Phizzy

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Posts by Phizzy

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  19

  Publisher numbers versus baptised witnesses.

  by amandm in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i grew up as a witness, and left about 10 years ago, i'm currently researching witness numbers for a project i'm working on, and i can't seem to get an accurate number of baptised witnesses - hardly a surprise!

  from their website it looks like they list the number of publishers instead of the number of baptised witnesses, so it totally works to obscure how many actual witnesses there are, apart from the fact it's morally dubious to class a publisher as a minister of god as they refer to publishers on their uk section of the site.

  i also am trying to work out how many leave every year, even approximate figures would be great, from their own website it just looks like they try to massage figures to make them look as favourable as possible.

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  Phizzy

  When I first left I tried to make sense of the numbers. Very difficult, as the baptized number will be necessarily already be Publishers. As to numbers leaving, one would have to allow for the normal death rate, but this may be slightly higher than the average, as JW's are an ageing lot.

  It was patently obvious that even taking those things in to account, there are thousands of "missing" JW's over the decades, some may of course be still attending, but inactive and therefore not counted.

  I would hazard a guess, not based upon much, that about 15% leave in any one year, but before that have become inactive.

  There even could be millions of ex JW's still alive ???
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  28

  Is It Israel or Palestine??

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  does palestine actually exist?

  does israel have the right to exist!.

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  Phizzy

  LUHE said " Israel has existed since 1948 - it also existed thousands of years ago, too."

  That is not an argument for anything.
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  28

  Is It Israel or Palestine??

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  does palestine actually exist?

  does israel have the right to exist!.

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  Phizzy

  " Jews were unique among all ethnic groups in the world in 1948."

  Other Ethnic groups come to mind, in no particular order. Roma, Native Americans, Irish, S.A Blacks and Boers, Australian Aborigines,Kurds, etc etc.

  Some of these are not a Diaspora of course. The problem is that most persecution of Jews has arisen from Religious beliefs, and Religious beliefs were the basis for establishing the Homeland where it is. But it is there, and there to stay I hope, so the resulting problems are those that need to be solved. Hopefully.

  Such Antisemitic views are based upon a doubtful History of the Jews, based upon the discredited Gospels etc, the Jews probably did not bring about the death of Jesus if he existed, and if the Jews of the day were instrumental, so what ? the Romans would have done the execution. I know that Muslim Antisemitism is based on a different reason of course. Antisemitism is hateful and wrong, and baseless.

  Another question, as the best place to be an Arab is probably within Israel, would not a One State solution be the best, but probably impossible to achieve ?
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  28

  Is It Israel or Palestine??

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  does palestine actually exist?

  does israel have the right to exist!.

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  Phizzy

  Israel has existed since 1948, fact, as with any Country that has swallowed up, or even moved on, the inhabitants, what would you do about it now, decades after the event ? Yes, I would like to see Justice for all those this has happened to in recent times, in Myanmar for example, but that is difficult to achieve.

  The question I have is, what was the basis for claiming that, the Jewish Diaspora had a "right" to a Homeland where it has ended up, and what was that right based upon ? and does the same principle apply to other Ethnic groups ?
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  17

  No 2019 Conventions in Ireland ?

  by Phizzy in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i may have got this wrong, but using the dreaded jw website, they seem to be directing the irish j.w's to go to birmingham in england this weekend.. is this correct ?

  they always used to hold two conventions in ireland, are there none in 2019 ??.

  probably the irish ones actually, truly, made a loss, but think of all the travelling, including a flight or sea ferry crossing if i am correct.

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  Phizzy

  Thanks everybody, I didn't think about the Irish Borefest being in July. Thanks for your info, and of course the JW Org will get a kick back from the Hotel, plus free rooms for the Elite, all subsidized by the poor R&F JW's.
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  2

  Parabolic expressions

  by road to nowhere in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  maybe this should be in humor.

  anyone remember the article about parables?

  apparently written by a mathematician back when every story had a modern fulfillment.

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  Phizzy

  I remember reading one of Rutherford's Tomes, were every bloody thing had a " greater fulfillment", even, from Genesis, Rachel's camels ! Even as a loyal JW at the time, I laughed.

  What Rutherford did not know was, that camels were not domesticated until long after the time Rachel was supposed to have lived.

  So not just Rutherford's nonsensical fulfillment, but the original story were both BullSheeet.
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  18

  IS the bOrg running out of blokes to serve(tm)?

  by punkofnice in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  from the silly website today..... thursday, august 15god .

  energizes you, giving you both the desire and the power to act.​—phil.

  2:13.courageous men who are willing to take on more responsibility are a blessing to a congregation.

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  Phizzy

  This was happening well over a Decade ago. I remember when a C.O wanted to split our Congregation in to two.

  This was 12 or 14 years ago. The Elders had resisted for a while, we were the largest Congo. in the Circuit, but they just knew that that the calibre of guy needed to be an Elder or M.S was not there.

  The C.O persuaded them to appoint three or Four Elders, maybe five, and about 10 or so M.S, all of whom were a real surprise to the Congo, except perhaps for one, a really nice young guy, appointed Elder, and now is a C.O. and moved on of course.

  As the old guys die off, both Congos. now struggle with people at the helm who are ill qualified, and do more harm than good.

  The Org is moribund.
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  17

  No 2019 Conventions in Ireland ?

  by Phizzy in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i may have got this wrong, but using the dreaded jw website, they seem to be directing the irish j.w's to go to birmingham in england this weekend.. is this correct ?

  they always used to hold two conventions in ireland, are there none in 2019 ??.

  probably the irish ones actually, truly, made a loss, but think of all the travelling, including a flight or sea ferry crossing if i am correct.

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• 

  Phizzy

  I may have got this wrong, but using the dreaded JW website, they seem to be directing the Irish J.W's to go to Birmingham in England this Weekend.

  Is this correct ? they always used to hold two Conventions in Ireland, are there none in 2019 ??

  Probably the Irish ones actually, truly, made a loss, but think of all the travelling, including a Flight or Sea ferry Crossing if I am correct. Poor Irish J.W's, having that trek to be bored for days !
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  11

  Why do JWs reject the 587/586 BCE date?

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i do not want this to develop into another discussion on "607 bce date is wrong".. when the a-e section of "aid to bible understanding" was published, i was able to show that the article on "chronology" employed deceptive techniques when it cited its sources.

  whenever i provided jws the evidence in print, it was like water off a duck's back.

  "the brothers in brooklyn have done all the research, write to them", they would tell me.. i soon recognised that the jws followed the wts because of who it claimed to be.. it became clear that another, stronger force existed--the impact of shunning with the loss of close friendships and with the impact on their family relationships.. one could only stand by with concern thinking of the impact of the cognitive dissonance and observing the regular changes requiring lock-step obedience.

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  Phizzy

  I agree with the Posts above. But, I would say if the discussion comes up with a JW, do not hold back through lack of hope that it will have an effect.

  As a born-in a little drip drip of checkable facts is what eventually woke me up, as is usual with a JW such as I was, these niggling things were shoved to the back of my mind, thinking they would be explained by the Org sometime, until the Cognitive Dissonance built up to such a scream within me, that I could ignore it no more.

  All you guys keep up your efforts, you never know, a seed or two planted may grow in the end.
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  25

  What Biblical message should be proclaimed now according to Jesus himself ?

  by Alex Williams in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is what jesus said.

  matt 24-14.

  14 and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.. looking at this verse what is the central theme?

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  Phizzy

  I too think AW is a Troll, and not interested in genuine debate, but I will give the guy a chance.

  Alex, what makes you think anything in the Bible applies to our time ?