Would human settlement of Mars invalidate Bible prophecy?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

i don't think this topic has been discussed before but yesterday i read something to the effect that trump wants a human mission to mars to be completed within his presidency.. with that being said, the watchtower teaches that what started on earth ends on earth, in other words, the fall of adam and eve would end with the passing of the 1,000 year millennial reign when christ destroys all his enemies, rebellious "perfect" humans, and the devil and his demons who are let out the abyss for a short while.

he then hands the kingdom back to his father.

an elder in my old congregation once told us during a public talk that he was an ardent astronomer but then referenced the scripture where it says, "the earth he has given to the sons of men" (psalms 115:16).

Drearyweather

Human settlement and colonization of Mars would require complex life support measures and artificial environment. This is greatly due to the reduced air pressure and 0.1% oxygen in the atmosphere there. With 95% carbon dioxide in the air, the residents on Mars will not be able to go outside their 'homes' without pressure suits and bottled oxygen!

On Mars, it would be just about surviving in the environment there, rather than living. Whereas, we humans are made to live and enjoy and the atmosphere available on earth is just suited for that.

Hence the planned colonization of Mars would just mean to create earth-like atmosphere in controlled systems so that humans can survive.Mars would need a great amount of terraforming to allow humans to live unaided.

Mars can become a second home for humanity only if science is able to transform Mars so that it becomes a place where humans can live and breathe and enjoy unaided and not just create rooms and colonies with earth-like atmosphere where people would be spending their lives adjusting and surviving in an un-conducive environment.

11

Last song at Regional Convention of 2016 was stolen from Audiomachine

by LevelThePlayingField in

as far as i know, i did a search, and you may not know this but, the last song play during a music video of the regional convention, was not of watchtower.

it's stolen from a group called audiomachine off their album epica.

the song is called eternal flame and it is exactly and i mean, note for note the same as the music video.

Drearyweather

As far as I know, I did a search, and you may not know this but,

This was discussed on this forum 8 months ago:

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5664700752723968/audio-machine-satanic-band-wt-used

A source from Service Desk from the local branch had mentioned that WT purchased the license for using this music.

11

Whatever Happened to the District Overseers? Who Took Over their Responsibilities?

by Village Idiot in

when i was in, during the 1970s, i would see circuit overseers twice a year.

i think there were two occasions when i saw a district overseer give a talk at the hall.

were eliminated as part of a streamlining process but who the hades has taken on their responsibilities?

Drearyweather

The DO arrangement was scrapped as circuits were no longer grouped into districts. All the DO's (unless anyone was above the age limit of 70) went down and became CO's. Except that, these ex-DO's came under the unofficial category of 'Experienced CO's". Currently the ex-DO's are doing the following work:

Head and supervise all the special committees formed by the branch to investigate high level wrongdoings.
Serve as Branch representatives for Shepherding the CO's.
Go as CO's to other countries to congregations of the same language
Serve as Instructors for all the various schools

All current CO's are rated by the Branch Representative.

20

April 19, 2017 BOE Re: Kingdom Ministry School for the 2018 Service Year

by wifibandit in

april 19, 2017 to all bodies of elders and ministerial servants re: kingdom ministry school for the 2018 service year.

Drearyweather

Never heard of a Kingdom Ministry School before...I thought it was replaced by the Christian Life and Ministry.

Never heard? The Kingdom Ministry School has been around since 1959. The Christian Life and Ministry School replaced the Theocratic Ministry School and the Service Meeting (and chipped in the Congregation Bible Study)

Very very poor personal study habits!

53

Next weeks Watchtower. ' Who is leading God's people today'

by UnshackleTheChains in

next weeks watchtower.

'who is leading god's people today' is quite incredible.

i am so looking forward to blondie's comments on this one.

Drearyweather

Two years???????!!!!!!!
If, according to WT, His ministry lasted for 3 and 1/2 years, and the Bible shows right after His baptism He selected His apostles and sent them out to gather others, how could He have been with them for only 2 years?

Hi Sylvia,

According to the WT, Jesus started choosing his disciples soon after his baptism. However, it was sometime during the passover period of 31 CE that Jesus selected the 12 apostles from the bigger number of disciples who were already following him. Hence, officially, 'the 12 apostles' as a group were with Jesus for 2 years out of his 3 and a half year ministry. (Passover 31 CE to Passover 33 CE). Individually, some of these were there with Jesus as his disciples much earlier, but were not chosen yet as his apostles.

10

So, how's it feel, Watchtower -- now that the shoe's on the other foot?

by FatFreek 2005 in

yes, your cult has been banned in russia.

what surprises me is that this hasn't happened in more countries.

what surprises me is that civil suits in the u.s. haven't flooded the courts -- violation of civil and human rights because of the cruel act of shunning of disfellowshipped ones, even members of one's own family.. discrimination is a form of cruelty and civil and human rights define such.

Drearyweather

The Russian ban is not a shocker for JW's. They have had their share of confrontation and bans with earlier governments too. The ban was expected and this is what they stated in their tract "Could it happen again? (2009):

"First- Repression will never succeed. We will not stop speaking tactfully and respectfully about Jehovah God and his word- The Bible. We did not stop when subjected to the horrors of Nazi Germany, we did not stop in the darkest days of our country's repression, and we will not stop now. (Acts 4:18-20).

http://scribd-download.com/download/watchtower-could-it-happen-again-a-question-for-the-citizens-of-russia-2009_58bdf407e12e89506aadd374_pdf

22

Are JW's non- violent

by notalone in

jw
friends

okay, i keep reading something and though jw's do not get involved in national wars, my experience has always been they are very violent people.

every convention i have ever been to was filled with children being beat within an inch of their lives for just not being able to take a third day of mind-droning silence without being able to move or now even sleep.

i have seen whole congregations laugh at stories of children being beaten and calling out to "jehovah".

Drearyweather

notalone,

It depends upon how you consider someones thinking and beliefs as being 'violent'. You say that JW's believe that people will be destroyed at Armageddon, and hence they are violent. With this logic, even Jesus Christ was a violent person, because he too told about everlasting destruction upon people; as in, in his parables, he told about people on his left going in to everlasting destruction (Matt. 24:45,46). Paul told in 2 Thess 1:7,8 that Jesus would come with his angels and will bring destruction on those who do not listen to his good news. So yes, Jesus was a violent person too.

If hating someone is a sign of being a violent person then yes, Jesus would be classified as violent too, because he openly rebuked and cursed the Pharisees. Jews were violent too because they openly asked Pilate to execute him.

If simply wishing harm on someone means being violent, then many of us would be classified as being violent for we wish that ISIS is wiped off from this earth.

12

Are their " wishy, washy" congregations...

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

it may be an amazing thought for many but i am sure " wishy, washy" congregations exist.

i am referring to congregations where the elders are idle in enforcing the g.bs guidelines on control.. i mean let's face it the organisation is an authoritarian regime, that works only if the elders enforce complete obedience to watchtower policies.

sadly in the congregations i was associated with the elders excelled at enforcing loyalty and obedience.. however with age, people mellow, elders can become more compassionate, even assume the voice of reason?

Drearyweather

Around 4 years back, I belonged to a congregation where the elders were much complacent. Shunning was practiced, but only theoretically. Everyone spoke with them in private.

A disfellowshipped young guy regularly drove the ex-presiding overseer and his wife (both very old- in their late 80's) to the Kingdom hall and back. Funnily, due to some miscommunication, once he ended up picking up a branch committee member and his wife from the airport who had come for a local convention as a speaker. No one made a fuss about this.

Another unrelated incident:

A year later, a Special Pioneer (16 years a SP) was assigned to our congregation. (His photo appeared in one of the JW literature, dont remember which) He managed to put things up and with his influence around a dozen or so started pioneering. A year later, with reasons unknown to me that time, he suddenly stopped coming to meetings altogether and mailed a one liner disassociation letter to the elders. Come what may, he flatly refused to meet the elders and even the CO and the DO. Last I heard, he had joined another weird cultic group he had become fascinated with. This was a jolt to the entire congregation. Till now, he regularly comes to all JW funerals wearing all white which makes him look more weird.

184

Outcome - Banned in Russia - Final

by OrphanCrow in

jw
friends

i just watched the live feed from the russian court room and followed the updates on the russian exjw forum.. just waiting for confirmation from other sources...but, it looks like the final (and expected) result is:.

banned.

which means that the wts property in russia now belongs to the russian state..

Drearyweather

Interesting point about the Russian courts and the Orthodox Church in the NY Times article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/20/world/europe/russia-bans-jehovahs-witnesses.html

Russia Bans Jehovah’s Witnesses, Calling It an Extremist Group

MOSCOW — Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday declared Jehovah’s Witnesses, a Christian denomination that rejects violence, an extremist organization, banning the group from operating on Russian territory and putting its more than 170,000 Russian worshipers in the same category as Islamic State militants.

The ruling, which confirmed an order last month by the Justice Ministry that the denomination be “liquidated” — essentially eliminated or disbanded — had been widely expected. Russian courts rarely challenge government decisions, no matter what the evidence.

;

The denomination suffered relentless persecution by the KGB during the Soviet era, and after more than a decade of relative peace following the collapse of Communism in 1991, it again became a target for official harassment under a 2002 anti-extremism law. That law makes it illegal for any group, other than the Orthodox Church and other traditional religious institutions, to proclaim itself as offering a true path to religious or political salvation.

184

Outcome - Banned in Russia - Final

by OrphanCrow in

jw
friends

i just watched the live feed from the russian court room and followed the updates on the russian exjw forum.. just waiting for confirmation from other sources...but, it looks like the final (and expected) result is:.

banned.

which means that the wts property in russia now belongs to the russian state..

Drearyweather

As posted in here earlier too, banning religious organizations don't work. Its true that the WT as an organization will be dismantled and no legal structure will exist from now.

However, in religious groups, its the people who make the organization, not the other way round. WT is not a strict corporate entity with employees moving out to other companies if their organization collapses.

WT is an ideology more than just a legal entity. You legalize them, they flourish. You ban them, they go underground. Banning them does not assure that their adherents would abandon their beliefs and adopt others.

For a greater part of their life, my parents were active JW's in a banned country. Expats though. No branch office, no kingdom halls, no singing, no contributions, no literature (except for those brought in by expats who got them from their home countries). No legal entity existed. Occasionally a circuit overseer would fly in and have a 1 day visit with the publishers and flew back the same evening. However, core beliefs remained the same. Disfellowshippings were announced, Elders flew in to neighboring countries to attend schools. Expats went to their home countries for their medical treatment and locals prepared legal affidavits that they personally wish not to take blood during treatments. Baptisms were conducted secretly at homes or crowded swimming pools. Expats reported their preaching activity to their home country, etc.

Religious groups can be banned, but ideologies cannot. People die as martyrs for their beliefs rather than just compromise with the ruling state. Countless ISIS soldiers died for their insane ideology, whereas scores of Christians were massacred by ISIS in genocide for being Christians. Patriotism and Religious fundamentalism has given rise to unimaginable list of such martyrs, who are willing to bear persecution and die for their beliefs, no matter how nonsense we find it to be.

Drearyweather

Posts by Drearyweather

Russia Bans Jehovah’s Witnesses, Calling It an Extremist Group