No Zombie,
North Korea was never “free”. Before the Communist regime was installed after WWII, all of Korea was under Japanese rule. The Empire of Japan was many things, but one thing it wasn’t was “free”.
Rivergang
JoinedPosts by Rivergang
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28
Do we blame the Governing Body too much?
by no-zombie ini'd like to start this post with a part from the movie 'v for vendetta'.
here in a dystopian state, the main character named v, explains why things have gone so bad ....
those who do not want us to speak.
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42
My Most Memorable Circuit & District Overseers
by MillennialDawn ini would love to hear from anyone who may have encountered the following the traveling overseers:.
david wesley - an incredibly kind and humble man.
just the most down-to-earth co you'll ever find.
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Rivergang
Hans Hubler, otherwise known as "The Terminator", after the mother of that crying child promptly terminated her "Free Home Bible Study".
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42
My Most Memorable Circuit & District Overseers
by MillennialDawn ini would love to hear from anyone who may have encountered the following the traveling overseers:.
david wesley - an incredibly kind and humble man.
just the most down-to-earth co you'll ever find.
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Rivergang
In my experience, non to compare with “Cyclone Rex” Manwaring. Loathe the bastard or like him (?), he was certainly unforgettable!
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57
JWs unrecognisable compared to my grandfathers time
by ExBethelitenowPIMA inmy grandfather who has been dead for 37 years would not recognise the borganisation today.
he would turn in his grave if he knew the end didn’t come by 2023.. back in the 1970s he really believed in the 75 thing.
he was so disappointed and almost blamed everyone else why the end didn’t come.
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Rivergang
Put a guy at the head of an organization that is convinced that he is being guided by god through the holy spirit, and he can't help but get an oversized ego from it.
A little off topic, perhaps, but back in the day, similar also used to apply to a country's "Branch Servant".
He, too, was always spoken about as if he were Der Fuhrer, Il Duce, El Caudillo, The Big Ratu, Papa Doc or similar.
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24
1974 and all that
by Number 6 inhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xznh9icm1os.
i came across this footage recently whilst searching for something completely unrelated and it blew me away!.
it's from the august 1974 convention at murrayfield, edinburgh and you can clearly see the stage set up still keeping the 6000 years and 1975 mantra going.. what makes this very personal for me is that i was here.
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Rivergang
This is further evidence that it was not only in their literature that the JWs emphasised the 1975 theme.
There were also other, more subtle means used to present the same theme - such as the signage which was displayed on the stage at a district assembly.
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47
Retirement savings
by TxNVSue2023 inwhat's the current jw stance on retirement savings?
i know it changed.
pre1975 it was an attitude of "don't worry about retirement, this system is ending soon".
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Rivergang
LongHair Gal,
Interestingly, my parents woke up to the same thing as you did, but while they were still in the "Free Home Bible Study" phase of the JW indoctrination process.
Like you, they observed that there were those in the religion who were comfortably well off, yet who were urging others to adopt a course of life which could only result in impoverishment. (Talk about a classic case of "I've got mine, but you're not allowed to have yours"!)
Upon that realisation - and being very practical people - my parents cut all ties with the religion. Sadly, it took me much, much longer to wake up to the whole charade!
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26
Is the USA gradually moving to a majority of citizens being non-religious
by Reasonfirst inthis is a topic discussed in a current article in the hongkong based asia times*.
find it at: https://asiatimes.com/2023/09/nones-still-no-match-for-us-christian-nationalism/.
the claim is made in the article, that near 30% of americans are non-believers, and that this number is increasing.
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Rivergang
Riley,
We are seeing once again the suggestion that only religious people know how to behave themselves.
As if!
Particularly those introduced to Christianity during the 18th and 19th Centuries quickly caught on to the hypocrisy of the whole thing.
For example, the newly converted Māori people in New Zealand were very quick to note that the Ten Commandments took a definite second place between Monday morning and midnight Saturday - then got sent off on an indefinite Leave of Absence whenever there was a war on!
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7
Ukraine v England football match
by BoogerMan in"england's winning run in their euro 2024 qualifying campaign came to a halt as they were held to a draw by ukraine in wroclaw.
ukraine were backed by 40,000 of their own fans in the tarczynski arena, giving the game the fervent feel of a home fixture as they are unable to play in their own country because of the war with russia.
" https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66692946.
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Rivergang
Boris Johnson's advice to the Ukraine was primarily based on distrust of Russia - skepticism that Putin would not in fact honour any peace accord between the two countries.
In that, Johnson was far from alone. Respected Ukranian political journalist Roman Romaniuk revealed that members of Zelenskyy's inner circle harboured exactly the same doubts as to Putin's trustworthiness on this matter. Also - and most tellingly - a subsequent poll found that more than 80% of the Ukranian population feel the same way towards Vladimir Putin.
As well they might!
Russia has a bad track record for completely disregarding an agreement once such ceases to be advantageous to itself. (e.g. The 1941 Non-Aggression Pact with Japan). Furthermore, Russia will use so-called "peace negotiations" to prolong a war, as it did in Korea. This tactic- often referred to as "Talking and fighting for advantage" - was used by Russia and its allies to extend the Korean War by over two years, and turned that conflict into a proper War of Attrition (which always favours the side with the greatest amount of manpower at its disposal). In this present war with Ukraine, Russia would be holding all the advantages if this, too, were to turn into one of attrition.
Ukraine could indeed have had peace - if it were to have completely capitulated to Russia. That, though, is an extraordinary thing to expect of any sovereign country. Also, a path of pacifism seldom ends happily.
In this part of the world (the South Pacific) there is the 19th Century example of the Moriori people of the Chatham Islands. The Morori had adopted a culture of non-violence, and elected to pursue the same course when faced with invasion by the Māori from New Zealand. All that did, however, was lead to their rapid conquest, enslavement and then virtual extermination as a people. (We could also mention the allied leaders of the late 1930s, who mistakenly thought that they could prevent another world war by giving in to Hitler).
Given its past record, any hesitancy about engaging in "peace talks" with Russia is quite understandable.
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7
Ukraine v England football match
by BoogerMan in"england's winning run in their euro 2024 qualifying campaign came to a halt as they were held to a draw by ukraine in wroclaw.
ukraine were backed by 40,000 of their own fans in the tarczynski arena, giving the game the fervent feel of a home fixture as they are unable to play in their own country because of the war with russia.
" https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66692946.
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Rivergang
Concluding that there was a peace agreement in place by early April of 2022 would be reading rather a bit much into what actually did occur around that time.
That such an idea ever did get into circulation was the result some bad reporting. An article was published in Foreign Affairs magazine, in which two respected commentators (Susan Hill and Angela Stent) stated "Russian and Ukranian negotiators appeared to have tentatively agreed on the outlines of a negotiated settlement."
Notice their use of such terms as "appeared" and "tentatively" - and even then only with reference to the mere outlines of a "negotiated settlement" (In other words, barely achieving any more than just establishing the agenda for any such discussions). Stent and Hill's report, while offering a glimmer of optimism, still strongly implied a fair measure of "ifs", "buts" and "maybes"! However, the way in which that Foreign Affairs article was subsequently reported has led to the circulation of much misinformation.
Any such ideas about a formal, negotiated settlement were fairly and squarely laid to rest as early as 7th April, 2022 (i.e. two days before Boris Johnson's visit to Kyiv). On that day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that Moscow had in fact rejected the terms of the draft peace agreement which Ukraine had proposed. He claimed that it contained "unacceptable elements" that "deviated from proposals which negotiators from both sides had earlier agreed to".
Definitely, during the spring of 2022, no peace agreement was signed between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. Further, it was Russia who rejected the draft proposals submitted by the Ukraine, and this happened some two days before Johnson's visit.
(Hardly surprising when you think about it. The Russian negotiators were all low-level political figures without even any direct access to Vladimir Putin. They were certainly not invested with any plenipotentiary powers, and thus had no authority to sign anything).
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32
Do you play the LOTTERY?
by Fisherman injw view gambling as a sin and sadly people get addicted to gambling causing them financial and health problems.
but is playing a couple of bucks a week on some lottery tickets actually gambling?
what do you have to lose?
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Rivergang
A common warning about gambling which is frequently flashed across the TV screen in this country reads : “You win some, you loose more”
I am saying this from the bar of the local football club, while my wife is having a play on the poker machines!
She, though, knows her limit, so it is never a problem. While never into gambling myself, I don’t see a flutter on a lottery ticket as being a problem - as long as a person knows when to stop.