Posts by patio34

31

Interpretation of Scripture

by chacha in

can the bible be interpreted correctly only by the watchtower?.

do you believe that the bible was written to all people?

patio34

Hi Cliff!

Welcome to the board! Yes, there are a lot of Jehovah's Witnesses here. I am one, my sister is one, and some elders are here too. Are you one?

However, having said that, I am not going to answer the question of the thread nor tell you about the God of JWs. Because I, despite being called a JW for personal reasons, am mostly an atheist now.

So, as far as interpreting the Bible, it seems the old adage about 'you can use the Bible to prove anything' is applicable. So, I won't bother you with my newly found, albeit nascent, beliefs.

Nevertheless, WELCOME! One thing we all enjoy is a hearty discussion.

Pat

6

I'll Never Pinch You Again!

by patio34 in

you may be wondering about that subject line .

here's the rationale:.

the other day, without thinking, i flicked my 4-yr-old grandson on the cheek playing around.

patio34

Carmel,

That's right! Not fair!

Btw, why are you and my sister, the Empress, so ROOD to 'chother?

Pat

3

Diets and Evolution

by patio34 in

since i've been reading up on that formerly forbidden subject of evolution, it occurs to me that my ideas on diet have been wrong.

too.. here's my idea: all early human societies were of the hunter-gatherer type.

now this probably means they ate a lot of meat.

patio34

Since I've been reading up on that formerly forbidden subject of evolution, it occurs to me that my ideas on diet have been wrong. Too.

Here's my idea: All early human societies were of the hunter-gatherer type. Now this probably means they ate a lot of meat. According to 'The 3rd Chimpanzee' by Jared Diamond, the early people who came to N and S America decimated the animal population by 73% and 78% respectively because of over-hunting. That's a lot of meat-eating!

Now, deducing our earliest ancestors were of the eat-a-lot-of-meat types, is that why the 'high-protein' diets of today work so well?

Even when our ancestors were farmers, they still kept a lot of livestock for eating.

So, is being a vegetarian (which I was--right before I got cancer!!) that natural for us if we evolved from humans that were heavy meat-eaters. They were also gatherers, but maybe meat was their mainstay. How much could you gather in the winter?

Any rebuttals or comments?

Pat

16

Do elders have Bible Studies?

by slipnslidemaster in

jw
friends

in my experience, i have never seen an elder in the congregations that i was associated with bring (or have for that matter) a bible study to the kingdom hall.. now i think that i already know the reason for that, but it seems that the majority of the bible studies are done by the poor sister pioneers.. is this the case in the hall you went to?.

slipnslidemaster: doin' the humpty hump...just doin' the humpty hump...

patio34

Mulan,
I just read the story and it was very good. What we have to go through to extricate ourselves, huh? Thanks for sharing that!

Pat

13

The Firm and The WTS

by bj in

jw
friends

i would like to share with you the following comparison that is based from the book the firm by john grisham:.

the main character is mitchell mcdeere, a young advocate who was recruited by a small, but well-respected law firm.

they promised him a colourful future if he abide with their codes.

patio34

S&Slide,

Thanks for the tips. They have stopped by once and I let them in, but I won't anymore. They did call once, but I said I was frequently sick and would not be able to set a time for a "shepherding call." Yuck!

Pat

35

Society on Documenting Personal Views

by Marvin Shilmer in

jw
friends

question: does the watchtower society want individual witnesses expressing personal viewpoints about vital religious issues to persons whose intent is to record and document the findings?

the following letter written under the new letterhead from the societys service department documents the answer to this question.

christian congregation of jehovahs witnesses.

patio34

Gozz, I agree. They can't have it both ways and it is not a business. Besides, the reason the government agency I work for does it is that they want knowledgeable people involved in the projects themselves, not lower staff-level not inolved. So it's apples and oranges.

Ray Franz, in "Search of Christian Freedom" makes the same point about the way the legal dept. coaches ones who have to testify in court. Such as 'don't speak as if you were in an assembly part.' Pages 284,285.

Btw, those books he wrote are extremely helpful. It would be hard to overstate how they have helped me. It is because they are streamlined towards JW doctrine by an ex-teacher of JW doctrine.

Pat

21

Homosexuals and Evolution

by patio34 in

on monday past, the la times health section had an article on homosexuality, especially the traits visible in young toddlers.

it also delved into possible causes of homosexuality and the latest research and theories.. there was an interesting comment in the article something like "it's a peculiarity in evolution that homosexuality occurs because it precludes procreation.

" in evolution, whoever produces the most offspring are the ones who pass on their genes.

patio34

JanH,

As far as group survival goes, Jared Diamond in "The 3rd Chimpanzee" states that just one older person in a tribe could make the difference between the whole tribe's survival. Because of that one person having knowledge of what to eat in a drought, etc., when the younger ones had never experienced such conditions.

This could lead to selection of tribes with older persons.

Of course, this was only in pre-literate societies.

Pat

9

PROPHETS OF GLOOM & DOOM!!!

by Amazing in

jw
friends

prophets of gloom & doom!!!

i trust that this is worth your reading.

in 1985 a book was published called, the great depression of 1990 with the sub-banner, has it already started coming true?.

patio34

Amazing,

Great post.

3

Interesting ex-christian quotes

by claudia in

jw
friends

"it is a counterfeit love that is contingent upon authority, punishment, or reward.

true love is respect and admiration, compassion and kindness, freely given by a healthy, unafraid human being.".

- dan barker, losing faith in faith.

patio34

Hi Claudia,

Another point, i ran across in Steven Covey's book on 7 habits. He mentions some try to project their home movies onto others. That's the party line with JWs.

Pat

35

Society on Documenting Personal Views

by Marvin Shilmer in

jw
friends

question: does the watchtower society want individual witnesses expressing personal viewpoints about vital religious issues to persons whose intent is to record and document the findings?

the following letter written under the new letterhead from the societys service department documents the answer to this question.

christian congregation of jehovahs witnesses.

patio34

While I agree on all that is said in this thread about WTS basically forbidding personal views, it doesn't differ that much from the government agency that employs me. There are certain people designated to speak to the press.

One difference is that those so designated are free to say what they will and not instructed to refer to printed materials.

So I guess I just answered my own question. It does differ because anything the elder (sorry, qualified elder) can't find in the publications is to be referred to the WTBS itself.

Dedalus,

Good point on the grammar! I didn't notice that--thanks.

Pat