Rivergang

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Posts by Rivergang

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  18

  Have you ever? (Suffered a Great Disappointment?)

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  have you ever suffered a great disappointment?.

  well, meet william miller!______.

  time: 1782 (after the american revolution and before the war of 1812).

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  Rivergang

  Very interesting; thanks for posting this information. Proof (if it were needed) that merely having a ready answer for everything doesn't necessarily mean a person is right!
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  65

  Would You Ever Go Back To The Witnesses??

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  every once in a while you hear people say they actually “miss” their old witness friends and or family.

  some would have even stayed in the organization if they became a bit more liberal and open minded.

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  Rivergang

  They say "any port in a storm", but that would have to be a category 5 cyclone!

  Edited to mean "No Bloody Way!"
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  19

  Amazing Read,Check this out!

  by ZindagiNaMilegiDobaara in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  currently reading : 30 years a watchtower slave.

  cannot put it down.. this book pre-dates ray franz book "crisis of conscience", written from early 20th century, shortly after the jehovah's witnesses were formed.

  the author describes the original true background of the watchtower society as a multi-million dollar publishing company.

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  Rivergang

  When I first took a furtive look through Schnell's 30 Years a Watchtower Slave, I wasn't that impressed with it. He seemed to make a lot of claims, but offered very little in the way of evidence.

  Those in the "territory" who cited Schnell's work all seemed to have that wild-eyed fanatical look about them, and that, too, seemed to be the tone of the book. It came over as being written by an extremely bitter ex-member who just wanted to "vent his spleen", as the saying goes.

  Part of this could well be the more forthright manner of speaking that is common in eastern Europe, but still, I was never left with the impression that here was a great work of literature!
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  26

  I can just imagine the hype that is going on in Australia about how close armageddon is now with all of these bushfires occurring.

  by smiddy3 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it brings to mind my niece when she see`s how dry the countryside is ,how armageddon must be so close..

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  Rivergang

  According to the director of NSW Rural Fire Service, Shane Fitzsimmons, there has been no prohibition placed by "Greenies" (or anybody else) on the use of controlled burn-offs to achieve fuel reduction. (See the following link).

  https://7news.com.au/news/bushfires/fire-experts-rubbish-claims-that-hazard-reduction-failure-is-to-blame-for-crisis-c-639568
  

  Rather, Fitzsimmons points out that of late, there have been few opportunities to safely carry out such controlled fuel-reduction burning operations. Simply put, what he terms "fire weather" now occurs more frequently, is of a greater severity than beforehand, and forms a season that lasts far longer than once was the case.

  Furthermore, he reminds the reader of several other facts.

  • One being that fuel reduction is not a "silver bullet". While it can reduce the severity of a bushfire, it will not prevent one from happening.
  • The other point he mentions is something that has long been known to forest fire fighters in Australia; namely, that in extreme bushfire conditions, a disastrous fire can still be sustained by very little fuel. In those situations, fuel reduction operations alone are not enough to prevent damaging fires.

  Coming from somebody who is involved almost on a daily basis with controlling bushfires, the observations made by Shane Fitzsimmons ought to be taken seriously.
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  37

  Were You Willing To Die For Jehovah?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we were supposed to be dedicated unconditionally to jehovah god.

  we were willing to be persecuted to the death if need be.

  if it came to taking a blood transfusion or dying, we were loyal to jehovah and would be a martyr for god.

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  Rivergang

  Not proud of the fact now, but in the day, I reckon I would have.

  Regarding the blood transfusion issue, though, I completely swallowed the WTS line that it was somehow "unnecessary", and that there were in fact other alternatives.

  Bloody hell!

  (If nothing else, their propaganda program certain worked very well in those years of the late 1970s / early 1980s).
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  107

  Do You Trump Should Have Exterminated That Poor Iranian Fellow?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  good move or bad?

  ?.

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  Rivergang

  The UK was already winning the war in the air by the time the USA joined in and got over here

  I know this is a little off topic, but cannot let that one go unanswered!

  The fact is, Britain suffered some of its worst reversals during the six months after Pearl Harbor.

  • Within two months, Singapore had been lost, an event which Churchill described as "the worst defeat in the history of British arms".
  • Later that year (1942), the British army was routed in the Libyan desert at a place called Gazala, and bundled almost all the way back to the Suez Canal. (The ensuing and ignominious loss of the port of Tobruk lead Churchill to remark "defeat is one thing, disgrace is quite another matter!")
  • Also during that same year, the German U-boats took their heaviest toll on Allied shipping.

  WWII was far from being won by December of 1941. Rather, Allied fortunes reached their lowest ebb during the first half of 1942.

  It was only during the latter part of 1942 that Allied fortunes finally began to improve. This featured such events as the US naval victory at Midway, American landings at Guadalcanal, Australian operations on the Kokoda Track in New Guinea, Russian successes at Stalingrad and the British victory at Alamein (noteworthy though that the battle of Alamein was fought largely with American-supplied equipment).

  
  
  
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  23

  Happy Alcoholic Jehovah's Witnesses

  by The Bethelite in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for many years since the witness organization, after i have told people that i'm no longer a jehovah's witness, people would say "oh the religion were people are not allowed to drink!".

  "no they drink alright.....they can't do much of anything else but they do drink!".

  in fact the first place i ever got drunk was bethel.

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  Rivergang

  I was introduced to alcohol by the "brother" who "brought me into the truth".

  Regrettably, I proved to be a very able student!

  Talk about a "double" double standard though. As long as one was still standing upright by the end of the evening, this drinking was tolerated as being "in moderation". HOWEVER, one did not ever enter any of the public bars in the district. Being a thinly-populated farming area, you would have been noticed, and "people might think you are an alcoholic". Behind closed doors, though, corks were sprung and the beer flowed freely! (Also, whenever any of the "brothers" travelled to another town where they were not known, the first place they stopped at was the closest pub).
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  15

  Those who want to believe in god

  by JimmyYoung in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i find it funny how many people want to broad cast their religion on fb then whine whine when others critique it.

  its like the ny times saying no one has a right to criticize its oped.

  don't put it on the world wide web if you don't want others opinion on it.

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  Rivergang

  Those churches that tend to be classified as "mainstream" do share certain similarities with many of the JWs who remain long-term with their religion:

  i.e. While giving lip service to the whole thing, they quietly ignore its more extreme demands.

  I see this in operation amongst some of my own family. Also, I have seen notable examples of this amongst others whose time "in the truth" exceeds 70 years.The only issue with that is the certain "compromises" that have to be worked, and the double standards that have to be applied. For example (and speaking here from direct experience), parroting the WTS / FDS line about "Higher Education" whilst delivering an assembly talk, yet at the same time allowing ones son to attend university. (Then, just to advertise the matter further, the son went on to become a highly regarded electrical engineer in the whole state!).
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  17

  What Books Have You Read That Been Critical Of The Jehovah's Witnesses?

  by The Bethelite in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  please rate your top choices .

  1. crises of conscience.

  ray franz.

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  Rivergang

  Although now rather dated, I found WC Stevenson's The Inside Story of Jehovahs Witnesses to be an informative read. Being written by a person who majored in English at Oxford University, it is in a totally different league to the likes of Schnell's 30 Years a Watchtower Slave !
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  36

  The sky is falling- maybe

  by joey jojo in

  1. social
  2. current

  i am actually not a 'sky is falling' guy, but i wanted to comment on the australian bushfires.. you may or may not believe the science behind global warming, however i personally put more faith in verified, scientific data than the words of fat cat, self-serving politicians.

  climate science has predicted, based on data, that we will see more prolonged, extreme weather events, higher average temperatures, rising sea levels due to ocean expansion and glacial melting.

  and this is exactly whats happening.

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  Rivergang

  The most disappointing thing of all during this bushfire crisis is that many of these fires have been deliberately lit.

  That includes the one of a month ago in Brisbane's southwest that almost enveloped our house.