I agree that the excess deaths figure is alarming. An elderly relative in a care home in the midlands (with no excess deaths), mentioned to me that in his neighbouring care home for those with dementia and with one hundred occupants, at the last count 18 had died. Eight of them within 36 hours around the middle of last month. Since most of the staff have had to be isolated it puts enormous stress on the remaining few. Crisis times for the bereaved and those at the work-face of the pandemic.
Half banana
JoinedPosts by Half banana
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15
People in England were easiy convinced to believe....
by BoogerMan in....that a mass killer was roaming their streets.
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now theyre struggling to believe the grim reaper is not so grim and it's safe to go outside again.. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-52669441.
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1 Corinthians 15:26
by Doug Mason inyou will die.
i will die.
those who have gone before us, the great and the small, the powerful and the weak, have shared the common fate of dying.
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Half banana
In the past people never woke up to this reality that death is the end of us. Or does everyone see a death as a child and wonders, "Is that it?" Then we find a religion?
Religion explained away this hard fact, softening the blow and by doing so it gained massive support. How religions have prospered from this human conceit that we live after we die?
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Ancient Hebrews Got Away With So Much
by Tim207 inwhy wasn’t judah punished for sleeping withtamar?
even though she had the legal right to an offspring by his family he still thought he was sleeping with a prostitute.
if it is wrong to even think of having relations with a woman similar to the “sin” of watching pornography why wouldn’t what judah did be wrong?
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Half banana
You have to remember that the Bible is mainly fiction. Moses, Abraham Isaac and Jacob did not exist, they are fiction.The twelve tribes did not exist, Most of Genesis is complete fiction. The Exodus is fiction. The conquering of Canaan is fiction. The early kings are fiction, historical kings begin with Hezekiah but the Bible's accounts of historical people are not necessarily true even then.
The mistake is to imagine that the Bible is the infallible word of God. It is not, it's just a story book.
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What do you make of this recent article regarding the United Nations stance towards overriding religions of the world on certain matters?
by devout_no_more infirst of all, this is my first post here on the forums even though i have been registered now for some time.
i have been faded from the jehovah's witness religion for many years now, but only recently within the past year or so gotten quite serious about it - crisis of conscience by ramond franz really kicked things off for me personally.. anyway, my wife, parents, step-sister and her husband and my half-brother are all still active jw's, so i am still exposed to them, and this is also the reason why i'm still "faded".
frankly i'd probably just as soon disassociate myself without the threat of being shunned.
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Half banana
What we are talking about is a modern myth conjured up by the Watchtower religion.
The JW leaders know instinctively that religion is parasitical on society and that the UN is therefore likely to curb its worst excesses. So the WT claims an attack is coming because it wants to chalk up prophetic brownie points when the UN prevents them from doing what they want to do. Much of the later books of the NT are built around themes of coming persecution which would have looked like divinely inspired warning to the humble converts back in those days.
As if God's enemy is the UN? By being driven by Satan it substitutes for the Kingdom of God mentioned in the Bible so they say. (There is no possible tangible connection, the NT was written nearly 2000 years ago) The JW version of the kingdom teaching is a rather dodgy invisible date shifting non-entity which nobody can pin down as a reality.
However, and it's a very big however, since the Watchtower religion (using their own terms of reference) had joined the UN as a political 'paramour', God has now permanently disqualified it from the running as his chosen channel.................
Sorry Watchtower you have spoiled your copy book and are out in the cold. No sorry it's too late! Protest all you like but you, the Watchtower religion lusted after the UN wild beast and you have got your just deserts! You were busted by the Guardian Newspaper, talk about embarrassment! God is now no longer interested in you. Plead all you like but there are plenty of other religions with much greater integrity which can pick up the threads. . .
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Dutch judge rules that elders are not entitled to hide behind clergy-penitent privilege
by Anders Andersen intoday a dutch judge ruled that jw elders and the jw branch cannot invoke clergy-penitent privilege when it comes to information used in a judicial committee.. jw had filed a complaint with the courts because the branch office, two kingdom halls and a few elders' homes were raided by police almost 2 years ago in search of evidence related to child abuse issues.. jw argued that the information that was taken by police is protected by clergy-penitent privilege.
today the judge ruled that 1) an organization doesn't haven't such a privilege, 2) jw elders don't always act as spiritual counselors.
their actions as judges in judicial committees aren't protected by privilege, and 3) conversations jw have with their elders are often not confidential at all (as per jw policy) so jw elders can't rightfully invoke clergy-penitent privilege to maintain absolute confidentiality, because there isn't absolute confidentiality in the first place.. jw are thinking about appealing the verdict..
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Half banana
Well done common sense and pragmatic Netherlands!
"Clergy penitent privilege" is the sort of thing the Watchtower would have mocked the Catholic Church for in the past. However if it helps the WT get out of a legal fix, then like a flash, they are all for it.
The governing body of the JW organisation are hypocrites and pushing their luck.
WT leaders, why not be honorable men and say you were very wrong and admit that your rulings hurt people? We are not talking about slight hurt, it is often grievous life-long psychological problems burdening vulnerable members.
Do something different JW organisation! Admit you were at fault -- not hide behind Christendom's antique get out clauses. Shame on you. Your actions publicly demonstrate that you actually do not care about the welfare of your flock.
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My latest letter to WT demanding correction from their side
by Kosonen inbrothers and sisters associated with the watchtower society may 9, 2020. i have tried to inform you of the necessary adjustments you ought to take in order to truly be in the truth.
but my efforts have remained fruitless.
you well know the biblical procedure.
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Half banana
Herra Kosonen, how do you feel when people tell you that you are entirely mistaken in your beliefs? Then you can understand exactly how the Bethel feels about your suggestions to them.
The JW organisation is so wrong on everything that it's not worth trying to correct.
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This is not even close to the cult I grew up in
by phoenixrising ini was watching some of the may jw cult broadcast.
this push to be a movie studio and other things makes this cult seem like something else entirely from what i grew up in.
they really are trying to use anything they can to hook suckers into being cult members.
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Half banana
sp false kingdom promise
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This is not even close to the cult I grew up in
by phoenixrising ini was watching some of the may jw cult broadcast.
this push to be a movie studio and other things makes this cult seem like something else entirely from what i grew up in.
they really are trying to use anything they can to hook suckers into being cult members.
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Half banana
True things never need to change -- but businesses have to, to meet prevailing market conditions. In all fairness even if there was such a thing as "God's organisation" it would have to change as culture changes but it would not change doctrines would it?
Since the Watchtower is market led and not by God, it has had to rebrand and use new methods and especially electronic media for keeping up subscriber numbers.
So is the new fangled film and TV media expenditure working? Alas, in the Western World it is not.
With all the hype of the imminence of "the end" the number of Witnesses in the developed world is not increasing it has levelled off at zero increase with a prospect of seeing decline in the near future.
Only where people are desperately poor or uneducated and without the internet does the JW faise kingdom promise bring forth new converts. It is worth remembering that these poor and those from unstable war-torn lands are not financial contributors to the WT, they are a drain, a fact no doubt weighing heavily on the minds of the GB.
Their response has been to beg for money from the rank and file -- and (yes Phizzy) to sell off the family silver so to speak i.e. realise the capital in the kingdom halls which were taken away unceremoniously from the individual congregations and which are now being turned into cash to keep the cult going.
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The Motive of the Governing Body
by jwfacts ini have been quiet of late, developing other interests, happy that there are a whole group of people producing great resources.
however, i found some old emails from ray franz that promoted me to write an article that answers a question i regularly receive.
it is in regards to the motive of governing body members.
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Half banana
Thank you very much for posting Paul, we continue to speculate here on the motivation of the JW governing body because we have little concrete information. You though have supplied some hard evidence from the horses mouth so to speak, by correspondence from a GB member.
Ray discusses the conundrum of recognising the weaknesses of certain JW doctrines but strikingly all at HQ seem wedded to the concept of a divine rightness of The Organisation. In the minds of the GB and through their historical activity going back to Rutherford, it seems to me that they have sacralised the organisation (exactly as they do the Bible) to cultivate it as the product of God's hand. In a similar way the Catholic Church had bamboozled the poor by using extravagantly decorated cathedrals and churches to supply them with an apparent tangible token of the divine.
I remember so often Catholic priests and other religious men were mocked for holding on to their church's teachings even though not believing and yet were tied to the way of life within it. Cannot we see the same hypocrisy written larger in the leaders of the JW religion who appear to fulfil the obligations of office but probably remain internally in denial as to JW dogma, stymied because they would lose all that they value if they left; i.e. the prestige and executive lifestyle with all its earthly comforts and welfare.
Like others on this site, I lost a lot when I woke up and left. Apart from Ray Franz, there seem to be none of the present GB who put truth and personal honour ahead of their cushy life at the top.
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JW cult suing everyone critical of the cult
by phoenixrising inits amazing how the cult has changed over the years.
they are now suing everyone who has books or internet presences critical of the cult.
this was never done that i can remember before.
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Half banana
Then they must think we are a serious threat to their existence.