Posts by teel

45

WT September 15, 2010 - The Faithful and NOT SO Discrete Slave

by Designer Stubble in

the wt of september 15, 2010 (kool-aid version) has two articles on unity.

one is titled: unity identifies true worship and the other christian unity glorifies god.

of course it is more uniformity, not true unity.

teel

So there is a super-thin thread between "following the lead of (the GB)" and not "following a leader (GB)".

You are to follow the lead but not a leader.

It will be interesting to see it in other languages.

In hungarian: "The annointed and their companions, the other sheep knows that if they accept the lead of the modern-day Governing Body, they are in fact following their leader, Christ."

In romanian: "The annointed and their companions, the other sheep are convinced that by respecting the lead of the modern-day Governing Body, they are in fact following their leader, Christ."

In spanish: "The annointed and the other sheep understand that by following the lead of the Governing Body, they are in fact following their leader, Christ."

The bold is mine, underlining the relevant differences in the respective languages.

34

Jesus wants you off of the internet and to stop reasoning - w 9/15/2010 pg. 27

by wannabefree in

watchtower 9/16/2010 pg.

27 paragraph 9 .

"i am he who searches the kidneys and hearts, and i will give to you individually according to your deeds.

teel

There's a widescreen TV and a gaming system in the shot. A TV remote and game controller on the ottoman.

Ooh, it's ax XBox 360. Can't they be sued for that by Microsoft?

One elder has his Bible open, the other elder has an actual game case open as if he's checking it's content and counseling the youngster about it.

Game case open to check its content... the modern elders come equipped with lazer eyes I guess, because there's not much information that you can get by looking at a DVD. Have you noticed the big M rating on the cases?

27

"Armageddon is Weeks Away" Phrase...Is WT pushing this phrase more recently?

by mentallyfree31 in

i'm wondering if this phrase is perhaps being pushed recently in letters to the elders or circuit overseers.

i have heard it a time or two here in the last few days on the forum - specifically from a bethelite.. also, the last conversation i had with my presiding overseer about 5 weeks ago, he used this exaxt phrase: "i believe armageddon is only weeks away".. i know its been right around the corner for 130 years, but it seems this exact phrase seems to be floating around a lot lately.. what are your thoughts?

jw's usually don't think for themselves - they just repeat what those above them say.

teel

R&F loves to speculate too, it's not the GB's prerogative. They do this every time there's some major event happening. Right now we're still in recession, so it's the best time to amp up the scare. When (or if?) we get out of it they'll just go back to the regular "imminent".

2

Debator, or any JW apologists, please give me your oppinion re: mind control

by teel in

i happened to surf on the "cult checklist" page on wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cult_checklist where i found the well-known robert lifton's list, with small explanations in parenthesis.

please explain what do you think which of these doesn't apply to jw's and why.

or alternatively, if it all fits, why do you think it's still fine?

teel

True drew, those are some of the things I was thinking about too. The term "brainwashing" or "mind control" unfortunately is very misunderstood, and people have pictures bordering sci-fi of what it means. Simple advertisement uses some of these techniques too, that's undeniable. Any way we call it, the extremeness that the JWs go to in the peer pressure, groupthink, or other is not moral in my book.

I think your argument suffers from continuum fallacy: the line between an acceptable and an immoral pressure on the individual is indeed blurred, but that does not mean we can't judge some actions as being too much. What we call it is not really the point, the effect on people is. I'm sure if the GB voted to relax all these techniques, there would be many JWs who stay (you can't make up shit so messed up that you don't find someone on Earth to believe it). But my problem is not with them, but that there are some who don't know better, because they have been trapped by the above techniques.

This list was observable in all extreme cults in the past. So it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

77

Generation - topic dedicated to debator

by teel in

there was a heated discussion between debator and a few others by hijacking this thread: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/194187/1.

i posted here every post on this subject, so you can continue the debate, and leave that thread to its original purpose.

hopefully i got all the relevant posts.

teel

If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.

This is the "very words of God": I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

This is not the "very words of God": He evidently meant that the lives of the anointed who were on hand when the sign began to become evident in 1914 would overlap with the lives of other anointed ones who would see the start of the great tribulation.

You also seem to agree with that. So no, Peter was not inciting people to be false prophets, he was telling them to stick to God's word, and God's word alone, nothing else.

77

Generation - topic dedicated to debator

by teel in

there was a heated discussion between debator and a few others by hijacking this thread: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/194187/1.

i posted here every post on this subject, so you can continue the debate, and leave that thread to its original purpose.

hopefully i got all the relevant posts.

teel

debator, once again, the WT has claimed that their words are coming directly from God. What more would you want?

77

Generation - topic dedicated to debator

by teel in

there was a heated discussion between debator and a few others by hijacking this thread: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/194187/1.

i posted here every post on this subject, so you can continue the debate, and leave that thread to its original purpose.

hopefully i got all the relevant posts.

teel

The deciding factor was someone saying they spoke words DIRECTLY from God himself.

Witnesses have never claimed this!

That's just BS. Here's just one of many occasions (thanks Black Sheep) the GB claimed the words of the WT is God's word, not to mention the fact that being God's earthly channel means they carry God's word to His subjects.

Edit: isaacaustin's other example is also a good one, where they said it's the Creator's promise. I was also apalled by reading they actually printed that "how appropriate would it be for God to bring Armageddon at 1975" - not the exact quote, but the word "appropriate" seemed very presumtuous in this context. They not only say it's coming from God, it's almost as if they tell God what to do! And God did an inappropriate thing in 1975.

77

Generation - topic dedicated to debator

by teel in

there was a heated discussion between debator and a few others by hijacking this thread: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/194187/1.

i posted here every post on this subject, so you can continue the debate, and leave that thread to its original purpose.

hopefully i got all the relevant posts.

teel

Short answers from the top of my head:

What is the Bible definition of a false prophet?

Deuteronomy 18:22: "If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him."

Do the witnesses shepherds claim to be inspired?

I am only talking about the GB. They are adamant that they are not inspired, because they don't want the responsibility that comes with that claim. However they act as they are inspired, and expect the followers to believe their words as coming from God. "Inspired" means the Holy Spirit directs the thoughts or sometimes the actions of an individual to act or teach in a specific way. Is this not exactly what the GB claims to have? Or please tell me what does "inspired" means, and why does it not apply to the GB.

Do we need to be "perfect" when intepreting Bible prophecy and chronology?

Absolutely not. We do need to be "perfect" in the Bible's understanding when we expect others to put their lives on that interpretation.

56

When is the Big GENERATIONS WT Study in congregations?

by daringhart13 in

does anyone know?

?.

teel

debator, maybe you have missed, but you got your debate partners about the question you asked here on the other topic too. Please don't pull red herrings on all topics. I have created this topic just for you so that you can argue how we should just jump to the first interpretation the GB tells us, and believe that: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/194442/1/Generation-topic-dedicated-to-debator

86

What's the new light on Generations?

by XPeterX in

any jw publications mention it?.

teel

Are you pulling our leg? It's 50% of the discussions on this forum from last october...

If you're serious, here's a thread, there's the article and the definition: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/187399/1/NEW-GENERATION-DEFINED-April-15-2010-Watchtower