so after almost a year of complete inactivity and non attendance, i ran into a nice brother from the local congregation.. after some nice chit-chat, he says "we really miss you and your family...etc...you were always the kind and supportive one, the approachable and encouraging one in the congregation.
your absence has confused so many".
i thanked him and said "oh no, no individual has stumbled us.
Thanks stuckinarut2.
Same story here. At first "they" thought I needed some rest and more family time. That was 8 months ago. Last elder that visited me told me the congregation doesn't understand.
lol, I will teach them TTATT if they need an explanation, but suddenly no one dares to visit me anymore...
I think deep in their hearts, they KNOW...
for those who think that belief or the possibility of intelligent design means you must accept or believe everything or anything you have heard about god or a god is incorrect.
i'll quote one line from the article, " but intelligent design, unlike creationism, is not based upon the bible.
design is an inference from biological data, not a deduction from religious authority.
I don't understand what you are saying here.
Your many hours investigating the claims of the ID movement mean as much as my hours of investigating the claims of Darwinism. It's our mindset that influences us regarding what data/arguments we tend to embrace.
"In the beginning god created...."
ID is nothing more than Gen.1:1 dressed up in pseudoscience.
Oversimplification, way too easy. Show me the verses and their context in ID articles that are used as core argument for their conclusions.
See Dover v Kitzmiller for an expose of the dishonesty of ID
I did, not impressive (although I admit Behe could've done better). But hey, WT also won a few court cases in the past, and what does that tell about their doctrine in detail? Not very much...
In turn, did you see these for an expose of some dishonesty of Dover v Kitzmiller? I'm not pushing you to give vent to some more scepticism towards evolution, but you use the word "fact" a lot. It's not always black or white Cofty (like: evolution is correct, otherwise you're uneducated/intellectual dishonest), there's still a lot of grey (gaps/contradictions) when it comes to things like macro-evolution and universal common descent. What about a more modest "We still don't really know" or "Not enough empirical evidence yet"?
for those who think that belief or the possibility of intelligent design means you must accept or believe everything or anything you have heard about god or a god is incorrect.
i'll quote one line from the article, " but intelligent design, unlike creationism, is not based upon the bible.
design is an inference from biological data, not a deduction from religious authority.
I have already invested many many hours investigating the claims of the ID movement. I would not criticise something I didn't understand.
That depends. With all respect, mindset matters.
It is 100% biblical creationism.
100%? Then show me the verses Cofty..
for those who think that belief or the possibility of intelligent design means you must accept or believe everything or anything you have heard about god or a god is incorrect.
i'll quote one line from the article, " but intelligent design, unlike creationism, is not based upon the bible.
design is an inference from biological data, not a deduction from religious authority.
Wow, a lot of bias against ID here! Creationism here, religion there...courtroom here, no peer-reviewed papers there... many red herrings. Why? Don't want to talk about god? Ok, just leave him out of the discussion, simple as that. Check and consider all available info... infer from reality and experience... do not condemn too fast... For instance... ID has peer-reviewed articles, although it's certainly not the holy grail. It's about the arguments, honesty and a healthy dose of logic right? Not about an agenda, which almost every group seems to have anyway (including some evolutionists).
Not everything is what it looks like, and this can be a double-edged sword!
download and see:.
http://hildeydesa.blogspot.cl/2016/06/compleat-program-jehovahs-witnesses.html.
please, use laptot, google chrome and load twice.
Thanks jwleaks. I will not download (knew the program anyway, so no big leak after all) and leave matters into Simons hands...
current media attention in new zealand is focusing on the case of a woman whose male friend died three months.
she received a handwritten letter personally addressed to her and her deceased friend with a series of questions about what happens after death.
the woman was furious and, accompanied by news media, door-knocked the address provided by the letter writer.
Thanks for the link steve2.
"What happens to us when we die?" was among the questions the letter asked.
"I opened it and I was really devastated, I was really f...ed off," Sergent-Shadbolt said.
This might not be an unusual reaction (in spite of what WT writes of course).
And yes, housebound JW's were sometimes encouraged to do so (only now seeing sir82's comment), although I could not find direct instructions to do so. It is just acknowledged as a way of giving testimony.
If you still have the WT Library cd-rom, just search for "obituary" and you'll find stuff like this:
*** km 1/70 p. 8 par. 3 Presenting the Good News—By Letter ***
So the brother gave his name and address to this sister, who continued to develop the interest by mail. Some names she gets from the obituary column.
*** yb95 p. 47 Worldwide Report ***
Now 94, she is still busy witnessing. Recently she completed a year of auxiliary pioneer service. She is able to walk a little with a cane—enough to take advantage of the opportunities presented when neighbors, friends, relatives, salesmen, postmen, or anyone else calls. Still she has to do most of her witnessing with a pen. She finds names and addresses in the obituary columns in the daily paper and writes to some of these. How happy she is when replies of appreciation come!
the cover of the 2016 september watchtower has an islander couple preaching.
the brother looks like he may be fijian in a traditional skirt standing in a river, doing a presentation on an apple ipad.
i can't imagine there are many families that can afford an ipad in the pacific islands.
PHOTOSHOPPED OR NOT, NO CALEB & SOPHIA VIDEO CAN CREEP ME OUT!!!
i started leaving the group in 04', and quit following what they do around 08'.
my recent posts express my reaction to what has happened since.. i just "tuned in" to the jw broadcasting episode for may 2016. it is worth a viewing.
gb member anthony morris describes what is basically the thrust of why this entire effort exists.
Interesting observations oldskool, I agree.
Once I told my non-jw mother I was out (she visited just a few meetings out of interest for her son's new religion), she immediately confessed to me she always felt we as adults were treated like children. Be obedient...otherwise the devil will get you!
She was so right and I feel so stupid. Everytime I'm confronted with that cringing holier-than-thou Caleb & Sophia crap or the GB members desperately trying to sell their bulls&%t as refined gold on JWbroadcast, I can't believe the rank and file jw's buy it as spiritual food at the proper time.
Although it's clear the heydays of jw are over, it always takes courage and critical thinking in order to see and accept TTATT... many will never leave because of family ties and/or cognitive dissonance.
this sweet older sister needed help and while trying to download the clm on her tablet, the history showed some porn pictures.
how does someone overlook that and carry on?.
Wasanelder Once wrote: An old brother I knew had bestiality on his computer, go figure? He was a Ministerial Pervant too.
Maybe he was preparing a talk and did some research on Leviticus.
again, i'm a decade removed from the faith.
i'm catching up now, and can't believe what i'm seeing.. i get that jw leadership faced a dilemma.
there is no intellectual apparatus within the faith.
I feel as if their entire faith has been turned into a circus.
We know who and where the clown are don't we?
