they'd make it a "concience matter". which pretty much means: those of you who can't stop doing it, go ahead, while the hardcore JWs are still allowed to think it's bad. no more new articles on the topic and in time everyone forgets about it and thinks it's always been like that.
J. Hofer
JoinedPosts by J. Hofer
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What WOULD happen?
by Cinciguy74 inwe all know that the wts has many times in the past changed their current stance on "scriptural" issues, changing the rules as they were.
but what would be the effect if something major, but not completely counter, to their teachings were to change?
for instance, the blood issue would send many straight to the doors since someone would scream about blood guilt (and anyone with sense would see it).
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God exists? God doesn't? God is a different concept? Convince me!
by punkofnice ini am in a spiritual void at the moment after a year out of the borg and 50 years in.. i'd like to hear 'brief' evidence for the existance or non existance of god/s without an argument between members here.. i'd like to get fresh view points as mine is now so critical it's telling me to be an agnostic or atheist.
why?
i am in want of evidence, not just words from a copy/paste troll & no links.. i just want to open up to new possibilities but with evidence to support it not just 'faith'..
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J. Hofer
if you don't have enough evidence to believe in the existence of god, you already are a (probably agnostic) atheist. that void is were your personal idea of god used to be. now you can fill it with something else.
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Why I Shouldn't Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth
by XJW4EVR inwhen i was a jw, the key issue that caused me to doubt the wt was the trinity.
the wtb&ts's blatent misquotations and misrepresentations of religious scholarship to fit their anti-trinitarian presuppositions are horrid and inexcusable.
that issue, however, was not the issue that caused me to become a christian.
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J. Hofer
well, i know there are books about jesus outside the NT (and i read many of them, like the clement letters, gospel of thomas/paul/whoever, other nag hammadi texts etc.). but they are christian books too and even when first attempts to compile a canon were made, many if not most of these books were still held in high regard.
a NPOV source would be some non-christian historian that lived in the timeframe. the way those christian texts put it, jesus made quite a stir. the romans and jews didn't mention him though until maybe 100 years later or so. because then they heard about him from christians.
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Why I Shouldn't Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth
by XJW4EVR inwhen i was a jw, the key issue that caused me to doubt the wt was the trinity.
the wtb&ts's blatent misquotations and misrepresentations of religious scholarship to fit their anti-trinitarian presuppositions are horrid and inexcusable.
that issue, however, was not the issue that caused me to become a christian.
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J. Hofer
but let's face it, anything faith-based cannot be proven. otherwise it wouldn't be faith-based but empirical, scientific. now some prefer faith, some prefer science and some like to mix it. as long as noone gets hurt that's fine.
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Why I Shouldn't Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth
by XJW4EVR inwhen i was a jw, the key issue that caused me to doubt the wt was the trinity.
the wtb&ts's blatent misquotations and misrepresentations of religious scholarship to fit their anti-trinitarian presuppositions are horrid and inexcusable.
that issue, however, was not the issue that caused me to become a christian.
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J. Hofer
i know of some people who openly proclaimed that elvis is still alive...
and i yet have to read an authentic, close to the "events", non-christian text that mentions jesus.
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Adam Created at 3:00 AM?
by Marvin Shilmer inadam created at 3:00 am?
today i uploaded a new article to my blog sharing a tidbit that watchtower developed as a result of its research (if you can call it that!
) on the calendar of jehovah.
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J. Hofer
it does not matter, but it does show what they "think" about all day long.
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How did you tell your mate that .....
by stuckinamovement inyou no longer believed that the watchtower organization was the truth, and that you were no longer going to go to the meetings or service?.
and a followup question... what was the response?.
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J. Hofer
well, it was a long time coming, but one night i just told her. while she must have noticed that i'm no longer buying into the religion, she probably just hoped it wasn't so, and as she heard it from my mouth (telling her i no longer believe in god and that i am an atheist) she almost had a nervous breakdown. that were some tough hours to go through. but seing that our life only changed for the better (as i did feel better), within some time she accepted it. she still went to the meetings for a while, but a few months later she stopped attending. sometimes she'd still go to a meeting and she doesn't miss any assembly, but that's alright.
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Why I Shouldn't Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth
by XJW4EVR inwhen i was a jw, the key issue that caused me to doubt the wt was the trinity.
the wtb&ts's blatent misquotations and misrepresentations of religious scholarship to fit their anti-trinitarian presuppositions are horrid and inexcusable.
that issue, however, was not the issue that caused me to become a christian.
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J. Hofer
winning the lottery isn't all that extraordinary. we know that people win the lottery all the time. there's hundereds of lottery winners every week around the globe. and even though it isn't extraordinary, you wouldn't be able to collect your winnings if you just showed up and tell them that you won the lottery. you could even bring your family and a hundered friends to testify that you won it, it's still a matter of having the correct ticket, nothing more, nothing less.
on the other hand, seeing an alien, a chupacabra, a yeti, an angel, a demon or a resurrection is pretty much extraordinary, at least when it comes to sane people. actually UFO sightings seem to happen a lot more often than resurrections. even the moster of loch ness seems to have had more observers than any resurrection.
now i wonder if someone came along and even showed you a picture of an UFO (and there are plenty), would you just believe it? i mean, there are even pictures out there, not just ancient writings.
but as i said, even though UFOs are less extraordinary than resurrections, most would want extraordinary evidence, not just some interpreted pictures, to believe that they exist and are indeed visiting our planet. more so as we know by experience that such things often are tampered with.
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Hungary strips JW's of its legal status as a religious organization
by Honesty inhttp://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=14742.
hungary has introduced a new law governing the registration of religious groups that critics charge discriminates against minority faiths, and strips st margaret's anglican church in budapest of its status as a religious organisation.. .
on 14 july the hungarian parliament adopted "the right to freedom of conscience and religion and on the status of churches, religions and religious communities" law, by a vote of 254 in favour to 43 opposed.. .
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J. Hofer
hungary is drifting back to the '40ies in a fast pace. nationalism is rising again in many european countries...
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Why I Shouldn't Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth
by XJW4EVR inwhen i was a jw, the key issue that caused me to doubt the wt was the trinity.
the wtb&ts's blatent misquotations and misrepresentations of religious scholarship to fit their anti-trinitarian presuppositions are horrid and inexcusable.
that issue, however, was not the issue that caused me to become a christian.
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J. Hofer
actually if it wasn't for paul, there wouldn't be any christians, just maybe another little jewish sect.
when saul went to antioch he had a bit too much of the cheap liquor, to the extent he forgot his real name and he even went blind for a while. he had a really bad hangover and nightmares of his stonings haunted him. this is when the whole jesus idea entered his mind and he went out to tell everyone, promising never to touch that liquor ever again.
it's all there in the bible (between the lines of course).