Posts by shepherdless

33

Maths Virus 1914

by Anna Marina in

this is my latest video.

it is part 1 of a series that reveals the mathematical trickery watchtower uses to con people about the 1914 doctrine.

it takes a radically different approach to that of carl olof jonsson who dealt with dates.. this video focusses on how watchtower misuses the numbers in scriptures and creates a mental fog that prevents people from understanding and therefore prevents them from challenging.. the full title of the video is maths virus - revealing the antivirus to 1914. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llkmrul3afg.

shepherdless

Quick comments, given comments directed at me:

Hi Jeffro, you might be misunderstanding my point of view. I am not saying that because the Bible is the only record of the destruction of Jerusalem, the event did not occur. I am solely focused on Watchtower’s strawman argument, where Watchtower claims that “secular” historians are the source of 586/587 BC. To repeat myself, outside of the Bible, there is no evidence of the event. Therefore, outside of the Bible, there is no date. The 586/587 BC date is a biblical date.

And in relation to whether it is 586 or 587, I leave that to others, because my understanding is that it is not so straight forward.

Hi Harry, your quoted text appears to confirm what I said, that the relevant Babylonian record is not available.

Hi Anna Marina, my comment was not directly aimed at your presentation. Your video did mention “secular”, which reminded me of the way Watchtower tries to rebut 586/587.

33

Maths Virus 1914

by Anna Marina in

this is my latest video.

it is part 1 of a series that reveals the mathematical trickery watchtower uses to con people about the 1914 doctrine.

it takes a radically different approach to that of carl olof jonsson who dealt with dates.. this video focusses on how watchtower misuses the numbers in scriptures and creates a mental fog that prevents people from understanding and therefore prevents them from challenging.. the full title of the video is maths virus - revealing the antivirus to 1914. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llkmrul3afg.

shepherdless

Thanks Anna Marina,

I very much look forward to the rest of the videos. The presentation is excellent.

For what it is worth, I wouldn’t call mathematics a branch of science, but that is neither here nor there.

Now throwing in my own 2c worth, on this topic generally:

One thing I have noticed that keeps getting overlooked, is the use of “secular” in the discussion on when Jerusalem fell. I think Watchtower started it, and others continually fall into the logical trap. Just it be clear; there is no “secular” date for the destruction of Jerusalem. The issue in its simplest form:

1. We know from multiple sources (Ptolemys Canon etc) that the reign of Nebuchadnezzar commenced 605BC;

2. The Bible says the destruction of Jerusalem occurred in the 19th or 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (depending on which passage, and what type of “year” you use).

3. Therefore (assuming the Bible is true) the event occurred in 586 or 587 BC.

Babylonian tablets record events in some years of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, but the relevant tablet or tablets from (going from memory) the 11th to 20th years have never been found. The event isn’t mentioned by the Egyptians etc, either. Thus there is no record of the event outside of the Bible. Therefore 586 or 587 is not the “secular” date. It is the one and only biblical date. There is no “secular” date because the event didn’t occur, as far as secular history is concerned.

12

Kingdom Halls are been opened up now.

by joe134cd in

my fathers best friend passed away a couple of days ago.

admittedly, i live in a country that is covid free, although the local dubbies are still following the advice of not meeting in the hall.

with the death of my fathers friend, the local boe must have had a change of heart.

shepherdless

I think I live in the same country. Our local KH was opened for a funeral earlier this year, and has been closed since. A number of people “attended” via zoom.

40

What Are Jehovah’s Witnesses Like Nowadays?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i’ve been gone a long time.

after my mother passed away a few years ago, i pretty much lost most contact with the witnesses.

a couple that were family friends for many years stopped checking on me to say hello.

shepherdless

I have never been a witness, so I don’t really know what it was like in the past. But now I over hear many of the zoom meetings and broadcasts.

To me, the meetings sound arrogant, nutty and culty, with lots of references to avoiding any other point of view, we are other only ones who practice “true worship”, shun your kids if they leave, even if it hurts, because that is Jehovah’s plan etc.

Outside of meetings, there are lots of social catch-ups and lots and lots and lots of letter writing. Sometimes they do a weird thing, where a group of them meet on zoom and write letters in front of each other, in near silence. I reckon my wife posts up to 20 letters per day. I am probably paying for postage. She has an excel spreadsheet with all the addresses (where from? Dunno), and the letters are word processed and printed, not handwritten. She has created a separate email address for replies, and puts the KH as the return postal address. I am tempted to send a follow up letter with a link to jwfacts, but why bother; I am sure most if not all her letters go straight to bin.

You would think that letter writing could be far more efficiently and more effectively done via a central process. But i suppose the real object is to create busy work for the sheeple, not attract members. It is quite funny listening to what passes for uplifting experiences (or lack thereof). Last week, I think someone reported running into a letter recipient at a supermarket, and got what I would interpret as a polite rejection/fob off. It was encouraging that it wasn’t a blunt rejection, apparently.

8

Another Rainbow explained....

by snare&racket in

due to the many variables involved it has been difficult for science to predict how proteins fold to form their uniquely functional state.

proteins are built from individual amino acids up, coded by dna.

protein function is dictated by its shape and amino acid make up.

shepherdless

Thanks Drearyweather.

i suppose the relevant part is:

A cell spends a lot of its time making proteins. How does it do so? First, you would see the cell make about 20 different basic building blocks called amino acids. These building blocks are delivered to the ribosomes (5), which may be likened to automated machines that link the amino acids in a precise order to form a specific protein. Just as the operations of a factory might be governed by a central computer program, many of the functions of a cell are governed by a “computer program,” or code, known as DNA (6). From the DNA, the ribosome receives a copy of detailed instructions that tell it which protein to build and how to build it (7).
What happens as the protein is made is nothing short of amazing! Each one folds into a unique three-dimensional shape (8). It is this shape that determines the specialized job that the protein will do. * Picture a production line where engine parts are being assembled. Each part needs to be precisely constructed if the engine is to work. Similarly, if a protein is not precisely constructed and folded to exactly the right shape, it will not be able to do its work properly and may even damage the cell.

Sounds impressive at first blush, but by the logic of the above quote, no picornavirus (eg COVID 19, any of the strains of hepatitis, polio, even influenza etc) could possibly exist. Picornaviruses do not have either proteins or DNA, yet they DO exist. They are RNA life forms, where a simple chemical molecule fulfils the same functions, not as reliably, but reliably enough for them to reproduce. Lots of other incorrect straw-man b.s. in that article, including the usual Christian Fundamentalist furphy that Darwin’s theory of natural selection is somehow meant to explain the origins of life.

167

Trump Says Biden “Won” The Election But It Was Rigged

by minimus in

jw
friends

that’s the latest!.

shepherdless

Surely Trump will now sack AG William Barr?

14

Meetings

by pontoon in

so remember how assembling together is a command and no man or government can stop us, even if it means going 'underground', even if means being arrested, jailed, beat....can't stop us from assembling together----until covid.

now it's "false regligion" fighting for their constitutional right to meet together while the jws seem to be perefectly happy zooming their lives away..

shepherdless

I am really hoping that they do switch to Zoom meetings permanently. Long may they continue. They may be helping Watchtower in the short term, but in the long term they will make Watchtower less relevant to everyday life.

Also, most people are there for the social aspect, even if they don’t admit it, or realise it. Zoom is a poor substitute for that, and adherents will find other connections over time, in place of that.

My prediction (just a guess) is that once the pandemic is well and truly under control, they may decide that KH meetings are to resume, but mid-week meetings will be by zoom, and the “preaching work” won’t include door-knocking.

8

Another Rainbow explained....

by snare&racket in

due to the many variables involved it has been difficult for science to predict how proteins fold to form their uniquely functional state.

proteins are built from individual amino acids up, coded by dna.

protein function is dictated by its shape and amino acid make up.

shepherdless

The JW literature used this knowledge gap in science to insert god.

Wasn’t aware of this. Has anyone got a link to the 2008 article?

23

Australian jws/branch warned of possible loss of charity status.

by Holey_Cheeses*King_of_the juice. in

jw
friends

hello all interested persons,.

whilst driving to work this morning listening to the radio, my ears pricked when the presenter began talking about jws.

it was on a programme which airs between 8.00 and 8.30 entitled am, and broadcast on the abc national radio.

shepherdless

As to the Watchtower coughing up $$$ through asset sale it cant happen. The Watchtower society in Australia has minimal assets of printing equipment and office equipment. Everything else is owned by separate(legally separate) entities that cant be drawn into the compensation.Every congregation is a poor charity with less than $5k in the bank and their hall is owned by a Private Non-charity company run by the WTS. Their whole restructure from the early 200's has been geared to avoid financial responsibility for their actions.

My understanding is that this is the “Ellis Defence”. My understanding is that laws have been introduced to combat this. Here is a media report on it:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-01/catholic-church-ellis-defence-scrapped-from-new-years-day/10675890

B.t.w. Fully agree with the rest of your post.

23

Australian jws/branch warned of possible loss of charity status.

by Holey_Cheeses*King_of_the juice. in

jw
friends

hello all interested persons,.

whilst driving to work this morning listening to the radio, my ears pricked when the presenter began talking about jws.

it was on a programme which airs between 8.00 and 8.30 entitled am, and broadcast on the abc national radio.

shepherdless

According to this article, as of June 2020, only 10 victims came forward referring to abuse by Jehovah's Witnesses:

I am surprised the number isn’t zero. The article mentions the number of jw victims (10) who have applied under the national redress scheme. Not much point in applying if Jehovahs Witnesses hasn’t even joined. Presumably the 10 anticipate they will join. The number 1600 is the number of jw victims revealed by its own records subpoenaed by the Royal Commission. The number could be higher.

That being said, I did read elsewhere that overall, claims against those institutions that DID join the national redress scheme lodged so far is well below what was estimated.