Here is some excellent reasoning on the subject. Religion can get away with murder, so long as there is enough "wiggle room"
Knowsnothing
JoinedPosts by Knowsnothing
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179
The Watchtower is NOT a false prophet
by The Quiet One inregarding what some have said here about the wt being a false prophet.. i would like to make my point regarding the wt not being a false prophet... so please, if you can be patient enough to read this, at least try to understand what i am getting at.. a false prophet is one who, according to deuteronomy, makes a false prediction of the future and claims that the prediction came from god, or in other words claiming that 'god has said he will do a certain thing at a certain time' etc.. for example, hypothetically speaking, if someone had claimed: "god will bring about the end of the world in 2010", they would have been proven to be a false prophet, obviously.
but, as an example, imagine a man who claimed the position of a prophet of god, (as moses did, because although he was not the type of prophet that predicted the future.. he was still a prophet or spokesman for god) and that he had publicised worldwide, according to his interpretation of a (for example) prophecy found in the book of isaiah, that the world would end in 2010.. and he had also stated that he was not saying that god will end the world in that year.. but only that there was biblical evidence that god might do so.
that would clearly have been a mistake.
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The great unanswered question - WHO chose the Governing Body to serve as representatives?
by cedars inwho is the governing body?.
put simply, the governing body purports to be a small group of anointed men (currently numbering 7) who represent a much larger group (numbering the thousands) of anointed individuals living on earth today.
in nearly every reference to their position of oversight over the worldwide brotherhood, the governing body refer to themselves as being representatives.... .
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Knowsnothing
While nothing is published, who did make up the concept of GB? Doesn't freeminds have a transcript of Freddie denying a GB existed? So, who really pushed the idea and got it implemented? Was it that Bethel saw the flaw in having one person run the show, and therefore decided to make up the concept to distribute power more evenly?
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179
The Watchtower is NOT a false prophet
by The Quiet One inregarding what some have said here about the wt being a false prophet.. i would like to make my point regarding the wt not being a false prophet... so please, if you can be patient enough to read this, at least try to understand what i am getting at.. a false prophet is one who, according to deuteronomy, makes a false prediction of the future and claims that the prediction came from god, or in other words claiming that 'god has said he will do a certain thing at a certain time' etc.. for example, hypothetically speaking, if someone had claimed: "god will bring about the end of the world in 2010", they would have been proven to be a false prophet, obviously.
but, as an example, imagine a man who claimed the position of a prophet of god, (as moses did, because although he was not the type of prophet that predicted the future.. he was still a prophet or spokesman for god) and that he had publicised worldwide, according to his interpretation of a (for example) prophecy found in the book of isaiah, that the world would end in 2010.. and he had also stated that he was not saying that god will end the world in that year.. but only that there was biblical evidence that god might do so.
that would clearly have been a mistake.
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Knowsnothing
So, your saying Camping=unexcusable BUT,
Watchtower=forgivable?
Mind you, The Quiet One, 1975 wasn't the only example. WT has a long history of date setting, along with other millenarium, adventist groups, or groups that focused on end-time chronologies.
If you research a bit more, you will find that the dates put forth were more than mere suggestions. They were set as "God's dates", not mere mens.
1975 allowed for wiggle room, but not so with dates like 1914 and 1925.
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The Trinity Doctrine, the Governing Body & Disfellowshipping
by 00DAD inpossibly you thought this might be about something else ... but since you're here, why not keep reading!
jws are taught certain "reasoning" skills for use in the field ministry.
in reality, these "skills" are really more like debating tactics or techniques, short scripts of verbal jiu-jitsu designed to throw the uninitiated off balance and attempt to force them into a position of mental submission.. when you consider the fact that, as jws, we got up early, had our coffee, thought about what we were going to say and how we were going to say it--sometimes practicing these scripts for years--it's no surprise that we could often walk away from a door "victorious" over the poor, unsuspecting householder that was still in their pajamas, probably only 1/2 way through their first cup o' joe and still wondering whether or not they should venture outside to get the morning paper!
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Knowsnothing
PSac, what then do you believe about Pauline shunning? Do you believe it serves a disciplinary purpose if used correctly? And do you believe that, if Jesus selected Paul as an Apostle, then by extention he approves of what Paul commands?
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George Orwell's "1984" and the WTBTS
by NYCkid inhey guys,.
i'm just finished reading george orwell's "1984.
" has anyone read it and did you also find eerie similarities to.
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Knowsnothing
(marked)
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Who designed cancer?
by snare&racket inone thing i regret, is not listening to the questions in my head whilst a jw.
one i didn't ask until years after leaving was....who designed disease?
of course the first thing to realise is the complexity of disease, the histology, pathology and aetiology.
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Knowsnothing
Or who designed the ecosystem to renew itself (the food chain)?
Who designed sharp teeth to bite into flesh and crush bone?
Or who designed the universe to eventually suffer heat death?
The list goes on and on.
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The shunning begins
by fade_away inso it's been a little over a year since i left and by now people are starting to realize i have no intention of going back.
my mother-in-law has begun shunning my wife.
her and her mom used to talk on the phone more regularly back in the beginning of 2011. but since we have been going on "apostafests" with other ex jw family members, well now her mother doesn't speak to her.
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Knowsnothing
Yep. I'm happy for you, in that you have a great support system.
I feel sorry, however, for the treatment of the uber-dubs. It hurts especially when it's family or someone close.
All the best, Fade_away. I will always remember that silly pharisee picture.
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Only JWs Can Understand The Bible
by leavingwt inaccording to the july 1, 1973 watchtower magazine, only the watchtower organization can understand the deep meaning of the scriptures.
it remains a "sealed book" to everyone else.
as ex-members, it's easy to recognize such a statement for how ridiculous it truly is.
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Knowsnothing
LeavingWT, that quote just segue's so well to why JW's believe that garbage about the 7 trumpet blasts of Revelation to be the International Assemblies arranged by JW's.
It's really astounding that we at some point, actually believed that.
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Boy Dies After Choosing Prayer Over Medicine- Former member of church calls group a cult
by whereami inand here i thought the blood issue was bad.
very sad indeed.. .
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/health/may-june-08/boy-dies-after-choosing-prayer-over-medicine.html.
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Knowsnothing
Prayer as medicine is complete rubbish- WTWizard
Not quite. Although not in the way you paint it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo
However, I agree that this situation could have been avoided. Why couldn't the parents do both? Makes absolutley no sense.
When fundamentalism goes wrong...
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viewing porn makes you demonised!
by highdose inor so claims every jw i've ever met.
porn also makes you turn into a sexual deviant who is likely to become a homosexual, rapist or peadofile.. .
porn has specail powers that once viewed allows the demons to get into your mind and start controling it!!.
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Knowsnothing
A scientific take on porn addiction. Interesting.