FatFreek2005 - "Was it the Bethel lifestyle? The food? The lack of stress?"
Maybe a non-smoking, hard-drug-free lifestyle?
Posts by Vidiot
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971984 WT cover -- Watchtower's Final Failed Prediction?
by FatFreek 2005 inthe infamous cover of that 1984 watchtower (27 years ago) was perhaps the last prediction / prophecy of the watchtower society.
will there be any more or have they finally learned their lesson?
some think they are like a race-track junkie and are addicted to predictions.
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66
Fallout 2014
by wobble income 2014 even some dubs must start to ask wtf jesus has been doing for one hundred years, and there is a big potential for many to leave.. what more will the wt bull**it (writing) department come out with to keep the poor little drones feeding the hive, and maintaining the gb's rock-star life-style ?.
the over-lapping generation tripe will be getting on for five years old by then, surely "noo lite" will shine that makes the big a even closer or somesuch ?.
come on chaps, those poor saps in writing need your best ideas.
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Vidiot
lifelong humanist - “I've asked my still-in wife this question several times recently. She simply won't answer. I guess she knows that something isn't right, but she's not acknowledging that the WTs 'game is up' as far as 1914 is concerned.”
When I was still in and had no particular reason to doubt 1914, I used to play date-setting games with my very Christian (by his behavior and conduct, IMHO) and now deceased JW father. He had once been a very well-informed elder and was thusly fully aware of the failed predictions of the past (and even joked about them on occasion), so the games were all in good fun and never taken too seriously.
Anyways, we both held the opinion that prophetic fulfillment - almost by definition – needed to be obscure before the fact, yet obvious in retrospect to be the real deal; as such, both of us thought the year 2000 would be too simple.
We did, however, think that 2005 or 2014 might be actual contenders.
The reason for 2005 was a bit convoluted; since 1975 was supposedly 6000 years since Adam’s creation, and as the WTS suggested, Eve’s creation and marriage to Adam was (evidently) the final creative act of Day 6, and supposedly since ancient Jewish men were considered adults and thusly (more often than not) were married at age 30, well, 1975 plus 30 years equals 2005.
2014’s candidacy was more elementary simply by virtue of being 100 years since 1914; “ten times ten – “Earthly completion” by the reckoning of ancient Judeo-Christian numerology.
Gives me a chuckle when I think back, now.
civicsi00 – “I plan on buying my mom a 100-year-anniversary card and giving it to her. These people need to be reminded that the Big A ain't coming the way we were all taught.”
Ouch. I’m too nice for that. I plan on looking after my mom in her declining years… In fact, in a weird way, I’m kind of relieved that she is unlikely to live long enough to see the WTS’s likely decline into history; the same for my late father, too, I suppose. Climate change, unsustainable population growth, the effects of peak oil, and conflicts over dwindling resources can (and very well might) effectively “thin the herd” without a shred of divine help.
It’s partly why I’ve become convinced that fundamentalism (including the WTS) is headed for history’s dustbin; its leadership does virtually nothing to prepare the rank-and-file for these realities; a big part that helped with my fade…
brotherdan - “Last night I was reading in the "God's Kingdom of 1000 years" book (while pooping...it's doesn't deserve more attention than that) and they were justifying setting dates. I believe around page 340-350 they talk about how we are not to know the day or hour. But it insinuated that you COULD know the year.”
No school like old-school, huh?
Ex-Dub MS – “You'd have to teach their own beliefs to them before discussing why they don't add up.”
Woah. Dizzy.
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97
1984 WT cover -- Watchtower's Final Failed Prediction?
by FatFreek 2005 inthe infamous cover of that 1984 watchtower (27 years ago) was perhaps the last prediction / prophecy of the watchtower society.
will there be any more or have they finally learned their lesson?
some think they are like a race-track junkie and are addicted to predictions.
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Vidiot
thetrueone - " ...before when doctrinal proclamations and teachings became invalid, t hey would simple not put them into publication and ask that these pieces of literature be taken off the shelfs of the Kingdom Halls. Now with the advent of the internet all of these publications or easily assessable... "
And therein lies the elephant-sized problem...
The hardasses like Rutherford, Covington, and Jaracz rose to the top of the heap - not by virtue of their "spirituality" - but by their ruthlessness; that is, after all, how the vast majority of corporate CEOs succeeded in the free-market capitalist environment of the 20th Century. In the short term, ruthlessness will almost always prevail over what most people consider "Christian" behavior (altruism, charity, forgiveness, tolerance, etc.).
The success of this prevailing strategy naturally had the effect of reinforcing their view that they had the right tack, but the flip side is that the impossible-to-staunch flow of information, full transparency, and leveling of the playing field inherent in the Internet Age is too radical an environmental change for authoritarian leaders to effectively adapt to. This is a fundamental truth across the geopolitical spectrum, and not unique to the WT situation.
At this point, the only viable alternatives to long-term survival in this environment is adaptation via mainstreaming or extinction.
However, mainstreaming would effectively neuter the WTS; if they dispensed with most or all of the WTS doctrinal eccentricities, they would arguably no longer be Jehovah's Witnesses. That's clearly not an option, but extinction is inconceivable to the old-school hardliners, too, so circling the wagons against the inexorable tide of a 21st Century that stubbornly refuses to follow their eschatalogical expectations seems to be all they have left at this point, hence the almost desperate-sounding anti-everything rhetoric, and scorched-earth-style crackdown against virtually any type of non-WT-ish behavior.
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Celebrating birthday: ground for disfellowshipping?
by behemot ina friend of mine (inactive) is being threatened with a judicial committee because he took his children to schoolmates' birthdays and because he celebrated his wife's birthday.. do you know if celebrating birthday is sufficient ground for setting a judicial committee?.
the ks2010 does not mention birthdays specifically, and i feel like it would be quite a stretch to make it fall under the "apostasy" category (subcategory "celebrating false religion holidays" or "idolatry").. what do you think?.
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Vidiot
nugget - "yes JWs promote the idea that only non christians celebrated birthdays in fact the celebrant is considered a god for the day. Thus by celebrating brithdays the person is engaging in false worship."
TV shows about so-rich-they-have-nothing-else-to-do Momzillas spending $50,000 on their daughters' Sweet-16 parties reinforce it; birthday celebrators in general - by implication - are lumped in with these people.
nugget - "In addition attending birthdays for worldly people means that you are not obeying the watchtowers advice about bad associations."This is the actual underlying reason; the limiting of social contact with nonJW acquaintences and relatives who might, through reasoning or conduct, suggest that life outside the WTS is actually worth living.
Everything else - scriptural arguments against, pagan origins, etc. - is gravy.
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"The Simpsons" - Is Ned Flanders based on a Jehovah's Witness? Did you have one?
by Witness 007 ina self serving, self rightoues, judgemental fool who's favourite swear word is "fudge" did you know any "flanders" types at the kingdom hall.
we had a special pioneer who would mention "the wonders of jehovah's creation"...while we were cleaning the kingdom hall toilets!!!
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Vidiot
Flanders is the most affectionate and accurate TV portrayal of the quintessential American Evangelical.
This is by design.
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43
Can you recommend some movies/videos?
by OnTheWayOut inan ex-jw meetup group i attended just watchted worlds apart together and the host wants to do this type of thing more often.. i would love to see religulous, but the group would be divided on such a movie.. i suggested the documentary, jesus camp and september dawn.. do you have any suggestions i can pass along?.
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Vidiot
Obvious: Blade Runner, Aliens, The Matrix, Stargate, The Shawshank Redemption.
Less obvious: The Puppet Masters, Underworld, Clash of the Titans (2010), Dragonslayer.
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103
What Songs Do You Find Mesmerising?
by minimus ini love chris isaak's wicked game.
it's haunting.. traffic's low spark of high heeled boys was/is a song that i'd listen to over and over again.
(if i were to ever taked lsd, that would be the song i'd listen to).. i love michael jackson's version of smile.
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140
Can anyone here SEE the "Run-Away Freight train" about to "Blind-Side" the WTBTS???
by foodalls ini just got off listening to the the tape about the teh bethlelite brothers and the case a member of the anointed has filed against a congregation about an illegal disfellowshiping...and both of these "brothers" have set this organization for a very hard fall!
but!...thats not what i see from what o got from these tapes....but it will be a big contributing factor (i actually feel sorry for those poor "ignorant" elders who will be left to "flap-in-the-wind" over this!!!
)..but its what ii know is comig about all religion that know for a fact!!!
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Vidiot
Saaaay, didn't Julian Assange and WikiLeaks hint at some kind of impending release of "alien disclosure"-type documents?
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97
1984 WT cover -- Watchtower's Final Failed Prediction?
by FatFreek 2005 inthe infamous cover of that 1984 watchtower (27 years ago) was perhaps the last prediction / prophecy of the watchtower society.
will there be any more or have they finally learned their lesson?
some think they are like a race-track junkie and are addicted to predictions.
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Vidiot
sabastious - "I'm starting to believe that there are no real individuals within the Organization. I used to believe that they were few and far between..."
There used to be. Since around 1980-ish, the creative types, intellectuals, and out-of-the-box thinkers have been quietly, steadily winnowed out, one way or another. BTW, I fully acknowledge that it may not necessarily be intentional, but that doesn't make it any less real.
Assuming that it is, indeed, unwritten policy, and that GB2.0 keeps this policy in effect (and I see no reason to believe otherwise), they run the serious risk of being left with a worldwide body of morons.
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When the Reptillian Anti-Christ is unmasked, what is your firearm of choice to kill our invaders?
by WingCommander inthis subject thread has been on my mind for a while, especially after seeing "zombieland" and foodall's thread about our possible ufo/reptilian over lords/realion/alien invaders.
when the great day of reckoning comes, whether it be from ufo alien invaders, realian reptilian over lords, demons in human-hybrid form, or just plain old virus-infected zombies, what will you be carrying to defend yourself from the hostile forces of e-vile?
please, no one say a "bible" or i'm going to just laugh my ass off.
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Vidiot
Outlaw - "Reptilians taking over Canada? If The Weather doesn`t kill them, the local Wildlife will Kill them, then eat them."
Dude, shut up! Do you want all the crazy, paranoid American UFO nuts emigrating up here?