Posts by fresh prince of ohio

63

Circuit Assembly Confronting Apostate Challenge

by watson in

jw
friends

well, i sat thru day 2 of the latest circuit assembly.

instead of having the co or do re address the "generation" confusion, they had a couple of brothers do a demonstration.

mocha break out in service, weaker brother mentions he's tired....all of the changes lately, the confusing new understanding of that generation, et al.

fresh prince of ohio

In his Keynote Address about Armageddon, he was trying to show us how Jah's "cleansing" of the eart was necessary. So, he used the example that if your house full of ants, or cock roaches..or, or, if what about snakes.....would you just leave them alone? Wouldn't you want to have them completely out of your house??

Such make-me-illustrations just make every person outside of the borganization into undifferentiated parts of one giant abstraction that serves as the painted backdrop of their religious fantasy. I wish that they would keep it a little more real. "The guy who delivers your mail? He's gonna get whacked. All the people that live on your street? On your block? TOAST! Your coworkers? They'll all be lying dead in ditches after Armageddon, baby. All the people that work to build the roads you travel on, produce the TV shows you watch, harvest the food that you eat, run the government that sorta holds thing together, our grand Creator is going to KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM as part of the glorious fulfillment of His purposes friends!"

19

How would SOPA affect us?

by Aussie Oz in

jw
friends

i note a lot of recent news about sopa and both sides of the story.. i hope this will not turn into a debate about it or its legalities or the constitution, it's about the effect of it itself.. mixed in no doubt is a large amount of speculation from both sides as to how it will or will not work and the 'freedoms' under threat.

i beleive the concept of protecting intelectual property etc is fine, as i want the same protection for my artwork etc, but i gather this bill may go to far as it were.... many feel it will adversely effect the internet in as diverse ways as making sites shut down either by force in in self protection such as etsy, flickr, utube, wikipedia and social networking sites.. is it all being blown out of proportion?.

do we as an online community very used to posting, cut n paste, links etc face the risk of simon having to pull the pin?.

fresh prince of ohio

rebel8, I'm no expert as I'm really not all that smart, but my understanding of SOPA is that sites hosted outside the US but accessible in the US (I'm not sure exactly where this site is hosted) are really its primary target. If this legislation passes as-is, then a copyright holder, SUCH AS THE WBTS, could file a complaint with the Justice Department naming JWN and others as infringers on their copyrights. The Justice Department could then have US traffic to this site BLOCKED, just based on a simple allegation and nothing more. It's scary shit. You KNOW the WBTS would go Theocratic Warfare APESHIT BERZERK on ex-JW sites such as this one if these laws pass. SHUDDER!

Here's a visual aid:

http://americancensorship.org/infographic.html

34

I would like your opinion on Bertrand Russell's comment

by Terry in

could we discuss our reaction to bertrand russell's quote below?.

if i were asked to prove that zeus and poseidon and hera and the rest of the olympians do not exist, i should be at a loss to find conclusive arguments.

an agnostic may think the christian god as improbable as the olympians; in that case, he is, for practical purposes, at one with the atheists.. .

fresh prince of ohio

I always come back to the doctrine of the Virgin Birth. IMO, on this doctrine the whole truth or lack thereof of Christianity hangs.

This is so on-its-face impossible for me to believe, and so beyond any attempts at literal proof, that I don't feel any obligation to PROVE that it didn't happen. This is one of the most extraordinary claims made about Jesus and I can't imagine how any extraordinary, or even ordinary proof could be provided authenticating it. It is a 100% leap of faith to believe it, and I sometimes wonder just how much hard thought this doctrine is given by persons professing Christianity, in terms of, 'this is just a willing belief in something entirely unprovable and therefore it is perfectly reasonable to reject it and therefore I cannot fault a soul for not believing it'.

Of course there are Christians who insist that "spiritual truths" don't necessarily have to be "literal truths" or whatnot, and I can respect that, I guess. But all it amounts to is a kind of existentialist Christianity, in other words, just choosing to believe something not because of its literal truth but because of its ability to provide meaning. I've tried that course but in the end it just doesn't work for me. Maybe I'll keep trying, I'm always a bit enticed by the Kiirkegaard school but there's just not enough meat on that bone to really chart your life course based on it.

26

Is the Watchtower so assured of its members' loyalty it can do and say as it pleases?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

i don't know how any of you feel about this, but is it possible the watchtower society is so self-assured of its members' loyalty that it no longer cares what it says or does anymore?.

one example would be the constant admonition to practically worship the faithful and discreet slave.. another is changing the end of the calling of the anointed from 1935 to no fixed date, allowing the number of anointed to be at its highest for over 40 years.. what about the overlapping generations?

most non-jws, if pointed out the inconsistencies, would see the folly of this latest understanding, yet the rank and file swallow it, hook, line and sinker.. such changes are almost blatant, in your face, yet where is the anger, the rage, at yet another move of the goal posts?.

fresh prince of ohio

Never underestimate how agonizing the existential crisis is that inevitably comes upon any person confronting a lifetime, or several years or decades at least, of indoctrination that tells them, over and over and over again:

1) They will never have to experience death!

2) They are among the awesomely priveleged members of a chosen, clean, and righteous group of people, who have been imparted special, exclusive knowledge from a supernatural source. And everyone else in the world is going to die a horrible, inglorious death at Armageddon, which is going to happen any day now!!!!

3) There is something severely, SATANICALLY wrong with them if they doubt anything that comes from the FDS.

Yes, the WTS has got things to where they can say just about anything without risk of losing the earnest believers, if for no other reason than it is an incredible mental hurdle for a person to honestly realize, admit, accept that they're JUST A CHUMP WHO'S GONNA DIE, LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, and that a good portion, if not all of their lives has been spent in a fantasy world.

And for the non-earnest JW's, meh, they barely pay attention anyway. And for the power players, it's all good - whatever tactic works to keep the rickety old ship afloat.

79

Post Good Music, Any Genre

by leavingwt in

.

i hope everyone is having a great saturday night (or sunday morning).. .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0tge2n3nke.

fresh prince of ohio

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVAiF15vV6c

25

My recap of yesterday's Watchtower study...

by sir82 in

jw
friends

...for those of you who missed it:.

ahem..... .

we are the faithful and discreet slave!

fresh prince of ohio

Ahh takes me back to the 2001 District Convention drama "Warning Examples for Our Day". I found that drama to be so comically over-the-top that I could hardly believe it was real; I was literally stunned at how shrill it was. It was pretty much over for me after that convention.

7

Is this photo from the Watchtower or Awake?

by fresh prince of ohio in

jw
friends

you may recognize the photo if you frequent the site reddit.com.

it has become a popular "meme" pic to which various funny captions are added.

the overall style and feel of the pic got me wondering whether it came from one of the society's rags, in some clueless anti-internet article.. .

fresh prince of ohio

Thanks Leolaia. How'd you trace that?

7

Is this photo from the Watchtower or Awake?

by fresh prince of ohio in

jw
friends

you may recognize the photo if you frequent the site reddit.com.

it has become a popular "meme" pic to which various funny captions are added.

the overall style and feel of the pic got me wondering whether it came from one of the society's rags, in some clueless anti-internet article.. .

fresh prince of ohio

Ha, yeah, 'First World Problems' is a popular meme.

7

Is this photo from the Watchtower or Awake?

by fresh prince of ohio in

jw
friends

you may recognize the photo if you frequent the site reddit.com.

it has become a popular "meme" pic to which various funny captions are added.

the overall style and feel of the pic got me wondering whether it came from one of the society's rags, in some clueless anti-internet article.. .

fresh prince of ohio

You may recognize the photo if you frequent the site Reddit.com. It has become a popular "meme" pic to which various funny captions are added. The overall style and feel of the pic got me wondering whether it came from one of the Society's rags, in some clueless anti-internet article.

http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/35cw88/

93

What's The Biggest Difference In Today's JWs And The Witnesses From Decades Ago?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i believe today's witnesses lack zeal, resolve, "love" of the "truth"......just to name a few things.. years ago, witnesses were excited to knock on doors and tell people they were gonna die if they didn't accept paradise.. now, when you see jws in service, they all look zombied out.. it's a slowly dying religion that will last probably forever like an ancient rotted out tree..

fresh prince of ohio

I joined the JWs in the early 90s. From what I can gather, these were the sunset years of the JW golden age (heehee). Fred Franz was still alive. The 'Live Forever' book was the primary propaganda tool. Quick-builds were still come one, come all, stand in a brick-line. The 70-80 year Generation from 1914 was still sorta in play, though not much as I don't recall it being discussed much. The internet wasn't widely in use. Maybe it was just me being a newbie and not seeing things truly as they were, but it seemed like there was real enthusiasm in those days.

The Generations change in 1995 was when the sun set completely. After that, it just got colder and stupider in the Kingdom Halls with every meeting. I got out in 2001. I can't imagine how it is now.