Anders Andersen

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Posts by Anders Andersen

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  23

  You will not find this sort of support in the New System: JC Elder

  by Diogenesister in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so that statement was made by an elder to a disfellowshipped brother, during a reinstatement meeting.. this statement is made here at around 4.

  10 mins in.. the full story of this man is incredibly sad.

  in fact i've rarely listened to an exjws story that has affected me quite so much.

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  Anders Andersen

  Afaik official stance is that in paradise (after 1000 years) any sin = instant death penalty.

  No need for a JC or trial even, as perfect people cannot hide behind imperfection and thus willingly choose to sin. They wouldn't be repentant anyway. The sinner knowingly and willingly rebelled against God and this deserves to die.

  Of course nobody ever explored the details of this idea. Nobody looked at the huge grey area.

  Assume alcoholic beverages to be still in use...would everybody have a built in breathalyzer so they know when to stop drinking?

  I know that sometimes I have 3 beers without any effects, and other times 1 and feel it.

  Would I be executed in such a situation?

  Would it really be impossible for someone to miscalculate their reaction to alcohol sometimes?

  If not, people could sin unwillingly even in Paradise.

  If so, how would that even work?

  Or similarly, how about lusting for someone you're not married to? Where is the line between seeing a person and admiring their physical and inner beauty, and lusting for them? It's easy to describe the difference between the extremes on this scale, but what about the middle?

  I'm afraid the ideas JW have about how justice would work in paradise are untenable. Of course they'll just "wait for Jehovah (tm)"...
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  14

  Interpretation often takes you away from truth

  by Ireneus in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  yesterday, my classmate was giving an example from her homeland on how people can give various interpretations which have nothing to do with truth.

  though studying in the us, she was closely monitoring what was happening in kerala (a small southern state of india), her birth place.

  last month saw unprecedent heavy rains wreaking widespread havoc in this small state with huge population (which is much more than australia’s population).

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  Anders Andersen

  This explains why we find many interpretations on Biblical subjects with the possibility that none of them could be be true.

  As you described people already come up with different interpretations for a single, unchallenged fact (heavy rains).

  It only makes sense that interpretations of someone else's convoluted fantasy or nightmares (e.g. Revelations), folk lore and origin myths (e.g. Exodus) and other such legendary stories that we don't even know to be factually correct, are going to be completely arbitrary and completely useless.

  It's also noteworthy that your example about the Kerala rains shows very clearly that people come up with interpretations that fit their pre-existing worldview.

  Very few of the women who wanted entry have interpreted the situation as their gods telling them to drop the case.

  Very few of the men who denied women entry have interpreted the situation as their gods telling them to allow women in the temple.

  None of the scientists accepted the interpretation that those floodings are the wrath of a god.

  They all interpreted according to their already existing worldview.

  And that is exactly the point I tried to make in one of your other threads. Anyone who reads the Bible will interpret it according to their own preexisting ideas and beliefs.

  Someone who believes God is loving, kind and patient might interpret that some parts of the Bible are written by 'false friends', and that their depictions of God as jealous, angry, vindictive or violent are to be ignored. That interpretation is however entirely arbitrary, according to that person's preexisting beliefs.

  If someone else were to claim the exact opposite (God is impatient, violent, vindictive, and every Bible verse that says otherwise is written by a 'false friend'), that interpretation would be just as valid/invalid and useful/useless and the favorable interpretation.

  Just like the Kerala rains, people generally interpret the world and religious ideas just the way they want. They construct their own god(s)/God and make the world and the texts conform to that.

  Worse, the texts themselves are the result of people having preexisting religious ideas and interpreting their world according to those ideas.

  Building your reality on those means interpreting the (incomplete record of) someone else's interpretation of the world.

  Can't get much unstable than that....(well unless you add another layer such as JW who interpret the JW leaders' interpretation of Bible writers' interpretation of the world.)
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  26

  Sisters handling mic's

  by I Faded Twice in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i saw a topic on another forum where a sister was supposedly carrying the mics.

  i was curious if this was even possible?

  is it new light or just a lie?.

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  Anders Andersen

  Can you imagine Rosa Parks or M.L. King saying something like:

  I'm from a small town. There are not enough White people to fill all the positions in the White school. I have been assigned to clean the hallways. Assisting the White teachers to care for the White school needs is a great privilege and I am very thankful for it.

  Yeah it takes a special kind of blindness to be thankful for repression and discrimination like this sweet mic carrying sister...
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  25

  Who wrote the Bible?

  by Ireneus in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the wordings suggest much of the bible is written by false friends of god.

  to mention a few:.

  1) god planted a special tree to pay the way for suffering and death into the lives of his children.. 2) god protected cain who murdered his innocent brother out of sheer jealousy.

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  Anders Andersen

  • I have no problem in identifying what is inherently and intrinsically good.

    By what means do you identify the good and bad?

    By what standard do you measure this?

    How did you determine that this standard is the (or a) correct standard for identifying the good and the bad?
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  26

  Sisters handling mic's

  by I Faded Twice in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i saw a topic on another forum where a sister was supposedly carrying the mics.

  i was curious if this was even possible?

  is it new light or just a lie?.

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  Anders Andersen

  Jup, entirely possible.

  My wife and I visited her sister and BIL who were need greating somewhere.

  My wife and SIL ran the mics, another sister was in the sound booth and literature dept.

  BIL and I were the only two brothers, and we were on stage doing all the parts.

  BIL was only an MS bit had to run that whole (tiny) congo (or group?). Together we even made an official shepherding call....a MS and and me, regular Joe Publisher.

  Only men are worthy, but in dire situations Jehovah is willing to lower his standards.
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  58

  Developments in the India Branch

  by MaxPayne in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the following letter was read in the congregation today.

  it's for all the congregations in india.

  i have pasted it as it was.

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  Anders Andersen

  @drearywheather,

  Thanks for the detailed info!
• 
  58

  Developments in the India Branch

  by MaxPayne in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the following letter was read in the congregation today.

  it's for all the congregations in india.

  i have pasted it as it was.

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  Anders Andersen

  • Use more literature? I wonder what money making scheme is behind that? Could it be their way of moving money abroad? 'Buy' literature from a JW printing facility outside India?
  • Small Bethel family = less apostasy or fraud, as recently most Indian Bethel leaders were replaced by foreigners?
  • Bethelites in apartments = they'll have to take care of themselves after they done slaving for the day.
  • Selling Bethel but still need money = begging scheme. Either they're lying about coming up with enough money, or they could probably use Bethel as collateral for a bank loan. But they don't want that...begging the flock for money means they don't need to pay anything back (and then export the money through the increased literature flow?)

  Same old same old: work harder, give us your money.
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  68

  District Assemblies now being held at Circuit Assembly locations?

  by ShirleyW in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i haven't been to a kh in decades, so i get the google alerts for jws and i got one featuring a local news channel in brooklyn covering the assembly being held in flatbush, brooklyn.

  i'm sure that venue is where the circuit assemblies are usually held, keeping in mind it's summer and that's when the district assemblies are being held.

  why are they acting like they're so strapped for cash and now holding district assemblies in circuit assemblies locations ?.

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  Anders Andersen

  They have been doing this in Europe too.

  Use or repurpose the own CA halls for conventions too. This means no more money out of pocket to rent large venues, and the cost per day for the own halls goes down (= higher gross margin).

  Added bonus: it's easier to hide decreasing visitor numbers...
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  25

  Who wrote the Bible?

  by Ireneus in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the wordings suggest much of the bible is written by false friends of god.

  to mention a few:.

  1) god planted a special tree to pay the way for suffering and death into the lives of his children.. 2) god protected cain who murdered his innocent brother out of sheer jealousy.

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  Anders Andersen

  @onager,

  And that is exactly what already happened when people (evil apostate Catholic cardinals according to JW) decided which letters and books should be in the Bible canon, and which ones should not be in there.

  And even on this matter people disagree, as there are (and have been) quite a few different Bible canons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_biblical_canons

  Built on this shaky foundation, believers then decide which parts to adhere to or ignore.
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  20

  Do KHs lock their doors when meeting starts now?

  by NikL in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my still in wife informed me this morning that she must be on time to the meeting as they are locking the door when it starts now.. i said that's crazy.

  she said it's because of the times we are living in.. we live in a rural area and crime isn't terrible though it's worse than it used to be.. i told her if that's the way it is then why bother leaving the house at all?.

  she said they are just trying to be safe.. is this a thing now?

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  Anders Andersen

  Yes it's a thing. No it's not new. In my very, very safe country kh have been locked during meetings for decades.

  Most kh have a small LED door bell here.

  The fairy tale in Acts about Jesus entering the locked room is cited as scriptural precedent to lock the doors during meetings.