Posts by bats in the belfry

48

Religious people are less intelligent than atheists, according to analysis of scores of scientific studies stretching back over decades

by besty in

jw
friends

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/religious-people-are-less-intelligent-than-atheists-according-to-analysis-of-scores-of-scientific-studies-stretching-back-over-decades-8758046.html.

study found 'a reliable negative relation between intelligence and religiosity' in 53 out of 63 studies.

a new review of 63 scientific studies stretching back over decades has concluded that religious people are less intelligent than non-believers.. .

bats in the belfry

Study co-author Jordan Silberman says that it would be a mistake to assume their findings mean that if you’re a believer, you’re a few fries short of a Happy Meal.

To lump, say, Jehovah’s Witnesses with American evangelical Christians would be ridiculous for a study of this type, as JWs decry education (particularly for women), and evangelicals founded such intellectual bastions as Wheaton and currently laud such scholars as scientist Francis Collins, historian Mark Noll, and… well, you get my point.

So, what's he sayin' then? He is not lumping JWs together with this type of study because of what?

a) JWs are not a few fries short of a Happy Meal?

b) There is no Happy Meal with JWs?

68

More fear and paranoia WT-style! (11/15/13 WT)

by LostGeneration in

i usually dismiss the "drinking the kool aid" scenarios that are posted from time to time, but the latest wt has another bit of fearmongering.

the quote from page 20, para 17. elders who are reading this article can draw some useful conclusions from the account we have just considered: (1) the most practical step that we can take to prepare for the coming attack of the assyrian is that of strengthening our faith in god and helping our brothers to do the same.

(2) when the assyrian attacks, the elders must be absolutely convinced that jehovah will deliver us.

bats in the belfry

DATA-DOG / Jeffro >>

Who is the Assyrian supposed to be anyway?

Isaiah's prophecy - Light for All Mankind, Vol. I (2000)

25

Wait on Jehovah - What does is it truly mean?

by ProfCNJ in

good evening folks!

we have encountered this advice countlessly on wt study articles.

this especially comes out to ease the waiting pain of brothers eagerly waiting for god's new world and the end of the old system of things - with all the sufferings that go along with it.. i also noticed this being floated to try to extend the patience of brothers who are jumping ahead of the organization in terms of thinking - as if they are pre-empting the organization on certain sensitive views and issues.. if a brother has gotten an idea or insight that is far more superior than the present affairs in the society, or regarded as way in advance - he can be branded as a brother "not in order".

bats in the belfry

Didn't you know?

This worldwide evangelizing organization is not tailored according to any present-day legal corporation that may be required under the laws of man-made political governments that now face destruction in the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon. (Rev. 16:14-16) No legal corporation of earth shapes the evangelizing organization or governs it. Rather, it governs such corporations as mere temporary instruments useful in the work of the great Theocrat. Hence it is patterned according to His design for it. It is a theocratic organization, ruled from the divine Top down, and not from the rank and file up. The dedicated, baptized members of it are under Theocracy! Earthly legal corporations will cease when the man-made governments that chartered them perish shortly. But the theocratic organization will live on, serving its Supreme Theocratic Ruler. Under his protection it will enter into his righteous new order. It will be right there on hand, as soon as the “great tribulation” is over, and be instantly ready to serve as His instrument in his new order.

The Watchtower 1971, December 15, page 754 par. 29

FYI: After all competition is eliminated, the WTBTS will direct affairs from the top down just like any present-day legal corporation.

See also . . . The diary of a Armageddon survivor

11

Times articles about JW's

by zound in

i found a bunch of old time articles about rutherford, fred franz, shunning etc.

only problem is you need to be a time's subscriber to download the full articles.

anyone on here that subscribes could you download them and share?.

bats in the belfry

It ain't Times . . . but a good write-up nevertheless.

Peddlers of Paradise – The American Magazine, November 1940

more . . .

14

I just created an account on jw.org

by nonjwspouse in

just what is the purpose for it?

i can get to all the stuff without an account except with the account i can look up meeting times of a local congo, or conventions, and donate to the wtbts.

that seems to be it.in fact, once signed in that is all that is available and have to go back to being logged out to get anything else on the site.. what gives?

bats in the belfry

Splash >> Depending on your access level you can access km's

That's just the thing: After login a publisher should be able to get her/his km's online - but you can't.

3

Exactly what did Geza Vermes write?

by Doug Mason in

[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>normal</w:view> <w:zoom>0</w:zoom> <w:trackmoves /> <w:trackformatting /> <w:punctuationkerning /> <w:validateagainstschemas /> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:saveifxmlinvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:ignoremixedcontent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext> <w:donotpromoteqf /> <w:lidthemeother>en-au</w:lidthemeother> <w:lidthemeasian>x-none</w:lidthemeasian> <w:lidthemecomplexscript>x-none</w:lidthemecomplexscript> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables /> <w:snaptogridincell /> <w:wraptextwithpunct /> <w:useasianbreakrules /> <w:dontgrowautofit /> <w:splitpgbreakandparamark /> <w:enableopentypekerning /> <w:dontflipmirrorindents /> <w:overridetablestylehps /> <w:usefelayout /> </w:compatibility> <w:donotoptimizeforbrowser /> <m:mathpr> <m:mathfont m:val="cambria math" /> <m:brkbin m:val="before" /> <m:brkbinsub m:val="--" /> <m:smallfrac m:val="off" /> <m:dispdef /> <m:lmargin m:val="0" /> <m:rmargin m:val="0" /> <m:defjc m:val="centergroup" /> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440" /> <m:intlim m:val="subsup" /> <m:narylim m:val="undovr" /> </m:mathpr></w:worddocument> </xml><![endif].

[endif][if gte mso 10]> <style> /* style definitions */ table.msonormaltable {mso-style-name:"table normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"times new roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language:en-us; mso-fareast-language:en-us;} </style> <![endif].

the following is from how can you have a happy life, watchtower bible and tract society, 2013:.

bats in the belfry

Cross-referenced: 2013 How Can You Have a Happy Life?

14

I just created an account on jw.org

by nonjwspouse in

just what is the purpose for it?

i can get to all the stuff without an account except with the account i can look up meeting times of a local congo, or conventions, and donate to the wtbts.

that seems to be it.in fact, once signed in that is all that is available and have to go back to being logged out to get anything else on the site.. what gives?

bats in the belfry

Just like nonjwspouse mentioned - there is no extra information available on the the first layer of access granted. Nothing you couldn't also get by clicking through their website.

It makes you feel kind of stupid after supplying them with registry information (clandestine/fake).

How many levels? I guess COs and DOs should be on Game Level 3. But don't take my word for it, ask them.

14

I just created an account on jw.org

by nonjwspouse in

just what is the purpose for it?

i can get to all the stuff without an account except with the account i can look up meeting times of a local congo, or conventions, and donate to the wtbts.

that seems to be it.in fact, once signed in that is all that is available and have to go back to being logged out to get anything else on the site.. what gives?

bats in the belfry

. . . sort of two-factor authentication? Like elder's code and Big Mother's code combined = access.

You get a bits of information and they get your IP, provider, and web browser specifics.

60

NINE REVERSALS IN JULY 15TH WATCHTOWER

by The Searcher in

here's what i scavenged from the most notable watchtower i've ever read.

it may be far more significant than many people realise!.

and before anyone whinges that one or two are 'old light', the fact remains that all of them are rejecting what was once 'inspired truth' from the revered fds, and disagreeing with any one of these (now current) falsehoods would have resulted in your "stoning to death" and shunning by all whom you loved.

bats in the belfry

Quendi >>

I agree with those who say these changes, ahem, “adjustments” will go right over the heads of the rank-and-file. They don’t want to think or take responsibility for themselves or their lives.

Then it's time to remind them:

Romans 1:28 − And just as they did not approve of holding God in accurate knowledge,

God gave them up to a disapproved mental state, to do the things not fitting,

11

2013 How Can You Have a Happy Life?

by Atlantis in

credit goes to doug mason..2013 how can you have a happy life?

(this brochure was published for jewish readers in mind).

the site is a jw site and i think one page is missing.

bats in the belfry

Section 4 − Although the scrolls were written more than 2,000 years ago, they differ very little from one another and from the traditional Hebrew text in use today. “None of these variations affects the scriptural message itself,” notes Dead Sea Scrolls scholar Geza Vermes.

When will they (WTBTS) stop picking sentences?

For what was really said you need to read the context also: