It's a psychological phenomenon, a gnawing craving for certainty, a loathing of ambiguity and little patence for anything but simple answers to life's great imponderable questions that have little/nothing to do with a person's intelligence or affluence.
Room 215
JoinedPosts by Room 215
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How is it that well educated and financially stable people become Jehovah's Witnesses?
by 21stcenturywoman inwhen i was growing up most of the jws around me were poor and lower middle class.
some were middle class, but very few were upper middle class.
only (maybe) about 1% were college educated.
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Socrates and Me
by Farkel insocrates is my hero and has been ever since i re-claimed my mind when i left the wt cult.
when i read the socrates dialogues which were compiled by plato, i found my purpose in my life.. the greek political cult killed socrates because he called them on their bullshit.
he was likely the most brilliant mind of his age (or any age), but they killed him for a very obvious reason: he didn't agree with the people in power and he was much smarter than the people in power.. he knew stuff that the people in power didn't want to hear.. i know stuff that the people in the wts don't want to hear.. socrates was an incredible genius.. i'm just a hack by comparison, but i may be just as dangerous as he, but in a smaller context.
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Room 215
Bless you Farkel, the latter-day Alcibiades! Keep 'em coming!
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Room 215
As Church Lady was fond of saying on SNL: "Now isn't that special?"
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The "WOW!!" moment...Theocratic Ministry School was a sham!
by Terry ini just remembered something from long ago..... i moved to california in 1974 after i had been in "the truth" for 11 years, having full-time pioneered and also having served time in federal prison over the so-called christian neutrality issue.. i felt completely confident that my bible education was the best on planet earth.
i had honed my skills by door to door preaching, discussion, arguments and attendance at the theocratic ministry school.. i began working as an artist in a huge company that manufactured all kinds of art, sculpture and wall hanging.
the head of the artists was a wonderful young man, skilled artist and devout christian who took me under his wing.
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Room 215
Terry, your experience brings to mind one of my daugther's. She was required to take a comparative religion course in college, and was blown away by the wealth of Bible-related information and background. "I learned more about the Bible in the first three classes, than in years of going to meetiings!"
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My Wife is reading "Learn From a Great Teacher" to my oldest daughter.
by garyneal inin the past, i've tried reasoning with my wife concerning the reading of religious materials to our children but the reasoning is not getting through.
she believes that since my oldest daughter prefers church to the kingdom hall (no surprise) that in order to provide any kind of 'true' religious instruction she must read wt material geared to the kiddies.
in the past, i reasoned that if she insists on reading material to her that will ultimately trash my way of life then i could do the same.
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Room 215
"BTW, you might want to ix-nay the chapter about how Satan and the demons like it when we touch ourselves (Chapter 9 or 10 if I remember correctly) it's so NOT appropriate." There you have it; straight from the mouth of the Great Teacher to the ears of our impressionable children! (Was that in the Sermon on the Mount? Did I miss that?)
What an abomination, this book.
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Watchtower published the SAME EVENT TWICE...wrong both times!!
by Terry in1873 [six thousand years of man's existence ends in a.d. 1873] {wr apr 1880 88}.
1873 "here we furnish the evidence that from the creation of adam to a.d. 1873 was six thousand years.
and though the bible contains no direct statement that the seventh thousand will be the epoch of christ's reign, the great sabbath day of restitution to the world, yet the venerable tradition is not without reasonable foundation.. if, then, the seventh thousand-year period of earth's history be an epoch specially noted as the period of christ's reign, we shall, by showing that it began in a.d. 1873, be proving that we are already in it.
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1972 "If it is his purpose to have this beautification of the whole earth accomplished by the end of his seventh creative day - Scripturally a period of seven thousand years, then the time is near at hand for the ruining of the earth by exploiters to be stopped by theocratic power and the blessed transformation to a delightsome garden to begin. Already, nearly six thousand years of man's existence from the close of the sixth creative day have run their dreary course. We must be approaching the threshold of that thousand-year-long reign of Jesus Christ, which must be accompanied by Paradise according to what Jesus promised the sympathetic evildoer on the stake there at Mount Calvary." {PRTM 18}
Setting aside the looniness of the premise, this paragraph is reasonably well written; just compare it to anything they write currently, especially in the "kool-aid" edition.
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Undercover apostates...
by Maze ini've observed some forum users here that claim to be active witnesses (even claims to be ministerial servants or elders) while duplicitously supporting apostates online.
my contention is this; why attend meetings and/or participate in the preaching activity when the second you divulge your apostate thinking into the congregation, you'll be disfellowshipped?
while this action taken may seem to be harsh, the outworking of events wouldn't be much different in one of christendom's churches.
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Room 215
"Apostate" is the most heinous misapplication of the language when referring to people find it impossible to uncritically submit their minds and consciences to religious authority, or to raise any question whatsoever, however respectfully expressed. As Cervantes said "I can live with questions I can't answer, but not with those I can't ask (or, put another way, "answers I can't question").
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Jehovah's Witnesses & Higher Education
by minimus ini believe that jws demonize higher education so much, that it makes them look like weirdos!.
you and your family are penalized if someone goes to college!.
when i tell any "worldly" (aka "normal" person) that witnesess view higher education with disdain and ridicule, i always get the same response:.
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Room 215
Ther's nothing really wrong with deciding against college ... IF one has marketable, specialized skills in high demand, and enjoys the manual labor, creativity and problem-solving that go along with them. The whole point is that, except for working illegally or in a criminal enterprise, what one does for a living has nothing whatsover to do with his/her spiritual relationship with God.
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WHO WROTE THE BIBLE by Washington Gladden, PT 1
by Quentin inam currently reading this book.
would like to share some excerpts from same.take note mr. gladden is objective in his wrting.see wikipedia for gladden bio.
excerpts, printed by waking lion press.
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Room 215
Has anyone of you read "Who Wrote The Bible" by Richard Freidman? It came highly recommended; the subject interests me and I've read neither. Any impressions/comparisons, etc.?
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Talking Blood in 2006 Watchtower, We Have a Problem
by Marvin Shilmer intalking blood in 2006 watchtower, we have a problem.
i have added a new article to my blog titled talking blood in 2006 watchtower, we have a problem.
my article contains a scan of a watchtower provided special outline.
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Room 215
Excellent point, Blondie. How can the WT possibly endorse the use of blood "fractions" which can only come from the processing of previously stored blood. And another question: Can a JW conscientously offer his blood for the sole purpose of having it processed into "fractions" for his brothers/sisters without facing DFing?