FFGhost

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Posts by FFGhost

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  14

  Invitation

  by jhine in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i just received a hand written envelope through the post containing an invitation to the online 2021 convenient.

  i'm in staffs in the uk .

  jan .

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  FFGhost

  For Jan

  
  
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  83

  Do You Think Trump Will Make A Comeback?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you think he could get reinstated as president?

  do you think trump will run again for president or do you think he will just be a force for the republican party behind the scenes?.

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  FFGhost

  After his most recent (June 27th) attacks on two of his staunchest allies, (Barr and McConnell,)

  Good lord, did you see the one from today (June 29)?

  "Unhinged" doesn't even scratch the surface. Words fail me.

  Suppose we'd better get used to it though. Imagine what he'll say once the indictments start.

  
  
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  14

  Invitation

  by jhine in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i just received a hand written envelope through the post containing an invitation to the online 2021 convenient.

  i'm in staffs in the uk .

  jan .

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  FFGhost

  It's the "convention invitation campaign".

  The idea is that you, dear householder, will be so enthralled by the invitation that you will eagerly leap at the chance to watch old men with little to no charisma or public speaking ability blather on about topics tangentially related to the Bible. The hope is that you will reply to the invitation, and then they will send you a link to watch a streamed recording of those old men blathering (no in-person conventions in 2021, just as there were none in 2020).

  Anywhere from 95 to 98% of the program will be incomprehensible gobbledy-gook to non-JWs, but hey, gotta get their "time" in.

  It will save time and be less painful to just pound your forehead with a ball peen hammer.
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  24

  Will there be a sense of urgency in 30 years?

  by neat blue dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it's pretty easy to see how current events would have any jw convinced the end is imminent, but i just don't see how there could be a major push for zealous service, pioneering, etc.

  decades into the future.

  even if (when) world events happen periodically that could scare the r&f, there are now countless hours of hd video of jw leaders saying how close the end is.

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  FFGhost

  Religious zealotry and end-of-the-world-is-coming cults will be here 30 years from now, and 300 years from now. If not JWs, something else.

  Such teachings fill a deep-seated primal human need. And those who recognize this and understand it will continue to make themselves very very wealthy by exploiting it.
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  17

  "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"

  by Diogenesister in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  can anyone remember the reasoning the watchtower gave for jesus speaking these words?

  if you have a reference that would be even better!.

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  FFGhost

  Here is the latest from the April 2021 Watchtower:

  https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2021363

  "Although we cannot be dogmatic, let us consider some possibilities."

  Irony just died.
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  16

  Do you think there is an Omnipotent, Omniscient Being that lives forever and ever?

  by pistolpete in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  notice that i left off "benevolent" .

  reason being is because i could argue that being all knowing and all powerful is not a prerequisite of being "good".

  yet i'm a firm believer that "something didn't come from nothing".

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  FFGhost

  Turning the question in its head a bit, I could get behind the idea of a benevolent deity that is NOT omniscient / omnipotent. Would fit a lot of religious experiences.
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  35

  Go Bag and Catastrophes

  by StephaneLaliberte in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i live with my parents in law and yesterday, my mother in-law was very nervous about an email she got from the brothers in her congregation.

  it was asking if she would be able to receive people over at our house should there be a catastrophe.

  so, she asked me if i would agree with this.

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  FFGhost

  The go-bag thing was a direct result of the Hurricane Katrina event in the us in 2005. Thousands of JWs were caught up in the mass evacuations out of Louisiana into nearby states, and elders lost track of many of them due to not having up to date contact info. Plus, without having time to take any supplies with them, JWs were forced to rely on "worldly" charities to survive.

  This situation was absolutely horrifying to the Bethel bigwigs.

  Not so much due to concern about the welfare of the affected JWs. Rather, it was the loss of control. If a New Orleans JW was relocated to Texas, what meetings would he attend? How would the elders spy on, er, shepherd, them? What if a relocated JW discovers "hey, these 'worldly charities' are not foaming-at-the-mouth devil worshippers"? What if he needs to go to a hospital - how would the local HLC be there to enforce the blood prohibition? What if a few dozen, or a few hundred, fence-sitting JWs used this an opportunity to "fade" from the organization?

  Terrifying for Bethel to lose so much control.

  So, since 2006 or so, "disaster preparedness" is now part of the WT platform. Each congregation must have a "disaster plan". Each publisher must supply contact information to the elders and update it if anything changes. "Go bags" to reduce dependency on "worldly" institutions are now strongly encouraged. Videos on hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, etc. affecting JWs are now part of the regular rotation. There are meeting parts, at least annually, reminding everyone of all of this.

  Of course, being prepared for disasters is a good thing.

  The issue is the motivation for pushing it. WT's track record over many many many decades is utter disdain, even contempt, for the rank & file. So now suddenly they want everyone to "be prepared"?

  Why? Which reason fits better: They suddenly have become altruistic and are solely concerned about the welfare of their adherents, OR they haven't changed one iota and are primarily concerned that lots of JWs could "slip through their fingers"?
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  39

  The First Time I Went Over 120mph (193kph) I Was In A ____________ ,

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  honda vfr 750.

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  FFGhost

  30+ years ago, German autobahn. Rented a little Mercedes 4-cylinder, if pointing downhill it could reach 200 KMH.

  Weird how your senses heighten at that speed. Got to look wayyyy down the road to anticipate potential issues.
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  9

  The racial term 'black' has become sooo diluted

  by LoveUniHateExams in

  1. social
  2. current

  i always understood the term 'black' (or 'black', if you write for the guardian) to refer to sub-saharan africans or people of sub-saharan african origin.. but, perhaps in a rush to embrace victimhood, more and more people are today are using the term black to refer to other people.. so, apparently barack obama is black - 'the first black president of the united states'.. and lewis hamilton is supposedly the only black driver in formula one.. and jordan peele is a black film director, apparently.. and then there's meghan markle.. there may also be people of pakistani heritage who refer to themselves as black.. and, sorry to say, it's all a load of bullsh*t.. barack obama, lewis hamilton, jordan peel, halle berry and meghan markle are all biracial (mixed-race).

  they're not black.

  disregarding the other half of their ethnic heritage is intellectually dishonest.. .

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  FFGhost

  I always understood the term 'black' (or 'Black', if you write for The Guardian) to refer to sub-Saharan Africans or people of sub-Saharan African origin.

  What difference does what "you've always understood" make?

  Some racist folks have always understood that one drop of "non-white blood" makes a person "not Caucasian".

  I've always understood that flying unicorns fart rainbow-colored skittles.

  Perhaps "what I've always understood" isn't the best or final arbiter of veracity?

  
  
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  40

  Liberal vs. Conservative mental health study - what do you make of it?

  by Brock Talon in

  1. social
  2. current

  a pew study from 2020 (but one i just now came upon myself) reported that the more liberal you are, the more likely you are to have a mental health condition.

  the worst suffering group are white females, ages 18-29 where over 56% have admitted to be described by their own doctors as having a mental health condition.

  conservative females of the same age group suffer at less than half that number (27%).. while women tend to have more mental health problems than men (don't be mad at me for saying it, this is what the study reports) it is notable that liberal men have a higher percentage of mental health conditions than conservative women in the same age group.

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  FFGhost

  The argument "anyone who thinks differently than I do must be mentally ill" is a pretty tough sell - it's unlikely to persuade many people whom you apparently want to persuade.