Thanks ILTTATT2 much appreciated. The really telling figures will be those given for each country. I wonder how the org will show them? Africa and Brazil heavily bias the overall figures. One million memorial attendance in the Dem. Rep. of Congo, a land of 84 million. Atheism is not an option in central Africa.
Half banana
JoinedPosts by Half banana
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Israel (Is Real?)
by TerryWalstrom inevery nation is a kind of weird intellectual construct.
when we say: china--all of us get some kind of fictional mental snapshot in our head.
sure, there is a country called "china".we just don't really know a soul living there.
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Half banana
Israel is a secular state and needs no help from the US fundamentalist right wing. It has done very well with its own self serving myths.
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Work Colleague Went To a JW Funeral - His Experience
by pale.emperor inso the guy in my office on the desk next to me has just got back from the funeral of his wifes sister.
this was his first time in a kh and full on exposure to jwdom.. bit of background: the deceased jw was not a born in, she was a convert when she was in her teens.
she died last week at the age of 82. the poor old dear was still zealously knocking on doors while in ill health.
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Half banana
The only ones who are valued at a JW funeral is the Governing Body.
Forget the sucker who died, (but check first to make sure we have their family inheritance bequeathed to us) it's loyalty to the GB which must be highlighted. Yes visitors and JWs alike, remember: it's LOYALTY to the GB. GB loyalty is the slogan to go home with. Heck if there was no "loyalty to the GB" the whole cult would crumble to dust and the GB wouldn't get their ticket to a cushy life.
What a disgusting and ignorant cult! At least they don't always hide their stupidity-- it will be their downfall.
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What if the crucifixion never took place..
by Jayk ini googled it and pretty much my understanding is the same as what i imagine.
no one really knows, your guess is as good as the next.
interesting thought to consider imo..
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Half banana
What if the crucifixion never took place
Not a scrap of difference because it was only a belief.
It was a crumb of comfort for people without hope-- as was the story that the Saviour Dionysus, who was also called the Lamb of God and the Great Shepherd. He was crucified centuries before Jesus was and for the same reason to redeem mankind and with the same outcome: nothing at all.
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Do You Feels That Your Life Was Ruined Because of Ypur JW Experience?
by minimus ini know that some are upset because of the time lost because of ever having been a witness.
have you moved on as an ex jw or are you stil devastated because of your past jw lige?.
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Half banana
Not ruined Minimus, but greatly delayed in development and with a vast amount of time and effort wasted for no good purpose. Also slightly scarred but not where it shows... I hope.
In minor compensation there has been the pleasure of waking up and enjoying the freedom from feeling beholden to an undeserving cult. To be a JW is like being forced to carry a burdensome weight with you wherever you go. Afterwards, as long as you understand why the weight has been cast off, you can experience the lightness of living a normal life without the heavy baggage.
To be POMI must be a complete drain on a person, still carrying the Fear and Obligation but an even larger dose of Guilt for not doing anything about it.
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Is this life all there is?
by Fisherman inwhat do you sincerely think?
do you nurture any hope?.
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Half banana
Beliefs without facts are meaningless. The facts are that this wonderful experience of life has been shared by about 105 billion people before us; our grandparents and ancestors. If this experience has another dimension why has no one supplied concrete evidence for it? Not one person has returned from the dead. Enough people have lived and died, you would have thought one of them might show some proof?
It's making this life, the only one we know, a good one -- savour what you have.
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Half banana
It's about asking the right questions and not being satisfied with "perfect" conclusions... but it's good that you are already asking good questions Jrjw, that is the road to mental freedom!
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The Netherlands: Minister for Legal Protection wants Jehovah's Witnesses to conduct an independent investigation of sexual abuse
by jochie inmeanwhile in the netherlands:minister dekker: jehovah's witnesses must review abuse policyin order to protect children better against abuse, the jehovah's witnesses must look back on catholics, according to minister dekker.
but abuse victims think that this approach will not work.. minister sander dekker for legal protection wants the jehovah's witnesses to conduct an independent investigation of sexual abuse within the community, just like the catholic church.
this is stated in a letter he sent this week to the parliamentary committee for justice and security.
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Half banana
How interesting that the Dutch government imagine that the JW leadership in Holland is a responsible group who are actually interested the protection and welfare of its members. This is not the case historically and it is not the case institutionally as directed from HQ in New York State. The JW belief in an imminent apocalyptic destruction of the world precludes focus on individual welfare concerns.
The second consideration they should be aware of is that the JW administration has no experience or incentive for objective self-assessment. Their modus operandi is the cultivation and practice of doctrines sustained by constant propaganda. The only real world problems they organize are financial ones. When it comes to spending time or money on matters for individual members well-being; it does not exist. Its stratagems of policy are about avoiding bad publicity and maintaining a squeaky clean public image.
It will be interesting to see what the Dutch government do and what they are able to enforce with the JW org.
The Dutch government does not realize that Jehovah’s Witnesses are an irresponsible cult which is not interested in membership welfare however much protest they may hear to the contrary. The religion's primary concern is for fidelity to its governing body and even for those counted as loyal, no money is spent on humanitarian benevolence except in rare cases where to do otherwise would be considered a loss of good publicity.
Rehabilitation of those who have been abused does not exist in any official compassionate form by Jehovah's Witnesses organization, reading the victims a few scriptures is hardly a serious response to deep psychological damage. The religion hopes the abused will get better or go away but certainly they should keep quiet, again for avoiding bad publicity.
The selective Biblical literalism which empowers JW belief system is totally inadequate for maintaining the high standards expected in the developed world. So the Dutch government should be apprised of these matters and also of the ARC child abuse investigation of Jehovah's Witnesses and it findings.
It will be interesting to see what the Dutch government can actually do.
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2017-12-4 TO ALL CONGREGATIONS IN BRITAIN AND IRELAND Re: Changes to Circuits
by wifibandit indecember 4, 2017 to all congregations in britain and ireland re: changes to circuits.
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Half banana
"Due to the increase" I thought the increase in JWs in the UK was 26! Who is pulling the wool over the sheep's eyes?
Perhaps they mean that there are no longer enough COs to go round since many of them are waking up to the JW racket.
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Have you ever thought what the primary teaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses is?
by Half banana init is not “preach the good news” nor is it “believe in jesus and get saved” neither is it “believe in the governing body of jehovah’s witnesses and get saved” although in practice they do teach this.
no, everything they claim depends on a belief in another doctrine which logic decrees cannot be found in the bible.
the leadership of jehovah’s witnesses put absolute faith in a protestant doctrine which is given a latin name, sola scriptura, meaning “by scripture alone”.. good evidence of the governing body believing in the primacy of this doctrine was when being questioned by the australian royal commission, they resorted to the ‘authority’ of scripture to defend their stance on having “two witnesses” when they are investigating child abuse cases.throughout the hearing they paraded their naive trust in the bible as the highest possible authority proudly ignoring the fact that most people regard it as having been superseded by modern scientific evaluations of what is true.. .
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Half banana
@Smiddy, the NWT distorts the meaning at 2nd Tim 3,16. The writer said "god-inspired" writing is beneficial, he was referring to what we might call today any inspirational writing. He said that all of that was good...a bit of a platitude really but as you stress, he could not possibly be referring to the Bible. The verse before, v15 uses a different Greek expression to refer to Hebrew scriptures.
If as a JW you have your mind rewired by the GB brain reconfiguration programme, Bible meanings will now fit your preconception i.e. that Paul said the Bible is from God. That is not what Paul wrote and the Bible is most certainly not from God. It is terribly flawed, entirely human and full of bestial Iron Age fantasies.
The second point (repetition for emphasis!) If the Bible really did say "All of the Bible is inspired", that would be no evidence of any fact or any more truthful than you, me or an intelligent parrot saying "our words are inspired by God".
Wakey wakey! Jehovah's Witnesses.