Anony Mous

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Posts by Anony Mous

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  6

  Something that bothers me personally

  by Blotty in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  (i apologise if this is the wrong section for this - its the one i think suits best)this may sound really cliché (it does in my opinion) and a first world thing, but it bothers me someone can be like this and spout these "illogical" arguments (among others, which i will list as questions in the near future)i recently (as of 21/11/22) finished up a conversation with someone on a few things - i find one of their "implications" slightly concerning.. they wouldn't accept "evidence" from scholars who seemingly didn't agree with their standpoint which is interesting.

  i.e on the divine name, i listed scholars such as george howard - i got the answer "try a real scholar"or another example i cited beduhn as (in my opinion) he is easy to understand but then got told "he doesn't teach greek at a university so his opinion is not valid" - scholars may not cite beduhn, but from looking at other factors he really gets nothing wrong (linguistically)once again i apologise if this is wasting anyone's time.

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  Anony Mous

  Beduhn is a WTBTS apologist, he is a professor of religious studies, likewise Howard is not a scholar on the subject of translation. His point is that the WTBTS translated in accordance with what he believes is the correct viewpoint, not whether it is accurate word for word.

  The truth is that the original writings of the Bible have been lost and most of the extant fragments are already adapted towards the viewpoints of a particular group. So it is possible, but unlikely given Jewish tradition, that the name of God was written down at all, however, what they “meant”, or everyone understood it to mean at the time, or what they did write vs. what was legal to write at the point is open for wide interpretation. Beduhn and WTBTS is one side of the argument, however the majority will say there is no such evidence.
  

  You can argue, like the WTBTS does, by cherry picking from a few scientists that speak well outside the field. Sadly, that is how a lot of science reporting is being done today (especially climate science), you find someone that agrees with your viewpoint argued from eg. sociology and then make that soundbite the accepted narrative even though real scientists will put many disclaimers and say it’s not that easy.
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  26

  Noah's Ark - Kentucky

  by BoogerMan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  regardless of belief/non-belief in the bible account, why is the ark nearly always depicted by both believers & non-believers as a huge boat, with a rounded hull & stern, and a tapered bow?

  https://arkencounter.com/ .

  the ark was crate shaped according to the measurements.

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  Anony Mous

  A crate would be worse off than a boat. There’s a reason a boat is shaped like a boat and not a shoebox. Even barges have one or more shaped hulls. I think everyone since antiquity knew this fact, hence the tradition of a boat-shaped object.

  As pointed out before, a wooden boat that size cannot be physically supported, however even a box the size of a small boat cannot support itself in water, it would simply crack as soon as it got lifted.
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  21

  Another HUGE Building Project

  by pontoon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i haven't been on site in a while, don't know if has been discussed but here is a link.

  https://rcbizjournal.com/2022/09/29/watchtower-bible-world-headquarters-project-in-ramapo-moves-ahead.

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  Anony Mous

  I think they’re also renovating Patterson, making it into a museum.
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  19

  Who wrote the book of Hebrews?

  by Fisherman in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  there are good reasons to belief that paul wrote hebrews.

  i am convinced he wrote it.

  is there any any convincing evidence or argument that can validate the belief?.

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  Anony Mous

  As with everything in the Bible, it is very unlikely the author claimed is the author actually, more likely it was a group of people that over time wrote and rewrote the story to fit their viewpoints.

  Paul was already dead by the time we find evidence of the first books. The authenticity and authorship has been disputed since it started being described in Church literature.
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  146

  Science News article: ‘Case closed’: 99.9% of scientists agree climate emergency caused by humans

  by Disillusioned JW in

  1. social
  2. current

  a news article has the headline of " ‘case closed’: 99.9% of scientists agree climate emergency caused by humans"; see https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/19/case-closed-999-of-scientists-agree-climate-emergency-caused-by-humans .

  the article says in part the following.. 'the scientific consensus that humans are altering the climate has passed 99.9%, according to research that strengthens the case for global action at the cop26 summit in glasgow.. the degree of scientific certainty about the impact of greenhouse gases is now similar to the level of agreement on evolution and plate tectonics, the authors say, based on a survey of nearly 90,000 climate-related studies.

  this means there is practically no doubt among experts that burning fossil fuels, such as oil, gas, coal, peat and trees, is heating the planet and causing more extreme weather.. a previous survey in 2013 showed 97% of studies published between 1991 and 2012 supported the idea that human activities are altering earth’s climate.. this has been updated and expanded by the study by cornell university that shows the tiny minority of sceptical voices has diminished to almost nothing as evidence mounts of the link between fossil-fuel burning and climate disruption.. the latest survey of peer-reviewed literature published from 2012 to november 2020 was conducted in two stages.

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  Anony Mous

  @disillusioned: going back to the book, you are claiming that if we don’t make a change, earths temperature will suddenly rise 2C in 30 years if the predictions are correct? I know that it is talking about pre-industrial levels.

  Even so, we have seen minimal variations since pre-industrial times, despite China/India nearly doubling the US output over the last few decades, I wouldn’t expect abrupt changes after the world starts slowly decreasing its total output (which is again, very hard to measure in comparison with the output from volcanoes and the Amazon).

  If anything warming out of the mini-ice age the world was in during the Middle Ages has been put on a slower curve based on other data points we have from the past to the point scientists in the 70s thought we would CO2 ourselves back into an ice age. Now global warming has once again morphed into global up-and-down temperatures. Super-heating and global warming have been completely debunked, the term of the decade is global change which could be up or down. So the book is unlikely to be correct, IPCC currently models a 1-1.5C temperature change by 2100 with a 2.5-3C in the worst case where everyone goes back to coal/wood burning. Oh, yes, since pre-industrial time. That is still more than 50 years off the prediction of the book and several degrees as well, depending on outcome.
  

  That’s always the problem with prophecy; besides the vagueness and number of prophets, it’s always some distance away and they’re also always correct until they’ve been completely debunked and then we will hear about how we misinterpreted it.
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  146

  Science News article: ‘Case closed’: 99.9% of scientists agree climate emergency caused by humans

  by Disillusioned JW in

  1. social
  2. current

  a news article has the headline of " ‘case closed’: 99.9% of scientists agree climate emergency caused by humans"; see https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/19/case-closed-999-of-scientists-agree-climate-emergency-caused-by-humans .

  the article says in part the following.. 'the scientific consensus that humans are altering the climate has passed 99.9%, according to research that strengthens the case for global action at the cop26 summit in glasgow.. the degree of scientific certainty about the impact of greenhouse gases is now similar to the level of agreement on evolution and plate tectonics, the authors say, based on a survey of nearly 90,000 climate-related studies.

  this means there is practically no doubt among experts that burning fossil fuels, such as oil, gas, coal, peat and trees, is heating the planet and causing more extreme weather.. a previous survey in 2013 showed 97% of studies published between 1991 and 2012 supported the idea that human activities are altering earth’s climate.. this has been updated and expanded by the study by cornell university that shows the tiny minority of sceptical voices has diminished to almost nothing as evidence mounts of the link between fossil-fuel burning and climate disruption.. the latest survey of peer-reviewed literature published from 2012 to november 2020 was conducted in two stages.

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  Anony Mous

  @disillusioned: many predictions have been made by apocalyptic cults. Whether it is god or climate, it doesn’t really matter.

  The book you spoke of was written in the 70s, we are now 50 years further and we’re still talking about 2.5C in the next 30 years and the change since 1970 has been minimal, 0.5C with the predicted 1C change being extended from 1980s to now 2050.
  

  It’s CT Russel’s fearmongering taken to a global scale. Yes, the earth is getting warmer, but 90% of the CO2 is emitted by natural processes. Now people are shifting from CO2 to Methane as the predictions on CO2 have been repeatedly falsified.

  I still want to see solutions promoted that don’t require thousands to die in order to minimize the human impact on the environment. I want to see sustainable solutions, that don’t require resources worse than oil.
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  20

  How do Jehovah's Witnesses differ from first century Christians?

  by Vanderhoven7 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  let me start with a couple of distinctions.. first century christians:.

  1. baptized military personnel.. 2. baptized men with political authority.

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  Anony Mous

  From the rewritings of Paul and John of Patmos you can clearly see they were just as good at inside politics, class division, and fables like resurrection and Jesus. Paul’s writings was mostly begging for money and telling others what to do. It was a scam, much like it was today.
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  35

  Christmas, yes or no ?

  by jhine in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have just started to steep the mincemeat for my mince pies in dark rum .

  christmas is a big deal in my family and circle of friends.

  however among ex jws it's a bit different or so l understand.

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  Anony Mous

  If it were just me, I couldn’t be bothered to keep up with the symbolism and demands. However the kids love it so I do it for the kids and family.
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  59

  Why isn't this forum growing like reddit exjw??

  by nowwhat? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  admittedly it 90% crap over there but still they are up to 80k in subscribers.

  over here it's the same half dozen or so that posts something, including myself.

  why is that?.

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  Anony Mous

  I think it is largely a population difference. People on Reddit are primarily young and transitory, they grow up in JW, leave at 18, complain a few times and then are fully absorbed into ‘the world’. There aren’t really any great discussions there about in depth topics.

  The people here are JW veterans that mostly have been around for decades in JW and thus have a lot more ‘lingering’ issues (whether it is family, stories) and thus stick around because JW is still influencing their lives.

  That to me is the great difference, you can comment on Reddit about the progression of certain JW belief points, literally nobody cares about the history or depth.

  TL;DR Reddit is for the shallow JW that never really got into the deep things and just wants an excuse to leave, this forum is for those that believed strongly or are long-term affected by the doctrines.
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  6

  Russia's War on JWs and other Cults Intensifies.

  by Lost in the fog in

  1. social
  2. current

  what this guy publicises many russians will believe is solid truth.. i wouldn't want to be a jw in the former ussr countries these days.. https://bitterwinter.org/russia-sensational-revelations-jehovahs-witnesses-prepare-an-anti-putin-coup/.

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  Anony Mous

  I’d take anything from that JW/JW apologist blog with a huge bag of salt. Most of the analysis is not incorrect though, they did go underground, they continue receiving directions from the US, and they did move to covert channels. They do attract the dispossessed, anti-government type and pedophiles into their midst with the messaging.

  All-in-all they do operate like a terrorist cell, it wouldn’t surprise me that at least some of the congregations in such situation have been infiltrated by eg CIA operatives and planning on some anti-government activity.

  Note too that there is a translational gap, anti-government/terrorist activity in Russia includes the messages about Armageddon they’re spreading to which they are terrorizing their believers and children with, which is the reason they were convicted under Russian law. It is a cultural/translational difference where in the west we’ve been accustomed to various religious and thus take that messaging not too seriously, Russians will take any religious messaging pretty serious since the Eastern Orthodox eschatology doesn’t shy away from it either, they have rather graphic descriptions of the end of times as well, so any religious group that comes by and says, yeah, we “know” it will be “soon” and here is a picture of what it looks like, is basically playing into life-long religious fears.