Posts by Anony Mous

9

The Last of Us

by Simon in

looking forward to the first episode of this new computer-game to tv-show adaptation that airs this sunday.. it has pedro pascal from got and the madalorian plus bella ramsey, also from got, who played the bad-ass lady mormont.. lots of it was filmed near us, some right round the corner (there's quite a few productions film around here, we get ice-cream near where they filmed scenes from interstellar).. this show is a post-apocalyptic zombie series and early reviews are that it's awesome, so i'm hoping for good things, especially since walking dead jumped the shark a few seasons ago and we gave up on it.. anyone else planning to watch?.

Anony Mous

Looks interesting, it's in my queue, whether I'll get to watch it with children and a backlog of other shows.

6

Are JWs breaking the law?

by Indoubtbigtime in

everytime a publisher moves congregations they have a confidential letter of introduction sent from one body of elders to the other .

this letter contains some very very sensitive information like if they had sexual problems or mental health problems or if they self harmed etc.

most people don’t know but they can request or insist on seeing this information through a freedom of information request .

Anony Mous

Depends on jurisdiction, the GDPR only applies in the EU and even there it is very poorly defined and enforced.

You do sign away those rights when you join, people that haven’t signed would probably be considered “bad association” and don’t get privileges. I’m pretty sure only PIMOs would refuse.

30

It’s started COBE asking all appointed men if they are fully vaccinated

by Indoubtbigtime in

there is a huge problem now in all congregations as the gb stubbornly will not do the u turn on staying fully vaccinated that many hoped they would do.. all congregations around the world the cobe has to ask all ministerial servants and elders if they are fully vaccinated (meaning no more than six months since last shot).

there is a massive problem now with many many jdubs not getting their latest boosters and not wanting to stay fully vaccinated .

but more serious than that is how the gb painted themselves into a corner with these vaccine mandates.. most governments did a u turn on the vax mandates but the gb can’t get out of this one so easily .

Anony Mous

The shots have been banned in some countries and even US states like Florida now put out warnings for people under 40 due to the danger.

Do they have different directions for different countries and states? Or will they ignore Caesar on that?

8

Was Satan in Heaven while Christ was crucified?

by Sharpie in

just a shower thought came to mind.. while jesus was nailed to the stake/cross (take your pick) because of the witnesses lack of belief in hell.

does that mean according to witness doctrine that satan and his demons were in heaven while jesus was being executed?.

what about after jesus went to heaven?

Anony Mous

It’s a great question. I think the doctrinal explanation is that until 1914 Satan was allowed into heaven but he also roamed the earth (since that is what he told Jesus during the 40 day wilderness test).

He was cast out of heaven in 1914. Witnesses like to explain that he was basically treated as if he were disfellowshipped (although he talks to Jesus/Jehovah/angels at various points in the Bible) but still lived in the same house, there are older publications that make the same analogy, because they need to make clear Yahweh approves of their doctrine.

So, where was Satan at that point? Could be anywhere. Does it have to make sense? Probably not, the whole biblical doctrine hangs together with metal wire and duct tape.

27

So where oh where did Judge Rutherford come up with JW theology?

by Terry in

jw
friends

bits of unreported history that may be of casual interest… as to doctrinal origins.

sykes was one-of-a-kind in the pentecostal movement, but he was considered quite a maverick who went his own way with heretical teachings repugnant to the pentecostal faith.. joshua sykes’ congregation was integrated, unlike pastor russell’s public speeches/sermons where blacks and whites both could attend, but only in separate sections--sykes's members were sitting side by side in the pentecostal church.

this was considered dangerous and inflammatory at the time.. pentecostal preacher joshua sykes practiced racial and gender "integration" as early as 1908 -- having both african-american and female assistant preachers, staffers, and members.

Anony Mous

A lot of the teachings come from the Adventist and Millerite movements, since that what was where CT Russel comes from.

The belief system was by no means unique in its day, but most branches died off for being too extremely anti-American in the day.

The entire movement that sprang from late 1800s Baptist’s (which includes the Amish, Mennonites and others as well) seems to have been in response to the fast industrialization and seemingly loss of morals in a world where things become easier and cheaper.

20

Hell, what is it

by Anony Mous in

so perhaps we all heard the jw story about jesus talking to gehenna and he was referring to a place outside the city where there was a dump burning refuse and everyone knew what it meant.. according to jw.org: tradition relates that the valley of hinnom thereafter became a place for the disposal of garbage.

and the bible provides confirmation for this.

at jeremiah 31:40, for example, the valley of hinnom is evidently called the “low plain of the carcasses and of the fatty ashes.” there was also the “gate of the ash-heaps,” a gate that seems to have opened out onto the eastern extremity of the valley of hinnom at its juncture with the kidron valley.—nehemiah 3:13, 14.. i think i heard that in the study of the greatest teacher book first.

Anony Mous

@disillusioned: Gehenna he meant it is a place of eternal conscious torment instead of the annihilation

I think it depends on the context. In the context of Matthew 5:29-30 I think he’s talking that it is better to cut your own arm/eye etc than go down to the literal place of Ben-Hinnom, where according to Jewish lore, people did worship other gods like Baal. Ben-Hinnom was according to some contemporary texts inhabited by a large number of “foreigners” in that day that likely practiced foreign religions, likely because of poverty prostituted themselves etc.

Baal, Molech and other nearby that still believed in Proto-Yahweh in that day were often demonized by Jews as having child sacrifices (propaganda not supported by any archeological evidence) but they also seemed to have “fun” practices like temple prostitution and alcohol.

Whenever Jesus is translated to hell, he refers to Gehenna or the valley of Ben-Hinnom as a literal place, which likely means he sees it as a place where you get to do “immoral things” and separate yourself from the Jewish god. Basically Jesus is saying it is better to mutilate yourself than “go down to the hood” and have fun with “those people” and everyone knew what he meant.

There are only a few places where Jesus refers to Sheol/Hades both for Lazarus and the Rich Man parable and the resurrection and which is a place commonly accepted as darkness/silence after death (a pre-heaven)

I personally think hell gets more of the Orthodox Jewish context of a place where you go practice another religion without (the single unified) God. That is still the closest you get to a Jewish concept of what Christians describe as hell today, you go do bad things and then you are tormented by the consequences and your conscience. Orthodox Jews don’t believe in eternal torment, even go as far as saying they don’t know what happens after death, therefore we need to do our best now. I think that is what Jesus in context of a Jewish teacher would have taught. The Hellenistic views of hell as a literal place of torment only come later as Christianity starting as a Jewish sect integrates more and more teachings from Greek and Romans.

5

A Nearly Forgotten Hypothesis about YHWH

by peacefulpete in

as we know there have been many proposals as to the origins of the god and name yhwh.

the folk etymology of ex 3 aside, there have been a number of suggested roots, many of which seem to be well argued and not without possibility.

however, of particular interest to me are those proposals consistent with the fairly well agreed upon south-eastern origins of the cult.

Anony Mous

I think there are a lot of modern hypothesis and they may all have a piece of truth embedded into them.

I was recently also introduced to some of the Arabic pre-Islamic influences/origins on Judaism/Christianity. It seems a transliteration of the Jesus character was also introduced in pre-Islamic religious lore and versions of this character made it as far as Indo-China and became what we now know as the Buddha.

It seems Yahweh was indeed a Canaanite god (related to the older story of Marduk and Tiamat) and then bits and pieces of Babylonian, Egyptian, Persian, Roman and Hellenistic stories were all taken up into the modern day Bible to make up the story of Yahweh. It is very likely things were borrowed, especially names, from Arabian sources as well as things were translated and retold.

20

Hell, what is it

by Anony Mous in

so perhaps we all heard the jw story about jesus talking to gehenna and he was referring to a place outside the city where there was a dump burning refuse and everyone knew what it meant.. according to jw.org: tradition relates that the valley of hinnom thereafter became a place for the disposal of garbage.

and the bible provides confirmation for this.

at jeremiah 31:40, for example, the valley of hinnom is evidently called the “low plain of the carcasses and of the fatty ashes.” there was also the “gate of the ash-heaps,” a gate that seems to have opened out onto the eastern extremity of the valley of hinnom at its juncture with the kidron valley.—nehemiah 3:13, 14.. i think i heard that in the study of the greatest teacher book first.

Anony Mous

So perhaps we all heard the JW story about Jesus talking to Gehenna and he was referring to a place outside the city where there was a dump burning refuse and everyone knew what it meant.

According to JW.org: Tradition relates that the Valley of Hinnom thereafter became a place for the disposal of garbage. And the Bible provides confirmation for this. At Jeremiah 31:40, for example, the Valley of Hinnom is evidently called the “low plain of the carcasses and of the fatty ashes.” There was also the “Gate of the Ash-heaps,” a gate that seems to have opened out onto the eastern extremity of the Valley of Hinnom at its juncture with the Kidron Valley.—Nehemiah 3:13, 14.

I think I heard that in the study of the Greatest Teacher book first. However recently learned that this is not at all true. There was no refuse dump that continuously burned, there is no literary, biblical or archeological reference to such place, and a place like that would leave quite a footprint you’d think. If you read the scriptures, it doesn’t refer to the Valley of Hinnom, it doesn’t even refer to a dump.

The word “evidently” is the tail wagging the dog and it is a far stretch to say that the Gate of the Ash Heap which is a JW mistranslation of the Dung Gate which was a small door and wasn’t built until the 1500s is actually what they say it was used for.

The only reference we have in the Bible to the valley of Hinnom is Jeremiah 19:2 and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate (apparently also for refuse of broken earthenware). For those that can read a map, the Potsherd Gate was on the south side of Jerusalem. The KJV translated that to East Gate and many translations used Dung Gate later to match the gate on the east. Reason being is that most Bible translations aren’t literal, they have a story and canon to uphold so major changes and contradictions in original texts are filtered out by perpetuating more changes where deemed necessary to match the story.

So where does Valley of Hinnom being a continuously burning dump come from - 1200AD Rabbi Kimchi pretty much is the person that introduced the concept to this place. Note that by this time, Judaism had already integrated Hellenistic viewpoints of Hell (Hades and Tartarus) into its theology, unlike around early Christian time where they may have heard about but the scriptures don’t quite illustrate an eternal tormenting place. The conflation of Gate of the Ash Heap or Dung Gate comes later, with “archeologists” and translators sent out in 1500s-1800s with a shovel in one hand and a Bible in the other, confirming archeological finds on the basis of the Bible, not realizing some things weren’t quite the originals they thought.

So even about the simplest of things, JW seemingly can’t keep it straight, using apocryphal stories and opinion from a Rabbi to support stories they have told over and over again. Given modern research, they could simply gloss over these mistakes and misconceptions and quietly leave it out, nobody would be any wiser. Instead they double down on things people can quickly find are medieval apologia.

38

Seems to be a census on vaccine status

by Indoubtbigtime in

the upcoming km school for all elders and servants is going to be in person only with no provision for video conferencing.. only fully vaccinated may attend.

meaning if you missed your last booster you are no longer fully vaccinated.. every coordinator of body of elders has to ask every single ms and elder if they have kept up with all their boosters and are fully vaccinated or they can’t attend.. this seems to be a census the gb want to know how many are keeping up with booster shots.

Anony Mous

HIPAA laws do not apply to voluntarily disclosed information, that being said, it is none of their business.

It’s a great excuse to get away from it all, say you don’t agree with the shots is not disfellowship offense yet, but it is a great way to get removed from elder/servant without any other excuses.

9

Password Leakage?

by Nikolaus in

i got a message that my password on this site has been part of a leakage.

is this known?

where can i change my password?.

Anony Mous

Do you re-use your password anywhere else? I have a password manager with individual passwords for most sites and this site hasn’t been breached according to its reporting. So be careful, change your password only on this site, don’t follow the link in the e-mail you got.