what do you this might mean.. if you look into the abyss the abyss looks into you-friedrich nietzsche..
It means, that the Abyss is just a part of yourself.
Looking into the Abyss means to look in your own undone face. Down there all your secret fears and desires are dwelling, waiting for you to catch a glimpse of them. Then they are starring at you saying: We are part of you, even when you deny it.
the latest august 15th watchtower study edition features an interesting review of the society's annual meeting.. one comment struck me as evidence that the governing body isn't quite as "discreet" as it claims.. here is what the article said:.
"there are plans to develop a 248-acre (100 ha) property at warwick.
'although we are not yet certain of jehovahs will regarding warwick,' said brother pierce, 'we are proceeding to develop the site with the intention of relocating the world headquarters of jehovahs witnesses there.
'Although we are not yet certain of Jehovah’s will regarding Warwick,' said Brother Pierce, 'we are proceeding to develop the site with the intention of relocating the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses there.'
These words imply, that it was Jehovah's will to acquire the site in Warwick, even his purpose about it hasn't been revealed yet. But everything the WTBTS will accomplish there, afterwards will be proclaimed as exactly what Jehovah wanted them to do.
That is, in my opinion, what these guys drive: The idea that no matter what they do, later it can be stated as gods will with millions of people eager to buy it.
what we set in motion we are accountable for.. if we are accountable, then, why not the one who set us in motion?.
if a builder constructs a stadium that later collapses, then, the builder is sued to hold them accountable.. god is the builder of the world of mankind.. .
man is either self-responsible or self-irresponsible.
If you broke it you pay for it. This is accountability. Otherwise known as JUSTICE.
Accountability is not justice. Terms like justice or sin you can bend in any way you like. Depending on what basis you judge or who is setting the rules.
Getting what you "deserve" is Justice.
The same. Who is determinig what you deserve for certain deeds?
All the questions raised by Terry are based on the assumption, that there is a defined perception of justice or injustice, of good or bad, sin and although grace.
In other words, you need god, to come to ask these questions.
If there is no god, the whole conception of sin is obsolete. And justice is what an individual, a group or a society declares as such.
Reading this threat I'm so happy to be an atheist. I don't have to spend my time thinking about what God may think about what I'm thinking. I don't care about sin and do not waste usefull energy in blaming a nonexisting god for his creation failiures regarding mankind. Instead of trying to find the right place in the god-and-evil-matrix oft the bible (or any other religion), I look after myself and my beloved ones without doing harm to anybody else.
there is no shortage of ex-elders, behelites, ex-circuit overseers on this forum that continue to spout their hatred for christians, even as they did while leading their former adherents down the same path.
the new religion for these preachers of paradise, is materialism.
in their view, science is the arbitrator of truth.
There is no shortage of ex-elders, behelites, ex-circuit overseers on this forum that continue to spout their hatred for christians
It is always religious people who are using terms like hate when somebody rejects their belief and points out his arguments. But it is love, when they try to convince others, that their way of thinking is the right one.
Hypocrites!
i noticed that the german edition of the study watchtower for today didn't include the phrase about the husband "hitting" the sister.
instead it just says that he became ferociously angry, which need not imply physical abuse.
i wonder if the german translator altered it off his own back or was instructed, and how other language editions compare.
I talked to my girlfriend (although german) yesterday about the german expression "fuchsteufelswild". She agreed with me, that by hearing it you don't think of physical abuse in first place.
The reason, why the translators in Germany (as far as I know, the department is headed by an US American - at least it was, when I was in Bethel) changed "hit" in something like "beeing very upset" might be a kind of political correctness. The advice Selma got from the "sister" would disturb many readers (Non-JW and JW), if this would realy be a case of domestic violence. There are so many ways to get help from governmental and private institutions when you suffer violence, that the advise given by the sister sounds just cynical. So they put "fuchsteufelswild" (an expression that is used frequently in an ironic manner) to put a smooth layer over the case, so the reader get the impression, that selmas husband isn't a nice guy, but he did nothing illegal.
i noticed that the german edition of the study watchtower for today didn't include the phrase about the husband "hitting" the sister.
instead it just says that he became ferociously angry, which need not imply physical abuse.
i wonder if the german translator altered it off his own back or was instructed, and how other language editions compare.
"Fuchsteufelswild" can mean a lot of things, but generally you don't use ist to discribe violent behavior (because it has such a wide range of meanings). It's more like getting absolutley mad. (For example when your wife finds pornmagazines in your desk.)
The word is composed of three expressions: Fox, Devil and wild. As far as I know, it goes back to the days, when people thought wild foxes (when they had rabies for example) were possesed by the devil.
I don't understand, why they didn't translate it correctly and simple with "schlagen" wich means "to hit". This can't be because of legal matters. It´s just a story, that's been told. Nobody here in Germany would care about.
Maybe the translators just wanted to add a little bit of their own bullshit to what was already steaming on their desks.
let's call it what it is - disagreeing with the watchtower bible and tract society after baptism into the cult.
in no way is the literal definition of the word "apostasy" applicable to what the cult is using the word for.
it is a buzz word that scares the crap out of the rank and file and keeps them from communicating with those who have become enlightened about the cults lies.. we here on jwn have accepted the wt label, "apostates", with a sense of humor, such as calling our get togethers apostafests, etc.. but we are actually the "enlightened"..
In biblical times the religious boneheads threw stones on people. Since they are not allowed to do this anymore (at least in christian countries), they are throwing words. Anyway, the goal remains the same.
you can cut & paste all the excerpts from articles you want...you can leak all the boe letters, you can pretend to be witnesses and come to the conventions and meetings...but.
no other organization can begin to rival the success and magnitude of the prophecy found in mt 24:14. so apostates....don't waste your time spending countless hours digging up articles and reading books to convince yourself to turn away from jh's organization.
no matter what "evidence" you find you cannot ignore the obvious fulfillment of matthew 24:14.. .
Prof. John Gray from the London School aof Economics published in 2007 his book: "Black Mass. Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia" (very good book indeed). He's taking a lot about millenaric and apocalyptic movements and religions in the USA in the 19th und 20th century. But no mention of Russel, JW or the WBTS.
Why? Bad research of the author? No. It is just because Jehovahs Wittnesses are a small and absolutley unimportant group with no impact on the religious thinking in this world at all. If they would disapear today, they would be forgotten tomorrow.
thw wts likes to play games with their statistics.
one interesting but truly tragic is the number of jwhovah's witnesses who commit suicie.. now i suspect that if a person commits suicide shortly before or after they are disfellowshipped then the elders would say that person wasn't a witness or that they had done something so terrible that they were too guilty to admit it and by their action of committing suicide they pretty much declared they were no longer a jw.. yup fancy talk to make sure any crap didn't fall on them.. so my question.. do you know of cases like this?
if so then can you answer a few more questions.. had this person been dfed or in real danger of being dfed or whatever the equivalent is if they were never baptized?.
Two. A young brother, who once bought my first car, a very old orangecoloured beetle. Everybody said, he was kind of depressed, but nobody asked further questions.
The other one not just shot himself, but also his wife an her best friend. He was df, but his wife and her friend still JW.
My mother tried to kill herself when she was 16 years old, while her dad and her stepmother visited a big assembley in N.Y. in the 50's, leaving her alone for almost three weeks (they lived in Germany). She opend up all gasvalves. My Uncle found her bevor she choked or the whole building blew up. Nevertheless, she blamed it all her life on her stepmother and not on the religion, in wich she raised up and prevented her from beeing a self-esteemed person. Some years ago she mentioned, that she is not expacting to survive armageddon. This after more than 60 years of serving as a faithfull jw, raising four children an supporting her husband, who is serving as an elder since the day, they met in the late 50's. Thats kind of suicide too.
so this is an area of thought i had before even before i fully took the apostate plunge.
i started noticing that almost everything about the congregation pointed back to paul.. "do not forsake the gathering of yourselves together.
" not jesus' words.
I recommend on this subject:
Hermann Detering, The Falsified Paul, Early Christianity in the Twilight
He comes to the conclusion that Paul never existed.
Taking a closer look on what we know today about early christianity shows, that things were not so, as the WT teaches.
The NT was put together und redacted by the young catholic church to establish their interpretation of Christ and the related tales and teachings.
All we find in the bible about Paul or even Jesus are not original statements. Everything went through al lot of minds, bevor it came on paper the way we can read it today.
