Posts by Half banana

11

The Ransom Sacrifice -- Simplified Suggestion

by FusionTheism in

the sacrifice of jesus simplified suggestion.

many christians have different theories about exactly how the ransom sacrifice (also called the atonement or the passion) of christ worked.. just how did jesus death on the cross 2,000 years ago provide us with salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life?.

some christians believe that jesus somehow mystically experienced the full pain and suffering of eternal torment in hell (for every persons sin who has ever lived), during the 3 hours of darkness when he was hanging upon the cross.

Half banana

Fusion, I don’t want to be brutal but I will be. Your reliance on the veracity of the Bible is a grave mistake. In real life, as opposed to the mystical one fabricated by the stew pot of religion, the Bible is an antique and outdated irrelevance. Humanity in the developed world has moved on...have you not noticed? We increasingly depend on the technologies which scientific determinations have made and which humanistic thought and practice such as found in democracy and putting human needs first; has resulted in happier lives and welfare for the many. In the UK at least and most of north Western Europe we live in a post-Christian environment where religious belief has been superseded by pragmatism. Religious hope remains for the otherwise hopeless who find it necessary to grasp an invisible straw to keep mentally afloat. Religion is the institutional belief that we can overcome death...we cannot. The ransom sacrifice is central to this false belief.

Consider this: if evolution is factual and therefore man was not created but evolved; at what point in the evolving continuum of the genus Homo would a “ransom sacrifice” begin to work?

It is impossible to make a logical round peg fit into a mythical square hole.

14

We Lost Our Preaching MOJO, how do we get it back?

by skepticSam in

does anyone have any theories why our territory that's be reduced six or seven times over the last twenty years is not covered anymore?

we use to cover our area in less than six months and now nobody really keeps track of how the preaching work by territory is going.

is the advent of the mobile-literature machine why we don't see a zealous preaching spirit?

Half banana

And since so few Jdubs enjoyed going door to door...they thought lets stop doing it! This may be the first bit of democracy taking place in the Borg and it will not succeed. It is another symptom of the decline of the Watchtower.

58

Strange Moment During The 2015 Regional Convention

by JW_Rogue in

hi, i'm new here but hadn't seen this mentioned anywhere yet.

during the "imitate jesus" rc there was a strange moment where they played a video of a brother trying to explain the 1914 teaching.

the brother quickly goes through all the scriptural "proofs" and the householder is dumbfounded.

Half banana

@Orhan Crow, very interesting information. It is not difficult to see how certain movements needed the affirmation of a perceived prophetic success to kick starting their new cult.

58

Strange Moment During The 2015 Regional Convention

by JW_Rogue in

hi, i'm new here but hadn't seen this mentioned anywhere yet.

during the "imitate jesus" rc there was a strange moment where they played a video of a brother trying to explain the 1914 teaching.

the brother quickly goes through all the scriptural "proofs" and the householder is dumbfounded.

Half banana

I get the impression that 1914 has for many years been the touchstone doctrine to assess loyalty within the ranks. Significantly when looking for new members of the GB their fidelity is tested by adherence to the WT chronology, whether it makes sense or not. It is the belief in this idea which marks the faithful from the faithless. Now since 2014 any truth in the 1914 generation prophecy cannot even be defended. It simply remains a concocted Watchtower myth and a gross failure. In fact about eighty years of wasted propagandising. Just think of the millions of lives spent, distorted and ruined by the 1914 doctrine. It should stand for all time as the prime example of what happens if you believe in the JW org.

For the Watchtower to leave 1914 behind is like the banks going off the gold standard. From now on the rules are different; there are no possible dates to circumscribe a limit. All that the cult can offer is “The great day of Jehovah is imminent”. Not a convincing line to throw when they have been at for one and a third centuries without any success to show for their efforts.

Some dumb apologists no doubt are secretly believing that Armageddon will come by 2034 because it will be “one hundred and twenty years” of preaching. So Noah was a real man was he? And the flood was real was it? And he preached to the whole world and saved all the species of animals did he?... Pull the other leg!

As with the elaborate and dubious calculations of obscure prophecy to arrive at 1914, naive belief in Bible literalism and holiness is at the heart of all JW problems.

6

Will the Digital Apocalyptic Propaganda Backfire?

by jw07 in

with the roll out of watchtower 2.0 aka jw.org the corporation has been going to great lengths to bring the wacky doctrine that it has been preaching for decades to vivid reality.

they have been painstakingly staging not only bible fables with heavy prop use and post production, but are trying to bring to life their projected future for mankind.. more recently they have been trying to play on the fears that people have of scenarios such as martial law unfolding and integrating their great tribulation doctrine mumbo jumbo in.. regardless of what you think (for instance whether there may be martial law declared due to terrorist activity or natural disaster, or if that idea is just too far fetched) this sort of thing has a much greater impact when people see people placed in these scenes.

as illogical as the great tribulation doctrine may be, jws will not only place themselves in these scenarios, but will have their anticipation for them to be over with cranked up.. .

Half banana

If you are a doomsday cult; it's what you have to do!

28

Back in the Basement

by LostGeneration in

looks like the faithful jws are back in the basement, the oct 15th wt has this image on page 9. but now the lights have been turned out!

i guess the persecution is really kicking in if the electric company has shut off their electricity, or the jws are really, really paranoid that the government is gonna get them if they have the lights on!.

only one guy is smart enough to use his tablet (far right), the rest of the jws are old school, using a lantern to read their bibles in the dark!

Half banana

I like the idea that this will be a picture of how JWs are while the rest of the world just carry on as normal...

7

Yahweh was a pagan cannanite God 2000 years before Abraham??? Shocker!

by Witness 007 in

years ago i used wikipedia to study "yahweh" ..i was shocked to find out yahweh was one of many gods in the cannanite religion.

there i see a cannanite coin with pagan yahweh on his winged chariot???

this was faith destroying.

Half banana

Witness 007, it would be a mistake to study Wikipedia, it is not authoritative and not used as a scholarly source. Better to go directly to those who have researched from the translations of the texts available who have a sound knowledge of the historical environment and the supporting archaeology. One such commentator on the subject whose impartiality is apparent, is the former Catholic researcher Thomas L Thompson. His first PhD dissertation was rejected by his adjudicator because it exposed error in Catholic doctrine...the adjudicator being Joseph Ratzinger who later became the Pope.(A story in itself on how the RC church defends its own doctrinal myths).

TL Thompson in his book The Early History of the Israelite People, Brill, 1992, discusses at length the scholarly arguments including the framework for understanding the gods which the palestinian tribes worshipped.On a site like this it is only possible to give oversimplified information on such remote matters. Most important consideration is who is doing what where and when. To be accurate it is not possible to say the Greeks did this or the Egyptians taught that or the Jews worshipped this god. Time, place, people and evidence must be determined first. (must go now will continue tomorrow)

174

The Bible is NOT Error-Free

by FusionTheism in

for many christians, the bible is viewed as the 100% error-free, perfect book straight from god, where every single word was carefully chosen by god for a reason.

but, usually, when you have a discussion on the topic, these christians will end up saying that only the original copies written directly from the hands of the prophets and apostles were error-free, and all manuscript copies since then are subject to copyist mistakes and other errors.. since zero original copies are in existence, how do we know the originals were error-free?

why should we think the originals should be error-free to begin with?

Half banana

Would it not be more accurate to say that the Bible is not totally truth free?

10

How long will it take?

by John Aquila in

at some point in the future, it has to finally dawn on people that something is seriously flawed about the idea of jesus coming in the clouds to save everyone who believes- and kill everyone who doesnt..

will people still believe in jesus in another 1000 years?

will people still be saying in the year 5015;.

Half banana

Bemused, I just checked the decline of numbers of church-goers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Ten years ago the numbers were 6.3% with a projection of 4% by 2020. The average age being in the mid-fifties. (I would have thought older). Two thirds of British people are not affiliated to any religion and less than 20% nominally and historically associated with the Cof E.

It is my expectation that JWs will decline in accord with the general avoidance of religion here. nevertheless there will always be a rump of desperadoes who cling tightly to their religious hope even if or when the Watchtower org collapses. It is the blind possesion of hope which triumphs over reason. The same for the numbers of those who believe Jesus to be coming... whether on clouds or apparent to all (it is highly ambiguous), the concept must sound more like a foolish fairy-tale to the more literate and educated people of today's world.

52

Bethel Meeting at Regional Convention

by MrTheocratic in

i decided to go to the bethel recruiting meeting yesterday to test out my theory that the organization is in decline.

i assumed that if there is a general feeling of apathy by many in the org, then certainly it would be shown up by the lack of enthusiasm or zeal by many to sign up for bethel service.

well let me say that based on what i observed, this organization is not going anywhere.

Half banana

“Even the Bethel speaker was in amazement and said the future was in good hands”

It sounds like the Bethel speaker was fully aware things are not hunky dory in Dubland and was amazed that so many idle conventioners should bother to turn up.

Another thing; I thought there was to be no “future” to worry about since Armageddon is almost on top of us... why bother with Bethel! Whilst dictating to the faithful about the imminence of the end, the only future the org thinks of is in saving its own skin from financial extinction.