metatron

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Posts by metatron

• 
  21

  usa 2001 stats

  by jeffory in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  avg.

  pubs in 2001 service year[ usa] 945,689 compared to 945,000 avg.

  in 2000.. total baptized in 2001 service year 28,239 compared to the 28,475 in 2000.

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  metatron

  While these figures suggest stagnation, keep in mind that they
  are inherently bogus to a huge degree.

  Why?

  Consider baptisms: the majority of these may well be Witness kids
  most of whom likely will walk away from the 'truth'. Indeed, many
  elders can tell you stories about kids getting df'd shortly
  after baptism. The Society dropped all thought of invalid
  baptisms some time ago because the situation was a mess.

  And publishers? The only reason you don't see a real decline
  in the US is the influx of Hispanics (compare Canada and Alaska).
  The number of people harassed into reporting some time is likely
  huge too - remember, all you have to do REPORT time, whether you
  actually did anything or not. Consider the swing of over 100,000
  publishers counted a couple years ago from one month to the next
  when the Society demanded a maximum effort. This was the two
  month period when they got over 1 million pubs as a peak.

  metatron
• 
  8

  Will the Beast turn on WTS?

  by Pureheart in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  many of you have said that the wts is babylon the great and feel that the prophecy in revelation will be fulfilled on the wts.

  the book of revelation says that this babylon the great will go down into destruction because the wild beast will turn on her.

  it also said that god will put that thought into the wild beast to carry out this action.. that is why in one day her plagues will come, death and mourning and famine, and she will be completely burned with fire, because jehovah god, who judged her, is strong.. if the wts is the babylon the great of the book of revelation then this will be its demise.

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  metatron

  How 'bout this? Nothing really changes!

  The UN doesn't turn on religion or the Watchtower.
  The UN doesn't rule the world. The UN is scared sh*tless
  of putting peacekeepers in Afghanistan 'cause they'll get
  their heads blown off.

  And finally, the Sept.11 terrorists didn't bother targeting
  the UN building in New York. They went straight for the
  real power in the world - money! - and Wall Street/ World
  Trade Towers.

  The UN is basically impotent, dependent on the good will
  of the US and others.

  metatron
• 
  12

  What will it take to really change the WT Society?

  by Mindchild in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for many ex-jehovahs witnesses there is a disconnection between what we wish we could be doing in terms of making pronounced change in the ideological structure of the watch tower society or the dissolution of it, and what we actually find ourselves doing.

  at some level we sense there are incredible potentials just waiting to be realized in the collective struggle to bring down the tower not just because it is fundamentally wrong and harmful to millions of lives but also for the changes it will make in our lives.

  over the years though, i think a lot of us kind of feel that we are stumbling around in the dark trying one thing or another without anything serving as catalyst that starts an energetic chain reaction.. in a way, it reminds me of a phenomenon i learned back in my college days about termites.

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  metatron

  Your concept of emergence is interesting.....

  The process of change/crumbling within the Watchtower must
  feed on itself, I think. I believe we will see a critical
  'moment' when change accelerates. This 'moment' must involve
  some sort of mass perception among Witnesses that the
  organization is vunerable and slowly dying. If such a view
  emerges, then things really get interesting.

  What's needed are some really bad stats, more attention to
  the futility of raising children as Witnesses - or a string
  of courtroom defeats. In addition to this, we need to
  remember that internet penetration is still a little over
  50% in the US. Every percentage point increase is a blow
  to the the Watchtower Society - they can't defend themselves
  against the flow of exposure of years of lies. In many cases,
  one trip to the internet does the trick.

  If it seems glacial, we need to remember that
  the Watchtower's decline is now assured and consistent.
  It may be slow, but they have no ability to reverse
  the inevitable.

  metatron
• 
  16

  Another Flawed, Misleading Awake 12/8/01

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  "watching the world" in the dec.8,01' awake carries.

  a scare story about pornography.

  it refers to the.

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  metatron

  I don't know what you want or expect - you can look up the
  Forbes article and judge for yourself.

  As for questioning the Society, no thank you.
  They have proven, time and time again to be dishonest and
  flatly unconcerned with reality - when it conflicts with their
  preconceptions. I've tried repeatedly in the past to correct
  errors in publications as countless others have done. Recall
  Alan F.'s experience trying to confront one Writing Staff
  member about quotations out of context. My God!, the Governing
  Body refused to apologize for Rutherford's public anti-semitic
  remarks!

  As if this wasn't enough, I have the experience of a molested
  child within my own family. Elders lied, covered up - and
  later admitted it. With all the evidence plainly in sight,
  the Society refused to take action or right any wrongs done.

  If these men can't dispense justice in the case of molested
  children, what makes you think they care about anything
  truthful, accurate, or concerned with simple human decency?

  metatron
• 
  2

  Politically Correct Bombs

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  herein we have a reason why jws don't discern why the world is.

  progress isn't linear or consistent, therefore.

  it takes some discernment - a quality lacking in shallow, knee-jerk.

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  metatron

  Herein we have a reason why JWs don't discern why the world is
  getting better. Progress isn't linear or consistent, therefore
  it takes some discernment - a quality lacking in shallow, knee-jerk
  Apocalyptics

  It seems that one or more gay rights groups are protesting messages
  hand written on bombs to be dropped on Afghanistan. AP got a photo
  of a bomb with "highjack this, Fags" on it. There is now debate on
  whether such personal touches should be censored.

  So, there you have it. You can kill masses of people with bombs
  but you have to be polite (and politically correct) about it.

  All kidding aside, I see progress in this - because more and more
  attention is being paid to toleration. Great effort is also
  expended to have Muslim chaplains within US forces - and Bush
  visits a mosque to show respect for Islam.

  It isn't linear, it isn't consistent, but little by little
  it is progress.

  oh, and by the way, large cities in New York state are reporting
  huge decreases in serious crime - and the US gov just reported
  a budget surplus of 127 billion dollars (a balanced budget was
  widely claimed to be impossible several years ago - ask Vernon
  Jordan and the Urban League)

  and so it goes,

  metatron
• 
  19

  Sunday's Radio Show with the Dub's

  by Unclepenn1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, we had our radio show on sunday with the jehovah's witnesses and i don't think it went all that well, namely because it turned into a game of rhetoric.

  (if you listened, i would love to hear your thoughts).. .

  2 tim 2 :14 says- keep reminding them of these things.

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  metatron

  Nobody seems to mention John 1:18 refering to Jesus as the
  only begotten God - a reading that seems tied to the most
  ancient manuscripts.

  Born-agains and JW's are brothers under the skin because
  they make the same huge, flawed assumption - that the Bible
  is a kind of 20th century legal document with full accuracy
  in all its technical detail. Both groups assume it to be
  perfectly consistent internally. For me, the view that Jesus
  was divine evolved over the time the Bible was written - and
  thereafter. John's gospel was radically different from what
  came before - frankly, it was downright mystical and 'new age'.

  metatron
• 
  4

  Are normal Rank and File JW's criminals?

  by Kent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  lots of jehovah's witnesses all over the world can be found in prisons all over the world, and the question is why.

  these figures are from 1991 to 1998. interesting figures from england - because these were not in prison because of the military issue!.

  http://watchtower.observer.org/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?nocache=1&dato=20011029&kategori=jwandsociety2&lopenr=110290004&ref=ar.

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  metatron

  Probable explanation: There are large numbers of inner city
  types in prison. Some of them had one or more parents who were
  Witnesses who attempted to raise their kids as such. Now, given
  that raising ANY YOUNG PERSON as a JW is statistically ridiculous
  (86% gone?), you can imagine how much worse it is amidst drugs,
  bad schools, and street gangs. For some of these guys, JW's are
  the only religion they are familar with, so that's how they get
  counted.

  It can be kinda of unsettling at first to attend/conduct a
  prison WT study and have convicted murders raise their hand and
  say (classically JW!) "Well, as the paragraph brings out...."

  metatron
• 
  16

  Bethel move scrapped??

  by JEMIMAH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i recieved a telephone call from a prominent bethelite yesterday.

  he told me that the proposed london bethel move to milton keynes had been scrapped.

  the reason, brooklyn feel that since sept 11 the big a is so close less than a year away (right!!!!!

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  metatron

  This is classic behavior in a totalitarian regime. The true
  reasons for change are covered up and a convenient lie is
  substituted.

  Once, it is reported in the former Soviet Union, the armed
  forces built a railroad bridge almost overnight as a demonstration
  of their abilities. Bigwig officials noticed the crew sitting ontop
  of the train as it passed by and asked why this was so. The
  officer in charge said it was part of the demonstration, to shot
  at enemy planes from the roof of the train.

  The actual reason was that the train crew was in fear for their lives
  because they thought the bridge would collapse and they wanted to
  jump off. Soviets did this kind of reactive lying all the time.
  The Watchtower does it too - please consider their reaction to
  reports of depression and suicide in the organization: "Why,
  Jehovah's people are the happiest people on earth!"

  and so it goes,

  metatron
• 
  16

  Another Flawed, Misleading Awake 12/8/01

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  "watching the world" in the dec.8,01' awake carries.

  a scare story about pornography.

  it refers to the.

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  metatron

  Rex, both articles appear to be discussing the size of the
  industry in the US, not the world. The Forbes article exposes
  guesswork and unsubstanciated revenue figures. As for organized
  crime, their widespread involvement is doubtful because the
  Prohibition factor has been largely removed. Since you now
  can see just about anything, the premium prices are gone
  and profits with them. I agree with Patriot that most people
  just get bored with the animal husbandry portrayed.

  An odd note here is the sudden rise of men's magazines that
  feature well-known sexy women - but not fully nude (like
  Maxim, etc.) I think the whole phenomena becomes self-defeating
  (and unsexy) with unlimited nudity.

  I recall seeing a Vegas stage show once that featured
  quite a crowd of topless women and thinking "Wow, I bet they'd
  look great in a bikini!"

  metatron
• 
  16

  Another Flawed, Misleading Awake 12/8/01

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  "watching the world" in the dec.8,01' awake carries.

  a scare story about pornography.

  it refers to the.

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  metatron

  "Watching the World" in the Dec.8,01' Awake carries
  a scare story about pornography. It refers to the
  porn business being 10-14 billion dollars a year.

  For a more truthful assessment, try consulting Forbes.
  com in the article "How Big is Porn?" dated 5/25/01
  1:45pm ET by Dan Ackman. The article attacks so-called
  "studies" of porn revenues and notes that the industry
  is, in fact far smaller than cable, newspapers, or
  broadcast television. This Awake article caught my attention
  because I analyse stocks - and I know how poorly porn
  stocks perform. Playboy's finances are a joke - they
  keep losing money year after year. Smaller stocks like
  New Frontier Media also lose money or have a hard time
  making any profit at all.

  The Forbes article begins with the thought that in the
  pornography industry "size is often exaggerated". How true!

  metatron