when told recently of someone in the congregation who had "given in to temptation", the person relating the incident said: "satan waited until just the right moment to tempt br.
weak.
i began thinking about the correlation between temptation, free will, and what jws teach about wicked spirit creatures' abilities (or lack thereof).. jws teach that wicked spirit forces can affect the material world-- move objects, speak in audible voice, create visions, possess living creatures (humans included); yet they also teach that they cannot read or manipulate our thoughts.
simon17 - "Tell a JW man to audibly say which supermodel or actress asking them out would tempt them the most. With all the spirit realm listening, see how long that temptation takes to come to fruition..."
Damn, why hadn't I thought of that all those years ago?
Wait, I did occasionally mention out loud who I thought was sexy. I was never confronted with "temptation" to hook up with any of them, though. Why not???
so a few months ago, a friend sent me an actual copy of finished mystery which was published in 1917 (not a pdf download... the actual book).
i must say, this was the most disturbing book i have ever had the displeasure of reading.
but i only read it because this was the main publication that was being distributed worldwide when jesus supposedly chose the watchtower in 1918 and i basically wanted to see for myself what jesus saw in the wt that would compel him to choose this religious corporation over all other religious denominations.. anyway, if anyone is interested in knowing the actual contents of this book, here are some bullet points i put together from some of the notes i took as i read the book:.
At least the Mormons and 7th Day Adventists still hold to their founders' original texts.
moshe - "They don't waste there money on cigarettes, booze, dope, gambling, worldly fads, flashy cars..."
Oh, really? Dude, every "local needs" talk about all those things is made because those things are happening; that's what "local needs" talks are for.
And those talks were really on the rise shortly before my fade started...
moshe - "...for the most part, they aren't getting arrested or beating up their kids or spouse."
Just 'cause arrests aren't happening all that often, doesn't mean the abuse doesn't occurr, especially in a closed authoritarian system that - due to its organizational policies - has an overall effect of concealing said abuse.
People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Well, the WTS has been throwing rhetorical stones at Christendom, the "World", and virtually everything else outside its hermetic seal for a long, loooooong time. All the while, the Tower's walls have mostly been made of stone, but that's changing now; this is the Information Age, the WikiLeaks era.
Full transparency, and damn the consequences.
The Tower's walls are transmuting to glass faster and faster, and the stones it has thrown are rebounding and cracking that glass more and more.
i've just started reading "year of doom, 1975: the inside story of jehovah's witnesses" by english author j.c. stevenson.
it was published in 1967 as basically a memoir of his years in the dubs, including time as a pioneer, and an explanation of the methods used by them to make the organisation grow.. it's not the best "insider" book i've written, but there is a section i've uploaded below that makes some interesting points about the home bible study procedure and why it is so effective at turning interested people into baptism candidates.
reading through this, i see myself back in the mid-80s sitting there getting led, week by week, into the trap.. this section is from chapter 2, "the seed is watered" in which he explains the typical process following a few return visits.. .
Murray Smith - "...the only way WT can counter this is to cast aspersions on the truthfulness and motives of science..."
It's not just the WTS; virtually every Biblical literalist Christian denomination does it in spades.
I remember once reading a terrific rebuttal of the Christian Right's allegations of dishonesty throughout the biological and geological sciences. I don't remember where it was or who wrote it, but it really laid out in a very funny way just how damned impossible it was for there to be some kind of "vast secular conspiracy" among the "elites" of all the scientific disciplines to debunk Genesis (and thusly Christianity).
a long time friend and local actor is developing a movie entitled "blood" that explores the the pressure a family goes thru in ordeals within the organization including intimidation and disfellowshipping.
here is a link to an article on the whole story: http://www.parisstaronline.com/articledisplay.aspx?e=3003974&sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4d700cd71e961c98,0.
he is about to be interviewed by several other papers.
Damn, I though this thread was going to be about the Last Vampire anime...
when was the last time that the watchtower published an article that attempted to prove the year 607 b.c.e.
was correct over the year 587 b.c.e.?.
the watchtower now simply mentions the year in its publications without attempting to justify it.. proof through repetition?.
All the addition and subtraction in this thread has given me a headache...
pirata - "I double checked and Blondie's quotes are the most recent.The last time they touched 587 BCE in a publication was 21 years ago!"
That pretty much says it all, right there.
Although it won't make any difference to the hard-core oldtimers; most of them still hold to the 7000-year-creative-days meme.
so i have good reason there's a possibility that the convention may have so nu-lite on daniel prophecy.
coming from the geniuses that brought us the overlapping generation, one can only speculate what nuttiness they will come up with next..
WTWizard - "...the witlesses will claim that this is 'the eighth power' that reigns a very short time."
Well, maybe when it stubbornly refuses to wipe out Babylon the Great, cry "peace and security", and collapse, the WTS will have a hell of a time spinning themselves out of that one, IMO.
BTW, I'm not really up on all the Alex Jones/PrisonPlanet/black-helicopter/NWO hype these days; what's "Agenda 21?"
so i have good reason there's a possibility that the convention may have so nu-lite on daniel prophecy.
coming from the geniuses that brought us the overlapping generation, one can only speculate what nuttiness they will come up with next..
sir82 - "Eating poutine will now be considered a DF offense."
poopsiecakes - "soooo glad I'm not a JW anymore..."
So you like poutine, huh, poopsie?
I'm picturing you slowly and satisfyingly licking your fingers after downing a particularly zesty cheeze curd...
I'm such a perv...
i've just started reading "year of doom, 1975: the inside story of jehovah's witnesses" by english author j.c. stevenson.
it was published in 1967 as basically a memoir of his years in the dubs, including time as a pioneer, and an explanation of the methods used by them to make the organisation grow.. it's not the best "insider" book i've written, but there is a section i've uploaded below that makes some interesting points about the home bible study procedure and why it is so effective at turning interested people into baptism candidates.
reading through this, i see myself back in the mid-80s sitting there getting led, week by week, into the trap.. this section is from chapter 2, "the seed is watered" in which he explains the typical process following a few return visits.. .
hoser - "It indoctrinates the householder, and it indoctrinates the publisher."
Insightful; although I would suggest that in the case of the latter, it functions more as reinforcing the indoctrination.
i've just started reading "year of doom, 1975: the inside story of jehovah's witnesses" by english author j.c. stevenson.
it was published in 1967 as basically a memoir of his years in the dubs, including time as a pioneer, and an explanation of the methods used by them to make the organisation grow.. it's not the best "insider" book i've written, but there is a section i've uploaded below that makes some interesting points about the home bible study procedure and why it is so effective at turning interested people into baptism candidates.
reading through this, i see myself back in the mid-80s sitting there getting led, week by week, into the trap.. this section is from chapter 2, "the seed is watered" in which he explains the typical process following a few return visits.. .
Murray Smith - "Just to be sure your not mis-quoting me, Vidiot...the old beliefs under all that dust were the evolutionary timetables which are somewhat more provable than any evidence for creation. I put them aside only to find on my exit from WT they were always there...just ignored."
Oops. Sorry.
The statement I made is still true, though.
BTW, I didn't know that limestone came from marine life. I did know that petroleum came from prehistoric organic matter, though.
