I've gone from JW to skeptic to agnostic to atheist to objectivist.
Religion gave primitive man some understanding of fundamentals in old times, but philosophy has superseded it on all levels.
The philosophy of objectivism, grounded in Aristotelian logic, holds that reality exists, objective knowledge can be gained through the senses and through reason, not by divine revelation, since supernatural beings/forces don't exist.
i've noticed that they have a small selection of articles online.. however the majority of their stuff is only accessible through either the watchtower cdrom or dead trees.. has anyone yet asked them about putting their entire library online?.
if their aim is to "spead the good news", then what possible reason could there be for not making the content publicly accessible?.
since they already have it in electronic form (i believe the content is already in html format on the cd), the cost of doing this would be minimal, and it would probably make their website rank better in google.. of course, the flip-side is that this would allow others to link to their content and discuss it openly and, anonymously, which might expose them to much more criticism than they've ever experienced before.. but i'm wondering what their excuse would be if someone asked them "why not"?.
Bit strange that it's only in audio format, no text.
Definitely better than nothing.
I wonder if they'd ever publish the 'Our Kingdom Ministry' or meeting schedules online.
when we were a young child full of wonder at the world, so new, so innocent, we believed what ever mommy and daddy told us, if they said there was a tooth fairy why we believed it until we got older(hopefully) especially when we get our permanent teeth.. santa was probably discarded around the same time as the tooth fairy give or take a few years depending on gullibility or lack of it.. well lets face it we probably figured out the easter bunny first for the simple reason you only got some eggs,, which you can have any day of the week and you get to eat a lot of chocolate bunnies ears off not very pious mind you, nor do you fear the bunny might seek revenge for the impious act in some way like god might do remembering: the ark and ussa or wassa or something.
that definately should be considered as a contributing factor as to why and what order they get debuncked tooth fairy danta the benifit factor need to be brought in.. god too has to go in time, eventually, just like not all at once and for everybody.
religion to control the mind is on a head on course with human species vastly excellerated enlightenment.
I don't think spirituality or a deep inner awareness will ever die. It will become more important as time goes on.
But the god of the christians, muslims, etc. doesn't have more of a future than Zeus or Thor. The more science discovers and explains about our world, the less places there are for this kind of god to hide.
matthew 7:18-20 says:.
"a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Angie you are so right. There is more money given today to charities than ever before. Not only that there are millions of people who give their time and effort totally free. Because of this pravtically any modern day problem in every day has help in the form of a charity.
This is really evil when you think about it.
Money that could have otherwise gone to charities (which are actually putting food in children's mouths or trying to find a cure for AIDS, etc) instead goes to the selfish Watchtower bigots, who then use it to propogate their message even further.
Sure, some of it will go to volunteers, who will then spend some of it on actual aid, and the rest on kingdom halls. But even in that case, only a small proportion of the money is going to practical causes. The rest is funding a destructive, dangerous cult.
i've noticed that they have a small selection of articles online.. however the majority of their stuff is only accessible through either the watchtower cdrom or dead trees.. has anyone yet asked them about putting their entire library online?.
if their aim is to "spead the good news", then what possible reason could there be for not making the content publicly accessible?.
since they already have it in electronic form (i believe the content is already in html format on the cd), the cost of doing this would be minimal, and it would probably make their website rank better in google.. of course, the flip-side is that this would allow others to link to their content and discuss it openly and, anonymously, which might expose them to much more criticism than they've ever experienced before.. but i'm wondering what their excuse would be if someone asked them "why not"?.
to which the JW told him that he could download the WTs from the web, including the study edition!! First time I've heard this.
Nope, that's not the case. (But maybe this JW was too brainwashed to know!)
You can download a few "selected" articles, which of course, have been pre-approved for public distribution.
But you're not going to gain access to the entire collection of "helpful teachings", because apparently, there are aspects of "the truth" that ought to be hidden until later in the indoctrination process.
i've noticed that they have a small selection of articles online.. however the majority of their stuff is only accessible through either the watchtower cdrom or dead trees.. has anyone yet asked them about putting their entire library online?.
if their aim is to "spead the good news", then what possible reason could there be for not making the content publicly accessible?.
since they already have it in electronic form (i believe the content is already in html format on the cd), the cost of doing this would be minimal, and it would probably make their website rank better in google.. of course, the flip-side is that this would allow others to link to their content and discuss it openly and, anonymously, which might expose them to much more criticism than they've ever experienced before.. but i'm wondering what their excuse would be if someone asked them "why not"?.
I agree, teel.
The CDs must definitely be a cash cow for them.
Of course, if they had an online update, they'd have to worry about securing it, as this is not information they want the public to access.
I'm considering the legal implications of putting the entire contents of the CD online. Wouldn't it be awesome to publish every little secret for the public to view and comment on?
I'm sure it would break copyright law though, so it's not going to be easy.
witness yearbooks are full of experiences where jehovah saved a poor witness who prayed for help...and the soldiers walked passed and did not see them etc, etc.
however, other brothers prayed and still got executed by gillotine so...why does gods will allow such things?
isn't this just random chance put down as god's will?
Isn't this just random chance put down as God's will?
Amazing how quickly biblical interpretation can bog you down.
I'm a programmer, so let me sum it up in an if statement:
If "Believer" encounters a "Misfortune" Then
It's a test or attack from the Devil, but God will avenge in his due time.
Else
If "Believer" encounters "Good Fortune" Then
It's a blessing from God, and a sign of his approval
download here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/m28m78.
scans provided by ingersoll.
this is for canada..
Interesting that they're OK with "telephone witnessing", but still refuse to approve "Internet witnessing". :)
i've noticed that they have a small selection of articles online.. however the majority of their stuff is only accessible through either the watchtower cdrom or dead trees.. has anyone yet asked them about putting their entire library online?.
if their aim is to "spead the good news", then what possible reason could there be for not making the content publicly accessible?.
since they already have it in electronic form (i believe the content is already in html format on the cd), the cost of doing this would be minimal, and it would probably make their website rank better in google.. of course, the flip-side is that this would allow others to link to their content and discuss it openly and, anonymously, which might expose them to much more criticism than they've ever experienced before.. but i'm wondering what their excuse would be if someone asked them "why not"?.
The cost of publishing the publications on dead trees, then shipping them around the world versus what they take in via donations...Hmm...
I think the reason they're struggling to embrace the Internet is their basic nature: they're basically a publishing company. All their research and writing is done centrally by a small group, then physical copies are printed and sold.
It's not getting any easier to make people pay for books/magazines, but people do seem more willing to pay for something physical than, say, the privilege to read something online.
They've already taken a risk by putting their publications on CD, but to put them online would make it virtually impossible to charge or restrict access to anyone.
The news/media companies have also had it tough. But they're huge conglomerates, and they've had to find a solution fast. Thus, the "physical" newspaper industry has pretty much died out, and most newspapers are now online, and money is made off advertising.
But it's not so easy for Watchtower. Remember, they're supposed to be a "religion", not a company. So how would they justify publishing all their content along with advertising? Their own publications are highly critical of mainstream advertising and media.
So what can they do but ignore the Internet? (Or try!)
I like to raise this issue, because I want people to contemplate why Watchtower would refuse to use the most powerful communication technology in history.
The problem is that in third world countries people would not have web access so works better to print up material and send it where it needs to go
The number of Internet users in the 3rd world is growing faster than ever, especially in India. Overall, Internet growth follows the same exponential curve seen in most technology.
Mobile phones are used a lot in Africa, and more and more of these phones have access to the Internet.
Long-term, the Internet is the ideal way to get information to large numbers of people worldwide.
The "problem", of course, is that the Internet is a democratic, peer-to-peer system - not the familiar broadcast media that Watchtower have grown comfortable with.
Companies like Facebook exploit this, but for an organization like Watchtower, it works against them.
apparantly at this years conventions a new dvd was released.
this has been uploaded onto youtube.
it paints the normal utopia that any one of us would love.
Got it off my family and had a flick through.
The old goof at the beginning looks like such a dork! Either that or on drugs. I guess that's what it looks like when you're standing outside the hypnosis.
The rest of the film is as expected...
