nicolaou

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Posts by nicolaou

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  15

  Former Kingdom Hall is now a Swaminarayan Temple!

  by Atlantis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this former kingdom hall is now a hindu swaminarayan temple!

  to the far right of the picture, the two tower pillars are obvious by the red and green flags.

  https://pdfupload.io/docs/d8e6115a .

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  nicolaou

  Makes sense for the devil to pool his resources

  More Christian bigotry Sea Breeze?
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  30

  Internal Watchtower Statistics Re: Disfellowshipping and Shunning

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  does the wt have a person/department/section tasked with compiling data and analysing it statistically.

  or have they started doing something like that now that they are hiring external consultancies?.

  i ask the question because i'm wondering if such studies and statistical analysis would show any link between the harshness of the disfellowshipping policy as it is applied and the dropout rate of people within the organisation who have just had enough.. in previous threads it has been pointed out that the old approach isn't effective any more.

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  nicolaou

  nicolaou: "Claiming such as a fact because you "believe it" is misleading and dishonest."

  I was actually trying to be sarcastic, and a bit tongue in cheek, but the dry media of pure text didn't convey it very well.

  That along with my long held suspicion that I may be somewhere on the spectrum. I'm very linear in thought and tend to take things literally.

  No biggie, it's all good.
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  30

  Internal Watchtower Statistics Re: Disfellowshipping and Shunning

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  does the wt have a person/department/section tasked with compiling data and analysing it statistically.

  or have they started doing something like that now that they are hiring external consultancies?.

  i ask the question because i'm wondering if such studies and statistical analysis would show any link between the harshness of the disfellowshipping policy as it is applied and the dropout rate of people within the organisation who have just had enough.. in previous threads it has been pointed out that the old approach isn't effective any more.

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  nicolaou

  NotFormer: I wrote it as fact, because I believe it to be fact, based on the educated guesses, i.e. speculation, of many here

  Nah, that doesn't work. If all you have (by your own admission) are educated guesses and speculation then be honest enough to say so. Claiming such as a fact because you "believe it" is misleading and dishonest.

  just as in your unbacked-by-facts opinion, it isn't

  Vienne didn't claim that your assertion wasn't factual just that it wasn't proven.

  You're all over the place mate.
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  20

  NORWAY Verdict : The Aftermath

  by raymond frantz in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  https://www.jwupdates.com/post/watchtower-will-take-norwegian-defeat-to-echr.

  few norwegian religious communities need to worry after the jehovah's witnesses verdict, according to legal expert vibeke blaker strand.

  he has pointed out that it is particularly serious to deprive a religious community of its registration.

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  nicolaou

  I think the state has a good case in the ECHRJehovah's Witnesses have not yet decided whether they will appeal the verdict to the Court of Appeal. Should the case end up at the top of the legal system, Blaker Strand believes that the state has a good case.

  
  - It is a judgment that will stand up in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), she says.

  I'm an absolute layman but would the Org risk an appeal to the ECHR if it was likely to uphold the Norwegian judgement? Surely that would set a precedent for all EU member states and the society would be at risk from any activist who chose to challenge their charitable status.

  Interesting times for sure.
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  2912

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  uh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.

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  nicolaou

  YouTube is in severe decline, and is increasingly annoying to use

  Agreed. If I ever need to view YouTube content I'll use NewPipe to do it.
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  20

  For all JW's: Stop calling others "apostates."

  by BoogerMan in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  if you don't want to be thrown into gehenna, read what your own faithful evil slave & christ say:.

  cj chap.

  3 p. 110 chapter 3 - "jesus christ said: “whoever says, ‘you despicable fool!’ (apostate) will be liable to the fiery gehenna.” (matt.

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  nicolaou

  NotFormer: Besides, the people on here aren't apostates.

  Speak for yourself, I'm a proud apostate.
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  71

  Lloyd Evans Patreoff Pool March 2024

  by DerekMoors in

  1. social
  2. humour

  for those still interested in lloyd's fall from grace, i made up a chart of my own.

  april 2023 is when he put out his "things are bad" tin cup begging video, and he got a small surge to 592 on the 13th of that month.

  i'm also using his all-time peak of 897 from november 2022.. for march, we're gonna say a modest -15, putting him at 352. i'm also curious as to when he might hit 300 and then 200. if he keeps up with an average of -20 every month, he'll be at less than 190 before the end of this year.. happy guessing everyone..

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  nicolaou

  Currently 353.

  Precise numbers barely matter now. Evans activism career is like his penis, he has no mastery over either.
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  144

  Hailstone message AND everyone will be saved? Questions

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i’ve not been paying close attention to watchtower developments, but talking to a jw yesterday it occurred to me the society (yes, still use that term - old school) have been sending out mixed messages in recent years.

  from what i gather, a few years ago the gb announced that during the great tribulation jws would be required to preach a “hailstone message of judgement” which involved telling people it was too late for them to repent and they were definitely going to be destroyed.

  there were hints that this could be very soon, “any day now” preaching could stop and the hailstone message come in, kind of thing.

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  nicolaou

  Mikejw: The unrighteous may make it into the new world if they die before or are still alive when it starts

  Jesus! Am I going to be forced into this 'paradise' abomination against my will? How do I make sure I don't get in?
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  144

  Hailstone message AND everyone will be saved? Questions

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i’ve not been paying close attention to watchtower developments, but talking to a jw yesterday it occurred to me the society (yes, still use that term - old school) have been sending out mixed messages in recent years.

  from what i gather, a few years ago the gb announced that during the great tribulation jws would be required to preach a “hailstone message of judgement” which involved telling people it was too late for them to repent and they were definitely going to be destroyed.

  there were hints that this could be very soon, “any day now” preaching could stop and the hailstone message come in, kind of thing.

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  nicolaou

  Mikejw: They did not think this through and they should have run it past someone intelligent before announcing it.
  But now the cat is out of the bag.

  This 100% but with one big caveat - most JW's just don't care. It's more doctrinal unraveling that the boomers may well resent but it'll be a very comfortable fit for millennials, genZ's and the rest of the 'just be nice/don't judge anyone' generations.

  Perhaps the GB actually DO know what they're doing. Shedding doctrine, service obligations, grooming requirements and fostering a much more casual approach to being a Jehovah's Witness.

  Easy to stay, easy to pay.
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  47

  The First Holocaust

  by nicolaou in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  please, please ignore all the scientific impossibilities here, that's not what this topic is about.. let's make the assumption as many christians do that the bible is historically accurate.

  the noachian flood actually happened a little less than 4,500 years ago after which eight adults stepped off the ark to repopulate the planet.. that means that approximately 60 million lives had been snuffed out, a holocaust by anyone's estimation.

  as if that isn't horrific enough just think about the babies, toddlers and young children god killed.. he drowned all of them, every single one.

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  nicolaou

  I appreciate your input Kaleb, thank you. Maybe I didn't express myself clearly enough but I'm really not angry at god, how could I be if I don't believe he exists. My frustration is layered. I guess I'm annoyed with myself because for a large part of my life I did believe and have what I thought was a close relationship with him. Then to realise what an arsehole he really was, well it leaves a mark.

  More than that though, I'm frustrated at those who put the blinkers on and point blank refuse to acknowledge the plain facts. Is it a fact that god at one time murdered every child in existence? No of course not, don't waste time having that argument with me. It IS a fact however that this global infanticide by god is recorded in the Bible and yet that counts for almost nothing in the minds of the faithful who wouldn't even call themselves Christian if it weren't for that same book.

  Dismiss it as allegory if you like but it's still sitting there like the abusive Uncle everyone wants to avoid and hide from view.