluctant, generous, etc.), and each tribe had its own level of honor.

From what I understand TFM teaches there will be a rapture in 1918 of the "remnant" of the 144,000 yet on the Earth, while 1921 will be the "close of the Heavenly Way;" that is, after 1921 you can't even become part of the Great Crowd!

Notably, TFM made a start of predicting 1925 as well. While 1918 was the major date it pointed to, it offered this explanation involving a priceless "day for a year" example based on Gen 15:9... “Take for me a three-year-old heifer and a three-year-old she-goat and a three-year-old ram and a turtledove and a young pigeon.”

TFM p.128:

The 70 jubilees, reckoned as 50 years each, expire October, 1925. (B186.) Gen. 15:1-16:3, read connectedly, indicates that Abraham’s vision as to when he would receive the Kingdom was not granted until ten years after the Covenant was made, or 2035 B. C. The ages of the animals offered aggregated eleven years, which, applied prophetically, on the scale of a year for a day, equal 3960 years, the length of time from the date of the visions to A. D. 1925 (Z.’07-79). It seems conclusive that the hour of Nominal Zion’s travail is fixed for the Passover of 1918. (See Rev. 3:14.) That will be 7 years prior to 1925.

I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

Rutherford, of course, focused on 1925 after the 1918 predictions failed to materialize (although the WT still proclaimed that its 1918 chronology was correct even after the date had passed, as it had done with 1914).

The "Millions" campaign aimed at 1925 went belly-up after that date, too, had passed. That was a major disappointment comparable to 1975.

Doubtless, the reason the 1918 prediction is not more widely known is the fact that its lifespan was only one year. 1925, on the other hand, was advertised heavily for seven years before its failure; 1975 for nine years.

1935 saw Rutherford's major stroke of genius; instead of holding out a hope of Heaven for Christians, he offered something unique: Christians would now live on Earth forever. This understandably has an appeal to people; they have spent all their lives on the earth, and for many it is much more real than an abstract concept of spiritual life. 1935 eventually became the new date for "the close of the Heavenly Way," this position being made official in 1966 (the year 1975 was introduced).

This teaching also allowed the WTS leadership to remind us that, even 1,000 years into the future, they will still be ruling over us, so we'd better get used to submitting to their authority now. Now please sing Song #8 until you lose consciousness.

45

Spiritual food = Dub grub....whadayathink???

by Alpaca in

jw
friends

i coined this the other day on another thread and it seemed to get a laugh out of a few people.. and since were talking about it, what other great terms could we come up with in the spirit of "the borg," the filthful and disgraceful slavebugger (a fave of mine)......??

?.

Fadeout

Dub Shrub- Plants depicted in the Paradise drawrings

Dub Bug- Recording device smuggled into a Judicial Committee

Dub Tub- Any JW counseled for gluttony

Dub Chug- What the men do every time their wives turn their back for a second

Dub Shrug- Physical dub reaction that accompanies utterance of the phrase, "Well, we just have to wait on Jehovah."

Dubblethink- What enables dubs to forget about 1975, 1914 generation, etc.

Dubblespeak- Favorite phrases of the WT, including but not limited to: "are we not moved," "such ones," "are we not grateful," "murmurers," "are we not appreciative," "how thrilling!", "are we not overjoyed," "it is to be regretted," and "are we not determined".

Dub Cud- Regurgitated sayings such as "where else can we go?" "where did you hear that?" and "Armageddon is so close."

53

Crisis Mode! Advice please!

by 5thGeneration in

jw
friends

i am in deep shite!.

haven't been to a meeting for a year.

rumours are rampant in canada as my family is 'prominent'.. p.o.

Fadeout

5thGen, I don't see anything good coming out of deception here.

As an alternative to complete, open honesty, may I suggest merely refusing to discuss the subject of why you are not attending meetings?

IF you are not involved in activities that will cause you to be DFed, I see no reason why you should bring up your doubts and issues about the org. That leads down a street with only one exit. Questions will arise, your doubts will be trivialized and explained away, and when you don't accept the explanations it's JC time.

Don't provide material to use against you. Plead the 5th... why should you incriminate yourself?

"I'm not going to meetings right now, I don't want my kids to go to meetings, please respect my wishes."

18

A, B, or C (and Y)

by JimmyPage in

the earthquake in china is: .

) a fulfillment of bible prophecy according to wt understanding.

) a fulfillment of bible prophecy but not according to wt understanding, or.

Fadeout

A... because the scene of this world is changing, i.e., the inside is becoming the outside.

38

Windfall taxes on Oil Companies - for it or against it?

by UnConfused in

i'm for it.

they don't "need" to increase priced due to demand - they just can so they do.

when prices are at record highs and profits are at record highs....time to tax them for windfall profits i think .

Fadeout

BurnTheShips: The private oil companies are not limiting supply. They are not price gouging. Their profits languished for over a decade when oil was under $30 and $20 a barrell.

During that decade I used to send Exxon a $100 check every month because I was thankful I was getting such good prices on gas.

What? Everyone else didn't do this? Well don't I feel like a sucker!

18

The Belief Trap.

by Blueblades in

jw
friends

most of us are awash with beliefs of all sorts.

we are steeped in the common sense and prevailing wisdom of our culture, traditions, communities, profession, family, and friends.

belief is very personal for each of us.

Fadeout

What is the difference between knowledge and belief?

I think it's a continuum.

Less apparent evidence .................... More apparent evidence
Belief..........................................Knowledge (of Truth)

Knowledge approaches, but never reaches, 100% certainty. I would say this is true of even basic truths like "I exist," though the degree of certainty is high enough that nobody has gone wrong yet acting under the assumption that it is true and therefore knowledge.

"But," some may say, "how can you make such an assertion about that which is proven beyond all doubt?"

"Proof" is a human concept. Bearing witness to this truth is the fact that proof is different for each person. For some, the existence of the universe is proof of God's existence. For others, the fact the universe exists does not qualify as such proof, either because that evidence is insufficient or because they do not view that as valid evidence. So when we get frustrated at others for not accepting the "proof" that is staring them in the face, we need to realize that everyone has different standards of proof, and different standards of what constitutes "evidence."

So we all have our own belief traps. We believe the things that are proven to ourselves, though they may not be proven to others.

It is certainly beneficial to try to look outside our belief traps and see things from a different view. The common expression is "think outside the box."

We are only human... we cannot actually leave our box, but we can enlarge it, expanding its boundaries to encompass possibilities never considered before.

38

Windfall taxes on Oil Companies - for it or against it?

by UnConfused in

i'm for it.

they don't "need" to increase priced due to demand - they just can so they do.

when prices are at record highs and profits are at record highs....time to tax them for windfall profits i think .

Fadeout

This is one of those "solutions," like the death penalty, that is an emotional response to a situation that calls for reason.

The economically ignorant kneejerk socialist reaction to large corporate profits (boo profits!) is to say "let's take more in retaliation to their price gouging."

Nevermind the fact that increased taxation would NOT encourage lower prices. Just because you're taking a larger percentage of the profits does not mean you've eliminated profit-making as a motive. Do people really need to be told this?

How about this... if their product is not worth what they're asking for it, DON'T BUY IT.

By the way, if corporate profits increase, the taxes they're paying are increasing as well.

The bill would set up a Reasonable Profits Board to determine when these companies’ profits are in excess, and then tax them on those windfall profits. -U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, Pennsylvania Democrat

This is what I love about America... The "Reasonable Profits Board" to determine if my company has made too much money, according to their expert opinion. And I'm sure it will stop at the largest corporations (boo corporations!) and once that precedent is set, our trustworthy government would never expand to review the profits of smaller corporations, family businesses, and individual proprietorships. I mean, governments just don't do that, right?

17