RunningMan

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Posts by RunningMan

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  10

  How the WTS Grows RICH!!!

  by Amazing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  how the wts grows rich!!!

  principle loan: $200,000 to congregation buy land and build hall.. interest rate: 3%.

  loan term: 30 years.. the total paid back over 30 year: $303,555.

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  RunningMan

  And how rich have they grown? Let's calculate some more:

  There are approximately 10,000 congregations in Canada and the U.S. If we
  assume that every two congregations has a kingdom hall, and that each hall
  is worth $400,000, (the halls I know are worth anywhere from 50K to 1M), then
  the Society owns no less than $2 Billion worth of Kingdom halls in these two
  countries.

  Then add in the rest of the world, the bethels, factories, farms, and the cash and
  investments, and you have an empire with net assets of $10 Billion. I am personally
  tempted to say it is much higher than this.

  Remember in the late 60's, when the Society wanted to buy the Squibb buildings in NY?
  They sent around pledge forms to all the congregations, asking for donations. I was a
  child in a small rural congregation in Saskatchewan at the time. It sickens me now to
  think of all of these farmers calculating their pennies so that they could send a donation
  to a wealthy conglomerate so that it could swallow up some property in New York.
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  21

  usa 2001 stats

  by jeffory in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  avg.

  pubs in 2001 service year[ usa] 945,689 compared to 945,000 avg.

  in 2000.. total baptized in 2001 service year 28,239 compared to the 28,475 in 2000.

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  RunningMan

  The baptism decline in Canada is almost exactly the same (proportionately)
  as that in the U. S.

  In 2000, the baptisms were just over 2,300. In 2001, the baptisms are just over
  2,100 - a decrease of 200, or 9%. It's a long way from the peak of 5,600 a few
  years ago.
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  6

  Why would a God want worship anyway?

  by radar in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the need to be worshiped is a human failing rather than divine.. when you look into history, you find that it as been the tyrants, that have required worship/devotion, from its people.

  look into the bible, you find a battle over worship.

  there is satan who supposedly wanted just one act of worship from jesus, and he would give kingdoms away.. then there is god, who reportedly required the sacrifice of thousands of animals on a weekly basis as part of his worship.

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  RunningMan

  Perhaps Homer Simpson said it best.

  When he was asked, "If God is all powerful, why does he care if
  we worship him?", he responded,

  "You see, although God is very powerful, he is also very insecure,
  like Barbara Striesand before James Broland. That guy is a rock."

  That answer is about as good as you're going to find.
• 
  27

  Logic of God escapes me

  by Amazing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in past posts i have placed god on trial by questioning two issues: 1) the issues in the graden of eden, and the severe punishment of the entire human race for a very minor act of eating fruit.

  2) god ordering the extermination of entire cities, including every last man, woman, child, baby, and even livestock.. results: the result on this forum have be mixed as expected, but showed a range from suport to tryuionmg top explain these events with reasoning, logic, or plausibilities.

  some felt that i might be losing my faith.

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  RunningMan

  It was stated earlier that there is a problem with what humans have
  written about God.

  This is true. The holy books of humans are full of contradictions and the
  very human thoughts of early cultures. They are obviously not the work
  of an all powerful, all knowing God.

  But, if all of the holy books turn out to be written by humans, then we are
  stuck with a universe where God neither communicates nor interferes.
  So, what's the purpose of postulating a God at all?
• 
  12

  Kmart Card Table Time..Same as Door to Door?

  by Andee in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  question for the panel, please?.

  at my local kmart there is always a jw table set up.

  i dont get close enough to actually see what literature is set on the table but close enough to view the free bible study sign prominently displayed in the midst of books, etc.. generally, this card table is manned by two or three young women.

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  RunningMan

  I've got to admit, this doesn't sound like Witnesses to me.

  But if they are, I guarantee they are counting time - probably from
  the moment they leave home to the moment they return, with a little
  extra padding to boot.
• 
  27

  Logic of God escapes me

  by Amazing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in past posts i have placed god on trial by questioning two issues: 1) the issues in the graden of eden, and the severe punishment of the entire human race for a very minor act of eating fruit.

  2) god ordering the extermination of entire cities, including every last man, woman, child, baby, and even livestock.. results: the result on this forum have be mixed as expected, but showed a range from suport to tryuionmg top explain these events with reasoning, logic, or plausibilities.

  some felt that i might be losing my faith.

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  RunningMan

  Yes, your concerns make sense. I would like to add another one of my own:

  Why is it necessary to explain our sickness, imperfection, and death by means
  of the story of Adam and Eve - whether allegorical or not?

  Animals also suffer sickness, imperfection, and death, many times from the
  same diseases. They also age, just like us. There is no original sin for
  animals - not even an allegorical one.

  Our condition can be explained by simple degeneration of our bodies, just like
  the animals. We have no problem accepting the aging and death of animals.
  Why can't we accept our own?
• 
  13

  Does anyone still have their NWT ?

  by WildHorses in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was speaking with a man the other night on yahoo and he gave me a few verses to compare.. a while back i gave my copy of the nwt to a friend who came in contact with jw's quit often and wanted to used it to compare scriptures.

  anyway, could someone please look up these scriptures and compare them to the nwt and post the differences?

  i was told that the nwt omits parts of these verses.. matthew 18:11 luke 4:8 john 8:9 acts 8:37/23.9 romans 13:9. thanks in advance.. "i don't want someone in my life i can live with, i want someone in my life i can't live without.

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  RunningMan

  Yep. There was also the scripture where Jacob had "sod pottage".
  The NWT says "soup" or "stew" or something like that.

  Now, if that isn't enough reason to buy a book, what is?
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  17

  Did the Son of Man Come?

  by JosephAlward in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  if the author of the book of matthew can be believed, jesus left no doubt about when the apocalypse would occur.

  it would be before all of jesus' disciples died, even before his disciples would be able to spread the good word to all of the cities of israel.

  since all of the disciples are dead and the apocalypse hasn't occurred, we must conclude that matthew was wrong and that the bible is in error.

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  RunningMan

  Joe: You are indeed a welcome addition to the board. I don't have the
  patience to muck about with the Bible thumpers, and you seem to do it
  very eloquently.

  Keep it up!
• 
  7

  Does God condone slavery?

  by crownboy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the september 8th, 2001 awake aimed to answer this question.

  to say the least, this is a topic of great controversy and embarrassment for christains.. essentially, the awake said that god is unequivocally opposed to oppresive forms of slavery (as if any type of slavery is not considered oppresive to the one being enslaved) and that he demonstrated his opposition to such slavery by freeing the isrealites from the oppresive eyptians (but of course leaving slaves under more despotic conditions to fend for themselves).. they acknowledged that god allowed the isrealites to own slaves, but not opression of them (an example given was that the isrealites could take women as slaves, but could only have sex with them if they made them their wives.

  in the "opressive" forms the women would have sex with their masters without the benefit of marriage and only for the masters sexual gratification.

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  RunningMan

  The idea that there is "Good" slavery that is non-abusive and much like
  employment is complete and utter bullshit. It is simply a means of justifying
  their behaviour and making it palatable to modern audiences.

  Here are some other slavery references from the Bible:

  Ex 21:20:21 - a slave is your property, you can beat him almost to death. If he lingers for two
  days, then dies of his wounds, it is not even a crime, because "he is your money".
  Ex 21:7-11 - a man can sell his daughter into slavery to pay a debt
  Ex 21:28-32 - if an ox gores a man it is to be put to death, if it does it twice, the owner is
  to be put to death. If it kills a slave, only 30 sheckels are to be paid. Slaves aren't worth as
  much as real people
  Lev 19:20, 21 - if a man has sex with an betrothed slave, it was no big deal. The death
  penalty does not apply, because she "was not free". A sacrifice would suffice.
  Lev 25:44-46 - foreign slaves can be kept forever and willed to descendents

  Let's face it, the Bible didn't know any better that the people who wrote it.
• 
  21

  I Now Provide You With Entertainment.......

  by Ranchette in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i put some of the funniest stuff in bold print.. enjoy!.

  opic: unique plans for paradise.

  pantherkatz wol stepper posted 09-22-2001 12:09 am we all look forward to common things in the new order such as, no more sickness and death, no more wickedness, meeting bible characters, etc.... but what are some of the personal, more unique things that you would like to do?

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  RunningMan

  Hmmm.... Let's see:

  - having children
  - skating & taking care of a rink
  - growing corn

  What are these people waiting for? Paradise is here and now!

  Although, I suppose if they had better imaginations, they wouldn't be JW's.