Posts by Half banana

16

Watchtower Toledo buildings renovation designed by STATE-OF-THE-ART designer office

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

for people who already are bedazzled by the current stream of information about watchtower / jw.org real estate planning, renovation and the emergency stop on the building programma called out, i found today that the renovation design of the (impressive!

) toledo buildings for the watchtower real estate staff, is designed by a state of the art designer.

http://www.hudsondesign.pro.

Half banana

Frankly I can't see architectural genius at work here. It is pedestrian and rooted in the past however expensive it might be. Perhaps the company saw a client with money and poor taste or one who wanted to express financial reliability through solidity and conservative values?

447

Does Anyone Still Believe in God?

by LaurenM in

do any of you ex-jw's still believe in god?

even with the new rebranding/softening of this religion, i still don't see how people can believe in him.

the god of the old testimate is an angry murderer who approved rapes and slavery and killed thousands of men, women and children.

Half banana

I have a friend called Rodney, he wants everyone to be good towards each other, he looks after everyone but dang! The trouble is; he is invisible. As it happens, it was he who created the universe and he told me that he will kill those people who don’t believe in him but for all those who do, they will go into an everlasting paradise.

Qualitatively and philosophically is there any difference between my psychosis and theism?

9

Wallkill, Patterson, Warwick etc - A Beginner's Guide Please?

by cofty in

could anybody give us a brief summary of what these facilities are please?.

brit who has been out for 20 years is confused.

thanks..

Half banana

JW org have a nerve to call their building at Patterson the "Education Center"...this mind twisting cult imagines that propaganda is education. They don't understand the distinction between the two. No wonder JWs are held back educationally.

3

How the JW org uses propaganda

by Half banana in

back in 2005 a new branch was opened in guatemala with a great fanfare and the ritual praise of god for his blessing on his people.

the triumphal chant was hail the theocracy ever increasing!

since the branch has now closed so soon after opening, does this mean withdrawal of blessing and theocracy is diminishing?

Half banana

Back in 2005 a new branch was opened in Guatemala with a great fanfare and the ritual praise of God for his “blessing” on ”his people”. The triumphal chant was “Hail the theocracy ever increasing!” Since the branch has now closed so soon after opening, does this mean withdrawal of blessing and theocracy is diminishing? I would suggest it was never there in the first place but it was showcased as evidence of Divine approval. In Watchtower theocracy all the negatives are buried from the eyes and minds of the flock. Propaganda obscures the counter arguments.

The 1914 generation fiasco should reduce the number of sentient witnesses in their ranks, those whose brains haven’t yet completely shrivelled. But many of the older ones in the org had been hanging on for dear life for a fulfilment of the 1914 generation. It had been repeated so much that in the minds of a true believer it was as good as done. No amount of repetition or flaying the brothers with threats and rewards makes a cult doctrine a real world fact...only a cult fact. That cult fiction is like a fairy gift fading away and the listeners to the propaganda are chastened and disappointed...but are they going to wake up?

A third conspicuous piece of propaganda is the idea that the scripture using Jesus’ words to foretell the generation in his day would see all thing come to completion etc are to be fulfilled in our day. How convenient! Now, it is no longer in Fred Franz’s generation but to be in subsequent overlapped ones. (Pull the other leg!) This whole idea is so far removed from any real life, real world reality that it should be where it belongs; in the garbage of religious history. The JW org has contritely recognised that events do not have types and anti-types as Russell would have you believe so for heaven’s sake why would Jesus’ failed prophecy have a further fulfilment at a later time? It doesn’t make sense yet the Watchtower is built on this very foundation!

Propaganda, the relentless repetition of ideas to a captive and willing audience has made JWs comfortable with the belief that the failed prophecy is for our time... this pivotal belief and motivating hope is nothing but empty propaganda. There was no mention in the scriptures of two thousand years later and the world is vastly better not getting worse than it ever was which the prophecy demands.

JW propagandists should be aware that if there is to be a parallel with the first century, it will be that it is to be fulfilled today in the same way...by total failure. What a relief! But who is waking up?

17

Bible popularity??

by Diogenesister in

more ikea catalogues were printed last year than bibles.. ikea is a swedish flatpack furniture store..

Half banana

Yeah, the Bible isn't great on interiors and furniture, that's not to dismiss it! It comes into its own if you're interested in death and paranoia.

39

Has NASA discoverd flowing water on Mars?

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

nasa is holding a press conference today entiltled " mars mystery solved".

speculation is they will announce the discovery of flowing water on mars?.

the significance of this is that it raises the possibility of possible past life or future existence on the planet.. the rebel..

Half banana

How refreshing to find a place not contaminated by Jehovah's Witnesses!

7

If Jehovah's Witnesses go some more in the same direction

by iconoclastic in

jws made a diligent study on teachings that have pagan origin and found christendom as being mostly built on pagan teachings, hence keep distance from them all.

so far so good.

now, if jws continue in the same direction, they will find virtually everything in the bible as borrowed from pagansstarting from six-staged creation account, and devil (ahriman) making the first man and woman fall (which is from zoroastrianism) to the messiah restoring what has been lost (which is found in many mythologies).

Half banana

Iconoclastic, "JWs made a diligent study"...that would be extraordinary! Do you have a reference or evidence for this?

Rather, I think JWs lazily just take the Bible as the literal and inerrant word of God and hope they are right.

I do agree with you that many scholarly "diligent" researchers have noted that the christ religions and Biblical stories have an ancient pagan common denominator. What is remarkable is that the same god-man saviour myths are found in Central American cult beliefs as well as the far East, India and the Levant.

74

That's it! The Jesus stories are most reasonably explained as myth. History makes this obvious.

by Island Man in

a careful examination of the historical pagan religious context existing at the time of the genesis of christianity leads any reasonable person to conclude that jesus is just another one of several similar myths.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn7teoa9ark.

Half banana

Perry, your source at CARM did work but it is utterly and hopelessly hide bound in its determination to justify the orthodoxy of modern Christianity. If proper critical scholarship is applied practically every statement is shown to be hollow. For example the idea that the gospels are a true account of the first century is false, Christianity with Jesus is a fourth century phenomenon.

The Bible and the gospels are in the category of magic realism. Ok for the ancients and for children's stories... but certainly not a guide for people today who have an informed brain and can actually control their circumstances.

74

That's it! The Jesus stories are most reasonably explained as myth. History makes this obvious.

by Island Man in

a careful examination of the historical pagan religious context existing at the time of the genesis of christianity leads any reasonable person to conclude that jesus is just another one of several similar myths.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn7teoa9ark.

Half banana

There is no point arguing with a Christian apologetic who uses the traditional assertions of a human christ and his resurrection as base line facts. Let me suggest the sociological approach to interpreting what people did in the Levant two thousand years ago is outlined in "A short history of Christianity by JM Robertson."

The real understanding of the Christ story pre-dates (as I indicated) the folk accounts of the pre-christian christs and comes from the pre-literate mnemonics of "star talk". The explanations of what the heavenly bodies were up to in their annual circumnavigation of planet earth from a pre-Copernican viewpoint.

12

Almost 60 years ago, The Watchtower made a prediction that has proven to be amazingly accurate.

by Bonnie_Clyde in

i haven't posted for quite awhile, just usually lurk, but thought surely someone would have noticed this on jw.org.

this was under the article about distractions.

i clicked on the article and below is the "accurate" prediction that the wt made back in 1958. this has to prove they have jehovah's backing, don't you think?

Half banana

Hardly prophetic! Sorry, but nothing the WT says is ever of any use.

Mental health warning: Watching JW org information can result in damage to your brain.