the latest study watchtower december 2016 study article by undeserved kindness you were set free has a picture at paragraph 19 of some construction workers.
i always thought the foreman wore a white hard hat.
besides that i hate the term undeserved kindness.
The whole concept of sin and grace (aka "undeserved kindness") are the cornerstones of a sick, evil religion.
The idea that we as a race of sentient beings are "deserving of death" due to the actions of 2 people is down right revolting.
Try disciplining your kids for something they did not do over and over again. See how messed up they become.
i was an elder in the 1970's and i was not a big fan of the "stay alive until 75" dogma.
i was looked down upon by the heavy hitters on the body of elders and in time i changed my mind.
i knew of the failed prophecy of 1914 being the end of all times which was repeated for the year 1925...yet i came to believe well maybe this time they've got it right.. with every new watchtower, i combed over every word to find support for my change in my belief that the end was coming in fall of 1975. at the district assembly in 1975, everyone clung onto every word in the final talk.
Growing up inside the evil empire, this was an every day reality in my household. I was born just before 1975. However, my father claims to be of the anointed which, until recently, made him part of the mysterious "faithful and discreet slave". My father regularly claimed to be guided by the Holy Spirit into discovering "new light" which he would write HQ in NY about.
I can't tell you how many times throughout my life my father would paint a picture of doom and gloom with an approximate date attached to it. The first Gulf War was surely it. Then it was this. Then it was that.
It every time a period thought to bring the Great Tribulation came and went my father was truly dismayed. There were a few times he literally didn't work for a year or more because of this obsession with the end of this system of things. There is nothing quite like graduating from high school and going to work full time because there's no money for food or rent for your parents and two younger siblings.
I can't tell you how much conspiracy theory non-sense I would have to put up with growing up. Concentration camps being built in the US. The "Amero" currency conspiracy. The New World Order one-word-government crap.
last night.
pub quiz.
12 teams, somewhere in darkest england.. category: eternal flame.
Who the eff is Exeter City FC? (...and it's Arsenal...)
I remember in the early 90's going door-to-door with my dad. The lady who answered the door brought up 1975. My dad got rather animated and stated it was never in print.
Riddle me this, dad - How would someone not associated with JWs know about the 1975 scandal that took place over 15 years prior?
will i say " orlando, your hair is too long, and needs to be cut short" and never will i say " orlando, invites to birthday parties can't be accepted".
and i will buy my son books he wants to read, books that bring him happiness, and that he understands.
and by so doing, i hope he will acquire happy memories of his childhood, so that the sensitive and delicate, in him will be allowed to grow.
One of the most heartwarming experiences of my life was seeing the joy on my youngest son's face as he hung ornaments on the Christmas tree in our living room.
i didn't know this but there is a way to calculate the minimum population required for a certain species to survive over the next 100 to 1000 years.
this is called the "minimum viable population".. genesis states that 2 (or 7) of each "kind" went into the ark.
supposing that each "kind" means each "species", and they all could fit in the ark, and they came out safely, most of the species would have died, because it is impossible to survive, long-term, with a starting population of 2.this is interesting:"an mvp of 500 to 1,000 has often been given as an average for terrestrial vertebrates when inbreeding or genetic variability is ignored.
Friends -
The fairy tale story of a global flood, Noah, and the ark were the foundation of my exit from the evil empire. The animal portion is just part of it.
If I just have to have "faith" to believe, I don't want to have faith. If a magical invisible man has the power to solve all these issues, why cause a global flood to begin with? Why not just send angels to kill the wicked?
hi everyone- i don't have much of an update on my current situation ( refer to previous posts ) august 1st has past, (the day the judicial committee was supposedly held against me- and that i didn't attend, no word on anything as of now, thankfully i am moving to a new home next week which means no more elders sending me spooky jc invite mail!
anyways, i'm getting off the main reason why i'm posting.. so i have tendency to drift off into thought and have discussions with myself, ( i'm not crazy i swear!
) i was thinking today, have we heard any more updates on appearances?
Modest colors? I guess Satan made those nasty old immodest colors and we should avoid them.
they have made so many strategical mistakes it's hard to keep track.
some changes within the last decade or so that are contributing to declining numbers of jws:.
1. elimination of book study groups, the most informal, enjoyable and sociable of the jw meetings, contributed to loss of sense of community among jws.. 2. policy of consolidating kingdom halls.
I'll just ad my $0.02 to two points already made:
1) Consolidation of meetings
2) Reducing the frequency of printing on magazines
My former presiding overseer/COBE once said that, if it weren't for all the meetings, brothers would have more time to get in trouble. Little did I know that by saying "get in trouble" really meant living a normal life.
did anyone else here go a bit odd on new year's eve 1975 to new year's day 1976?.
i had been out of the org for a couple of years at the time, but not got around to debunking the beliefs.. what my mind went through around the above dates could be regarded as borderline psychotic, though the black hash probably didn't help.. i've just started tackling a first draft writing what i can remember about that period.. it probably wasn't helpful that my jw mother died a week into 1976. she had been ill quite a bit for some years, but after the date for the apocalypse passed, i do wonder if she just gave up.
prior to that she possibly believed she would never have to die, but once the big a got delayed, maybe she felt that she couldn't face years of illness and the fight went out of her.. i am finding that trying to write my history is a bigger undertaking than i first expected, but i'll do it even if it takes me years..
I have a close friend that is a few year older than me. He was 5, almost 6, at that time. His family was uber-dub, especially his father.
When 1975 passed and nothing changed his father stopped being a Witness, cold. They had a Christmas tree in the house come December 1976. His parents split over the change and his father was DFed for apostasy.
first at all, there is a new marketing video of god's name, clearly saying the name of god is jehovah.. link: https://tv.jw.org/#en/video/vodbible/docid-502014331_1_video.
and then, there is the video with geoffrey jackson (gb) clearly saying that the original name of god is not known and the use of jehovah is because of it is the most used variant in english.. link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwv_8ocvkj8.
so, something contradicts here, isn't it?.
I would like to hear more about the ways of Gormuna.
those with substantial experience as jws will likely agree that judicial matters are handled with considerable inconsistency.
elders certainly vary in skill level, understanding, compassion or even knowledge of the talmudlike watchtower rules.
the punishment and, it is actually punishment, for similar offenses can result in anything from private or public reproof to disfellowshipping or sometimes an elder will choose to simply offer private counsel without even bringing the matter before the body of elders.
I had weird personal experience.
I was privately reproved and lost all "privileges". My book study conductor was on my judicial committee. Shortly after losing my privileges he called me up and told me I was to be the reader at the next book study.
I was raised in a uber-dub, dad was an elder and anointed, family. I was a MS for 6 years prior to all this. I was shocked and confused.
I found out later that all the elders on my judicial committee were relatively new to the organization ans were clueless as to all the secret rules and regulations regarding organization disciplinary procedures.
