Half banana

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Posts by Half banana

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  52

  $10 per pub. Money begging session last night

  by StarTrekAngel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  last night, during our "christian life and ministry" meeting, we had a session on local needs.

  elder opened the talk with a disclaimer saying that this was a reminder (cited psalms about how david loved jehovahs reminders).

  he reminded us of how bless we are of having our own local assembly hall.

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  Half banana

  It would be more honest to have a contribution box at the assembly labelled "Child-abuse Legal Claims Fund".
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  22

  Governing Body Epic Fails Compilation

  by Brokeback Watchtower in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wabsbzzt7xw

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  Half banana

  Brokeback , thank you very much for your compilation.

  But in the interests of fairness and balance I am presenting a video recording all of the epic successes of the Watchtower Organisation which clearly demonstrate that God is behind it: ________________
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  16

  Do People Have Spirits? What Do the Early Texts Say?

  by Cold Steel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  for years adventist sects, including the jws, have believed that the dead sleep at death and remain non-existent until the resurrection.

  its strongest argument seems to be text in the non-escchatological book of ecclesiastes in the old testament.

  although a part of the canon of scripture, the book is not written by a prophet, nor is there any prophecy or recognizable doctrine contained therein.

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  Half banana

  Jeffro...an important consideration:

  "Theological claims are a subset of paranormal claims."
  

  Mephis I agree with your perspective as an accurate assessment of the state of “proto orthodoxy”. Early Christianity has to be divorced from the modern reading of the past on the basis of conventional expectations. First century Roman christianity was characterised by a loose association of mainly poor and illiterate hopefuls who believed not only in various doctrines but also different christs. (The few rich members notably contributing “love feasts” which made the idea of the FDS a plausible backdrop for the all too familiar illustration).

  By the end of the fourth/ early fifth century, Christianity became orthodox or “catholic” by virtue of Roman decree and it was eventually enforced by punishment for those who refused to believe the state determined doctrines. Along with this codifying of the religion, (albeit still evolving, including the Bible canon) came denunciation of all the pagan teachings and destruction of proto-orthodox and pagan ‘heresy’ which had gone before it which were the ingredients of the blend of ideas which made the Roman Church in the first place.

  The life of the soul after death (in this case borrowed most directly from Mithraism and hence from Persia and India) became the key "Catholic" propaganda weapon to keep the flock loyal.

  I went to a lecture by Karen Armstrong recently in which she mentioned the importance of the city of Alexandria on the Nile Delta after the time of Alexander the Great in the third century BCE. In historical terms this was a significant and vibrant melting pot of Egyptian, Greek and Jewish beliefs within the Classical world.

  Reading up on the subject I realised this is a critical period and location for the fusing of the three strands of culture. Surprisingly up to half of the population of Alexandria was Jewish, and as cosmopolitans, they adopted the Greek and 'pagan' culture of the leading lights of the city, a distinct divergence from the sanitized retrospective view of Jewish orthodoxy. Egypt possibly contributing the immortal soul idea to the religious matrix since the significant Greek perspective was the story of Hades; the gloomy abode of the dead. What is certain is that Classical Greek culture crept into the late Jewish ideas which later were diffused into the Christian cults of the first and second centuries.

  I wonder if “sprit” was a Hebrew convention conflated with the Egyptian “soul” perhaps in 3rd cent. BCE at Alexandria?
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  35

  Evolution is a Fact #11 - Tiktaalik

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  one of the biggest gulfs that life has had to cross was the transition from sea to dry land.. fish have conical shaped heads, reptiles have flat heads.

  fish have no necks; their heads are attached to their shoulders by a series of bony plates.

  land-dwelling animals all have necks; their heads can move independently of their shoulders.

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  Half banana

  Some folks still sport vestigial gill " holes" behind their ears - what more do you want!!
  

  To hold my breath for half an hour and dive down to 300 meters...
  
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  24

  I am SO tempted ! to join the FSM Church !

  by Phizzy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the netherlands has recognized the church of the flying spagetti monster as an official religion !!.

  i am so tempted to join it openly, and see what the reaction of the jw's is, surely they should df me for joining another religion?.

  but how silly would that make them look !

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  Half banana

  For good measure your could also vote for the Monster Raving Looney Party at the next election. Show those Jdubs what you are made of!
• 
  35

  Evolution is a Fact #11 - Tiktaalik

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  one of the biggest gulfs that life has had to cross was the transition from sea to dry land.. fish have conical shaped heads, reptiles have flat heads.

  fish have no necks; their heads are attached to their shoulders by a series of bony plates.

  land-dwelling animals all have necks; their heads can move independently of their shoulders.

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  Half banana

  Cofty, as your reply to EQV shows, to understand the concept of evolution you have to get down to the nitty gritty of the details. This means knowing about the actual species involved and their characteristics and dates of arrival in the geological column. The analogies and illustrations used by creationists do not dare to recognise the simple logic of the 'connectedness' of all living things.

  Religious belief however eclipses reason...............
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  16

  Why do American Christians stand with Muslim Nations on the Question of Evolution?

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  some statistics.

  this graph charts national responses to the statement, "human beings, as we know them, developed from earlier species of animal," and show some strange bedfellows.. .

  as you see, a huge majority (70% and higher) of western europe people surveyed, accept evolution (in some form).

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  Half banana

  Perhaps the 8% represents part of the hidden contingent who do not believe in the org but feel obliged to attend.
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  24

  OMG....the watchtardedness of the CLAM. ( Cult Lies and Manipulation )

  by DATA-DOG in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  as we all know, the clam reeks of propaganda and lunacy (sniff...sniff...mmmmm...smells like the gb's meeting room.

  what did dubs glean from the clam that washed ashore this week?

  according to the book of ezra, jeehoober is so fearful of competition, that he banishes wives and even small children.

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  Half banana

  DD how can the JW drones ever escape this crude propaganda? The GB perpetually assails their flock with the words “true worship” knowing that their captive audience will nod in agreement and believe.

  For goodness sake JWs, there is no possibility of there being such a thing as “true worship” anymore than there can be true religion, true politics, true nature appreciation or true weather. It is a category mistake. Worship is not susceptible to truthfulness or falsity.

  I suggest that to worship anything is complete folly and a denial of self. Spend your life helping mankind by all means but worship is a primitive urge to escape divine wrath.

  Why didn’t they call it CLAW (worship) it sounds more appropriately menacing?
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  125

  my worst fears were realized

  by magotan in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  im on my phone, so im really limited.

  i came out to my family about my doubts and my sexuality.

  shit hit the fan.

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  Half banana

  Hi Magotan, glad you are surviving and doing the opposite of what the Watchtower wants; higher education and being gay.

  "Join Jehovah's Witnesses and destroy your family" that's the slogan the public should know.
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  47

  Thought control - sexual fantasizing is wrong - May 2016 Watchtower

  by Listener in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  >>the bible reveals that jehovah issaddened when people pursue a wick-ed course and ‘the inclination of theirthoughts is only bad all the time.’ (readgenesis 6:5, 6.

  ) from this we can per-ceive that sexual fantasizing is wrongbecause it can lead to serious sin that isforbidden in the scriptures and is out ofharmony with jehovah’s way of think-ing.the disciple james wrote: “the wis-dom from above is first of all pure, thenpeaceable, reasonable, ready to obey,full of mercy and good fruits, impar-tial, not hypocritical.” (jas.

  3:17) beingaware of this, we should be moved toreject entertainment that fuels impurethoughts and inclinations.

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  Half banana

  The more stupid things the GB say less people will listen. For those who do, it is going to be a life of anxious paranoia.

  How sad it must be to imagine the GB are God's exclusive channel.