John_Mann

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Posts by John_Mann

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  29

  shock horror! WITNESSING ATTIRE NOW CONDONES OPEN-NECK SHIRTS FOR MALES!

  by steve2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  go to jw.org right now friends and you will see a young male jw witnessing in a rural setting with publication in hand and - take careful note - wearing a crisply-white open-neck shirt.

  bring out the carnival, light the lights: the organ ization is kicking itself into an ongoing casualization of its rank and file.. in the 1960s through 1980s i know brothers who dared to attire themselves sans ties who were reprimanded or worse.

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  John_Mann

  Here in Brazil JW's can use polo shirts in field service. No problema!
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  23

  Can a JW be accused of apostasy for just quoting scriptures?

  by Island Man in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  for example, let's say an awake jw wanted to share ttatt about the true meaning of john 10:16, so he just posts on his facebook wall a couple passages of scripture with no commentary whatsoever - like this:.

  "in answer he said: i was not sent forth to any but to the lost sheep of the house of israel.

  - matthew 15:24.

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  John_Mann

  Yes!

  Even before I had my first contact with TTATT I used to speak openly about Titus 1:15.

  In my first JC about loose conduct they strangely also ask me about this verse and what I thought about it. And I just answer I thought exactly what was written. But they leave me alone in that occasion (the JC was about my conduct with my girlfriend, afff).

  But if they ask me about it someone else had accused me of apostasy based only in this verse.
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  11

  What do you know about buddhism?

  by Crumpet in

  1. social
  2. family

  a poster who has chickened out of posting this (naughty girl) is reading a book about buddhism which says that orgasm is the path to enlightenment?

  does anyone know anything about buddhism?

  it might be my new religion and then i can stop slating other religious people!

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  John_Mann

  * Buddhism can be summed up with the 4 noble truth and the middle way of life or the octuple way. This is buddhism itself, everything else is related to this. Is the "love god and your neighbour" of christianity, but we know christianty is very beyond that. In buddhism everything is very very internally consistent.

  * There's no supreme god, immortal soul and after life in buddhism.

  * There's no devil too. Our reality is not a kind of hell or lost paradise. It's just the reality (Nirvana) distorted by illusion (Avidya). But there's a kind of "force" (Mara is this personified force, it's the nearest of a devil in buddhism) who keeps the illusion running (samsara).

  * Buddha never told WHY the reality is distorted. He said is a very complex reason, and it's not an important thing to know when you're trying to reach the enlightment. He compared to a man wounded by an arrow. In the present moment it's not importat to know who shoot the arrow and why, but the important is to remove the arrow and heal the injury.

  * There are 3 major school of thoughts in buddhism (Theravada, Zen and Mahayna or Tibetan Buddhism). The schools of buddhism are not like the sects of christianity. They're are not opposed to each other but just different approaches. Theravada is the older view and are very focused on formal knowledge about Buddha. Zen is the most loose approach, they are more focused on the practical use of buddhism. Tibetan is the most mystical and detailed approach.

  * Buddha was not a god. It was supposed to be a real person who lived in ancient India. His name was Siddharta Gautama.

  * Buddha was never obese. Those fat statues represents Potai, a kind of chinese "Santa Claus" comparing to christianity.

  * There's no Karma in budhism in a sense of "cause and effect". Karma in buddhism is the cyclical mental pattern every one of us possess. No matter how much we improve in knowledge and experience, we always have a recurring pattern of thinking and acting through this thinking, that's karma.

  * There's no reencarnation in buddhism because there's no immortal soul. There are a concept better translated as rebirth. Rebirth occurs every moment, is the passing of a relative sense of identity from one moment to another. The most mystical approach about it is when we die our karma will give origin to another being. But this karma is an impersonal impulse, Buddha compared to the very "thing" what is passed when you transfer a flame through one candle to another. In a more detailed approach, buddhism says when we die, our karma is released from the dead body and wanders about 49 days (literal time specified only in Tibetan) called Bardo. In the Bardo most of our identity is lost and only people who improved their karma can have a level of control in this period. This period is said to be a very unpleasant moment, like a nightmare state. What is remained as identity suffers with a great sense of lonelyness. The pain is so strong that the only remedy to that is what was experienced before as love from a mother. So this incorporeal karma will look for an embryo\fetus (specified to be the transition between an embryo to a fetus) in a mother's womb to attach with it. So it's like a software ("karma in bardo") craving for a hardware (early intrawomb fetus).

  * One can have the view of no rebirths after death at all, only rebirths in one lifetime (Theravada tends to this approach. Zen could say it's not important). In this view, the karma through two existences is a very impersonal force, like the genes passing one life to another.

  * The main short term goal of buddhism is to achieve a better karma, so you can have a better rebirth (even while alive). When you rebirth in more equilibrated states, you can reach the final rebirth to a state beyond definition called enlightment or Nirvana. Nirvana is a kind of singularity in the process of improving rebirth. Nirvana can only be obtained through (perfect ?) equilibrium of mind. So you must dwell between all opposite extremes (like pleasure and pain, for example).

  # Questions ?
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  11

  Can we sue the WTBTS???

  by quellycatface in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was reading an old article in a british newspaper about some jw's (in portsmouth) who had called the police regarding the wording in the 2011 wt, that if someone had da'd, left etc... re; questioning the wt teachings then they were "mentally diseased.

  " they said this was "inciting religous hatred".

  has this been mentioned again anywhere in the jw literature???.

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  John_Mann

  No we can't.

  JW's are an insignificant and obscure religion no one cares about it unless some cheesy jokes about door knocking.

  Only former members can fully understand what the JW world means.

  People can even say thats nothing wrong about JW, they are "nice" people.

  JW's are more underground than those Gideons who distribute bibles in hotels, hospitals and schools.

  Who cares about Gideons and their work ? Asking that we can have an idea about what people think about JW's.
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  116

  if we don't all unite, we may win a few battles but Watchtower will win the WAR.

  by excaliber in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  to thank you for taking the time to read this, because i feel that it is extremely important.

  over the years we have been waring against the watchtower, and our battle field has been the internet.and we have been very successful in establishing discussion forums and online resorces exposing false teachings and we have used youtube to further shed light on the watchtower, we have even written books to this end.. .

  yes we have attacked watchtower at its weakest point, the internet and we have been able to do this as small groups and even individualy.

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  John_Mann

  We are together to be against the WT.
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  82

  Who are the real WT puppet masters ?

  by cookiemaster in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  a few days ago i posted my estimations about how much the wt actually makes a year.

  you guys were all really helpful and provided a lot of useful info.

  a good estimate would be 2-3 billion dollars a year.

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  John_Mann

  Think about it- how else could an organization last 135 years now since 1879 without using dishonesty or illegal means to survive and accomplish it's financial goals ?

  Because they aim to vulnerable and gullible people. And there are a plenty out there.
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  116

  if we don't all unite, we may win a few battles but Watchtower will win the WAR.

  by excaliber in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  to thank you for taking the time to read this, because i feel that it is extremely important.

  over the years we have been waring against the watchtower, and our battle field has been the internet.and we have been very successful in establishing discussion forums and online resorces exposing false teachings and we have used youtube to further shed light on the watchtower, we have even written books to this end.. .

  yes we have attacked watchtower at its weakest point, the internet and we have been able to do this as small groups and even individualy.

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  John_Mann

  You cannot fight fire with fire.

  The individual action is what will destroy the WT and every other authoritarian system.

  The WT survives on killing individuality.
• 
  82

  Who are the real WT puppet masters ?

  by cookiemaster in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  a few days ago i posted my estimations about how much the wt actually makes a year.

  you guys were all really helpful and provided a lot of useful info.

  a good estimate would be 2-3 billion dollars a year.

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  John_Mann

  The GB are not just front man, they're still the keepers and creators of doctrines.

  And their new doctrines does not show any sign of direction or planning, they are just reacting.

  We would see a better clear direction (we cannot answer for sure if they are going mainstream or underground) if was someone behind the curtains.

  The only clear direction is the simplification (dumbing down) process, but it's not something planned.

  The legal dep. seems to play a role of limiting the more absurd things, like blood factions and donations were invented purely by legal reacting.

  Simply put the WT is a Ouroboros system, of course there are some people with more power in hands, but still is relative power.

  It's the same thing to ask who controls the world. The right answer is nobody and everybody at the same time.

  Going to fantasy land, is the same case of Jehovah's Rules being bigger than Jehovah itself because once been stablished he just can't go back. LOL
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  2

  Apostate Infiltrated December 2013 Kingdom Ministry

  by MaybeSo in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  on this week's km:.

  "a pioneer in brazil tells people: why not ?ndout more about the bibles contents?

  many people are doing this with an open mind, with no obligation to any religious a?liation.you may be surprised by what you learn.

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  John_Mann

  They do not consider themselves as a religion. They're the Universal Truth. They're above all religions, laws and sciences.

  To a JW religious affiliation equals to tithing.
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  13

  DINOSAURS - INFECTION AND INJURY

  by Bloody Hotdogs! in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've been dying to ask this question for years:.

  jws love to say they are not young earth creationists.

  surely, then, they must accept that dinosaurs lived long before humans and original sin.

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  John_Mann

  Yes I always heard about ecological purposes like compact the soft ( ? ) earth from early creation!

  Even though the earth was pure burning rocks in the beginning!

  Sometimes I wonder how a clinically healthy adult person can believe in such crap!