i realize many here think that in-person meetings will return as soon as things are safe with covid.
but many acknowledge it will likely be 2022 or later when this happens.. surprisingly, many pimi jws in our congregation are not shy about saying they are fine with zoom meetings forever and do not want to go back to in-person meetings.
many speculate similar thoughts that are on this site....such as a combination of in-person and zoom meetings.
I think they will gradually go entirely on-line, and then sell off all the remaining buildings.
Then they will shrink in numbers year on year, until the last J.W in a Care Home looks wistfully out of a window and wonders why the Paradise Earth has not come yet, having wasted all of her or his life on a Scam posing as a religion.
it just that the gb has a problem mixing biblical fact with goofy opinions.. but at least is isn't like the churces!.
.
" welcome to the site TruthMatters--I hope you stick around."
I agree Stan ! we haven't had a JW Apologist of any stripe on here for a long time !
I remember when I first joined the heavy hitters on here were able to quickly demolish all the claims, and it was so affirming to me that JW Org were a scam, not a religion.
As to "truth form the Bible", that Book has been totally discredited as a source of truth long ago.
jews have been vilified for centuries!
they were nomads looking for the promised land.
they have been nearly exterminated and yet they are still in the middle east as well as a brotherhood throughout the world.
" Wasn't it the Italians? "
Yes ! of course it was, only they could administer Capital Punishment, which is your point I guess Simon.
The Gospel story of some religious Jews provoking the Roman Governor to execute him is no doubt total Fiction, and maybe was concocted to further counter the remaining influence of Jewish religious thought upon Christianity.
Sadly this evil bit of Fiction has provoked many murders and much evil persecution by "Christians" over the Centuries, when really the "guilty" ones were the ancestors of today's Garlic Smelling Pizza-munchers.(< I'm Joking !).
Of course, to persecute my Italian friends and relatives for something done by a Roman Governor and his soldiers 2000 years ago, none of whom may actually have been Italian ! would be ignorant, stupid and thoroughly evil. As is all Racism.
the fact that the majority of the world jumps when you say 'god' is traced back to one guy.
constantine, this is the one man that made christianity the official religion rome thus masking the beliefs of people until the reformation a literal hell.. oh yes mohamed knew his teaching later.. when you say 'god' as if other people are supposed to be impressed you owe that to constantine.
not a mythical figure named jesus, .
You are correct Rivergang, with the Edict of Milan Constantine made it safe to be a Christian, or of any other religion !
Theodosius later made Christianity the Religion of choice of the Empire. He was a Christian, and believed the Trinity to be an accurate Doctrine, so that became part of the orthodoxy he imposed.
He seemed tolerant of other religions existence, but did not encourage them ! For that reason from his time on it was expedient for people to appear to be Christian, hence at the remains of a Roman Villa near where I live we have the wealthy owner's Christian Chapel boldly displayed as part of the Villa, but by a stairway, well hidden no doubt, you could go down to a Temple below the Chapel that was used to worship Mithras in secret. Fascinating !
What do you mean by " believe" min ? When a lot of people use that word, they are referring to trusting that something is true, without evidence. Hence they may "believe" in god.
When it comes to Science, that kind of "belief" is not necessary, Science proves what is true with satisfactory, tested, peer reviewed evidence, no " belief" is necessary.
I will not trust that something is true without the kind of evidence demanded by Science, hence I do not believe in god.
Do I believe in myself ? again, I ask, what exactly do you mean by that ? I believe I exist, I believe I can trust myself to be true to the principles I wish to live my life by etc etc. But is that what you mean ?
jews have been vilified for centuries!
they were nomads looking for the promised land.
they have been nearly exterminated and yet they are still in the middle east as well as a brotherhood throughout the world.
Hatred of any Nationality, Ethnic or Religious Group as a whole is wrong. Yes we can Hate what certain Nations do, or rather their Governments do, but that is not the whole Nation, we can hate the evil done by some religious people, or some people of certain origins, but again to condemn all people who fall in that category is supremely ignorant and wrong.
The Jewish people were a natural target over the Centuries for a number of spurious reasons, not for any valid ones. To perpetuate that, and similar ignorant hatreds, is to not learn from History, and to be, as Simon says earlier, " A Racist Retard".
i recently had this in a message from a jw, a lovely person, but mind controlled, he wrote " a life without hope is no life for me".. how should i respond to that ?
i am an atheist, but want to respond in as kindly a way as possible.. i was thinking along the lies of saying i got no comfort from what i knew to be false hope, but need to say it in a kindly way.. ideas please ?.
I recently had this in a message from a JW, a lovely person, but mind controlled, he wrote " A life without hope is no life for me".
How should I respond to that ? I am an Atheist, but want to respond in as kindly a way as possible.
I was thinking along the lies of saying I got no comfort from what I knew to be False Hope, but need to say it in a kindly way.
Ideas please ?
the fact that the majority of the world jumps when you say 'god' is traced back to one guy.
constantine, this is the one man that made christianity the official religion rome thus masking the beliefs of people until the reformation a literal hell.. oh yes mohamed knew his teaching later.. when you say 'god' as if other people are supposed to be impressed you owe that to constantine.
not a mythical figure named jesus, .
Yes, you have your work cut out as soon as you get to the 1st Century for sure. Although as with a lot of this, we cannot be categorically sure as to what happened, and who wrote what, etc we can say with assurance that things were not as most people viewed them up until the Enlightenment, and as some still do, that the Bible is inspired and accurate for a start, and written by who it says it is etc etc
The other big myth, perpetuated by other religions as well as JW's, is that there was one Pure Church which sprang up after the death of Jesus.
That is far from reality, there were a good number of different groups that claimed Jesus in some way, all teaching different things, the Bible itself tells us this. Even what we call "Pauline Christianity" is an amalgam of teachings, some from Paul and some adapted after his death by writers pretending to be Paul.
Then we have the intervening mess of battling ideas that was sorted by Constantine because he had the power to do so. Many things were not fully sorted, the Trinity debate continues, the ideas as what is "Canonical" and what should not be included as Scripture goes on too.
If the Christianity of today were claiming to be a valuable antique Vase for example, the experts would say " This Vase has no Provenance".
so, we've recently had local elections across the uk on may 6.. mayoral elections, elections for councillors, and the hartlepool by-election.. labour did pretty well in wales, the snp did well in scotland, and the conservatives killed it in england.. hartlepool, a city that's been labour for 50 years, voted in the tory candidate.
hartlepool voted for brexit in 2016 (70%) and the labour leader, keir starmer, thought it was wise to offer up a labour candidate who is a kent-born remainer.
labour has seriously lost touch with its voter base, that base being traditional working class people.. it is now a party for students, social activists and the perpetually-offended, and trendy self-hating middle class people.. labour will continue to get its ass handed to it in elections until it actually starts listening to ordinary people, the voters.. and ordinary people aren't interested in woke nonsense such as preferred pronouns or taking the knee.. there has been much labour naval-gazing recently following the elections but i'd be surprised if anything is learned.
Yes LUHE! "Traditional Labour Values" have been lost for a long time, even if you go back as far as Harold Wilson, he was more about winning elections than about the working man, though he was a bit more connected to the working man, but he was educated etc etc.
I don't think it is necessary ,or even preferential for a Leader of Labour to be a person born to a poor working class family, and never had the chance of a good education, why would that be helpful, apart form having a natural empathy for the same type of people.
A Leader needs to be a REAL Democratic Socialist, and make sure the top end of the Party is peopled with like minded ones. If that does not happen, Labour is finished as to ever getting Elected. A Modern Day Tony Benn would do.
Of course, such a person would have to know how to deal with the inevitable smears and lies from the MSM etc. and be able to communicate and connect with people of ALL backgrounds.
we all know the scripture where jesus says 'this generation will by no means pass away before the end will come'.
the jw interpret this as the destruction of the jewish state in jerusalem by the romans and the dispersal of the jewish people.
however, while researching the history of judea, i come across various facts about the region.. so jesus died about 30ce and his disciples were likewise well in their thirties or older, the 'generation' by definition would've lasted until ~50ce (the time during which children are born and raised to have children of their own).
I will just Post this comment from Quora ( feeling lazy) and see what Sea Breeze has to say:
" While there is a minority of historians who claim that there never was a Jesus, the vast majority believe there was a Jesus, but completely disagree to what extent all the tales about Jesus were actually discussing the same individual. This is primarily due to the scarcity of valid, reliable information regarding Jesus.
