philo

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Posts by philo

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  26

  Is pedophilia an unforgivable sin?

  by cnn77 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in my opinion it should be and a pedophile should never be allowed back into the organization.. the children they abuse suffer for the rest of their lives so why should a pedophile have forgiveness and be reinstated?

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  philo

  Waiting, thanks for your balanced remarks. I always read what you have to say on this subject.

  There's a big row in the UK at the moment, over a 'current affairs' TV satirical spoof of the media's coverage of pedophilia. I thought it was brilliant, as it threw water on the fires of the fanatical witch hunters, but still kept the main subject in play, pedophilia. It seems the most vocal opinion, however, has come from opponents of the programme.

  http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/tv_and_radio/newsid_1462000/1462692.stm

  philo
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  26

  Is pedophilia an unforgivable sin?

  by cnn77 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in my opinion it should be and a pedophile should never be allowed back into the organization.. the children they abuse suffer for the rest of their lives so why should a pedophile have forgiveness and be reinstated?

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  philo

  I say the perpetrators can be forgiven and accepted back in as PUBLISHERS ONLY AND FOREVER, IF the victims say so.

  After all, a disfellowshipped person can usually only be accepted back into the org if the original disfellowshipping BOE says so.

  (So I was told, so it happened to me and so I read in the "Pay Attention and Fleece the Flock" book online and also in the 2 editions of the Org books. What really usually happens is anybody's guess)

  I agree pedophiles should not be allowed back into positions where they can reoffend so easily as elders seem to manage. If this is the WTsociety's policy now there would have to be a list of offenders, which is transferrable to new congregations, the offence would be forever on the publisher's record. So that means there is an unforgivable sin in WT world.

  philo
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  16

  Lurkers scripture's that got my wife to go Mmmm!

  by qwerty in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i showed these to my wife at the meeting last night.

  i was surprised at her reaction.

  someone was using rev 21:3 in the usual context, to show that god's presence will be with mankind after the big "a".. jw lurkers!

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  philo

  Qwerty

  Great job with Rev 21:3

  When I sat through interminable meetings telling us to do MORE this, LESS that, making rules, rules, rules, I used to think of Ezekiel 28:10 (think its Ezekiel, might be Jeremiah) "command upon command, measuring line upoin measuring line..." Now that I've left the org and learned about the creeping blood policy, I think of the remainder of the scripture, "...here a little, there a little"

  philo
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  26

  Is pedophilia an unforgivable sin?

  by cnn77 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in my opinion it should be and a pedophile should never be allowed back into the organization.. the children they abuse suffer for the rest of their lives so why should a pedophile have forgiveness and be reinstated?

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  philo

  Francoise

  You are certainly very Franc, although I'm not yet sure where we have agreed as I don't think it should be a capital offence. Were the pederasts you spoke to also murderers? I hope you didn't have to share a cell with any.

  I know a JW woman whose father was very cruel to her when she was a child. The abuse was not sexual, she says, but mental, and it seems to me it has affected her relationships with men profoundly. She also says that 'child abuse' is worse than murder, which is hard for me to understand. My own father was violent and cruel to me at times, but I do not think his behaviour worse than murder, and adding in sexual abuse (which I have not experienced) does not change this. Sexual predators are certainly offending society, as you said, but so are many categories of criminals.

  philo
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  8

  IT'S TIME TO SPANK THE WATCHTOWER!

  by Amazing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i see that a number of jw defenders feel that ex-jws are 'picking' on the watch tower society, and still do not get the clue.

  these defenders seem to think that we are silent about other religions, and that we are just embellishing this issue because we have an ulterior motive to engage in a hate campaign.. let's look at a little history.

  the watch tower religion has through its history, especially from j. f. rutherford's time, engaged in the most horrid bashing of all religions, especially the catholic church and protestant denominations.

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  philo

  Which religions do not prey on fear to keep people as members or to keep members in line? I have yet to find one.

  Fear controls may be used by all religions, however they are used in advertising, and politics as well, to mention just two areas, which are quite close the the JW approach - namely, evangelism and order. So I don't think your definition works well enough.

  If it could be shown that X religion makes people more fearful than non-religious people, that would open the case for saying X is a cult, but it wouldn't prove it.

  I think you have to fall back on notions of human rights, does the religion violate these for it's members? It's dodgy ground, way too complex for me, or for a fear-based identification, imo.

  philo
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  8

  IT'S TIME TO SPANK THE WATCHTOWER!

  by Amazing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i see that a number of jw defenders feel that ex-jws are 'picking' on the watch tower society, and still do not get the clue.

  these defenders seem to think that we are silent about other religions, and that we are just embellishing this issue because we have an ulterior motive to engage in a hate campaign.. let's look at a little history.

  the watch tower religion has through its history, especially from j. f. rutherford's time, engaged in the most horrid bashing of all religions, especially the catholic church and protestant denominations.

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  philo

  I'm not so sure ALL religions are based on fear. Perhaps a cult uses fear to perpetuate itself, whereas a religion provides ways for its members to handle their fears. We're all fearful of something.

  philo
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  26

  Is pedophilia an unforgivable sin?

  by cnn77 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in my opinion it should be and a pedophile should never be allowed back into the organization.. the children they abuse suffer for the rest of their lives so why should a pedophile have forgiveness and be reinstated?

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  philo

  Whether someone is likely to reoffend is a seperate issue. I think such things should be put before the courts as with other crimes. If pedophiles tend to reoffend, this does not mean all will, or should be tarred with the same brush.

  Additionally, it seems to be counter-christian to say that individuals from any group cannot repent and transform themselves. I am open to counter-christian ideas, of course, but for the WTBTS to adopt them seems mistaken.

  philo
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  26

  Is pedophilia an unforgivable sin?

  by cnn77 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in my opinion it should be and a pedophile should never be allowed back into the organization.. the children they abuse suffer for the rest of their lives so why should a pedophile have forgiveness and be reinstated?

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  philo

  Which is worse, an instance of murder or an instance of pedophilia?

  philo
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  21

  Directed By Holy Spirit My Ass !!!

  by Big Jim in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  dont you think that it is stupid when you hear the dubs say that all appointments are made by the jehovahs holy spirit?.

  how many times have you heard of elders/ms etc.

  that were commiting all sorts of wrong doings while at the same time serving and passing judgement on others.. i remember when i was appointed ms there was a brother that was appointed at the same time, that accepted the assignment and served for almost a year before they found out he was commiting adultery all the while.. then you have the pedophiles that operate within the congregation some being elders etc.. i know for a fact that i could be a fornicator/drug user/closet queer/ are anything bad and keep it secret and i could move up the ranks as high as i pleased.. hell i could even be a undercover apostate/fornicator/all of the above and still get appointed if i kissed enough ass.. i could pioneer and lie about the hours,they would never figure it out.

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  philo

  Dedalus

  'selective foreknowledge' always irritated the hell out of me, too. Basically it means that God doesn't know what he knows. Or, he knows but blocks it out. Thing I always wondered is, how does he know which parts to block out and which to let himself in on?

  The simple answer is that God is not a person but a corporation. It fits well enough for the WTBTS.

  philo
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  19

  Online Archive Watchtowers?

  by philo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  could anyone remind me where i can get old watchtowers online?

  it was on the board recently, but i lost the link.

  i'm trying to research the shunning policy.. thanks.

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  philo

  Peterstride, Yup, when I tried it there was no depth option under "save as". I'll follow Quester's instructions for now.

  Thanks guys.

  philo