Posts by passwordprotected

22

How much will Watchtower publish online?

by jonathanconway in

i've noticed that they have a small selection of articles online.. however the majority of their stuff is only accessible through either the watchtower cdrom or dead trees.. has anyone yet asked them about putting their entire library online?.

if their aim is to "spead the good news", then what possible reason could there be for not making the content publicly accessible?.

since they already have it in electronic form (i believe the content is already in html format on the cd), the cost of doing this would be minimal, and it would probably make their website rank better in google.. of course, the flip-side is that this would allow others to link to their content and discuss it openly and, anonymously, which might expose them to much more criticism than they've ever experienced before.. but i'm wondering what their excuse would be if someone asked them "why not"?.

passwordprotected

Jonathan raises an excellent point.

What's the return of investment the WTS is getting these days, I wonder? The cost of publishing the publications on dead trees, then shipping them around the world versus what they take in via donations...Hmm... The cost of servers and bandwidth is coming down all the time, surely the fine privilege of Brother Reachingout downloading the publications via the 'net, printing them at home/photocopying them at the Kingdom Hall for the delectation of the R&F would save the Corporation serious $$$

118

Really, There Is A Lot To Learn About Your Faith

by AllTimeJeff in

in ak - jeffs thread "did jesus ever claim to be the messiah", narkissos said the following that i think, and have learned, is rather profound:.

a better approach to this discussion might start with questioning the presupposition that there was one concept of "messiahship" common to all or even most 1st-century ad jews.. the idea is, we assume that the faith and religion we have now, is as it was way back then... clearly, it isn't.. i haven't devoted a great deal of my time to this subject, but i have read enough to realize that there is a lot more to the history of our churches and religions then we think.

jw history is pretty easy, as they started in the late 19th century.

passwordprotected

I find it really interesting that Christianity, 2000 years into its existence, is still under such scrutiny, criticism and conjecture. Shouldn't it have died out long ago?

42

Bye Bye Van Jones.

by AK - Jeff in

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090906/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_adviser_resigns_9.

.

passwordprotected

Is it Federal law that a person must believe the findings of the 9/11 investigation?

37

MY LYING MOTHER IN LAW

by iknowall558 in

jw
friends

this is not a thread to gain sympathy.

my life has changed dramatically over the weekend.

my husband (hoboken) has just left me and my two boys.. i'm not going to divulge all the details, but needless to say things are very tough emotionally for all of us.

passwordprotected

Paul Barrie is a lovely soul, isn't he? I bet he had some talk or item at this weekend's Circuit Assembly. I told Hobo Ken that his brother testifying against him at his JC would significantly raise his stock and profile within the Organisation. He has, afterall, got to protect his own spiritual career and that will always come before family, even his 11 and 7 year old nephews. But at least he's concerned about their eternal salvation and surely only wants to see them on the narrow path leading to life via the Watch Tower Society, it's "faithful slave" and it's Governing Body.

Lovely people. True Christians.

8

What is the JW story on baptisim?

by Out at Last! in

they claim that all of their beliefs and actions are based on the scriptures, so how can they justify 9,10 year olds, or even early teens getting baptized?

jesus was 29, john the baptist was the same age or a year older.

all of the others i recall from the ot & nt were adults.

passwordprotected

They absolutely want to get them while they're young. They say it's a loving provision, but it's a control technique. At a CO visit a year or two back, the Organisation let it be know that they think young men - as in mid-teens, so boys, really - should be encouraged to 'reach out' and have 'responsibilities'. The reason given was that it 'locks them into' the congregation.

32

Ministerial servant mentions more "empty nester" JW couples getting divorced

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

i was talking to a ministerial servant today, and the subject of marriage came up.

he said something very interesting, that recently many of the friends he grew up with in the truth (he is in his 30s) are on their second or third marriage.. he also talked about a more recent phenomenon that more empty nester jws (couples whose kids have left home), are deciding they don't want to stay together and are getting divorced.. we're talking about couples who have been married 20, 25, 30 or more years suddenly deciding to call it quits and it's not necessarily that they are looking for someone else; they simply want out of the marriage.. divorce does seem to be on the increase in congregations, especially the last one i attended.. it reminds me of a scripture in malachi we would sometimes hear about "not divorcing the wife of your youth".

why do you think divorce and separation are on the rise among long time married jws?.

passwordprotected

I've noticed that it just takes one couple in a congregation to separate for the 'flood gates' to open and several others to follow suit, almost as if it was a game of chicken to see who could stay in their rotten marriage the longest.

37

Jehovahs Witnesses: the only organization preaching the good news

by JWMediaFilms in

jw
friends

click on the video.... it's uploaded in high def.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hisblir_2sw.

.

passwordprotected

Very well done, once again.

16

anything exciting ever happened.....

by angel eyes in

jw
friends

have any of you had anything exciting happen,like meeting someone famous you've always wanted to meet?.

some exsperience that you will never forget that gave you much happiness.......

passwordprotected

Leaving a cult with your head held high is always fairly exciting.

33

Does everyone else get this reaction from their JW family when discussing objections to the religion?

by jambon1 in

jw
friends

when pointing out my objections to the jw religion with my wife, i have noticed a worrying trend which even after 3 or 4 years shows no sign of relenting.. after speaking calmly for an hour or so and logically pointing out my objections, my wife starts to put forward outrageous assertations about my points.

for instance, if i am refering to the fact that disfellowshipping is a form of extreem punishment & i mention the terrible effects that being d/f'd can have on people, she will eventually retort with something like "so what you are saying is that we should tolerate paedophiles, rapists & thieves in the organisation then?".

of course, i've never at any point said anything of the sort.. or if i have been overly critical of the amount of control the society wants over peoples lives, she would reply "so what you are saying is that we should all just go out & do what we want, get drunk & live an immoral life?

passwordprotected

The way some of thejws react, encluding my wife,it sort of makes you feel like they are possessed it is kind of spooky.

Very good point....

81

Did Jesus ever claim Messiahship?

by AK - Jeff in

in her book, introduction to christianity, mary jo weaver says this:.

"some christians think that jesus was so clearly the messiah that no one could fail to recognize him as such...... christians who see jews as a 'problem' might be surprised to learn that jesus has been a continual puzzle for the jews.

medieval jews tended to picture jesus as an apostate jew, a man who had lost his faith; 19th century jewish scholars had an image of jesus as a great ethical teacher.

passwordprotected

Whether or not Jesus was/is the Messiah is not important to me- if he only said and did half of the things written about him, then he was a great man, much can be learned from his simple messages of love and much can be acomplished by following his examples- I have many freinds who call themselves ChristianDeists (but I'm going to start a different thread for that).

This, though, is where it can get tricky; if Jesus was the Messiah, if he was the Son of God, if he was the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world, if he's the way, the truth and the life, relegating him to just a great guy is dangerous and misses the point of the Gospel message.

While following his example can be good for us and our neighbour, recognising his position as mediator and going to him for forgiveness and life is key.