Rivergang

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Posts by Rivergang

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  21

  Is Jesus a Created Being? Debate with a Pastor

  by raymond frantz in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  https://youtu.be/ro6q_osgkns?si=hyxualluhruwvjnb.

  —colossians 1:15 from the nwt says it plain as day: “he is the image of the invisible god, the firstborn of all creation.” that’s not vague; it’s got a punch.

  “firstborn” and “creation” sit side by side, and in greek, that second word is “ktisis,” which means the physical stuff—trees, stars, you name it.

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  Rivergang

  sloppyjoe2,

  Precisely!

  This is a stoush which has been raging for over 1500 years, and unlikely to be ended anytime soon.
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  25

  In the past 24 hours, the world has been breaking into fragments. What will be the Outcome??

  by liam in

  1. social
  2. current

  new german chancellor merz has won the election.

  trump congratulated his victory but the response was not what trump expected.

  merz condemned america, saying that america seemed to be aligning with russia.. he also expressed doubts about nato’s future.. he is now advocating that germany must gain independence from usa.

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  Rivergang

  There is one thing for sure: when Trump speaks of putting America first, he is doing so honestly and unapologetically.

  Then it sounds like he has been studying the foreign policy methods of former French President, Charles De Gaulle. Whenever he was engaged in diplomacy, De Gaulle's approach was brutally simple, and able to be summed up in a single phrase:

  "I'm all-right Jack, £µ€₭ you!"

  (A stance the Royal Navy used to refer to as "belonging to the Jack Club").
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  11

  Did you have a written schedule?

  by karter in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the wts encouraged us to have one, i alway found it funny when people would desplay it where everyone could see it to show how busy they are in the lords work.. karter..

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  Rivergang

  After my wife of the time nagged and nagged and nagged and nagged about having a "skedule", I finally relented and gave it a try. Very quickly, though, I gave up in pure disgust!

  Interestingly, one of the body of elders who had much to say about the matter of schedules / timetables privately admitted that the only one which worked for him was "strike while the iron is hot".

  That was the modus operandi which I had already adopted, so he was telling me nothing at all.
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  6

  Even DEMONS were conned by the org into believing 1975 was the end!

  by BoogerMan in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  yb71 p. 97 country reports (part one) - "in malta there is a monk reputed to have the powers of a seer, in the confessional being able to know a person’s sins before they are even confessed.

  a woman in one of the villages was having family trouble, and made a journey to this confessor in the hope of getting some hidden information by the monk’s psychic powers.

  after being told of the problem, the monk said: “don’t worry about it, my dear, the end of all things is very near!” another woman in the same village, somewhat opposed to the truth, told this to her husband, who is having a bible study.

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  Rivergang

  Then there is the old one about the Ouija Board. Story has it that a ouija board was asked what was going to happen in 1975, and in response the bloody thing exploded.

  @Blondie

  Of course, the “Ah buts” will protest that the demons are “in Tartarus”, a place of spiritual un-enlighenment, and so are incapable of putting two and two together. However, as one of the much maligned “Clergy of Christendom” once pointed out, the angels were there at the time of Eve’s creation - and if it were a simple matter of adding 6000 years to a certain date, then they should have been able to figure it out!
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  12

  Are JW's brainwashed?

  by snare&racket in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know as a jw i concluded several times that i was not brainwashed as i was not some unautonimous zombie and had not experienced anything akin to.... .

  but in reality, brainwashing is a control of thought and ideas over a person and changing the way they think.

  in normal life such sentences are not used, in fact they are highly discouraged... .

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  Rivergang

  As summed up by a reviewer of Joel Dimsdale's recent work Dark Persuasion: A History of Brainwashing from Pavlov to the Social Media

  "The term has always had more political explanatory power than actual psychological basis".

  "Brainwashing" is most usually used like it was some sort of swear-word, rather than being an accurate description of anything. All too often the accusation of "brainwashing" forms just another type of ad hominem attack - and frequently used to bully the other person during discussions about (typically) religious or political matters.

  That was certainly the case in the household in which I grew up, anyway!

  (And as was noted in another recent thread on this discussion board, ad hominem attacks only begin when the other side "has nowhere left to hide").
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  12

  Are JW's brainwashed?

  by snare&racket in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know as a jw i concluded several times that i was not brainwashed as i was not some unautonimous zombie and had not experienced anything akin to.... .

  but in reality, brainwashing is a control of thought and ideas over a person and changing the way they think.

  in normal life such sentences are not used, in fact they are highly discouraged... .

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  Rivergang

  Rather a loosely used term - a bit like "fascist".

  The term "brainwashing" first appeared during the Korean War (1950-53), with reference to the way in which Allied prisoners of war were treated. That brutal treatment included extreme physical torture, as well as more subtle "mind control" techniques - which included (but was not limited to) indoctrination. 70 years later, the jury is still out on exactly how effective this was in permanently turning a person's political (let alone religious) persuasions. Using that description of "brain washing", then no, Jehovah's Witnesses are not subjected to it.

  Of course, the expression "brain washing" is often more loosely applied the general process of indoctrination - which let's face it, we are all exposed to through the advertising industry. (Furthermore, the $733 billion which the world spends per year on advertising indicates how effective this must be). To that extent, then yes, JWs - along with most of the world's population - are brainwashed.
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  37

  News of fires out of control in California

  by ballistic in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hope everyone near to the region affected in california is ok. it's shocking to hear of the destruction.

  these affected areas are some of the places i visited when i came on a tour of the us.

  malibu, santa barbera, la, santa monica, hollywood and so on..

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  Rivergang

  If there is a loving God who intends to bring to ruin those ruining the earth then it’s about time he did something about these deplorable conditions that each of us has to deal with daily.

  Yeah, well we were asking that very question 50+ years ago - with a resolution no closer now than it was then!
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  408

  Is Jesus the Creator?

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  that's what the word says.

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  colossians 1:16. for by him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through him and for him..

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  Rivergang

  Are we any closer to finding an answer to the question of - Is Jesus the Creator?

  No closer than they were 1,500 years ago, I would think.
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  24

  WT HQ is never proactive, they are reactive to everything put out showing their blatant hypocrisy and abject stupidity

  by WingCommander in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a few on here (and of course many on the ex-jw reddit forum) have mentioned that wt hq just recently (like in the past couple months) put out a video warning against the praising of jw actors, taking photos with them, etc.

  to not do it anymore.

  it was narrated by geoffrey jackson.

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  Rivergang

  No more dressing like 1950s vacuum salesmen

  LOL

  That actually used to warn people off - some character approaching your door, and who even looks every inch like a bloody salesman. The first thought that would be going through my mind would be “It’s my money they are after”.
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  408

  Is Jesus the Creator?

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  that's what the word says.

  .

  colossians 1:16. for by him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through him and for him..

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  Rivergang

  Halcon,

  The way you describe things, it sounds like God is a state of mind?

  That is one of the most intelligent things I have ever heard!