Joseph Joachim

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Posts by Joseph Joachim

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  28

  New York Evolution Proof

  by metatron in

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  if you ever get stuck going to brooklyn bethel and.

  hearing about watchtower propaganda, you might want.

  to look at an antidote.. the museum of natural history - in manhattan.. in the section on human origins, they have a skeleton.

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  Joseph Joachim

  Last year I visited the Museum of Natural History in Chicago and experienced the same thing. I already had no doubts about the validity of the Evolution by then, but no facts and figures I had read stroke me so much as a Neanderthal skull I saw right next to a modern human skull and some other ape's skull. It was so clear that Neanderthals were entirely humans and, at the same time, so different from us as to constitute a different species.

  I think that JW stubborn refusal to accept the Evolution will be a major obstacle for recruiting educated people outside the US, where fundamentalist christianity is not so widespread.
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  12

  honest question for unbiased bible scholars

  by Bridgette in

  1. jw
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  one of my interests is the study of people's belief systems (more from an anthropological standpoint).

  i've just begun to delve into judaism.

  everything i've relied upon for their history, etc.

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  Joseph Joachim

  Bible Scholar Joseph Joachim answers: No! If he had intended to do so he would have chosen his Apostles better. It was self-appointed Apostle Paul who realized that there was something else to Christianity than just another Jewish sect, and he had to fight hard against Peter, James and John to talk them out of it. The Bible shows it very clearly. For some reason Paul is not a very popular fellow in this board, but if it wasn't for him we would all have to circumsize and eat kosher food.

  JJ
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  44

  Should People Be Disfellowshipped?

  by Frenchy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a reply i made on another thread prompted me to post this.

  i was going to do so on the other thread but that was really not the topic and i didn't want to corrupt it by flying off on another tangent.. i have no problems with disfellowshipping from an organization such as jehovah's witnesses.

  i don't think a person should be allowed to remain within an organization while practicing things that are condemned by that org., things which they, themselves profess not to believe in.. my objection is to the shunning.

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  Joseph Joachim

  Amazing,

  You say they claim to be a Christian organization, but they do not practice Christianity. I know this is off-topic in this thread, but I'd like to know what "practicing Christianity" means for you, and which are the organizations that in your opinion practice Christianity. From my point of view, Christianity has been so ambiguous from the onset that not even the Apostles could agree among themselves what Christianity was.

  JJ
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  44

  Should People Be Disfellowshipped?

  by Frenchy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a reply i made on another thread prompted me to post this.

  i was going to do so on the other thread but that was really not the topic and i didn't want to corrupt it by flying off on another tangent.. i have no problems with disfellowshipping from an organization such as jehovah's witnesses.

  i don't think a person should be allowed to remain within an organization while practicing things that are condemned by that org., things which they, themselves profess not to believe in.. my objection is to the shunning.

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  Joseph Joachim

  Frenchy,

  What you say is right but you're not seeing the problem as JWs do. For them, a person who is out of the religion has no chances of surviving Armaggedon. So what they try to accomplish by shunning is not to show their disapproval on the person's lifestyle but to psychologically coerce the person to go back to the Org. They really think it's the best thing to do, and it's something that fits perfectly with JW mindset. I don't see how this could change, unless they drop their claim of being the only true religion (something unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future).

  JJ
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  16

  How did you benifit from being a JW.

  by sleepy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  no moaning for me today.. what i want to know is the positive side of your life that you got from being a witness.. yes there are some, honest.. well i'll start off ,.

  1. i met my wife.

  2. lots of friends.

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  Joseph Joachim

  I got to know poor people (poorer than I was), both in the Congregation and going door to door. I think this is a valuable experience, because you don't worry so much about material things when you see others who are really needed.
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  30

  Positive Name For ExJWs...?

  by ISP in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i don't like the word apostate.......because it simply is not the case in so many cases.

  i think the term 'truthseeker' would be better and quite annoying to jws who think they are!.

  come on you truthseekers!.

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  Joseph Joachim

  What about "Normal-life-seekers"?
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  9

  JWS - the Self-Referenced Organization

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in media presentations and defenses made in court, witnesses are.

  portrayed as having all beliefs and practises derived strictly.

  from the bible.. many of us here painfully realize this is a fiction.

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  Joseph Joachim

  I wonder what scripture this is based on taken from the Pay Attention to the Flock book?
  Quote:
  Strong circumstantial evidence, such as pregnancy or evi-
  dence (testified to by at least two witnesses) that the
  accused stayed all night in the same house with a person of
  the opposite sex (or in the same house with a known
  homosexual ) under improper circumstances, is acceptable.

  Blondie my darling, I don't know about scriptural support, but this is one of the very rare occasions of sheer common sense in WT-land.

  Think about the beard issue. Growing a beard is the issue that got me started; it was the "straw" of final fame.

  Francoise, that was also the last straw for me. When I finally decided that I was definitely not going back after some months of being in and out, I grew my beard as way of "letter of disassociation". It caused the same effect in some brothers, who started shunning me after that. But those who were closer to me and/or not so braindead don't shun me (and it's been 5 years since). So I guess it's a good way to say good-bye without formally DA-ing. I don't know what sisters could do, though.

  JJ
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  23

  What church should I go to now?

  by serenaj92 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  they all have the american flag, crosses, and symbols.

  if i go to the kingdom hall i will just get shunned and i do need association.

  my husband won't let me take my son to a church.

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  Joseph Joachim

  If I go to the kingdom hall I will just get shunned and I do need association.

  What about making friends among your co-workers or something like that? I don't understand why going to church is so important for Americans.
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  12

  Awakening of a JW/new book/Wilson,Bergman

  by Tina in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just received the new prometheus books catalog.. ' awakening of a jehovah's witness-escape from the watchtower society diane wilson, forward and appendix by jerry bergman,ph.d'.

  the catalog gave it some major space.. i'll convey the blurb as written.. 'this tale of mind control,the use of fear to manipulate vulnerable people,and final escape from a suffocating cult enviornment is a revealing expose of a secretive contemporary sect,as well as a true psychological thriller.

  diane wilson spent 25 precious years of her life,first becoming indoctrinated by the dogma of the watchtower society,and then struggling to free herself from it's pervasive,intimidating clutches.. what she reveals about the goings on within the closed watchtower society will shock the average person who assumes the polite,well-dressed people who pass out leaflets are much like any other conservative religious group.

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  Joseph Joachim

  This tale of mind control,the use of fear to manipulate vulnerable people,and final escape from a suffocating cult enviornment is a revealing expose of a secretive contemporary sect,as well as a true psychological thriller.

  It sounds like a new "30 years a Watchtower slave" forthcoming. We'll have to wait and see but I'm afraid this will be the tipical I'm-a-resented-apostate type of book. Paul Kurtz's lapsuses are rare but have happened in the past (like publishing a book by one of those "Primal Scream" crackpot theorists).

  JJ
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  9

  Did the entire first century congregation preach?

  by Leander in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've been wondering about that question for the past few weeks.

  in my recollection it seems that the disciples were the primary ones engaged in the preaching work.

  where the other members of the 1st congregation involved in that preaching work as well?

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  Joseph Joachim

  Leander,

  I think your question is pointless, since we're not living in the first century. Metatron is right, first-century Christians were very zealous because: 1) they thought Christ's Second Coming was imminent and 2) Christianity was a new religion in a mostly Jewish and pagan environment. Now tell me, who would you preach to in the XXIst century, in countries that are mostly Christian? Unless you have your own sectarian version that you want to propagate for non-christian motives, which is precisely what JW do.

  JJ