politics is like religion. you are either with us or you are against us. There is no middle ground.
Sadly true. It didn't used to be like that, at least with politics.
FFGhost
JoinedPosts by FFGhost
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70
Report Card : How’s President Biden Doing?
by minimus ini give him an f for falling down on the job..
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FFGhost
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FFGhost
Eventually, yes.
Almost certainly not in 2021 though. And when it does start up again, it will be at limited capacity (X% of the congregation physically at the KH, the rest on Zoom) for many months.
I don't anticipate things back to "normal" JW-wise until, at the earliest, 2023.
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my personal car plate
by stan livedeath inmy avatar is my personal plate on my mg sports car.. some years back a friend gave me a small model very similar to my car.. only today i noticed the number plate--spooky !.
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FFGhost
and the "FJW" to "XJW"
Oh I dunno, I can think of at least one word for which the "F" would suffice....
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my personal car plate
by stan livedeath inmy avatar is my personal plate on my mg sports car.. some years back a friend gave me a small model very similar to my car.. only today i noticed the number plate--spooky !.
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FFGhost
Only way to improve it would be to change the first 4 digits to 1975!
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Drastic Upcoming Changes? (accelerated by the pandemic)
by JWTom ingood to see you again!
much discussion now about the fallout that is coming due to impacts of the pandemic combined with the long-term downward spiral of jw.org.
i am active as a pimo and my wife is pimi....much of our personal conversation and conversation with others in jw land focuses on how things will play out for jw.org in the next 12-24 months.
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FFGhost
They'll never stop in-person meetings (too much loss of control, thus while they will continue to sell some KHs, many will still be needed (so no. 2 won't happen). That also means 3 & 4 won't happen, at least not on the scale you wish for.
5. Nope. Not happening. Too valuable a tool to keep the drones hamster-wheeling
6. Nope. Not in a million billion quadrillion years. Fear of DFing is the primary weapon to keep control
7. Sounds like a wish list of things you'd like to see happen, but which won't happen
That said, I could - maybe - MAYBE - see them eliminate one in-person meeting per week. I.e., the "midweek meeting" remains as a zoom item, while weekend meetings are always at the KH. But even that I'd rate at less than 50% chance of happening. Other than that, back to "normal" as soon as practicable. Imaginative and creative these guys ain't.
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Research question
by JeffT ini'm doing a little background research for a novel.
what is the craziest thing you heard a witness say was demonized, and what did they do about it?.
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FFGhost
heard a witness say was demonized - the theory of evolution.
Ha! I remember an elderette giving a WT comment one Sunday saying something like "At schools of higher education, they teach things like evolution....or evil - lution as I like to call it...[insert dramatic pause and self-indulgent grin]"
I think she was disappointed that people didn't burst in a spontaneous standing ovation at her "cleverness".
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What’s Your View On Self Defense?
by minimus inif someone comes to you with a knife or a gun, would you defend yourself if you could?
if someone tried to beat you up , would you physically engage, run away or just try to talk the person out of beating you up or robbing you?
if you did have a gun to defend yourself would you shoot to kill or would you simply aim for the ankle to incapacitate the person?
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FFGhost
Interesting letter, reply, and snippet from the WT article.
Gotta love the weasel wording "spiritually mature Christians choose not keep a firearm" - rather than coming right and saying "you, Brother Gunsmith, are a spiritually immature dolt".
Just like when people say "any reasonable and intelligent person would agree that...[insert personal opinion here]" which implies that anyone and everyone who holds a different opinion than yours is a stubborn buffoon.
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"Criminal Minds" quote
by neat blue dog ini was just watching an old episode of criminal minds and there was this description of cults:.
"cults commonly have their own language.
they invent or redefine certain words only the cult members understand.
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FFGhost
Pioneer, publisher, LDC, RBC, and all the related jargon.
"Spiritual" = eagerly willing to do mundane chores for the advancement of the JW religion
"Kingdom Interests" = Assets of the Watchtower Bible & Tract Corporation
"Spiritually mature" = Blindly and unquestioningly obedient to every whim of the elders, CO, and/or governing body
"Apostasy" = any idea even faintly critical of the WTS regardless of its source
"Privilege" = a menial drudgery performed with no tangible benefit returned to the doer (carrying a microphone, scrubbing a toilet, creating a schedule, etc.)
"Thrilling, encouraging, rewarding, satisfying" = exact 180-degree antonyms of how every non-JW in the universe understands those words
Need I go on?
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Do JWs now allow some gambling?
by mickbobcat ini had seen a video evens did where he said that jws now say if you gambling for entertainment its ok. anyone have any link to the cult actually in print or video saying this?.
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FFGhost
maybe the watchtower management have realised that relaxing / rescinding all these petty rules and regulations or making them matters of conscience will eventually make the cult a bit more popular.
Far more likely: certain Bethel "heavies" have a regular card game every weekend, that is well-known throughout the halls of Bethel. So saying that "petty" gambling is allowed creates the loophole to allow them to continue without interference.
Maybe I'm too cynical, but I always think that any softening of rules is done to allow for the heavies' to "get away" with stuff they want to do themselves.
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Do JWs now allow some gambling?
by mickbobcat ini had seen a video evens did where he said that jws now say if you gambling for entertainment its ok. anyone have any link to the cult actually in print or video saying this?.
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FFGhost
I would guess the elder's manual is probably referring to JWs playing poker with each other and the like, so long as they are not "high stakes". Maybe a "loser buys the beer" arrangement for golf, or small bets on football games.
Traveling to Las Vegas for the primary reason of gambling thousands of dollars would probably, in the viewpoint of most elders reflect a "course of greediness" (where on earth do they come up with these tortured, awkward phrasings???).
But as always, the key is "stumbling others". If Sister Blue-Hair catches wind of your Friday night card game and runs to the elders in a self-righteous snit, well, that's the end of that.