i hope that i am not being too presumptuous using your name in that heading.
but something you said on the elder and holy spirit link made me want to have a separate topic.
you said and funny how it only asserts itself when previous understandings (also directed by holy spirit, incidentally) cause issues with reconciling the core beliefs.
Thanks, guys. Tater, you make-a me blush!
Yeah, revealer - that's the thing that blows my mind. If they truly are 'spirit directed' then they should all have the same understanding at the same time without having to debate or change their minds. So very delusional!
''well there's one thing you got ta ask yourself punk....you felling lucky...well do ya punk".....clint eastwood dirty harry.. "it's life jim but not as we know it" capt kirk star treck..
Casablanca last scene were Clark Gable says to Vivion Lee "Frankly my dear i don't give a dam"
I'm sorry, Karter (part of me hopes you're kidding) but I just have to correct this comment...
The last line of Casablanca is Humphrey Bogart to Claude Rains "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
The last line of Gone with the Wind is Vivian Leigh saying " Tara! Home. I'll go home. And I'll think of some way to get him back. After all... tomorrow is another day. "
the study edition of the watchtower says the elders are appointed by jehovah's holy spirit.
it's confounding the society does not realize that more and more elders, do not accept this claim.
i have racked my brain, wondering how many brothers and sisters actually believe this, fall hook and sinker.
So true, Jeff. 
the study edition of the watchtower says the elders are appointed by jehovah's holy spirit.
it's confounding the society does not realize that more and more elders, do not accept this claim.
i have racked my brain, wondering how many brothers and sisters actually believe this, fall hook and sinker.
But in Jehovah's theocratic organization, Jesus is the head of the Christian congregation, while the governing body that serves as the central body of elders are viewed as brothers, the same as the rank-and-file are brothers. Consequently, Jehovah's Witnesses are being guided, not by the faithful and discreet slave, not by the governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses, but by holy spirit .
It's so cute when your head cracks open and the yolk spills out. Read again what you just wrote. Is this holy spirit you speak of important in any way whatsoever when there are frequent flip flops and 180 degree turns in what's allowed and not allowed for JW's? I seem to remember holy spirit being talked of as powerful but clearly it's not, and funny how it only asserts itself when previous understandings (also directed by holy spirit, incidentally) cause issues with reconciling the core beliefs. The latest generation understanding is a classic example.
california most hated state, according to recent poll .. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/23/california-most-hated-state_n_1297843.html?ref=mostpopular.
bangalore.
.
Probably because California is one of the best known (or heard of) of all the states and there's a Hollywood prejudice that people associate with the state as a whole, particularly among those who have never even stepped foot in California.
i sometimes have to wonder....... if a subtle transition might take place with regard to the general context of being a jehovah's witness.. a transition away from being objects of hatred towards being legitimate objects of pity.. if this seems far-fetched, consider that some extended witness families have now drifted into having the next generation gone completely or faking it at best.
there are also cases of long term witnesses being accosted by long term co-workers as to 'what happened, i thought armageddon was supposed to be here' (and it's been twenty years).. when you hear a circuit assembly condemn college.... or facebook.... or the internet......or vampire novels, do you ask yourself, "how long can they repeat this stuff?
" i don't think the answer is 'indefinitely'.
Personally, I feel a great deal of sympathy towards individual JW's. Not to the GB, and not to certain ones who use the religion for arrogant advancement and humiliation of others - they have control issues that are somewhat beyond my scope of kind feelings. But the average witness, including many I still have many fond feelings towards, are truly lovely people and victims of ugly mind control. I have fantasies of trying to wake some of them up in some way but unless a person is ready to really hear the real truth, there's not much someone at a distance can do - it really just makes them dig their heels in even more. They know where I am and they know how to find me and I'll be here with open arms for any of them who really want to talk.
Sigh...
i wonder how many witnesses actually believe their religion.
what do you think?.
I think that most JW's have a lot of years and behavior invested and have to believe in order to keep going. If and when doubts arise, the go-to emotional (conditionned) response is that something isn't right with them, so they push themselves further back in by reading more WT literature. Once you've compromised yourself when it comes to holidays, witnessing, shunning etc. over years of time, it's very difficult to pull back and take a really unprejudiced look at the religion without freaking out. So yeah, I think most active JW's believe - but only because they have never allowed themselves to step outside of the cage they've locked themselves in.
who were the anointed between 100 and 1879 ad?
*** kingdom approached chap.
17 p. 344 par.
I was told by an elder, Constantine was Of the anointed.
''well there's one thing you got ta ask yourself punk....you felling lucky...well do ya punk".....clint eastwood dirty harry.. "it's life jim but not as we know it" capt kirk star treck..
"Aw fuck it dude, let's go bowling."
i'm gonna play the skeptic today on a topic that is painful for a lot of people on this forum.
my intent is not to stir anything up but to make sure facts are confirmed.
bear in mind, i'm sickened by the wt's role (and the heirarchy down to elders) in child molestation cover-ups.
