interesting report in a oxford university blog - the world is becoming less religious, (hurray!!!).
quote: "an analysis of religious trends from 1981 to 2007 in 49 countries containing 60% of the world’s population did not find a global resurgence of religion—most high-income countries were becoming less religious—however, it did show that in 33 of the 49 countries studied, people had become more religious (norris and inglehart, 2011).
but since 2007, things have changed with surprising speed.
According to Hume, the materialist cannot jump from what is to what ought to be.
"You cannot, according to Hume, derive an “ought” from an “is,” at least without a supporting “ought” premise." So, deciding that you ought not to protect babies in the womb because it inhibits freedom of choice presupposes that causing harm to unborn babies is not wrong or immoral. This presupposition seems good enough for most people in America at present.
so did biden make a gaff again?
he said his first 100 days his cabinet will have to wear ball gags.
lol that is some good news.
I don't think it was necessarily a gaff. As I understand it, a ball gag consists of a spherical device on a rope that is designed to prevent speech, often used as a restraint device to keep its wearer quiet.
in one of mike and kim's latest videos they claim that the borg wrote in the 1960's that the book of revelations wasn't even finished until a much later date.
they have also stated that apostate christians changed the bible> i've also read years ago they trashed the bible or at least the king james years ago after another one of their fail predictions and right before they made their own bible> .
i'm looking for these writings and any other that where the borg is criticizing the bible?.
The Watchtower has added the name Jehovah to the New Testament 237 times as a replacement of the word Kurios meaning "Lord". None of the ancient manuscripts or fragments thereof contain the name or the Greek equivalent of the Tetragrammaton. They had to hatch a conspiracy theory that every last vestige was removed to obscure God's name and they therefore had the right restore it to the New Testament. However, if such were the case the entire New Testament would be unreliable. Watchtower "restores" the name when NT authors quote passages from the OT containing the Tetragrammaton. However, over half the "restorations" are not quotes from the OT, so these are simply added to the text without justification.
i cannot seem to find any information on which elder/s are assigned to do a shepherding visit on a congregation member.
does one of them have to be the member's field group leader?
can any elders do a shepherding visit at a member's request?
Typical of the organization to marginalize and/or dump you after your ability and usefulness is diminished. Think of all those Bethelites who were "reassigned". That's what you get for putting trust in men.
i cannot seem to find any information on which elder/s are assigned to do a shepherding visit on a congregation member.
does one of them have to be the member's field group leader?
can any elders do a shepherding visit at a member's request?
You made me spill my coffee Stan. That's one sure way to get a "shepherding" call. LOL
i cannot seem to find any information on which elder/s are assigned to do a shepherding visit on a congregation member.
does one of them have to be the member's field group leader?
can any elders do a shepherding visit at a member's request?
Theoretically, elders should be willing to make shepherding calls upon request. But I wonder if your group leader is a little fearful and feeling inadequate to help or build you up because of your physical issues or that he does not know what it is that you want or need from him. If that is the case, it might be helpful to find some theological issue that is troubling you and you need clarification on. One example might be if you lack assurance that you will survive Armageddon.
today there is a lot of hope placed in a vaccines to immunise against covid 19 , and relief that they are soon to be available.
that will be shared by the eight million or so jws in this world.
they should be thankful that the wts has moved away from its teaching ,that lasted for decades , proclaiming that vaccination was wrong, and a tool of satan.
I remember when we were kids in the 50s, we were required to be vaccinated prior to travel to Barbados. As soon as we were vaccinated my dad, an unbaptized publisher, rushed us into the airport washroom and applied alcohol over the injection.
the greatest of love and peace to you, dear one!.
thank you for your kind patience.
his request to have lazarus dip the "tip" of his finger in "water" and "cool" his "tongue," tells us: there is no water in the world of the dead.
Sorry but I don't find your arguments convincing. Seems to me that, other than the name, the fictitious Lazarus of the Luke 16 parody bears no resemblance to the Lazarus of John 11. So i suppose we will just have to agree to disagree.... at least until the resurrection anyway.
the greatest of love and peace to you, dear one!.
thank you for your kind patience.
his request to have lazarus dip the "tip" of his finger in "water" and "cool" his "tongue," tells us: there is no water in the world of the dead.
Hi Peaceful,
Sorry, I see no resemblance between Lazarus of a fictitious story and the historical figure of Mary and Martha's brother.
The Pharisees would say Lazarus (God is your help) claiming they could not lift a finger to help the common people in their struggles; to do so would result in their torment in the afterlife in the left side of Hades. So Jesus told their imaginary story back to them with "God your help" in Abraham's Bosom/right side of Hades/hell, exactly where the Pharisees placed them for accepting their struggles in this life.
the greatest of love and peace to you, dear one!.
thank you for your kind patience.
his request to have lazarus dip the "tip" of his finger in "water" and "cool" his "tongue," tells us: there is no water in the world of the dead.
Lazarus was a common name in Israel. It means God your help. If Lazarus and the Rich Man is a parable or at least an allegory, then there could be no relationship between Martha and Mary's brother and a fictitious person.
God is your help was a common phrase employed by the Pharisees who claimed there hands were tied so they could not lift a finger to help the poor or disabled without jeoparding their afterlife. Very similar to JW elders who say they must leave unwitnessed alleged child molesters in Jehovah's hands.
