It was always my view, even as a devout JW that everything can be divided into 3 categories: things forbidden by the Bible, things requested by the Bible, and everything else is a matter of conscience. So my list of MoC would be quite long I still hold to this belief, but in the meantime I wisened up as to what the Bible actually tells that are of the first two categories.
Posts by teel
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7Conscience Matters
by greenie inhas anyone ever compiled a list of things that are now conscience matters for jws?
if not, do you guys know what things are currently considered conscience matters?
is the list too long or obscure so that this is a bad question?
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22
just a thought on watchtower,Dec.1
by pat1060 ini was looking over the december 1 watchtower,the one for the public.on page 8 there is an article called the appointed time is near.is is a small article on all the events of the last days.all the scriptures.but not a word about 1914.i heard a while back that 1914 may just start to fade from the literature.did any one else see this article?.
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teel
Is it gradual new light from Jehovah?
It's gradual dimming of the old light Ray Franz did mention that there was a phase in the late 70s when the GB was thinking to put less prominence to 1914, just around the time when the "1957 - Sputnik" new light was considered, to prepare the grounds for an eventual departure from that year - you can actually see the effects of it from the chart posted by sweeney. That didn't have long life though. It's highly possible we're seeing an other dimming phase; who knows as to what end?
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They "can give gifts on any day of the year"... But do they?
by Albert Einstein inhow many times we had heard from jw (commenting on christmass, mothers day or bithdays) "they dont need a pecial day set to give gifts, because the can give it on any day" .... but whats your experience if you compare jw and non jw ... are they really giving?.
my sons (7) example:.
he has non jw grandparents: gets all kinds of gifts all the time, sweets, magazines, toys,.
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teel
My wife usually likes to give gifts. But I see where you people are coming from, can't really say the same about most other JWs.
I feel as a kid having a special day to look forward to and build anticipation was much better then just popping in with a surprise present. Sure, I appreciated both, but knowing that the big Day was coming, when I will get something nice was half the fun.
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teel
Smarts, kindness for me
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183
How many of you knew about the"Jesus is not your Mediator" teaching when you were JWs??
by Lady Liberty inhi everyone.... just curious how many of you knew when you were active, about the societys official teaching regarding jesus the mediator.
i was floored to find in my research, that they teach jesus is the mediator for the 144,000 only.
and it is only by our association with them that we might have salvation.. i don't know about you guys but i was blown away when i learned they taught this.
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teel
Considering this teaching I think it shouldn't be proper for an other sheep to close a prayer "in the name of Jesus Christ". It should be something like this: "I turn to you Jehovah in the name of Jesus Christ, as mediated through the Governing Body. Amen."
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Did anyone else ever play their record albums backwards?
by EmptyInside inokay, i'm dating myself, record albums and all that, but i remember as a kid in the 80's, everyone was playing their albums backwards looking for some hidden satanic message.
my older brothers got talked into throwing a couple of their moody blues albums away.
anyway, it was all the craze in my hall.
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teel
There's a band in my country that had a hit single, then after a couple of years they released an other song, the chorus of which was the chorus of their previous hit song in reverse. And it became a hit one more time! Funny, that the band never hid the fact, yet I've seen several threads on forums shouting they "discovered" the secret!
On topic no, I never played them backwards, simply because I missed the LP era. As a JW I don't think I heard anyone talking about hidden satanic messages, only about the dangers of clear messages when listening to songs in other language (huh? what influence on earth could have on me a song that sounds like a lullaby, but in gudjarati it sings "worship Satan"?) - I did hear the "backward message" rumors from other sources though, mostly hard rockers, who were proud of it
Correction, while playing a bit with digital audio editors, I did reverse some songs too, but not to look for any hidden message.
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People waking up?
by Hikaru inhttp://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/nov/11/no-headline---112/.
it's a "letter to the editor," so i don't know whether to take it seriously or not.. but even if it's not by the governments or starts anything.
the fact of this letter, people are starting to wake up to religions influence?
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teel
It's just one thing not significant . Judging on your history of postings I assume you ask whether this is a sign of religion being banned just before Armageddon. The short answer is: no. Assuming the JW view is right on this, it still means a worldwide uprising against religion. One person writing a discontent letter to a public newspaper is hardly sign for anything except what it truly is: one person out of 7 billion is discontent with religion. No reason to draw far reaching conclusions out of it.
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Why does every prophecy has to have two (or more) completions?
by teel inyou know the standard jw doctrine, babylon the great, fall of jerusalem, kingship of david, jonah's life you name it, it has to have a "bigger completion" later.
some of these are actually mentioned in the bible - jesus being the bigger jonah, revelations mentioning the fall of babylon the great many years after the actuall babylon fell, jerusalem falling to babylon was just a precursor to jerusalem falling to the romans, which was just a precursor to... (what now?
meh... is old age creeping upon me?
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teel
You know the standard JW doctrine, Babylon the Great, fall of Jerusalem, kingship of David, Jonah's life you name it, it has to have a "bigger completion" later. Some of these are actually mentioned in the Bible - Jesus being the bigger Jonah, Revelations mentioning the fall of Babylon the Great many years after the actuall Babylon fell, Jerusalem falling to Babylon was just a precursor to Jerusalem falling to the Romans, which was just a precursor to... (what now? meh... is old age creeping upon me? ) etc.
So does history really repeats itself? Did the oriental view of the history being a circle creeped its way into the Bible, or there is really something to it? Or let me put it this way: what was first, the idea of Babylon the Great in God's head and He directed the world to make a smaller completion of that idea, or He saw the history of man and thought "neato, I'll make things similar later at Armageddon"? Either way it seems the history was manipulated. If God's idea was first, then he interfered with mankind just to make a prophetic precursor, if the history happened first, then it seems like God changed His plans to coincide with a bigger completion.
Or this is just my problem of viewing things, and history actually provides so many parallels that one can pick any event in history and find a "bigger completion" later? But this is again the oriental circle of history... (sorry 'bout my ramblings)
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Peace and Security - Berlin Wall Fell - 20 years and counting
by xelder inwhen east berlin opened, we heard lots stories of desperate people seeking jw's in west berlin.
how is germanys growth now?
how many from 20 years ago are still in?
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teel
xelder afaik the JWs do apply "peace and security" to the 66-70 a.d. period and "day of the Lord" to Jerusalem's destruction too. It's just that in their view every prophecy has to have at least two (or more) completions. It makes you think what is the origin of this? I'll start an other thread.
WTWizard I think your view is too pessimist. I'd like to see the end of this cancer just like you do, but not with that pricetag. I lived my childhood under a totalitarian government, and even though I didn't fully understand it then, I know enough to fear it coming to the whole world.
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Official visit from two local elders one fine Sunday morning
by SnakesInTheTower inwell, it finally happened.
a week ago sunday my fiancee and i were sitting in the living room drinking coffee and watching the morning talking heads when we heard the crunch of tires on the gravel in the driveaway, about 10:30 or so.
we looked at each other with that "are you expecting anyone?
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teel
Marking the soap opera for the next episode