Posts by Half banana

75

Guns. Well said Mr President, if only your countrymen had the same courage to consider changing course.

by nicolaou in

ive had to make statements like this too many times.

communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times.

once again, communities [were harmed] because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no problem getting their hands on a gun.. lets be clear: at some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.

Half banana

Don't the tragic news reports show that the problem is not simply gun ownership but that the socially disaffected or mentally unstable have ready access to arms.

As Jhine indicated that in Europe, apart from sport, the majority have little interest in firearms because the macho gun-culture is not there.

Isn't the real issue the mass availability of weaponry permitting the reckless to massacre the innocent?

How can it be stopped? Possibly by reducing the glamour and need for gun ownership by having in place welfare provisions which stop the vulnerable individuals feeling the need for revenge on society?

I don't know the answer.

14

WT April 15, 2015... Odd first paragraph

by StarTrekAngel in

flipping thru the pages of the april 15 wt study edition, i bumped into something that strikes me as odd.

not that the wt never publishes odd things, but usually such comes in the form of misapplied scripture or hidden second meanings.

i've never paid attention before but to me this is the first time i see a whole paragraph with no bible verses to read.. in the article tiled "always trust in jehovah!

Half banana

It is worth noting that the word in Greek used by the Roman authorities as mentioned in Wikipedia in Fulltimestudent's quotation; is 'chrestian' and not 'christian'. This described the 'good ones' or cultists who claimed messianic prophecies and roamed the streets (as portrayed in that monument of christian satire The Life of Brian). The authorities would not be using the later cult word 'christian' meaning 'anointed ones' as yet, they woud be referring to the pre-jesus variety which had existed for centuries preaching the myth of the holy god-man saviour.

At 65 CE The chrestians were present but their is little to no evidence of Jesus' followers being there.

It is so easy to read history and make assumptions which will claim connections which never existed and to write in things later with a false memory.

75

Guns. Well said Mr President, if only your countrymen had the same courage to consider changing course.

by nicolaou in

ive had to make statements like this too many times.

communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times.

once again, communities [were harmed] because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no problem getting their hands on a gun.. lets be clear: at some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.

Half banana

(I know I am idealistic...but what do you expect from a UK ex JW!)

More seriously, two of my offspring have just returned from California after a few weeks visiting their uncle. Whilst there a close friend of his was murdered by gunshot. Having myself spent time in California when a JW, I was surprised at the frequency of stories people told of gun crimes, they or their relatives had experienced.

However passionate Americans are about their national freedoms, surely the right to hold firearms is a stubborn blind spot in your democracy. More a liability than a liberty.

75

Guns. Well said Mr President, if only your countrymen had the same courage to consider changing course.

by nicolaou in

ive had to make statements like this too many times.

communities like this have had to endure tragedies like this too many times.

once again, communities [were harmed] because someone who wanted to inflict harm had no problem getting their hands on a gun.. lets be clear: at some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.

Half banana

How about this for a deal: swop the right to private gun ownership (hunters excepted) with the right of universal health-care free at the point of delivery?

10

The Governing Body and Modern Man's World How Do They Do It?

by Brokeback Watchtower in

i mean how can these guys run a corporation and make good policies when they are so deluded and hide the fact from themselves and their readers?.

ok sure they got a legal department but they are all brain washed just like the gb, and these guys think that every decision they make is jehovah's come on they are so out of touch with reality how can they every make good policy that is truley good?

even when they are deceiving and coniving they are making blunder all over the place because they are old and deluded and full of shit..

Half banana

The JW org is like an old fashioned steam roller. It puffs and clanks along squashing the life and worldly ambitions out of its masochistic devotees and they pay the price for the privilege.

It is the inertial force in a social context. The Watchtower cult has fed its own community with impossible-to-realise hope for 136 years. The end is forever declared to be imminent and to leave the lumbering organisation would be to miss out on the joys of Armageddon. So it’s a great unsavoury pudding of hope and promises enjoyed with a few million like-minded suckers and an illusory anchor for the soul. The price you pay is with your freedom ... your whole life’s endeavour is to be given over in favour of the WTBTS. The leadership get reflected glory from their delusional role as “God’s appointed” and receive the funds from the stock exchange and the punter’s family inheritances.

It is almost impossible to stop a steam roller...unless you are in the driving seat. (Nevertheless they cannot cope with driving into sink holes!)

24

David Splane address bethelites

by rosesinbloom in

i did not write this piece.

i enjoyed the simple and understandable reasoning.

hope some of you enjoy it too.

Half banana

It is interesting to find a common focus for interpreting information such as this. It all depends on one’s partisan viewpoint. In the briefest possible way I would like to get to the bottom of all the problems arising from Splane’s assertions that there were no appointed representatives of God up to 1900 or later.

If you govern a religion then you require some credence from the Bible to justify your existence. The Catholic Church for example claims its descent from Jesus’ appointee Peter, the Watchtower claims appointment by holy spirit in 1919. The ever changing perception of the FDS is their attempt to justify their bedrock teaching by perpetually directing the faithful to be mindful of their leadership. It is group narcissism. If they are wrong about the Watchtower in-house myth of 1919, then there can be no basis for following this religion, they should admit it and pack their bags.

My solution to this is simple. The fundamental manifestation of God is “holy spirit”. It has no basis in reality, it is unknowable by the human senses...so if you have your head secured to your neck you are advised to not believe infantile stories such as ”holy spirit”. If you believe in magic fairy dust otherwise called “holiness” then you will continue to struggle with reality. If you believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God you will forever be mired in delusions and mysteries.

Since the Greek scriptures are a fusion of all politically important religious beliefs of the fourth century, they are an attempt at harmonising the disparate superstitions of that era. It was inevitable they would not all gel together...but with magic ”holy spirit”, all things can be made to appear in union. Bear in mind the target audience back then lived in a pre-scientific, pre- literate superstitious world populated with gods and demons... And people want to base their life on this today?

Ok most of us here don’t like the Watchtower organisation but some, like Melete Vivlon take as their starting point that the Bible is to be respected as sacred.

Here lies the fundamental problem for all who try to give any interpretation of the Bible, be it JW or other religious persuasions; you can contrive endless dogma and doctrine from it according to your disposition. There can never be a coherent, water-tight interpretation of the Bible. It is a will o’ the wisp, a dream. The reason for this is that much of the Bible is a fusion of pagan folk myth masquerading as divine truth.

"Holiness" is a confidence trick, give it up.

49

this weeks bible highlights: Jehovah slaughters his own people to teach David a lesson

by nowwhat? in

from 2 samuel 24. i am so mad at myself for not making a comment how could anyone explain this away?

then after he slaughters 70,000 he then feels regret?

Half banana

The theme of God's power in destroying his enemies is so very Bronze Age. It is only non-entities like Jehovah who could have attributed to them the idea that “if you don’t believe in him he will destroy you”. This is the infantile prattle of 5 year olds. For adults to believe it and teach it: it is humiliating for them.

Sir82, the very concept of holiness is a most interesting phenomenon, it's rubbish of course but how it skews the minds and hearts of those susceptible to its false charm! As if in the absence of joy in real life, holiness finds an alternative world where humans can meet and see evidence of the divine and gain some comfort in it. It is false comfort and it is addictive since the idea can be shared with like minded believers who by their parallel enthusiasm give the illusion that the holiness is real. It's what the God Club enjoy! Seeing other believers believe and it is "holiness" which is the ticket to this delusion.

52

Very Offensive Statement Directed To JW Parents-Watchtower 4/15/2015 Page 11 Paragraph 9

by JW GoneBad in

wt is insinuating, worse yet, blaming senior jw parents for there not being more younger brothers reaching out to be ministerial servants and elders.

page 11 paragraph 9 reads as follows: .

"elders in affluent lands may face an added challenge: how to motivate baptized brothers in their 20s or 30s to get involved in congregation activities.

Half banana

And a big thank you to the brothers who can see that taking on responsibilities in the JWorg only leads to trouble and disappointment.

38

ARE WATCHTOWER SOCIETY STATISTICS REALLY TRUSTWORTHY?

by TerryWalstrom in

of these, over 2,000 were admitted to concentration camps.

1,000 died in prison and concentration camps.

another 1,000 of jehovah's witnesses died in prisons and concentration camps.".

Half banana

To add in connection with the original question; from the perspective of the Watchtower, the accuracy of the numbers has only small relevance. It’s the power impression given by simply wielding them.

38

ARE WATCHTOWER SOCIETY STATISTICS REALLY TRUSTWORTHY?

by TerryWalstrom in

of these, over 2,000 were admitted to concentration camps.

1,000 died in prison and concentration camps.

another 1,000 of jehovah's witnesses died in prisons and concentration camps.".

Half banana

Having just read the thread may I introduce a thought that the obsession of the JW org with numbers has to do with a need for validation. It was brought to my attention by reading the works of anthropologist Weston La Barre. He suggested that the individual psychotic is not able to support his delusion on his own. If however he can get another individual to believe with him, that his mother was the Virgin Mary for example, then it is called a folie a deux. (delusion of two) Now how would it be if he got one hundred people or ten thousand to believe this psychosis? The large numbers alone would appear to validate the belief.

Since the Watchtower ticks all the boxes for “cult” everything it does is an attempt to validate its authority as a religion and it naively uses anything respectable to hand, like numbers, which might give it more credibility.