never a jw

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Posts by never a jw

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  23

  New video telling the R&F to be generous

  by Splash in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  bro sanderson has a 7 minute video up on their streaming website called "be willing to open your hand".. in it he tells us not to be "tight fisted" or "stingy" and later "regardless of how much we have or how little we have, we'll find something within our power to be able to do".

  we have the responsibility to imitate jehovah's generosity.. there's a bit about giving to one another when we see the need, which is nice, then he drops in how 20 years ago the canada branch committee asked the bethel family for donations to the disaster relief fund, and promptly raised over $10,000.

  i think that's pretty good going for those under a vow of poverty.. "the generous person will prosper" he says, then illustrates this using a made up story.

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  never a jw

  JW's being cheap? Not my experience. They are a cross section of the population, especially those in the lower income range. They are not better or worse than non-JW's. The only point I can derive from my experience is that the ORG can not produce more generous human beings. After the indoctrination, those with a good heart remain so, and the stingy ones remain so too.

  If they are cheap, it may be because the ORG already squeezed so much out of them, and there's little left to pay for the restaurant that may be above their affordability range.
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  69

  Average Age of this Forum?

  by Garrett in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  heyo!.

  i'm quite interested in knowing the average age of those of us who use this forum.

  i made a quick strawpoll that you can find at the following link: http://strawpoll.me/4340636 just pick an age and click "vote" if you wish to participate.. admins: if this breaks any rules, i apologize in advance..

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  never a jw

  50.1287
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  15

  Laughable - If it Wasn't So Hypocritical & Pathetic

  by The Searcher in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  "we do not believe that.....those who take the lead in religious activities should have titles that elevate them above others.

  " (stated on the jw.borg site!).

  what about governing body member, faithful & discreet slave, branch overseer, .

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  never a jw

  Forget titles, most other religions don't even have the special category of anointed, as JW's do
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  99

  Golden Rule: Pure Garbage?

  by willmarite in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  on another thread a poster made the comment that the golden rule was garbage.

  she said it was arrogant and made assumptions.. i didn't want to derail that thread so i started another wondering if this is a common thought about this belief on this forum.

  i guess i naively thought the value of doing to others as you want them to do to you was generally accepted as positive.. i understand people have different opinions of jesus as a person but i don't want to get into that here.

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  never a jw

  What's missing here is that in order for the Golden Rule to be useful it must be applied in the context of people who share common values. For example, since I am not a masochist I can't apply it when the second person is a masochist. In the end the Golden Rule is not that useful because people sharing common values will not need the Golden Rule in order to determine their course of action; they already have a common understanding of "right" and "wrong", of desirable and undesirable. However, it's a pithy way to remind us of how we should treat those with whom we share our values. It's a reminder to act according to our values, not an external, transcendental and universal rule that provides "good" moral guidance.
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  55

  Mays JW TV Broadcast/Your feedback is appreciated

  by ToesUp in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have a pretty good intuition but i have to admit i am going back and forth on the jw tv may broadcast.

  i keep asking myself are they really in financial trouble (wishful thinking) or are they just grabbing for more money?.

  i always appreciate reading everyone's thoughts and ideas on here.. let me know what you think.

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  never a jw

  Financial problems, with a capital of billions and no debt. Are you kidding me? They are just not growing the money as fast as their greedy financial officers want.
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  99

  Golden Rule: Pure Garbage?

  by willmarite in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  on another thread a poster made the comment that the golden rule was garbage.

  she said it was arrogant and made assumptions.. i didn't want to derail that thread so i started another wondering if this is a common thought about this belief on this forum.

  i guess i naively thought the value of doing to others as you want them to do to you was generally accepted as positive.. i understand people have different opinions of jesus as a person but i don't want to get into that here.

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  never a jw

  It's a presumptive rule. It's quite telling that the golden rule needs a rule to work.

  If you got something better than the Golden Rule that can also be stated in few words I want to hear it. I am not interested in reading Ethics volumes every time I consider whether my actions towards fellow humans are good or not. I like universal, pithy guiding principles; the Golden Rule being my favorite.

  I am sure I can work out unforeseen circumstances and exceptions to the rule without the extra rules that you suggest.
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  99

  Golden Rule: Pure Garbage?

  by willmarite in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  on another thread a poster made the comment that the golden rule was garbage.

  she said it was arrogant and made assumptions.. i didn't want to derail that thread so i started another wondering if this is a common thought about this belief on this forum.

  i guess i naively thought the value of doing to others as you want them to do to you was generally accepted as positive.. i understand people have different opinions of jesus as a person but i don't want to get into that here.

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  never a jw

  C'mon, the golden rule is a general rule to improve the relationships between humans and it works great, a lot better than anything that I know. If you nit-pick anything you are going to end up in complete nihilism. The golden rule is my moral compass and works quite well. I just don't waste my time thinking of off-the-wall and hypothetical scenarios to invalidate it. The rule is simple, keep it simple.
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  21

  Joined up, long time looking

  by highline20 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  joined the site, not that i have much to share.. i'm married to a jw (wife).

  i never have been or will be a jw, i honestly hate the wt (not the jws).

  being married to a jw, can sometimes make you crazy, i never believed any of the bs.

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  never a jw

  Welcome,

  Your life and my life are quite similar in almost every respect, just different names and your country and my country of origin
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  62

  For God/Truth Seekers Only!

  by Nicola.threeangelsmessage in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for the past three years, my husband and i have been watching these sermons by remarkable worldwide speakers.

  the biblical truths we have learnt from their presentations, in such a short period of time most definitely tip the scales compared to the truth the jw.org led me to believe i had for over 20 plus years of my life.

  thanks to these videos, we have now found the truth and the truth is jesus christ (john 14:6).

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  never a jw

  "For God/Truth seekers only"

  I understand the desire for economy of words, but it can get confusing. I guess you meant "For God seekers or Truth seekers only". This seems to be the more logical statement, which is quite inclusive, therefore there's no need to add "only"
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  94

  Disowning the God of the OT is not an Option

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it's to their credit that many modern christians prefer the jesus of the gospels to the god of the old testament.. ot god is an embarrassment.

  i am not going to list his multitude of moral crimes here but my personal favourite is his brilliant idea that a girl who is raped must marry her rapist.

  it's not his biggest crime but it demonstrates a disregard for human feelings that is beyond the comprehension of every moral person.

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  never a jw

  Caleb,

  I am not a JW, so I am not part of the people you criticize, I hope.

  I think you fit more the mold of a JW because you are acting as they do, like sensitive persons who easily take offense and are intolerant of criticism or disagreement. Your running away pretty much confirms that you fit the JW mold. They always run away. I know this first hand and I experienced it multiple times with multiple JW's.

  Regarding the OT God, I find it quite despicable, but only if I use XXI century moral values. However, I find the study of the Bible quite enjoyable when put in the Near East historical and religious context during which it developed. In the end it all seems a mixture of mythology, fantasy, fairy tales, or rather nightmarish tales, mixed with history and philosophical thought spanning over a thousand years. Very interesting stuff and quite useful to understand how we got to where we are today.