Center-left Moderate.
My general policy during election years is to vote for the political party that seems least harmful to the country and the world as a whole.
Resistance is Futile
JoinedPosts by Resistance is Futile
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23
Are YOU More Of A "Liberal", "Conservative" or Something More In Between?
by minimus ini consider myself more a "moderate" in my thinking, whether it be politically or otherwise..
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Christians could be called "extremists" by Government
by Infowarrior inthis should be important if you are christian, the authorities may now declare you to be an "extremist" threat, and under the law, particularily american law, it could even result in the fullest extant of law (ndaa, etc).
http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/army-labeled-evangelicals-as-religious-extremism.html.
a u.s. army training instructor listed evangelical christianity and catholicism as examples of religious extremism along with al qaeda and hamas during a briefing with an army reserve unit based in pennsylvania, fox news has learned.. the incident occurred during an army reserve equal opportunity training brief on extremism.
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Resistance is Futile
Army spokesman George Wright told Fox News that this was an "isolated incident not condoned by the Dept. of the Army." "This slide was not produced by the Army and certainly does not reflect our policy or doctrine," he said. "It was produced by an individual without anyone in the chain of command's knowledge or permission."
Manufactured outrage.
But don't let me spoil your fear mongering and conspiracy theories.
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'1600 years of Ice melting in 25 years is a bad omen'
by designs inglaciologists from ohio state university have been studying the ice fields in peru.
tropical peru is home to ice formations 18,000 feet up in the quelccaya region, the largest of these tropical region ice sheets.. the glacier is melting so quickly that plant samples are having to be frozen artifically so that scientists 30 years from now can have something to study, lonnie thompson from the university said in the interview.
the ice field is the smallest it has been since the last ice age.. peruvians rely on the water from the glaciers, which will be reduced by 50% in their lifetime.
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Resistance is Futile
Very interesting thread. I suspect that the Koch brothers would love to get their money back that funded a study that confirmed global warming.
Something that's rarely mentioned in the media is the positive feedback loop that occurs as polar ice melts. It's a pretty simple concept actually; ice reflects more solar radiation than open water. A decrease in ice surface area causes an increase in solar radiation absorption.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100428142324.htm
I'm assuming that everyone here understands what a greenhouse gas is.
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How should I respond to JW relative?
by Resistance is Futile inso i've been talking to one of my jw relatives lately, she's a young adult, born-in.
i've never openly said i don't believe in the governing body, and i've been asking her questions in order to get her thinking.
so i asked her if she believed watchtower publications were inspired and equivalent to the bible.
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Resistance is Futile
So I've been talking to one of my JW relatives lately, she's a young adult, born-in.
I've never openly said I don't believe in the Governing Body, and I've been asking her questions in order to get her thinking.
So I asked her if she believed Watchtower publications were inspired and equivalent to the Bible. She didn't really answer my question; it's amazing how good they are at that. Speaking of Watchtower articles she made this spectacular claim:
"The brothers that are assigned to make the publications do NOT put any of their own words in them. They pray for Jehovah's holy spirit and they say every word in accord to what we have in the scriptures."
I'm not quite sure what would be the best response. I'm thinking of playing dumb by claiming I don't understand what she means. That way she gets to dig herself into a deeper hole in trying to explain it further.
By the way, exactly what is the current Watchtower "truth" on this subject? Are the articles considered to be inspired? According to the Governing Body, are members of the Great Crowd (the writing staff), able to channel holy spirit?
What respectful, thought-provoking question should I ask her about this issue?
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Unemployment is down, but why did America set a record 47.8 million on food stamps?
by moshe inin the usa a new record was set on food stamp enrollments, which seems ironic.
you would think as unemployment drops , food stamp usage would be dropping, too.
maybe those government unemployment numbers are fake numbers.
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Resistance is Futile
A link from Breitbart.com to a Fox News video? If you want your argument to be taken more seriously you should use sources with a little more credibility.
It looks like there has been an increase in the percentage of Americans receiving SNAP benefits in the last few years.
So the honest questions we should be looking into is, have the requirements for acceptance into the program changed? Or is the increase based on other external factors?
moshe, do feel that the food stamp program should be eliminated entirely, or merely reformed in order to reduce the total number of recipients?
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WTS action on Conti's case 3/27/2013
by mind blown inas most suspected, the wts filed their brief, at least it looks that way..... http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/dockets.cfm?dist=1&doc_id=2025979&doc_no=a136641.
it also notes aob in excess of word count limit.. wonder if they did that to buy more time?.
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Resistance is Futile
Resistance is Futile, even then, penitential communication has to be between "one" Clergy member "in confindence", in "private", no second or third party
Do you have a source for the quote above? Any legal precedent? Because the text of the law in the link you provided doesn't mention those specifics.
It seems that Watchtower lawyers could argue that this exemption should still apply even though their confessional arraignment is different from the Catholic Church in that other elders are present during these "private, in confidence" penitential communications.
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WTS action on Conti's case 3/27/2013
by mind blown inas most suspected, the wts filed their brief, at least it looks that way..... http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/dockets.cfm?dist=1&doc_id=2025979&doc_no=a136641.
it also notes aob in excess of word count limit.. wonder if they did that to buy more time?.
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Resistance is Futile
mindblown, I believe there is loop hole in CA law about clergy having to report abuse. Many states still have "clergy exemptions" to reporting child abuse. These laws must be changed, and I think if the public was made aware of these exemptions there would be a lot of pressure put on state legislators to modify the child abuse laws. The following was copied directly from your link:
10. Are clergy mandated to report? Yes. Beginning January 1, 1997, all clergy members are mandated to report known or suspected instances of child abuse to a child protective agency. Clergy members are exempt from their mandated reporting responsibilities only if the knowledge or reasonable suspicion of child abuse was obtained during a "penitential communication". (P.C. 11165. ( c)( (1))."Penitential communication" means a communication, intended to be in confidence, including, but not limited to, a sacramental confession, made to a clergy member who, in the course of the discipline or practice of his or her church, denomination, or organization, has a duty to keep those communications secret. (P.C. 11166( c)(2)).
Although, if an elder in California reports back to headquarters in NY I would think that the person in Bethel is now under NY state law, and could be prosecuted for not notifying law enforcement. Perhaps someone here with legal experience could clarify the reporting requirements in such a situation.
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There was a knock at the door....
by exwhyzee inor more like a thunking sound really, which set our little dog into a fit of barking.
i crawled out from behind the fridge where i was doing a repair on the waterline for the icemaker, so i could go see what all the commotion was about.
i fugured it was going to be my neighbor returning my ladder but instead it was jw's handing out memorial invites.. the woman and the young man (her 20 something son) were people i had known but hadn't seen since we faded 4+ years ago.
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Resistance is Futile
It says a lot about your character that you're worried that your straight forward truthfulness may have offended her.
By all means call her and express regret that you may have offended her. But make it clear that you meant what you said, but just didn't say those things to upset her.
Show her kindness, respect, and dignity. It will make your comments about the Watchtower Cult sting even more. If she can convince herself that you're some cruel, mean, savage "apostate", then it makes it easier to discount your statements about the precious "Organization".
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My husband MISSED the meeting today! AGAIN!!!
by Julia Orwell inyep, i was comparing the nwt with the greek, which, incidentally uses words like 'grace' and 'spirit' instead of 'undeserved kindness' and 'gifts of the spirit'.
i pointed out these mistranslations to my dear husband.. then i showed him 2 tim 2:5-6 in the nwt and the original greek (strong's, westcott and hort) as well, where it says jesus became mediator for all and showed him in the wt where it says jesus is only mediator for 144 000. i also showed him an instance in the wt where it raves on about hating 'apostates' and others, then showed him matthew 5:44 "however i say to you: continue to love your enemies and to pray for those persecuting you.".
i didn't have to say anything 'apostate'; just show him the contrasting texts.. then i showed him the "shepherd" book where it says one can get dfd for "deliberately spreading teachings contraryto bible truth as taught by jebovah's witnesses" (ibid, pg 65) and told him that i've deliberately told him something different to the wt teaching therefore in the elders' eyes, i can be dfd.
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Resistance is Futile
He got very confused to say the least, asked where I think we should worship and some other questions, the answers to which I honestly confessed that I do not know.
This issue is a huge hurdle for JWs, or anyone else in a religious cult for that matter. In a cult, salvation is dependent on association with the group, therefore anything wrong with the leader/doctrine has to be reasoned away. Because, where else will we go? Point out that the Bible is referring to Jesus, not an organization.
You've made great progress. If he brings up this issue again, emphasis that you are not advocating that you guys need to run out and join a man-made group. Look to the scriptures, live a good life, treat others will love and respect. Is that not enough for Jehovah? If your husband asks about "who else is preaching", ask him if it's important that truth be taught, or if salvation is simply dependent on the ritualistic behavior of going door-to-door?
You would have to tread very carefully, but you can also ask him if it matters to Jehovah that JWs have gone door-to-door teaching falsehoods? Is it important to teach truth, or to simply teach?
I just talked to a JW, and she claimed Jehovah has always had an organization. So I politely asked her which organization Jehovah was using in the 1800s? She gave me a deer in the headlights look, and then changed her tune and said that Jehovah has always used individuals. You need to really impress on your husband that you're worried that by following imperfect men (The Governing Body), or an Earthly, man-made organization you might put yourselves into a position of being led away from the truth of the Bible.
Ask him if it's more important to be obedient to the organization or the scriptures? Some of my JW relatives refuse to even answer this question, because their mind simply doesn't want to go there. But just bringing it up might get them thinking about it. They can't acknowledge that there could ever be a discrepancy in the two, because they've essential been taught that the Organization=Jehovah.
I almost forgot, you shouldn't really be "telling" him anything. Ask him questions, make him explain it. You can't do the thinking for him.
Ask him to explain John 6:68. When he drifts into the Watchtower explanation, kindly point out that you don't want to go beyond the things written, that you feel there's danger in being led away from Bible truth by doing that.
Open the Bible Teach book to pg. 183, and have him explain what baptism signifies. It specifically says that baptism is to Jehovah God alone, not to an organization. Have him explain the discrepancy, ask him if he thinks that paragraph would be misleading to interested ones.
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Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 03-24-2013 WT Study (REGRETS)
by blondie inserve god without regrets?.
who said: i do repent [feel regret,.
(b) in what sense has jehovah felt regret,.
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Resistance is Futile
11 Some have the tendency to let past failings overwhelm them to the point that they feel that they are unworthy in God's eyes.
This paragraph's opening sentence jumped out at me. Let's say that I have a healthy idea of my self-worth, and a reasonable amount of self-esteem. I most certainly do not feel unworthy in God's eyes. However, once you plant that idea into someone's mind, they start to internalize it, and might actually begin to feel unworthy.
The whole article points to the fact that there are major problems within the Kingdom Halls. Maybe they should start handing out Prozac at the Watchtower Study.