Fred Franztone

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Topics Started by Fred Franztone

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  13

  World Powers

  by Fred Franztone in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jws have a unique interpretation of the seven kings of revelation.

  they of course refer to roman rulers, but the wt believe they represent certain 'world powers'.. the problem with these world powers is how arbitrary they are, not to mention the fact that none of them truly were world powers, in fact none of them even covered the entirety of europe, and the anglo-american world power isn't even a distinct entity.. then there are all of the world powers that are left out for convenience, many of which were far bigger.

  the mongolian empire and the ottoman empire were both bigger than half of the chosen world powers, such as medo-persia.. has anyone ever taken this topic up with jws?

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  15

  192-page books

  by Fred Franztone in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is my 192nd post, so i thought it'd be fitting to ask a somewhat banal question which i've occasionally pondered over the years.

  does anyone know what's behind the wt's penchant for 192-page books?

  is there some kind of logistical reason for this?

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  10

  Is the blood doctrine idolatrous?

  by Fred Franztone in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'm not a god-fearing individual, but when i was still a believer, many suns ago, it occurred to me that the blood doctrine had an idolatrous foundation; it was one of the initial anti-wt thoughts in my mind that eventually led to me leaving the religion and ultimately (and somewhat ironically) to atheism.. the bible says that one should 'abstain from blood', and putting aside whether this is a mistranslation of bloodshed (which i've never bought), the wt are quite picky about which commandments they follow; they don't observe the sabbath, and they've even provided justifications for lying, so why the preoccupation with the blood commandment?

  and why is it so serious a matter that it's a disfellowship-worthy offence?

  the justification i was always given by elders was that blood is sacred, it's a symbol of life, and whilst the commandment to abstain from blood clearly meant that one shouldn't eat it, it's not unreasonable on the surface to extrapolate it to include transfusions (although some would disagree).. the problem with this reasoning of course is that by abstaining from blood transfusions, death from massive blood-loss is a possibility, unlike with abstaining from eating it.

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  27

  Invited to a talk: What to do?

  by Fred Franztone in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my sister texted me last night with an invitation to watch our dad give his first ever public talk.

  i don't live particularly near to my family, but i'm not too far from them to make the journey, and i am on good terms with them, having never been baptised and so not disfellowshipped; they don't shun me and likely wouldn't even if i were disfellowshipped, it's not in their character.. i haven't been inside a kingdom hall since 2006, and i would like to keep it that way; i only intend to step inside one again in the event of a family wedding or funeral service.

  i don't want to be rude to my sister, ignoring the text isn't an option, so i need a diplomatic way of declining her invitation.. i've considered saying that i'm busy, but this leaves things open for her to ask again in the future, and i'd rather she got the message that i'm not interested, without me having to say so in an explicit way.. any suggestions from those who have been in a similar situation?.

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  39

  If the Watchtower corporation went bust

  by Fred Franztone in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what do you think would happen to jehovah's witnesses as a religion and as a people?.

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  23

  Why did you leave?

  by Fred Franztone in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  we all have many reasons for leaving, most are doctrinal, some are emotional.

  it's a religion which obsesses over factual proofs (counterfactual though they are) of its veracity rather than faith, so it's inevitable that most who leave will do so for intellectual reasons.

  which doctrine above all others forced you to reconsider your position?

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  23

  Why I'm rejoining the JWs

  by Fred Franztone in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  dear brothers and sisters.

  after many years outside of the truth, living as an atheist, i have come to realise that i have been on the wrong path.

  the fool has said in his heart that there is no god, and i have been a fool.

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  23

  Who Do JWs Fear The Most? Top Five

  by Fred Franztone in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it's a fear-based religion, at its core.

  jws fear many things, but what or who do they fear the most?

  let's find out.... 5) satan.

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  14

  Watchtower Rebranding

  by Fred Franztone in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the wtbts has finally decided to join the rest of us in the 21st century and has begun rebranding.

  they've dropped the iconic watchtower sign from their heaquarters, and it's only a matter of time till they drop the now embarrassing watchtower name completely; a name synonymous with failure on the one hand and concentration camps on the other.. the organisation will soon be known solely as jw.org, bringing them right up-to-date with the web 2.0 revolution of 15 years ago, and making them the only company still to use a full web address as their main identifier, very forward-thinking of them.. it's inevitable that they'll gradually rebrand everything.

  what methods do you think they'll go with?

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  16

  Name A Problem That Nationalism Has Solved

  by Fred Franztone in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  are there any?.

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