dgp

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Posts by dgp

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  26

  In Death lies Glory

  by BluePill2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was alone at the new branch construction site in ticuantepe (nicaragua).

  everybody had taken off for a weekend assembly in the capital and it was my turn to have watchman duty and guard the site.

  we had dogs and i only had to walk around the perimeters and check all the gates and entrances.. suddenly a young boy appeared at the main gate, breathless and visibly nervous.

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  dgp

  Marked.
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  16

  Witnesses going rogue - trying to blend in with the world

  by BluePill2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  it's been a couple of years now since i left the pink-pony-world of the watchtower real estate & money laundering inc.. out of curiosity i researched a couple of "brothers" to see if they are still in, what they are up these days, etc.

  using linkedin, facebook, and other online research i come up with this:.

  1. branch committee member lothar mihank (formerly in nicaragua, now branch committee in indonesia) presents himself in linkedin as "ceo of ssyi" and tries to pass the borg as some kind of corporation (which is what they are).

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  dgp

  Bookmarked.
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  162

  True Stories from the Tower - Part 1 "From Anointed to Pedophile to Bethelite"

  by BluePill2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  before i dive into the actual write-up of this experience, let me put some things straight.. i have thought long and hard if i should write more about my experiences during the 10+ years at different branches.

  during these years i worked from financial department, service department, home office and different it assignments.

  as you can imagine one sees and hears and reads a lot of stuff going through different stations in different countries.

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  dgp

  Bookmarked.
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  58

  Evidence of Jesus being Married?

  by cantleave in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/jesus-wife-fragment-is-not-a-fake-scientists-claim-9253395.html.

  a harvard professor is claiming a fragment of papyrus seemingly mentioning that jesus had a wife is an ancient document and not a forgery, following a series of tests.. the text is written in coptic and contains a dialogue in which jesus refers to "my wife.

  "karen king, a professor at the harvard divinity school, writes in the harvard theological review that the papyrus is almost certainly a product of ancient christians and probably dates to eighth-century egypt, based on carbon dating and chemical tests on the ink.. none of the testing has produced any evidence that the fragment is a modern fabrication or forgery, prof king and her team concluded.. the fragment, which has some legible lines on the front and on the back, contains the words: jesus said to them, my wife .... she will also be my disciple.. james yardley from columbia university, and alexis hagadorn from columbia university libraries, used a technique called micro-raman spectroscopy to determine that the carbon character of the ink matched samples of other papyri that date from the first to eighth centuries ce.. malcolm choat from macquarie university examined the fragment at hds and offered an independent assessment of the handwriting.. prof king first announced the existence of the fragment in september 2012, at the international coptic congress in rome, where she dubbed it "the gospel of jesus's wife.".

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  dgp

  I would think a married Jesus is not more of a problem than the Jesus in the gnostic gospels. I think this is a shock only if you think the Bible is inerrant, no forgeries of it were ever made, no forged books ever made into the Bible, et cetera.
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  55

  Translating JWFacts to Spanish... Update?

  by ILoveTTATT in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as you all may know, it is an ongoing project to translate jwfacts to spanish.

  given that there are more than 2 spanish-speaking jw's for every one that speaks english, it can be safely said that spanish is the #1 language in the jw world (even though everything is made originally in english).. the spanish-speaking jw's are harder to convince.

  i attribute it almost 100% to socioeconomic factors.

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  dgp

  Count me in. I work as a translator.
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  29

  Chess ban is still a current teaching

  by zound in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  goatshapeddemons mention of chess being banned by jw's at one time was a new one to me.

  it got me thinking.

  they never corrected that did they?

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  dgp

  Why is chess bad but a Kingdom isn't?
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  4

  What is the most popular Spanish EX JW forum?

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. friends
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  dgp

  EXTJ.COM is one. I wouldn't know if it's the "most popular". It's a good one, however, with a significant presence of posters from Spain, Chile and Mexico.
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  303

  New Pope about to come out

  by new22day in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  maybe she'll be really progessive..

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  dgp

  I'm a Latin American and a former devout Catholic, and I find it interesting that no one in the thread addressed the political aspect of Francis having been elected as pope. I would consider that very, very important because, whatever the man's past or his views, the church he now leads matters. For better or for worse.

  The Economist published two good articles on this (and The Economist is secular).

  http://www.economist.com/news/international/21573616-argentine-pontiffs-style-and-origins-are-new-his-ideas-are-conservative-white
  
  http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21573563-pope-francis-inherits-mess-has-great-opportunities-he-will-need-act-quickly-first?fsrc=scn/fb/wl/pe/thefirstsouthernpope

  The fact that a worldwide multinational has been entrusted to a man from the South is relevant in itself. Someone mentioned (I think it was JgNat) that the Catholic Church moves as fast as molasses. Yes, that's so true. Now, how come that in that church they did appoint someone from the South, as opposed to the International Monetary Fund, where they appointed Christine Lagard because she was French, and left Agustín Carstens out because he was Mexican, as if most Europeans (Nordics and Germans, but not Icelanders excluded) were in a position to tell anyone what good economic policy is.

  There was some talk that a Filipino would be made pope, Cardinal Tagle, or Cardinal Turkson, from Ghana. Now, I don't mean to do the verbal jousting Talesin (Hiya!) doesn't like, but Flying High mentioned the Anglicans. Can you guys imagine a black man as the archbishop of Canterbury? Or a Filipino?

  Maybe because of the fact that 42% of all Catholics live in Latin America, or because Europeans are so secular that they can't offer much to the church, the Catholic Church appointed a man from the south to the top post. In doing so, it was the first big multinational to acknowledge the fact that power is moving south in the kingdom of this world.

  Personally, I find other things very interesting. The new pope is a Jesuit, the first Jesuit ever to be Pope, and this despite the fact that the Company of Jesus was like the Church's State Department. Now they are in retreat because the Opus Dei was smarter. How come they made a Jesuit pope? And then, a Jesuit who is not a Liberation Theologian. That must mean nothing to you guys, but it does mean a lot in Latin America.

  The fact that the new Pope was in bad terms with Cristina Fernández in Argentina also means a lot. It's almost as bad as when the sandinistas in Nicaragua had to put up with the fact that their former bitter enemy had been made a cardinal, and was thereafter untouchable.

  For some time, the church and the left have coexisted in Latin America, each one trying to outsmart the other. Back in 1975, a Venezuelan thinker said that the Church had found out that it barely survived in free and open societies, but it thrived exhuberantly in places like Poland or Hungary, where the church was the only non-communist thing that existed. And it provided relief when, say, your child died; you can't go to a burial and quote Marx in the hope that this will relieve the pain.

  The Venezuelan said that the Church had come upon the divine surprise: the Marxists were not the worst enemy. The salesmen were, and the Left could be very handy in pushing them out of the temple.

  In 1975, the left wasn't in power. Now it is in most of Latin America. And the church appoints a pope from here. Obviously that has the effect of reinforcing the church before those governments. That has immense meaning here. Why do you think so many presidents managed to go to the Vatican?

  Back in 1975, Catholics were not as numerous in the US as they are now. That also matters.

  Now the Catholic Chruch is also in a position to better fight the Watchtowers and the evangelicals and et cetera. That should have an effect on the Watchtower as well, since now much of the Watchtower flock is made of people of Spanish descent. Until when will the Watchtower be able not to have men from the south in their governing body? I think that would be a very good question. The Watchtower is an American thing, and we know it the minute we see it. Maybe that will have to change?
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  29

  Post cataract surgery Great News!

  by Lady Lee in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my vision before the surgery was 20/60 in the eye that has had the surgery.

  i saw my eye dr today and it has moved up to 20/30.

  this is way beyond what i expected.

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  dgp

  I'm happy for you, Lady Lee. My mother had this surgery and now she sees things we wouldn't want her to :-). I trust your own sight will improve just as significantly.
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  28

  Does anybody know how they elect new Governing Body members?

  by dgp in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  now that "habemus papam", i was wondering how it is that someone in the watchtower becomes a member of the governing body.

  does anybody know?.

  and, how do they choose who gets to be a member of the corporations?.

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  dgp

  Sorry I hadn't been here for a while. I would like to thank everyone for replying.

  I honestly didn't have a clue how a member of the GB or the boards was elected. I suppose the procedure is not known because, if it were known, then it would be open for questioning.

  Someone mentioned the College of Cardinals and how come the Holy Spirit (with capital letters) does not tell every cardinal the same thing. I agree. I would add some interesting things.

  First, only cardinals under 80 years of age are eligible and allowed to vote. I suppose this is to prevent people from saying that Cardinal So and So was nuts or had Alzheimer by the time he voted.

  Second, the number of voting cardinals is odd. The Holy Spirit could inspire them in any way, but humans have made sure it's just not possible to have a tie. There can be, however, and often there is, disagreement as to who should get the job.

  Third, the cardinal who is made pope can't vote for himself.

  Fourth, the Pope can resign.

  Fifth, they are expected to visibly announce the fact that they are not in agreement. They can't go and lock themselves up for three days and then say "Hey, here's the guy".

  And finally, Francis was elected after 77 cardinals agreed on him. I don't know if that's two thirds, but obviously that is the majority.

  Being as critical of the Catholic Church as it is, I would expect the Watchtower to have a procedure in place that they could brag about, one that would seem to imply that it was actually Jehovah who made the appointment (let's play make believe). From what I know, they just come up and one day announce that So and So is the guy. Or the guys.

  Another interesting point, in my opinion, is that all the members of the GB live and work in the same place, while cardinals don't. Many live in the Vatican, but not all.