I think that the best video for this latest fiasco would be one contrasting the WT video of the girl giving up her ice cream so she could donate to the WT, with an image of Tony with a basket full of a thousand dollars worth of whiskey on a Sunday morning.
That could be powerful and devastating optics.
Sea Breeze
JoinedPosts by Sea Breeze
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Need a recording of Top Shelf Tony speaking on respecting the conscious of othersthers.
by Wasanelder Once ini want to make a youtube video using the liquor store footage and tony speaking on the importance of respecting the conscious of others.
lemme know.
we can't say he's getting drunk but he sure didn't consider the way others would view his actions.
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Sea Breeze
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Suicide; and Jehovahs Witnesses
by zeb inas one who has been personally affected by suicide i read just now of a posting here today the tragic note being "my bridesmaid hanged herself" which we gather she had been shunned... well over the past many months we have seen a library of information, which continues to grow, on the sex abuse saga and most recently the revelations with a myriad of escape clauses a new 'policy' pulled like teeth from the wt on that matter.
this piece of prose is made available to any jw who requests it so the wt says.
it is well revealed out of the carc that the % of abuse in the wt world is higher than outside it.. this brings me to the matter of suicide.. .
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Sea Breeze
The April 2014 Awake is on Suicide:
Here's some of that wisdom:
According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, “studies have consistently found that the overwhelming majority of people who die by suicide—90% or more—had a mental disorder at the time of their deaths. Often, however, these disorders had not been recognized, diagnosed, or adequately treated”
Duh. Then the have the nerve to say this:
"People who care. Your life matters to others—including your family members or friends who may already have expressed concern for you."
It never occurs to the Watchtower that they themselves are probably one of the greatest causes of suicides (including the slow kind with drugs and alcohol) when they order a family hit job on those that dare to question their authority.
They offer a simple solution to the problem: All you have to do is accept their lies and keep your mouth shut to have family and friends.
For some, life is not worth living under that circumstance or without family connections. They take their own life. The stress is too great. Reminds me of the sad tale of the two brothers that took their own life (separately) related at the end of the Leah Lemini show on JW's that was recently aired....heart wrentching. I'm sure their toxic parents weren't even fazed..... probably figured they were better off.
This is a very dangerous cult, and a real menace to society. -
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To Rank & File JW's:
by The Fall Guy inweb site, it says this: on the night before he died, jesus told his followers to commemorate his death.
he said: “keep doing this in remembrance of me.” - luke 22:19. according to the wtbts/jw's, jesus had two distinct groups of followers with entirely different "hopes" – the “little flock” and the “other sheep.” .
exactly which group was instructed to commemorate his death by re-enacting the eating & drinking of the bread and wine - and to “keep doing it?” .
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Sea Breeze
The apostles made it clear that the Christian message COULD NOT be altered in any way after they were gone. This totally obliterates the trumped up WT doctrine of "New Light"
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. - Galatians 1: 8,9
Rejecting the Bread and Wine (and hence rejecting the new covenant) IS A DIFFERENT GOSPEL.
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The Truth about the bible
by TTWSYF init really is common sense, but nobody here seems to recognize or acknowledge this blatant and obvious truth.. the holy bible is the result of the catholic liturgy.
they used these scriptures in their religious practices and confirmed which books would and would not be part of their cannon.
they picked, preserved and promoted these books and gave 'the word of god' to the world.. i know that pisses off some folks, but it is the truth [not the 'truth'tm].
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Sea Breeze
Well there is of course a "Catholic" Church ...meaning widespread body of believers. In that sense, yes the apostles started this movement as eyewitnesses of the resurrection.
But what we think of as the Catholic Church today is really the Roman Catholic Church , which places Jesus mother as a co-mediator with Christ, promotes papal authority, and officially teaches that there is no salvation outside of their organization.Catholic Catechism #969 “Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.”
Clearly the Catholic Church has lifted titles for the Holy Spirit and applied them to Mary. The title Mediatrix is the feminized version of Jesus‟ title as Mediator. The RCC makes Mary a co-mediator.
Catholic Catechism # 882 The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter's successor, "is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the 8 bishops and of the whole company of the faithful. For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered."
The Pope sees himself as the visible head of God’s Kingdom on earth as opposed to the invisible authority of Jesus Christ. However, early Christians walked by faith, not by sight. (2 Cor. 5:7). Additionally, one of the Pope’s titles is the Vicar of Christ. The word vicar comes from the Latin word vicarius meaning substitution. The on-line version of the Pocket Catholic Dictionary defines the Vicar of Christ as: “The Pope, visible head of the Church on earth, acting for and in the place of Christ”.
However, this is in serious conflict with scripture. Can there be two heads on one body? … Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. - Ephesians 5:23 1994
Catholic Catechism Paragraph # 82 - As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the Holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.
Here the Catholic Church demands their own traditions be revered as if they are the word of God. The Watchtower claims the same thing:
Watchtower December 15, 2008, pg 28 – “Our coming to know „the truth‟ - the entire body of Christian teachings that has become part of the Bible - and adhering to it are essential for our salvation”.
Simply put, the Catholic Church, the Watchtower Corporation, and others have made the same mistake that many others have made; they’ve added their traditions, good works, and another mediator to “Jesus the author and finisher of our faith”. (Heb. 12:2) Because of this, they have nullified God’s offer of salvation for some. (Mark 7:13)
There is only one way into God’s favor:
I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold , but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber…Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. - Jn.10: 1-7
The NT is a contract between two individuals only... the believer and Christ. There is as BIG difference between the "Catholic" Church (all believers with a one to one relationship with Jesus) and the Roman Catholic Church with their hierarchy and doctrinal heresies.
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Just wondering...
by HappyBlessedFree inso for those of you that are christian, what do you do during the memorial season?
for those that have not joined a church, how do you celebrate passover?.
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Sea Breeze
Hi Happy,
There is no "Memorial Season" for Christians. There is a "Resurrection Sunday" (sometimes referred to as Easter) commemorating the day Jesus got up and walked out of a tomb.
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The Truth about the bible
by TTWSYF init really is common sense, but nobody here seems to recognize or acknowledge this blatant and obvious truth.. the holy bible is the result of the catholic liturgy.
they used these scriptures in their religious practices and confirmed which books would and would not be part of their cannon.
they picked, preserved and promoted these books and gave 'the word of god' to the world.. i know that pisses off some folks, but it is the truth [not the 'truth'tm].
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Sea Breeze
The "Catholic Church" didn't exist until some time after Constantine converted in 312 AD, However....
Around 250 A.D., Origen likely produced a complete list of all 27 New Testament books–more than a hundred years before Athanasius. In his typical allegorical fashion, Origen used the story of Joshua to describe the New Testament canon:
But when our Lord Jesus Christ comes, whose arrival that prior son of Nun designated, he sends priests, his apostles, bearing “trumpets hammered thin,” the magnificent and heavenly instruction of proclamation. Matthew first sounded the priestly trumpet in his Gospel; Mark also; Luke and John each played their own priestly trumpets. Even Peter cries out with trumpets in two of his epistles; also James and Jude. In addition, John also sounds the trumpet through his epistles [and Revelation], and Luke, as he describes the Acts of the Apostles. And now that last one comes, the one who said, “I think God displays us apostles last,” and in fourteen of his epistles, thundering with trumpets, he casts down the walls of Jericho and all the devices of idolatry and dogmas of philosophers, all the way to the foundations (Hom. Jos. 7.1).
As one can see from the list above, all 27 books of the New Testament are accounted for (Origen clearly counts Hebrews as part of Paul’s letters). The only ambiguity is a text-critical issue with Revelation, but we have good evidence from other sources that Origen accepted Revelation as Scripture (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.25.10).
My thoughts: The early church leaders (disciples of the apostles) wrote a lot of letters to each other, mostly to deal with heresies. In those letters, as a whole, a person can reconstruct about 2/3 of the traditional New Testament canon either quoted or paraphrased. Thus, it is easy to see which writings were used as authoritative (as well as what was, and what was not "sound doctrine")..
The appearance of "a list" by Athanasius in 380 AD or so, has little to do with which letters/books were accepted as authoritative by the first congregation elders centuries earlier. -
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Teenager Advice
by Wagurl inwhat advice do you have for a teenager that is being raised as a witness but not baptized?
everyone is pressuring her to get baptized how to avoid that till they are 18 and they are 16?
how to stay sane in a household of religion you don´t believe in.
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Sea Breeze
The position is definitely improved if you do not get baptized. But, eventually there will be little difference over time if the parents remain hardcore adherents.
Why not use BOTH a biblical and a non-biblical approach? Cast a wider net is my suggestion.
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Teenager Advice
by Wagurl inwhat advice do you have for a teenager that is being raised as a witness but not baptized?
everyone is pressuring her to get baptized how to avoid that till they are 18 and they are 16?
how to stay sane in a household of religion you don´t believe in.
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Sea Breeze
If your parents stay in, the end result will be the same whether you get baptized or not. They will eventually shun you for not worshiping their idol. Eventually there is little real-world difference between whether or not you got baptized.
I agree with the others to try to get along. But you can learn as much as you can about historical Christianity and be able to prove that the Watchtower is gravely mistaken about a great many things. By planting seeds you can stand your ground on biblical grounds, that's the difference.
One of the seeds might take root and eventually you'll have one or both parents for life. IM me if you'd like some ideas. -
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God, Religion and Semantics
by Onager inthere is a slight possibility of one of my jw relatives coming to have a read of this forum, which has made me really excited and endlessly hopeful, but also worried that they might read some of my angry comments from back in the day and throw their hands up in horror.
i've also been thinking about the book by christopher hitchens "god is not great" recently and i think there are similar defences to be made for both.. there is a topic that i started called jehovah god is not real and there are also comments that i have made where i have said that jehovah god is cruel, stupid or even evil.
i appreciate that this sounds like a personal attack on god, just as hitchens' book "god is not great", sounds like an attack on god, but the truth is that they're not.. the title of hitchen's book: "god is not great" is (deliberately) a negation of the islamic phrase allahu akbar "god is greatest" and my topic on this forum called "jehovah god is not real", was in direct response to another poster's topic "jehovah god is real".
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Sea Breeze
there is a single piece of evidence which does not come second hand from a human being.
I'd just like to point out that most of the things we accept as true, comes second hand from other humans