I'm sure that Jehovah is really pleased that the witnesses are so picky. Actually, as long as we are being picky, it should be pointed out that the word scriptures was sometimes used for just the Hebrew scriptures or sometimes used for "holy writings" that didn't make it into the canon. It seems to be a pretty vague and misleading term in this context, whereas the term Bible clearly refers to a specific collection of books.
Posts by DT
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22Bad jw e-mail of the week ***Warning: Hurl Alert***
by RisingEagle in(this is an e-mail making the rounds of jdubs email lists.
my apologies for not having eye and mind bleach available for the after effects) .
vs. holy bible.
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23
What are your plans for 2014?
by DT in2014 may be a great year for apostates.
i'm already making plans.
i think the arrival of 2014 will be a disturbing event for many jw's.
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DT
2014 may be a great year for apostates. I'm already making plans. I think the arrival of 2014 will be a disturbing event for many JW's. What may be even more important is that it might be an event that will capture the imagination of the media and the public. I can picture news stories about how the brief "last days" have already lasted for a century. It would be a great opportunity for them to discuss the JW's long history of false prophecies. For now, I'm concentrating on recovering and moving on with my life, but by 2014 I might be ready for some intense counter cult service. I'm thinking of writing letters to newspapers, distributing pamphlets, etc. Perhaps, we can think about preparing some press releases. I know its still six years away, but I don't want to leave things to the last minute. Do you have any plans for 2014? Do you think it will be a significant year for apostates?
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DT
Judging from the way he overindulged in wine after he got out, I'm guessing he had to drink a lot of rainwater.
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9
Update on Senator Grassley
by Junction-Guy inwell i might have mentioned some of this already, but i've kept it mostly a secret until now.. .
senator charles grassley of iowa spearheaded an investigation into six tv minisries.
he is trying to uncover fraud and change the way that non-profit organizations report earnings and expenditures.. .
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DT
That's good news. We appreciate your efforts. The WTS has to begin to show some accountability.
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37
WT and Awake covers to title, have fun video to follow
by Wasanelder Once inhere you are.
i will use these and the ones unused from the last thread to make a fun with covers 19. .
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DT
Is it the Supreme Court or the Superior Court. We change our mind again!
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34
A gradual decline or sudden collapse for the WTS?
by DT inmany of us believe the days of the watchower society may be numbered.
they are receiving an unprecedented amount of well deserved negative publicity.
however, they are still experiencing modest growth.
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DT
Many of us believe the days of the Watchower Society may be numbered. They are receiving an unprecedented amount of well deserved negative publicity. However, they are still experiencing modest growth. The WTS has proven to be resilient and resourceful and they have a powerful hold on most of their members. They try to hide disturbing news from their members and many are unimpressed even when we tell them about what is happening. The fact that so many of them are willing to overlook things like the UN involvement and the pedophilia issue is a powerful testimony to the power of the WTS.
I'm not trying to be discouraging, but I believe it is unlikely that the WTS will slowly decline into oblivion. It has the resources to weather its current difficulties and many future troubles. It has perfected certain forms of mind control and is good at adapting to at least some kinds of changing circumstances.
On the other hand, I believe it is a very intense and dynamic organisation that may be vulnerable to catastrophic collapse if it faces the right combination of challenges. They require a great deal of sacrifice and devotion from their members. If changing circumstances caused a certain threshold of members to direct their energies against their former masters, the changes could be sudden and intense.
I think our current efforts are well worthwhile. Many are leaving and finding freedom. Many are having doubts that may grow in time. There are even many who have already decided to leave when the time is right, such as when their family decides to leave. However, I don't think that these things, by themselves, will cause the demise of the WTS, even over an extended period of time.
I would like to know what others think. I would be happy to be wrong about my assessment of this situation. If the WTS suffers a catastrophic collapse, it may largely be a result of unexpected events beyond our control. Also, the WTS is a very complex system that may be vulnerabe to random changes, kind of like how the stock market or weather can change suddenly and unpredictably. We might not be able to predict or cause this kind of crises in the WTS, but we can prepare ourselves for this possibility. There may be a time when when our efforts will have a disproportionately strong effect. I invite your comments on what kind of events could cause that kind of crises and how we could make the best use of that situation.
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111
New Yearbook stats for 2007 now out!
by Dogpatch inthe report is out!.
http://www.watchtowernews.org/2007report.pdf.
cooking the books with 3% increase??.
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DT
Yes, those are some big jumps in August. I did some primitive numerical analyses (when people make up numbers they tend to fall into certain patterns that can be picked up through statistical means) on the WTS stats to check for fraud. I didn't find any problems with the other stats, but the peak numbers were suspicious. However, the sample size wasn't big enough to draw any definite conclusions. I would like to find a computer program that could do a better job and check several years stats. This could provide a better indication of whether they are being honest.
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111
New Yearbook stats for 2007 now out!
by Dogpatch inthe report is out!.
http://www.watchtowernews.org/2007report.pdf.
cooking the books with 3% increase??.
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DT
Does anybody know how the WTS calculates peak publishers? It can make a big difference. For example, the peak of 6,957,852 could mean that there were that many publishers in a single month. Or it could be the total of the individual peaks of the different nations. This could be different because different countries could have their peaks on different months, so the figure would be higher than the actual total of publishers in any month. If they did it by congregation then they would get an even higher figure. I guess the extreme would be to do it by publisher. If you go out even once in that twelve months your personal "peak' would be 1, so the figure would refer to the total number of publishers who reported time that year, not any specific peak at one time.
Has the WTS ever clarified how they do this. If not, it gives them a lot of latitude in abusing the figures. Also, did anyone notice that the rate of growth almost doubled from 1.6% to 3.1% while the number baptised only went up from 248,327 in 2006 to 298,304 in 2007. Assuming the death rate remained about the same, this would either mean that they lost fewer people to DA and DF (seems unlikely given the media exposure of the pedophilia scandal) or they reactivated a lot of inactive ones or they changed their accounting methods.
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111
New Yearbook stats for 2007 now out!
by Dogpatch inthe report is out!.
http://www.watchtowernews.org/2007report.pdf.
cooking the books with 3% increase??.
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DT
The figures look interesting but I think I may have misunderstood what the last column (% increase over 5 years refers to) because, for example, in Taiwan, from 4,753 (2003) to 6,054 (2007) is not a 127% increase. My basic maths is admittedly rusty, but how do you arrive at 127% increase?
It should be 27% the later figure is 127% of the former, or a 27% increase.
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14
Is life a fundamental law - or does the universe need observers
by Qcmbr inat the current age of the universe with the laws of physics as currently manifest is life a fundamental organisational aspect of physics and maths?
if we look at crystals, snow flakes, chemical reactions they are forced to form / organise a certain way when the conditions are within certain parameters.
is life also like this?
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DT
It's kind of like the question of whether a a falling tree makes a sound if no one is around to hear it. Does the universe exist if there is no one to observe it? It may seem pretty philosophical, but scientific discoveries about the role of the observer in reality suggest that it may be a legitimate question. I can speculate that there are many universes that are a kind of collection of probability waves that haven't collapsed yet because there isn't yet an observer present. Or what if a universe develops as a growing collection of probability waves and it finally includes probability waves that represent a proper observer. Could that probability wave collapse itself and bring that universe into existence? This could change our view on the chances of life developing. It could even make it seem inevitable in some circumstances. I'm sorry if I'm explaining myself poorly. We and our language seem poorly adapted to discuss and understand these abstract concepts.