Posts by Cadellin

47

'Giving Attention to the Needs of the Circuit.' Sooo uplifting...

by whereami in

jw
friends

these people just love instiling guilt on these poor souls.. .

at a recent circuit assembly a circuit overseer gave an awesome talk during the portion, 'giving attention to the needs of the circuit.

and with such a high pricetag, please don't let it be empty.

JW Science Quote (January 2010)

by TD in

jw
friends

there is a certain faith within the jw community that almost any problem can be answered by the "bulging brains" in brooklyn.

reading the awake!

regularly over a period of years has been compared to receiving a college education and one board participant here actually refers to jw researchers and writers as "celebrated scholars.".

Cadellin

...the real curiosity about this fossil was not the skull at all, but the fact that the shape of the pelvis and knee joints indicated that it was not primarily a quadruped.

I appreciate TD's post. This, IMHO, is the where the bigger deception comes in. Australopithicine skulls are simian in size and cranial capacity and not particularly noteworthy in terms of what they say about hominid ancestory; the big news about Lucy is that her post cranial skeleton was so close to ourselves. She was clearly a biped, as TD's post alludes.

I respect TD's request that this thread keep away from arguing for or against the merits of evolution and so I'll refrain from commenting on the significance of this, but for the Creation book to mention australopithicine skulls, aside from the accuracy (or lack thereof) of the line drawings, and to say nothing about the rest of the species' skeleton is akin to reporting on the discovery of a lost play by Shakespeare and only describing the kind of paper it was written on.

55

Is The Internet The Worst Thing That Could Happen To The Organization?

by minimus in

jw
friends

the witnesses try to demonize the internet.

in your opinion is the internet the biggest problem for the watchtower organization?.

Cadellin

I think Mad Sweeney is right about the brain drain. So much of the increase is foreign language groups where the level of education is really, really low--I mean, I've talked to some who still believe that if you cut your hair it grows even faster and other silly superstitions. That's not to imply that immigrants are less intelligent--not at all--but that the degree of education which would help in critical analysis and investigation of some of the WT claims, is often not there. Plus, no much of the info onthe internet is primarily in English.

41

I just feel like crying... I'm so fed up of the hypocrisy!

by cattails in

i was very disgusted with the wt study for today.. towards the end of the article it refers to matthew 15 (see quoted scripture below).

this is a beautiful passage where jesus says his followers need to be hospitable, care for sick, hungry and imprisoned brothers.. they turn it around and say that for jw's this means they need to support the "faithful and discreet slave" by going in door-to-door witnessing, making monetary contributions to support the worldwide witnessing work, and following the directions and counsel of congregation elders.. and the worst part of it all is that there were several commenters giving almost word for word answers to that effect, they didn't even seem to listen to previous comments, they just repeated mindlessly what the paragraph said... i was ready to burst.

mom knew i was about to have a fit right there and then.

Cadellin

Cat--Can you make a plan for a fade? If you are dependent on JW family members, that might be difficult but you could make a start. At any rate, don't let it get you down. Even if your body is not free, your mind is that and that's the most important part. Come here and rant on our collective shoulders: we are on your side.

Funny thing about Matt 25 re sheep and goats and "Christ's brothers": When I was a Zealous Pioneer, I lived in fear (well, not fear exactly--maybe "anxiety") that a householder would ask me who Christ's brothers were, and I'd have to show him/her that they were the FDS. I knew my Bible inside and out, yet I had NO IDEA how I'd make the connection b/w the FDS/GB and "Christ's brothers" in any way that a (non JW) householder would be able to make sense of.

Even back then, when I was a very young mermaid, I knew deep down that the connection was unsupportable scripturally.

7

update on my life

by quietlyleaving in

jw
friends

i'm so happy today and thought i'd review how far i've come.. but first let me say how much i appreciate the topics and discussions that you guys raise.

i apologise for going too far sometimes very often.

i'm pressing on with my studies.

Cadellin

First of all, quietlyleaving, you sound plenty intelligent to me!! Second of all, I have come to appreciate that nothing, and I do mean NOTHING trumps hard work. You rock!

10

Why did God wage war against the Canaanites?

by hamilcarr in

from the watchtower, january 1, 2010 (p. 13):.

why were the canaanites displaced?.

the canaanites were, in a sense, squatters in a land that did not belong to them.

Cadellin

I agree with hamilcarr that the Society's record of scholarship is dismal. As Leo points out, Israelite and Canaanite cultures overlap; in fact, Mark Smith, in The Early History of God, notes that Israelite culture was largely Canaanite in nature, as is particularly evident from looking at artifacts from the early Iron period. The rise of Israelite Yahwistic monolatry was more a case of them breaking with their own (Canaanite) history rather than the kind of divine innovation that a literal reading of the OT might indicate.

But in the JW world, any kind of real live reputable scholarly research, NOT taken out of context, is unwelcome and "worldly thinking"--no, worse--"worldly philosophies."

33

A@G is baaaaack!!!! Plus a new video about the GB!

by Awakened at Gilead in

too busy with skool... i've been out of commission for a few months... did my last bits of homework today, and i am freeeeee!!!!

(for a few weeks at least... but my master's is getting close!).

anyway, worked on a video today.

Cadellin

A@G--Finally got a chance to see your latest video--you have such a great "theocratic" voice. The only problem I had with it was that around the 3:00 mark, this weird robot voice suddenly interjects "AFFIRMATIVE!!!" and I just about jumped out of my skin. That's just my two cents. Otherwise, it was fascinating.

25

Why Would Someone Like me Leave the "Truth"? Part 3 Continued

by cantleave in

jw
friends

mike and i decided that we would find out where he lived and visit him.

he had moved to completely different area but we were new elders and determined to get our man.

we confronted bro smith on his doorstep after establishing where his house was and waiting outside long enough to ensure that he was in.

Cadellin

Looking forward to the next installment, Cantleave. Take 2 aspirin and come back soon! Happy New Year, everybody!!!

25

Why Would Someone Like me Leave the "Truth"? Part 3 Continued

by cantleave in

jw
friends

mike and i decided that we would find out where he lived and visit him.

he had moved to completely different area but we were new elders and determined to get our man.

we confronted bro smith on his doorstep after establishing where his house was and waiting outside long enough to ensure that he was in.

Cadellin

Cantleave, thank you for your fascinating account. Where do elders get the ideas for what constitutes proof of repentance, ie returning to a husband? What is the scriptural basis for saying that one specific action is proof of repentance and not some other action? It seems arbitrary.

32

Will the Society Ever Print Another Evolution Verse Creation Book?

by frankiespeakin in

i think if they do they will have to make many revisions now that information is so prevalent on the internet.

and with all that is known about dna and how it proves darwin was right i don't see how they could.

but i guess you can never put nothing past the wt and it's crack smoking writers to dig up something ridiculous to blur the lines of reality for the friends, for sure its got to be way harder to write such a book today and keep a straight face..

Cadellin

The "Creation" book is a "theocratic" embarassment that is still, to my amazement, being published. They just put a new paperback cover on it. Discovering the many botched quotations was what initially opened my eyes--and caused enormous pain, because I couldn't believe the Society would be so dishonest or stupid or both.

I agree that it's unlikely they will publish anything like it--I think the Writing Dept. knows it can't take on evolution science-wise. The most recent stuff ("Was it Designed" in the Awake, and the new DVD) relies on incredulity to promote Intelligent Design ("How could anything so amazing/complex/intricate happen by chance?")and emotional persuasion ("Such a wonderful/caring/loving God..."). It makes me fume to see them play the "chance" card--anyone with even a small amount of knowledge about evolution knows that natural selection is NOT chance. And the irony is that they will feature, for instance, the smoothness of shark skin as evidence of design without every discussing exactly WHY God would NEED to design sharks to skim through the water so fast and undetected...or WHY owls are designed to fly at night without making a sound. Remember, all animals were given "vegetation" to eat, according to Genesis!!!

The last attempt to treat evolution in any kind of scientific way was the special September 2006 Awake on the subject where they drew liberally from Jonathon Wells' "Icons of Evolution," a book that has been roundly debunked by the scientific community for its ill presentation of factual information.