pirata

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Posts by pirata

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  1

  How does 'knowledge' and the 'truth' change you?

  by EndofMysteries in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  examine yourself, all, take this to heart.. 1. if you thought it was a free ride and no punishment would you let your dark side rule you?.

  2. if you thought it was from god would you murder?

  3. how bad would you go if under the disquise of good?

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  pirata

  2. Abraham said "yes"
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  4

  Monkeys in a Cage

  by pirata in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  start with a cage containing five monkeys.. in the cage, hang a banana on a string and put stairs under it.

  before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana.. as soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the monkeys with cold water.. after a while, another monkey will make an attempt with the same response - all of the monkeys are sprayed with cold water.

  keep this up for several days.. turn off the cold water.. if, later, another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it even though no water sprays them.. now, remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one.. the new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs.

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  pirata

  And that my friends is we why sisters must wear skirts, brothers must wear jackets on the platform, and all the silly rules exist.
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  4

  Monkeys in a Cage

  by pirata in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  start with a cage containing five monkeys.. in the cage, hang a banana on a string and put stairs under it.

  before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana.. as soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the monkeys with cold water.. after a while, another monkey will make an attempt with the same response - all of the monkeys are sprayed with cold water.

  keep this up for several days.. turn off the cold water.. if, later, another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it even though no water sprays them.. now, remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one.. the new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs.

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  pirata

  Start with a cage containing five monkeys.

  In the cage, hang a banana on a string and put stairs under it. Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana.

  As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the monkeys with cold water.

  After a while, another monkey will make an attempt with the same response - all of the monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Keep this up for several days.

  Turn off the cold water.

  If, later, another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it even though no water sprays them.

  Now, remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one.

  The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs. To his horror, all of the other monkeys attack him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

  Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm.

  Replace the third original monkey with a new one. The new one makes it to the stairs and is attacked as well. Two of the four monkeys that beat him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs, or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

  After replacing the fourth and fifth original monkeys, all the monkeys which have been sprayed with cold water have been replaced. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs.

  From: http://www.wowzone.com/5monkeys.htm
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  12

  How do you view the truth?

  by purplesofa in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  pirata

  LOL! That is seriously funny! I wonder if he wrote that in 1919?
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  13

  The ethics of pretending to believe

  by pirata in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  for a few years now i have been pretending to believe something that i no longer do.

  i feel like an actor honing his skills in order to survive in a dictatorship where no dissent is allowed.. so far i have not had to face any real ethical dilemmas that would require me to end the charade: letting a loved one die because of blood or shunning a close df'd family member.. i am slowly helping my immediate family to see the things i am learning, but in the meantime i cannot help but feel bad about the whole charade.

  it feels deceptive, and (assuming deception is wrong) is therefore wrong, but i also see it as accomplishing the best good in the medium/long term.. what do you think?

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  pirata

  For a few years now I have been pretending to believe something that I no longer do. I feel like an actor honing his skills in order to survive in a dictatorship where no dissent is allowed.

  So far I have not had to face any real ethical dilemmas that would require me to end the charade: letting a loved one die because of blood or shunning a close df'd family member.

  I am slowly helping my immediate family to see the things I am learning, but in the meantime I cannot help but feel bad about the whole charade. It feels deceptive, and (assuming deception is wrong) is therefore wrong, but I also see it as accomplishing the best good in the medium/long term.

  What do you think? What ethical considerations come into play here?
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  53

  ring of truth

  by sayitsnotso in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  many argue that the truth will always be the truth because of core beliefs: no hellfire, no trinity, no immortal soul, adam and eve lost paradise (and thus paradise on earth will be restored and the need for the ransom), the issue of universal soverignty, last days, loving brotherhood, using god's name.. most people are attracted to the truth becuase of at least one or more of these beliefs and refer to these often as the 'ring of truth'.

  this makes it very easy to then shrug of any of the past mistakes or any current teaching that is hard to understand or believe.

  i myself am struggling with this.

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  pirata

  sayitsnotso, have you read through www.jwfacts.com? It may help to gain some perspective.
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  8

  Watchtower Library changed - is 2007 the last unchanged version?

  by vivalavida in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  in this video ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frcleoxkyu0 ) there is a very easy to follow explanation of how to prove with the watchtower library that their asertion that jerusalem was destroyed in 607 bce does not compute.. i tried to check it with a recent version of the cd, namely 2009, and the numbers are all changed so that it doesn't work now.

  does anybody know if 2007 was the last unchanged version in this respect?.

  and btw, what do you reckon of this blatant change again?.

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  pirata

  vivalavida, is it a matter of changed numbers or missing publications? DO you have a a specific reference that is difference you could share?
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  10

  Funny things in augusts watchtower

  by bohm in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have been reading augusts watchtower between simulations today, and i stumbled upon some funny stuff in augusts watchtower.

  first off - the author of the second article makes a bold move by referring to ancient watchtowers.

  from the first page:.

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  pirata

  One of the reasons why Zions Watch Tower was first puplished in 1879 was to defend the Bible teaching of the ransom.

  That's correct. The first issue of the Watchtower was sent out with a supplement to subscribers of Herald of the Morrning. I put here the relevant passages which describe one of the reasons for the split, a series of articles on the ransom (substitution/atonement) (full text can be found here: http://www.mostholyfaith.com/bible/reprints/Z1879JUL.asp):

  D EAR FRIENDS: My connection with the "Herald" having been terminated rather suddenly, and under circumstances which must seem rather remarkable and peculiar to you, I feel it to be a duty both to you and to myself to offer an explanation of the manner of withdrawal and my reasons for so doing. Quite a number who were personally acquainted with me thought there must be more of the story to tell, and I have received a number of letters asking an explanation. To these inquiries and to many unexpressed of similar character, let me offer the following statement:...

  Another objection is that in some cases there has been too much management. Articles sent by Bro. P. and myself, were not to my mind respectfully treated. If I had a right to the paper and I think I had and I wished Bro. P. to have, while Bro. B. had an equal right to write an opposing article, he had no right to cut up and interpolate ours. Nor was an appended answer proper when the writer was an "Associate Editor" and had a right to present his views over his own name. Further, while writing against Substitution, Bro. B. was seemingly anxious to publish letters from subscribers, which mentioned his view commendingly. Among others was one from Rev. W. V. Feltwell, of Philadelphia, a personal acquaintance of mine. In this extract Bro. F. is made to endorse the new views strongly. I was much surprised, and seeing the brother in March, I inquired; why? He informed me that the article referred to had not stated him correctly--that he had written to Bro. B. to have it corrected, and said he, "Didn't you see the correction in the March Herald?" No, I answered. Then he got me his copy. There it was--Bro. B. regrets at any error, &c., and a quotation from Bro. F's. last letter: "I am now and always have been a believer in the vicarious atonement of Christ." This seemed all right and I know that it was possible for any one to make a mistake, when merely making an extract from another's letter, and I was rejoiced to think that the correction was so freely made. But judge of my surprise and sorrow when upon attempting to show it to Bro. P. a few days after, I found that in my March No. a notice of Bro. Rice's paper "The Last Trump;" occupied its place--How was it in yours? We could not understand it, it seemed like double dealing--too much management for a Herald of the Millennial Morning. Alas!, I said to myself; is this the fruit of the new views of the atonement?
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  39

  I'm going poo-less

  by rebel8 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  no, this is not my annual march colon cancer awareness thread!*.

  a certain poo-less poster here has inspired me to stop using shampoo.. according to various hippie types, shampoo forces your scalp to produce extra oils and it takes a while to adjust.

  sudsing detergents are bad for the environment too.. plus they have carcinogens and flying spaghetti monster knows i don't need any more of those.. so....have you gone poo-less?.

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  pirata

  Hi rebel8, How's the poo-less experiment going?
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  20

  June 2010 Awake! more duplicity.....

  by Hobo Ken in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was up in my mum's house the other night (she and my father are still active jws) and saw the june 2010 awake!.

  as i browsed through it i came to watching the world.

  as i read the article on the "baby mammoth" i noticed that there seemed to be some important information missing, as well as some good old watchtower selective quoting.. bear in mind that devout witnesses would never question the organisation or suspect that an article could be misleading them far less go and research the information to check it's authenticity.. the article mentions the age of the animal at time of death (3 to 4 months) and the fact that it was well preservedin the ice and that it's airways and digestive systems were clogged with silt.. right at the end of the article they say that the "scientists were lead to believe" the animal "must have drowned".

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  pirata

  Great find!

  But if we apply some JW logic then it all makes sense: Evidently, mammoth's are just really hairy elephants, this one drowned in a mud-slide caused by all that rain, and the pre-noah vapor barrier in the sky threw the carbon dating off by 33,000 years.