It's odd that even though JW's believe Satan was behind Hitler, they also beleive any JW who would have given in under torture or threat of torture by this Satan "possessed" man, would suffer the same punishment from God... that of everlasting cutting off. This old man, had he signed that document, would have been viewed as someone who failed Jehovah and would have felt shame for the rest of his life even though Hitler and his gang were the ones who were the problem. All those that did die in concentration camps 70+ years ago have, along with Hitler, been dead all these years. Most of what they thought was the "truth" has been changed, Armegeddon still hasn't arrived...what was the point of all this supposed loyalty?
exwhyzee
JoinedPosts by exwhyzee
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Ladder In The Lion's Den, Leopold Engleitner's story
by designs inour town is hosting a international indie film festival this week and today they are featuring leopold engleitner's story of being a witness in the concentration camps of buchenwald, niederhagen, and ravensbruck.
he weighed 63 lbs.
when he was freed.
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BROTHERS & SISTERS - READ THE BROCHURE!
by The Searcher injesus always used illustrations to help people reason on the import of what he was saying.
here is an illustration followed by a reality;.
imagine that your heart went out to all those poor people who suffered when fukushima blew up, so much so, that when an internationally renowned charity asked for donations to help those in need, you donated $5000 to the cause.
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exwhyzee
My impression when donating for Katrina relief was that the money would go to those who had little or no insurance coverage for the damage they sustained and that volunteers were helping those who were unable to pay for the labor needed to do the repairs. If someone had insurance coverage, other than a lack of laborers, why did the jw volunteers need to be involved? If one had insurance monies coming to them but there was a shortage of laborers, why couldn't they pay the volunteers for the work they did and let them donate it to the society if they chose to ? It seems like the society used this as a money making opportunity and a way to garner good P.R. For themselves.
I know a former JW who is used to be high level part of the International Building Committee who said he left the Org. because of all the corruption he saw while working in that capacity. For example, he said allegedly there were JW contractors/ suppliers secretly marking up the cost of labor and materials to make a profit off the funds donated by other JW's and other fraudulent goings on having to do with shuffling of funds and breaking of local building and zoning codes etc. Although this doesn't surprise me....I'm nevertheless very disappointed.
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Are there any good interviews/discussions that I can dowload to my iphone?
by jambon1 ini'm not very techi.. any help?.
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exwhyzee
Sometimes Adam Corolla (when he doesn't get too off color) has entertaining discussions. http://adamcarolla.com/
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Governing Body Put Down Education Because The Sad Facts Show Higher Education Leads Lower Bull Tollerance
by frankiespeakin inas lamented by members of the governing body higher education is causeing many to leave the organization and so it is demonized by them.. subjects the governing body would hate to see young one study are numerous.
they would like to keep things very simple it is easier to control people.
they would prefere to go backward in technology to the time the first printing presses back in the 16th century, that is the level they work best at.. .
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exwhyzee
When I was in Bethel working on the bindery lines, there was a 24 year old guy who had become a Witness after he had obtained his College degree. Most of us on the crew started at the same time but he was pulled off the lines and assigned to the legal Dept. and sent to law school because he already had a B. A. It made sense that since that they chose him since he was half way there, education wise but it struck me that those of us who had listened to the Societies advice and come to Bethel, had put Gods kingdom ahead of our own pursuit for a higher education, were not only less valuable to them, but we had just been penalized or discriminatedi against in a way for listening to their own admonition.
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THE BLIND SPOT identifying the refuting target of Jehovah's Witnesses
by Terry inthe life of a human being progresses toward maturity and peaks and then gradually atrophies into old age, inability, possibly debilitation and then death.. it is the same for all people unless they meet with an accident or misfortune along that continuum.. i propose that we measure and test the virtue of being a jehovah's witness by focusing on the blind spot of their religion.. .
what is the blind spot?.
the watchtower society is in major denial that the members of that religion will actually grow old and die.. as a consequence of this major blind spot the members are less likely to include provisions for that inevitability.. the active and committed jw spends a preponderance of their vital years serving the needs of the group and not for saving for old age.. once that outstanding performance lessens and fizzles into decrepitude--the society itself makes no provision for their senescence.. .
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exwhyzee
Marked
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Must Read, Sticky Topics
by konceptual99 inhaving just found this gem with leolaia's superb post with 18 reasons the flood of noah's day is a myth..... http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/222593/1/did-the-global-flood-of-the-bible-really-happen-please-give-evidence.
... i wondered what topics going back through the archives should be must reads for anyone coming to jwn?
what topics/posts should be made sticky (if that ever where to be a possibility)?.
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exwhyzee
Marked for future reference .
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exwhyzee
How are you possibly going to understand the Bible or know what to think about?
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End of world predictions/ JW's
by exwhyzee ini thought this was an interesting site that discusses end of world predictions.
http://www.humanreligions.info/the_end_of_the_world.html.
there are additional links at the end of this page.
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exwhyzee
I thought this was an interesting site that discusses end of world predictions. http://www.humanreligions.info/the_end_of_the_world.html
There are additional links at the end of this page. They should be clickable even if they don't look that way.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Martin Gardner has authored a perfectly good introduction to the Jehovah's Witnesses, which I will quote at length. The JWs initial predictions of the end of the world were based on pyramidology and numerology. This is the use of measurements and dates surrounding the great pyramid in Egypt to predict days. Because the number of potential numbers to use are as plentiful as the imagination, almost any date can be made meaningful. Pyramidology and numerology is thoroughly discredited by mathematicians, and prophecies based on them have had an uncountable number of failures.
An American preacher enormously impressed by Smyth's researches [on pyramid numerology] was Charles Taze Russell, of Allgheny, Pa., founder of the sect now known as Jehovah's Witnesses. In 1891, Pastor Russell published the third volume of his famous series Studies in the Scripture. It is a book of Biblical prophecy, supplemented by evidence from the Great Pyramid. A letter from Smyth is reproduced in which the Scottish astronomer praises Russell highly for his new and original contributions.
According to Russell, the Bible and Pyramid reveal clearly that the Second Coming of Christ took place invisibly in 1874. This ushered in forty years of 'Harvest' during which the true members of the Church are to be called together under Russell's leadership. Before the close of 1914, the Millennium will begin. The dead will rise and be given a 'second chance' to accept Christ. Those who refuse are to be annihilated, leaving the world completely cleansed of evil. Members of the church alive at the beginning of the Millennium will simply live on forever. This is the meaning of the well known slogan of the Witnesses - 'Millions now living will never die.' [...]
To the great disappointment of the Russellites, 1914 ushered in nothing more dramatic than the World War, and the sect lost thousands of members. New editions of Russell's Pyramid study were issues with the wording altered at crucial spots to make the errors less obvious. Thus, a 1910 edition had read, '... The deliverance of the saints must take place some time before 1914....' (p. 228) But in 1923, this sentence read, '... the deliverance of the saints must take place very soon after 1914....'
Judge J. F. Rutherford, who succeeded Russell after the pastor died in 1916, eventually discarded Pyramidology entirely. Writing in the November 15 and December 1, 1928, issues ofThe Watch Tower and Herald, Rutherford releases a double-barrelled blast against it [...] The Judge did not remind his readers in these articles that he, too, had been guilty of a prophetic error. For many years he had taught that 1925 would mark the beginning of the great jubilee year. Alas, it also had passed, without perceptible upheavals. The sect now discourages the sale and reading of Russell's writing, and although members still believe the Millennium is about to dawn, no definite dates are set. ”
- Failed End of the World Predictions for 1914 to 1920 made by the Jehovah's Witnesses, compiled by the Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance
- Failed End of the World Predictions for 1925 to 1975 made by the Jehovah's Witnesses, compiled by the OCRT
- Failed End of the World Predictions from 1975 by the Jehovah's Witnesses, compiled by the OCRT
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New member says hey
by jay dubless ini have lurked now and then, just decided to join.. my older brother and i were raised by our jw mom, but our dad was a non-practicing catholic.
so we went to the hall, but were considered "weak" witnesses, since our family still celebrated xmas and birthdays, to appease my dad i suppose.
as a kid, i loved these holidays.. anyways, when my brother was 17 (i was 13), he spent a few weeks with our cousins in ky, who are all gung-ho j-dubs, and upon his return, he decided he was going to be more "theocratic".
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exwhyzee
Yep...It's often a mistake to try and enlighten a JDub especially one who has been in a long time. It's too frightening to face the flaws in the thing that anesthetizes you and provides enough of a distraction and a big enough time filler so you can deal (or not deal)with life's unknowns. One has to be ready to face such a thing in ones own time and way. Perhaps you can remember how scary it was when you were at that point way back when. All the superstitious thoughts about the fate of those who leave the org. still swirling around In you head. It's easier for them to punish you than to face that reality. Sometimes the sugarcoating of the organizations mistaks is a big part of making it as a Witness. With my older brother, I've found that it's best to let him ask me questions and only give vague answers or side comments that make him think about things on his own. We are only 18 mos. apart in age. Not long ago he made a comment about age and getting older. I said jokingly " yeah...weren't we supposed to be perfect by now? Ha ha . I could see he saw the humor but I could see that he was thinking more about why the end never came when they said it would.
Enjoyable post and interesting links....welcome!
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If Jesus Could Be Ressurrected On Earth And He Went To Bethel What Would He Tell The Governing Body CEOs?
by frankiespeakin infor starter stop judging and you will not be judged..
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exwhyzee
(Pointing at Watchtower) "That's not what I meant when I said that and I never looked like that either by the way".