NeonMadman

Joined

• started 102 topics
• posted 3,698 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by NeonMadman

• 
  9

  Watchtower And Awake Song

  by Bangalore in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  (tune of sweet violets).

  by dale baker.

  there once was an elder who stood at my door,.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  NeonMadman

  I enjoy it every year when Joan Cetnar and Carol Hartman sing it at the Witnesses Now for Jesus convention.
• 
  34

  Why some cults may be healthy

  by Mr Facts in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  for your information, not all cults are destructive as may be generally assumed.

  as a therapist, i will list the folowing points as reasons why some cults may be healthy, especially the jw organisation.. 1) their stand on material prosperity shields their members from unnecessary worries of life.

  their constant emphasis on simple life prevents you from entering into debt-imposed problems safeguarding you from the possibilities of sleepless night, financial stress and the rest .. 2) their behavioural control mechanism helps to constantly keep your lives in checks and balance by injecting sanity into your conscious being.. 3) reporting you deviant thoughts, feelings, and actions to leaders helps to coordinate your life and brings it in conformity to impeccable manners(the desire of every sane human mammal).. 4) their extensive use of cult generated information and propaganda constantly triggers your consciousness for the need to do things right (a positive reinforcement).. 5) their ethical use of confession makes you see that the universe cares for you and you are not alone in the grand scheme of things.. 6) their loaded languages offers you feelings of belonging, which we all aspire in a secluded and socially quarantined world.. .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  NeonMadman

  Sort of like saying it's a good thing to be in prison since you know you won't be killed in a hiking accident...
• 
  18

  Where is the Society headquarters these days?

  by rory-ks in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i actually find this whole matter a bit creepy.

  i find it very hard to think of the watch tower society as a cult in the same mould as jonestown or the branch davidians, and yet their out-of-town facilities increasingly take on the appearance of a cultish stronghold.. where is the society headquarters these days?

  is it up in wallkill?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  NeonMadman

  900 Red Mills Rd. is the Watchtower Farm in Wallkill, or as the sign on the wall inside says, "Wallkill Bethel."

  Route 22 in Patterson is the Watchtower Educational Center.
• 
  18

  Memorial on wrong day

  by isaacaustin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ok...i have read before that the jws celebrate the memorial on the wrong day.

  can someone explain this to me in a dummyproof way?

  do the jws celebrate the memorial on the 13th day after sundown (which is nisan 14) or do they do it on the 14th days after sundown (nisan 15)??

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  NeonMadman

  As I understand it, they start the count of 14 days from the new moon as seen in Jerusalem, not at the local venue. This would often result in a day's discrepancy in our part of the world.
• 
  31

  I am tempted to ask 25 year old very pretty lady out but.....

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  she has 4 kids.

  the father of her kids sees them every two weeks.

  i am not sure if it is a good idea for me to ask her out.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  NeonMadman

  The nice part about not being a JW is that you don't have to decide whether you want to marry someone before you ask them for a date. You are allowed to take this young woman out a few times, get to know her, and then, when you know both her and her circumstances better, you can both make a decision whether to continue or stop.
• 
  9

  What is "PRESENT" truth? Who understands the Greek ?

  by hamsterbait in

  1. social
  2. humour

  i dont know greek, but cant help wondering what the word "present" in that phrase means.. the borg uses it to mean "what we tell you at this time is true".. i wonder if it means present in the sense of somebody you know being present in the room with you.. "the truth present in our lives" "the truth that is here with us".. just wondering..... hb.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  NeonMadman

  I just ran a search on the phrase in a number of different Bible translations. It does not appear in most modern Bible translations at all, and that includes the NWT. It does appear at 2 Peter 1:12 in the KJV and the New King James. Other translations render the verse in a way that does not imply 'the truth at the present time,' but seem to refer to the truth being present in Christians.

  The NASB, for example, reads, "Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you."

  The ESV (English Standard Version) reads: "Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have."

  Even the NWT reads, "For this reason I shall be disposed always to remind YOU of these things, although YOU know [them] and are firmly set in the truth that is present [in YOU]."

  Clearly the emphasis of the verse is on the truth being present in believers, and not on the believers' having to keep up with ever-changing versions of the truth.
• 
  18

  WT June 15, 2012 - No lasting career in this system

  by Designer Stubble in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible
  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  NeonMadman

  Nothing changes:

  Awake! 1969 May 22 p.15
  "If you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things. Why not? Because all the evidence in fulfillment of Bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years . ... Therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers. If you are in highschool and thinking about a college education, it means at least four, perhaps even six or eight more years to graduate into a specialized career. But where will this system of things be by that time? It will be well on the way toward its finish, if not actually gone!"
• 
  56

  Common JW phrases that aren't in the Bible

  by biometrics in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i'm interested to know common phrases jehovah's witnesses use, but don't actually apear in the bible (even the nwt).

  especially phrases most jw's would assume are in the bible.

  e.g.. "paradise earth".

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  NeonMadman

  they had to invent kingdom hall, the word church has pagan connotations. it comes from circee(sp) an ancient goddess of trances and medicines. funny but true.

  According to Wikipedia, at least, the word "church" is derived from the Greek kyrios ("Lord") by way of the Germanic, not from the goddess Circe. However, the JWs still couldn't use the term despite its lack of pagan origins, because then they wouldn't be different.
• 
  65

  Attention Governing Body: October 2, 2014 is only 940 days away...

  by Alfred in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in 1823, john aquila brown (a man who is not mentioned in any wt publication) came up with a bizarre mathematical calculation which totalled 2,520 years (in an unauthorized attempt to predict the end of the gentile times).... several religions recycled this bizarre calculation, including the adventists and the bible students... when armageddon didn't come on the variety of early 20th century dates predicted by several "dooms-day" religions of that time (including charles taze russell's bible students who predicted that the big a would start in 1914), they all finally realized that this 2,520-year calculation was nothing more than arbitrary mathematical speculation derived from erratic biblical extrapolation.... except for the bible students who continued to move up the date for armageddon 2 more times (1918, 1925) and then decided to use wwi as the starting point for the "last days".. all the while, one thing that seems to remain intact is the october 2, 1914 date.

  oddly, for the watchtower bible & tract publishing cult, this particular date still marks the end of the 2,520-year period (that john aquila brown referred to in his bizarre 1823 book "the even tide")... again, no mention of this in any watchtower publication.

  but, for jws, that date still remains the starting point for the period of time often referred to as the "last days" or even "the generation that shall not pass".. because of this, the governing body has been forced to change the definition of "the generation that shall not pass" countless times since the early 1970's.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  NeonMadman

  the expiration date of this latest definition is quickly approaching

  Actually, they've bought themselves another good 50 or 60 years if the drones accept the "overlapping generation" teaching.
• 
  87

  Beliefs Tied to Geography

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  NeonMadman

  Well, if the whole point is that everyone needs to apply critical thinking to his or her beliefs, I would agree with that. But usually, the argument in the graphic is thrown at Christians to imply that, because their beliefs may have been geographically derived, therefore they are almost certainly wrong. It proves no such thing, and there is no relationship between geography and truth claims; that was really my only point in commenting here. So yes, SweetBaby, I would agree with what you say, for the most part. Intellectual vigilance is necessary in maintaining (and, if necessary, modifying) any belief structure.

  Leaving, thanks for the Plantinga link, I've saved it for near future reading.