hybridous

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Posts by hybridous

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  30

  New Disfellowshipping Picture

  by neat blue dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  similar to that recent convention video, this illustrates a mother ignoring her disfellowshipped daughter's phone call.

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  (august 2019 meeting workbook).

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  hybridous

  Smiling face, no tattoos, no piercings, just a normal, happy life....Is that really the image they wanted to project?

  That's a good question. Maybe the Tower knows that their caricature of former members really doesn't hold water anymore, so they presented a normal, dignified image in the hopes it hits closer to home and is more effective.

  Swastika face tattoos and dinner plate ear gauges might evoke some incredulous laughter, even among the devoted followers, and that's not a chance the Tower is willing to take.

  Not concerning the very cement that holds this cult together. No, sir. No laughing matter.
  
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  79

  JWs Changing "Baptism Questions" Effective May 13?

  by Room 215 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

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  ja2 replies4 retweets12 likes.

  reply.

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  hybridous

  To me this is more than just one sentence in the baptismal question. The whole perception based on spirit direction delves into many stated suggestions the WTBTS has made over the years to keep the flock sweating it out til the end.

  Yes, without all the supposed 'authority' that comes with "Spirit-directed", then the JWs are just another church, and a really shitty one, at that. They simply CAN'T back away from these claim of exclusivity without giving up the central essence of the Organization itself.
  
  I mean, if it's not 'God's Organization' then why put up with all the burdensome nonsense? Regular mainstream churches that do not make such claims rely on other ways to provide value to the members. The JW cult religion was never built to do that. It has to rely on bluster and fear. They don't know HOW to mainstream and be just another church, even if they wanted to.
  
  How I would LOVE to be proven wrong about that...but I don't think I am.
  
  This is the ultimate problem with making such claims in the first place. Eventually, you'll have to make good on those claims.

  Where does this go from here?

  I suspect that the leadership would like to back away from their 'Spirit-directed' assertions (at least in print), as faaaaar as they possible can...without abandoning it. Like a lot of things, their success must necessarily rely on a very delicate balancing act
  
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  79

  JWs Changing "Baptism Questions" Effective May 13?

  by Room 215 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

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  ja2 replies4 retweets12 likes.

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  hybridous

  Claims get challenged.

  Yes, they do. In the case of the WT though, they buy themselves some (limited) relief by a policy of no tolerance; labeling any organizational member who does so, an apostate.

  What might be useful though, is to have this information readily available for any/all potential Bible Studies. Make the study conductor defend the claim as a condition for continuing the study...
  
  It is, after all, THE central doctrine of the Jehovah's Witness religion. Every other crazy thing rests on this crazy premise.

  It would be nice if say some legal precedence get established that opens them up for some legal retribution for their fanatical religious tribunals where they have the upper hand and the members suffer.

  
  

  At the least, it might mean that no MINOR person could enter into such an agreement, since it is being wielded as a binding contract. Can you imagine the numbers, the trends, if no individual could be baptized before 18?!

  Talk about hastening their demise. Stick a fork in 'em.
  
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  79

  JWs Changing "Baptism Questions" Effective May 13?

  by Room 215 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

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  ja2 replies4 retweets12 likes.

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  hybridous

  I like the indication- what spirit is org being guided by? LMS has a good thought there

  Yes, I agree - good line of inquiry.

  I think the ORG would like to claim 'Holy Spirit-Directed', (it is certainly implied to the JDubs), but there's plenty of reason for them to tread lightly here...

  The more grandiose the claim, the more scrutiny deserves to be brought to bear, and 'Holy Spirit-directed' is quite a whopper. No, it's not INSPIRED, but they are kissing-cousins. Any semi-serious Bible student would have to vet this claim.
  
  Where is the Scriptural foundation for such a claim? What is the basis for an individual or group operating under this 'Spirit-Directed' condition. The WT Org cannot tolerate ANY such lines of examination, so they are compelled to surreptitiously offer forth the general idea to be consumed and believed, but not too precisely or stridently, lest a dub start investigating..
  
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  519

  Tony Morris video footage of him buying a dozen bottles of scotch

  by UnshackleTheChains in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i was howling watching cedars latest video of tm111 buying a dozen bottles of scotch ((maccallans scotch).

  you can't write this stuff.

  right, i'm now off to buy a bottle of maccallans 😂..

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  hybridous

  Tony M. isn't doing anything "wrong" or illegal in my opinion...

  He's doing enough, if he were a no-name brother of little consequence who perhaps had an elder or 2 that disliked him...

  To give sufficient excuse to such elders to ask probing questions, cast suspicions, further investigate with possibilities of reproof...or worse.

  That's why this even speaks so loudly to some of us (who WERE brothers of little consequence), and speaks still to certain sincere, devout JWs...
  
  Who until now, have lived with a certain image/expectation in their heads about Governing Body members.
  
  This event presents an opportunity to credibly challenge such images and expectations.
  
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  519

  Tony Morris video footage of him buying a dozen bottles of scotch

  by UnshackleTheChains in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i was howling watching cedars latest video of tm111 buying a dozen bottles of scotch ((maccallans scotch).

  you can't write this stuff.

  right, i'm now off to buy a bottle of maccallans 😂..

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  hybridous

  They may talk to him into not buying so much booze at one time and suggest just buying only one bottle, instead of a dozen.

  Well then, that might entail several trips per week for the poor man, just to keep his cups filled...
  
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  15

  Einstein On Quantum Mechanics

  by Brokeback Watchtower in

  1. social
  2. current

  albert einstein said "i like to think the moon is there even if i'm not looking at it".. i'm thinking the double slit experiments could have been a major factor in his attitude towards qm.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/double-slit_experiment.

  "[t]he atoms or elementary particles themselves are not real; they form a world of potentialities or possibilities rather than one of things or facts.".

  werner heisenberg.

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  hybridous

  Reality was already broke...we just didn't notice it. Awesome.
  
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  15

  Einstein On Quantum Mechanics

  by Brokeback Watchtower in

  1. social
  2. current

  albert einstein said "i like to think the moon is there even if i'm not looking at it".. i'm thinking the double slit experiments could have been a major factor in his attitude towards qm.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/double-slit_experiment.

  "[t]he atoms or elementary particles themselves are not real; they form a world of potentialities or possibilities rather than one of things or facts.".

  werner heisenberg.

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  hybridous

  I've spent some time thinking about this stuff...
  
  The Double-Slit experiment fascinated me (and still continues to), because of its implications concerning the nature of reality.
  
  For a long time, I thought that consciousness caused collapse of the wavefunction; probability becomes certainty, and all that...
  
  Then I saw this lecture by Stuart Hameroff, where he postulated that maybe we have had it backwards...namely, maybe collapsing wavefunction is causing consciouness.
  
  It really sent me back to square one.
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHg-mr4aqWk
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  129

  Climate Change - True Believer or Skeptic?

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  climate change ... who doesn't believe it?

  crazy fools and science deniers ... right?.

  it seems like it's become the new religion, the new orthodoxy, that must be accepted and believed as gospel and preached to all.. is it ok to be skeptical?.

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  hybridous

  How often have you (as in anyone reading this) actually changed your mind over any subject?

  Actually, I'll bet that many readers here had that very experience, concerning a rather weighty matter, at least once in their lives.
  
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  108

  New Upcoming Changes - No More Publisher Record Cards & Reporting Hours

  by thedepressedsoul in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  publisher record cards and reporting hours will be going away.

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  coming soon.. made this post 4 years ago, it happened - https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/24020002/kingdom-consolidation-sales-coming-reliable-source.

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  hybridous

  No matter how much informal pressure is applied, if no hours are reported, JWs will take this as a signal to stop preaching. Just as they took the abolition of cover prices for the literature as a signal to stop paying for them. No amount of exhortations to voluntarily contribute to cover the cost of printing did the trick.

  I think this is prescient. JWs are tired out after decades in the hamster wheel. ANY 'signal' from HQ that could otherwise be construed to diminish the 'ministry' will likely be seized upon.