.
unlike god's word, that jws believe to be absolute truth, any one of their directives given at the 2013 district convention could be subject to misinterpretation.. .
.
Symposium: How Did You Learn theTruth?
Informal Witnessing (John 4:5-7)
Raised by Christian Parents (Ephesians 6:4)
Formal Witnessing (Acts 20:20)
Relatives (Acts 10:24)
Through Our Publications (Acts 8:30, 31)
Searching for God (Matthew13:45, 46)
....Hmmm...something's missing from this symposium....oh! Right! FROM THE BIBLE!!!! But "Through Our Publications" is sure in there!!
--sd-7
.
unlike god's word, that jws believe to be absolute truth, any one of their directives given at the 2013 district convention could be subject to misinterpretation.. .
.
So that's the theme? Guess I'll check the website for the official program, your images aren't coming out on my screen.
--sd-7
addressing the false claim that jehovah's witnesses do not think "independently.. .
http://defendingjehovahswitnesses.blogspot.com/2013/02/addressing-false-claim-that-jehovahs.html#.
from a wt apologist.. .
Whoever says that Jehovah's Witnesses do not investigate, challenge, and scrutinize their beliefs is either completely ignorant of Jehovah's
Witnesses, or purposely spreading prejudicial information.
Whoever says that Jehovah's Witnesses have the right to investigate, challenge, and scrutinize their beliefs is without a doubt completely ignorant of Jehovah's Witnesses and, perhaps unknowingly, spreading false information.
The problem is they're not even capable of considering the possibility that they're wrong in some specific and important way. What's interesting is the complete absence of any mention of the 'faithful and discreet slave' as THE source of all their 'Bible teachings' in this entire essay. This sounds like the sort of response a JW would give to the media, completely obscuring reality and omitting very important facts.
If this is sincere, as it likely is, it's just a case of the author being incapable of putting two and two together. They reference 'Logic' in the Watchtower Index, which I take it would be...a form of 'independent research'? Perhaps his idea of independent research is looking up a subject in the Watchtower Publications Index all by himself, without anyone telling him which subject to look up. Which is very different from looking up a quote from an outside source that is made in a Watchtower publication. Very different, indeed.
--sd-7
http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/children/picture-activities/lots-wife-becomes-salt/.
is it me or is this kinda sick?
i mean i can understand learning from the account, but this is kinda deviant.
I compare this to how 'the world' makes coloring books. Even with characters like Batman and Superman, where there would be violence in their actual stories (comics, movies, etc.), they have better sense than to make a Joker coloring book where he's slaughtering people with toxic gas. It's just common sense not to do that.
Why not use the same reasoning as for not wearing a cross here? If a faithful JW lost his mate in a grisly death, even if she was unfaithful, would you make a coloring book page out of her crime scene photo and have your kids connect the dots? It would be very upsetting.
Think of this. In the resurrection, Lot would presumably come back, and how would he feel if he sees this image--the death of his wife as a kids' drawing activity? At best, this would be grossly offensive to him, as surely her death would have grieved him greatly. But that's where we hit a wall of reality, isn't it? Because you see, maybe, maybe not even the Society expects to see Lot again. If their teachings were real to them, I can't see them in good conscience approving such usage of this woman's death.
Oooh, wait...what am I thinking? When it comes to cold-hearted stuff, the Society is absolute zero. So this isn't any more barbaric than the actual deaths they are directly responsible for, is it?
--sd-7
the may 15, 2013 washtowel has a cute little piece of artwork about what an impact they make out in serve-us.
i thought some captions might help make it clearer!.
.
No skater kid would have such a ridiculous plaid shirt. They are really out of touch ....
Perhaps they're going for an '80s kid movie style there...
I figured they just smudged some dirt on the garbageman's face and it wasn't stubble there at all...
Thing is, your presence out there actually says nothing at all to observers, because they have no idea what you are out there for if they don't know what your message is. Right? Ask anyone on the street what JWs believe, and what'll you probably hear? 'They don't celebrate birthdays', 'they don't take blood'--that'll be the majority of answers you get, but unless it's someone who actually studied with them a lot, you probably won't be hearing 'they preach the good news of the kingdom', that's for sure. Whenever your rules are better known than your message, you can consider your efforts to be a massive failure.
--sd-7
so are they a religious non profit corporation?
how is this dicotomy possible that they could generate such revenue and not make an accounting to irs?.
originally known as the peoples pulpit association, the organization was incorporated in 1909 when the society's principal offices moved to brooklyn, new york.
"Our report for the year is different from a Wall Street company," said vice president George Couch. Indeed, the company's employees are volunteers who live and work in the Brooklyn complex.
This is a weird blurb, I mean, what's the context of this statement? Either way, the problems of salaried employees are pretty much gone. Of course, if the literature is accurate, about 10% of that or maybe a bit more goes just to taking care of the missionaries in the field.
Nonprofits can take in massive amounts of money and still be nonprofits. The profits they get are just called "gains" rather than "profits". Either way, there's no reason to think they're not reporting to the IRS. Tax evasion is a sure way to invite government attention, and while they'd spin-doctor the hell out of it if that were to happen, it could also become problematic, so I'm sure they're on top of it. I mean, after all, that's why they stopped charging for the literature more than 20 years ago, because of the tax issues.
Still, it certainly doesn't look right for the so-called one true religion to rake in so much cash they're on the same list as Donald Trump, KPMG, and other corporate big wigs. So much for keeping your eye simple. One would think there would be more programs to help the underprivileged, considering, even if it was geared towards JWs only, you know?
--sd-7
nothing too odd this time.
but that questions from readers was subtle, using israelite policies on stoning...the hour is late.
just wanted to tell you.. .
I suppose it would have. Thanks WT for giving me this meat in due season.
LOL! I love it.
--sd-7
nothing too odd this time.
but that questions from readers was subtle, using israelite policies on stoning...the hour is late.
just wanted to tell you.. .
Nothing too odd this time. But that Questions from Readers was subtle, using Israelite policies on stoning...the hour is late. Just wanted to tell you.
--sd-7
i am not particularly interested in the wtbts and their current doings.
or doctrine, or debates about god/evolution.
i am more interested in people, especially ex-jws like me.
I'm doing fine. Physically I had a minor setback of reigniting my back injury maybe a couple of weeks ago, but I feel like I'm back to normal again.
Emotionally, I'm in a better place than I had been, which is odd, considering how rough things got at home last week and over the weekend. My wife has repeatedly expressed concern about my apparent attraction to certain actresses. There was a rather unique disagreement over this issue after Jennifer Lawrence appeared on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' one night recently, and the seriousness of my evidently having sexual fantasies about Jennifer Lawrence--perhaps even while pretending to listen to what my wife is saying, no less!--was brought to my attention. And then the deadly what-if? scenario, my wife presented: What if someone who looks like Jennifer Lawrence starts working at my job? Will I cheat and want to leave my wife? Some women are very aggressive, she noted, and may have noticed that I'm handsome and might not care that I'm married.
Well, I'd be more concerned about someone who looks like Natalie Portman, or Anne Hathaway, or Christina Milian than Jennifer Lawrence. I'd post photos to compare, but you all know what Google is and I'll leave it up to the individual's conscience to decide on that issue...it would derail the discussion here... But the aggressive women I've encountered are typically unemployed or underemployed, seriously screwed up inside. I'm thinking I probably shouldn't let anything like that happen again, in line with sage advice kurtbethel gave me years ago when I first joined JWN, something along the lines of Stay away from those melodramatic women or those whose lives are a train wreck, they will only bring you way down... One only needs to ignore that sort of advice in a very brief moment of delusion in order to understand just how sage it really is.
Over the weekend, the accusations that I am cheating got even worse, and she declared that I hate her and that she wanted to leave. I've been working late for awhile since I've been going to bed late and getting up late for work (and have been extremely lucky not to be fired...yet...as a result of that), so I've gotten home late for awhile...and that always brings suspicion if I don't maintain constant contact with the Mrs. And since I was depressed I didn't want to talk to anyone, not even her. So I guess that didn't help.
She's worried that I'm going to change my mind about her someday and jump ship. I've had every chance to do so, with giant Exit signs and yes, even her actually leaving for a month, two years ago. So if I really, truly wanted to leave her, I suppose I would have. Maybe that's the thing I'm starting to see. I think there's something more important than the life I could have without her. I made the choice to marry her once for all time and I did it with the understanding that things would go to hell. I whined about it a lot, sadly, but it's pointless since I haven't made any decision other than to stay. I've made the mistake of not being serious enough about owning my decisions since my liberation from the WT. I need to do that, it's part of the whole being a man thing.
I did my best to reassure her. So...she stayed. Of course, where she was going to go at 1:30 in the morning with both kids asleep in the back seat of the car while we're having it out, I'm not sure, but...hey, whatevs. It's funny. I normally get really screwed up inside when she gets all emotional like that--and to be honest, it's been years since I can remember a fight that horrible. Well, okay, not years, there was that small disagreement over her back-seat driving probably last month that spilled over even while we were at my parents' house. But other than that, we've been cool.
It's weird, but I'm okay with it this time, and I'm not sure why. I guess...I realized, too, and this came up during the argument, that I hadn't forgiven her for ratting me out to the elders 3 years ago. I'd made her and the JWs the same, and kept seeing her as the Long Arm of the Borg rather than my wife and partner. I need to forgive her to get on with my life and to build as much of a lasting peace as one can have in the aftermath of all that's happened. I feel strangely empty about it, or at least...a bit more clarity and less of the sadness. Haven't really taken time to feel anything about it. Been too tired or otherwise occupied.
The kids are fine. Stepdaughter's getting too big for me to pick up anymore...my physical strength is greatly lacking. She's learned to write her name and has remained as stubborn as always, but still a funny little girl, energetic, very friendly, especially to other kids. My son will be a year old this month, and he's standing up on his own and crawling a lot and exploring everything. And such a winning smile, too.
On the JW front, guess I'll be going to the full convention this summer. I don't want to hope for the car to break down on the way, because it's going to be too hot for that type of thing. Why can't they have these events in the spring? Anyway, the kids will be too much for one person to handle, I think, in that environment, especially with both of them able to walk and probably run by then. I think I can handle it.
Otherwise, I'm enjoying books and movies and stuff...
Movies: Just watched most of 'Skyfall' last night. Enough to know [SPOILER ALERT] that the bad guys all die at the end, but not enough to know if all the good guys survive (!). Would like to see more about this QUANTUM organization they introduced in the previous film. I always liked the SPECTRE bad guys from the old films. We need a guy with an eyepatch and a cat again. Even ventured into the forbidden Bond movie, 'Live and Let Die'. I've always liked Roger Moore (a lot of my favorite Bond films are his, 'The Man With the Golden Gun' is my favorite of his, I think), and so far this one hasn't disappointed. Still got to watch the other half. Wow, Jane Seymour was pretty hot back in the day. Definitely one of my favorite Bond girls.
'Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 2' was a pretty awesome animated rendering of the classic Frank Miller graphic novel 'The Dark Knight Returns'. Fantastic finale of the Joker's last laugh and Batman vs. Superman. Very well executed for the most part.
And 2013 is going to be a heck of a year for movies. 'Catching Fire', 'Iron Man 3', 'Ender's Game', 'The Wolverine', 'Monsters University', 'Star Trek Into Darkness', 'Man of Steel', can't remember if 'Thor: The Dark World' is out this year or next. I'm sure I'm overlooking something.
TV: Was also watching some TV shows. 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' has some pretty good stuff going on this season. Ahsoka was pretty bada-- in that last episode I saw.
'Arrow' is quickly becoming one of my favorite new shows, though I've only seen two episodes of it. I've gotten into 'Nikita' as well. Haven't taken time to watch more 'Game of Thrones', but I've read all the books anyway at this point and I'm honestly more interested in the next book than the next season of the show, except that I am definitely smitten with Daenerys Stormborn in the TV version. Looks like some lovely ladies are on the show.
But just a few days until 'Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome' is out on Blu-ray/DVD. Not to mention 'Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake' and 'Game of Thrones: Season 2'. Anyway, that's about it on that front.
Books: Well, I'm reading 'Ender's Game', 'The Silmarillion', and...'Atlas Shrugged'. 'Shrugged' has been my favorite--really made me rethink my liberal leanings though I've always been more of a middle-of-the-road kind of guy, and I'm utterly uninformed about stuff like this anyway. There's something there for ex-JWs, too, if you ask me.
Since finishing 'The Lord of the Rings', I've enjoyed reading about the Illuvatar and the Eldar and the Silmarils and Melkor and all that cool stuff. 'Silmarillion' has been awesome so far.
'Ender's Game' has been fantastic as well. Look forward to getting into that series.
Comics: Just got started on the new Batman storyline 'Death of the Family', with the Joker returning to Gotham to terrorize Batman. Pretty good opening comic, too.
Been hooked on the 'Before Watchmen' series and just read Nite Owl #3. Ah...I'm definitely loving this series.
'Mega Man' is a surprisingly good comic, too, even if you might think it's a kids' kind of thing, well, I grew up with Mega Man and there are no new games being made for him at the moment; the comic is all there is, and it's very well done with a respect for the games and very funny for fans of the games. Soon they'll be doing a crossover comic with Mega Man and Sonic the Hedgehog. I didn't see that one coming, either, but it's just that Archie Comics owns the rights to both comics, so it was only natural and inevitable...
Maybe I need to get back into Superman, too--I suppose if I had that kind of money I'd be following all my old favorites more closely. Was always a DC guy and not a Marvel guy....mostly Batman, some Superman, never really any Justice League though, strangely enough. Hmm.
...Otherwise, I'm not much of a spiritual guy anymore. The most I do is use Jedi techniques to clear my thoughts or calm my emotions, but that's about it. Still wander into Biblical thoughts/discussions in my head but I guess I kind of abandoned my plan to write a book about my thoughts on Christianity. It'd just be full of errors anyway. Just less deadly ones than I'm accustomed to, I suppose...
Hmm. I guess I have really hated Valentine's Day for a long time, mostly because of that first girl I liked back in high school. Or rather, how I reacted to her...knowing that everyone else could give her Valentine's Day stuff but I couldn't, and to hear her ask me, "Who's your Valentine, Chris?" It was a depressing time. One wishes for the perspective of age and the strength of youth to cross paths somehow...what a different life I would have...or perhaps not, perhaps the pain that would have come from trying to reach out to people more in life would have made the same person I am now, who doesn't spend time with a lot of people and prefers books and devices to human beings most of the time.
Well, I probably could've let it go and not gotten this personal, but...why not? It's Singles Awareness Day, so don't let these stupid red hearts and candies and crap get you down. Being alone is way cooler. You get to see a lot more movies without somebody blurting out the ending before you can figure it out.
--sd-7
malaysia,s main islamic party has called on.
malaysians not to celebrate the valentine,s day, warning.
that the event leads to immoral activities.. we are not trying to assume the role of moral police, but.
Hey, whoa, too much information. Besides, it's a health problem, among other valid reasons, not some sort of withholding pattern here. Back off, sd-7. Your wife isn't the villain. You are, you dog-faced, diseased piece of filth. I say that in the nicest way possible, of course.
--sd-7
