https://youtu.be/5926nhzyz90.
the jehovah's witness 2023 convention theme is, ''exercise patience''...by looking at the attendance at this tucson, arizona convention, it should be changed to, '' jehovah's witnesses...running out of patience''.
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I watched the streamed US Convention a few weeks ago. Not sure where it was recorded but there were 1,500 - 1,600 depending on the day. Only 4 baptised.
It was in an assembly hall in Connecticut, Newburgh I think.
It was curious, attenadnce dwindled as the days went on. Friday, which typically has the lowest attendance, had 1800 or 1900. By Sunday afternoon, less than 1600 were on hand to hear Rubberface McSteroid's last talk.
a silly question since i'm an atheist but one i thought of as a kid jw.
why weren't human's created to be obviously different from animals?
among believers there is some sort of universal hierarchy.
FF Ghost evolution?
Well yes, of course, but how would a JW answer?
a silly question since i'm an atheist but one i thought of as a kid jw.
why weren't human's created to be obviously different from animals?
among believers there is some sort of universal hierarchy.
why, if we were not intended to get sick, do we have the mechanisms for coping with it when we are.
Similarly, why are penguins, polar bears, etc. built to handle extremes of temperature if the entire earth was designed to be a temperate tropical paradise?
my grandfather who has been dead for 37 years would not recognise the borganisation today.
he would turn in his grave if he knew the end didn’t come by 2023.. back in the 1970s he really believed in the 75 thing.
he was so disappointed and almost blamed everyone else why the end didn’t come.
all of them added together makes the typical meeting quite different
I think "stultifying" is the word you are looking for.
my grandfather who has been dead for 37 years would not recognise the borganisation today.
he would turn in his grave if he knew the end didn’t come by 2023.. back in the 1970s he really believed in the 75 thing.
he was so disappointed and almost blamed everyone else why the end didn’t come.
There's only so many years decades centuries you can say "very soon now!" before people start thinking, maybe, just maybe, it won't be "very soon now".
https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/charges-probe-child-sexual-abuse-among-jehovahs-witnesses-pennsylvania/3600171/#:~:text=a%20pennsylvania%20grand%20jury%20investigating,that%20has%20identified%2014%20suspects.
what to know.
a pennsylvania grand jury investigating child sexual abuse among jehovah’s witnesses has charged another five people with raping or molesting children as young as 4 years old.. the indictments friday are the latest charges in an ongoing probe that has identified 14 suspects.. state attorney general michelle henry says that while the misconduct dates back years or even decades, “the trauma endures for these victims.”.
"Jehovah's Witnesses do NOT abuse children!"
No true Scotsman.....
This PA case is starting to get very interesting.
I know it's the longest of long shots, but I can't get rid of the gut feeling there is some connection between all these recent PA cases and Tony Morris' abrupt and complete disappearance, to the point of pretending he never existed, erasing his dozens if not hundreds of video appearances....
The sudden prominence of his son.....
The complete forbidding of asking anyone anything about it....
It could be any of a dozen things....but the timing is eyebrow-raising.
title: jesus' perception of himself: a nuanced view of equality in a patriarchal society.
introduction:.
the perception of jesus christ's divinity has been a subject of theological debate for centuries.
I guess ChatAI will now burn in hell for all eternity for heresy?
according to a new harris poll shared exclusively with fast company, most americans would prefer to live in a simpler era before everyone was obsessed with screens and social media, and this sentiment is especially strong among older millennials and gen xers.. asked whether they would like to return to a time before humanity was “plugged in”—meaning before people had wide access to the internet and smartphones—77% of americans age 35-54 said they would, the highest of any group.. .
what would you consider your ideal level of the internet?
as a gen x'er, i would not want to go back to the per-internet world, but i would like to go back in some specific technologies.
Random thoughts....
One thing I really love is how we have GPS systems at our fingertips. If I'm in a new city, I don't have to memorize maps and hunt down street names and worry about wandering into a skinky part of town by accident. I just pull out the smart phone, pick a place I want to go, and walk there. I never worry about "getting lost" anymore.
One thing I really hate is what I would call "loss of charm". Like, say, I traveled to some dinky little US southern town, and happened to visit their Class A minor league baseball stadium to take in a game. While at the stadium, I could buy a souvenir cap of the "Podunk Gristmillers" or whatever their team is. The only place in the world where you could buy a "Podunk Gristmillers" baseball cap was to actually go to Podunk and visit the stadium. When you got back home, you could wear the cap and have a "story to tell" about where it came from, and your travels there, etc. etc. It was a way to start a conversation about your travels.
Today, you can order from any of, oh, 280 different websites which sell baseball caps from every city, from every decade, with every variation, and Amazon will deliver it to your front door in 48 hours. No effort, no interesting stories, no "charm".
It doesn't have to be "baseball caps" and "small towns" - purchasing [anything which used to be kind of fun and unique and regional] is effortless and the sentimental, emotional part of it is gone.
the watchtower and awake have been listed as the most popular magazines.the figures are astonishing.
i am not sure whether it is based on reality or not.. source: https://tingtopten.com/2020/01/top-10-most-popular-magazines-in-the-world/.
i have seen the link on many social media networks.
They only print one "public" edition of each magazine per year.
How can a single 16 page "magazine" (with maybe 6 actual pages of text after you take away the 2 inch margins and multiple photos and triple-spaced bullet points) be the "most popular"?
yes, there’s a post on reddit.
it says that after a zoom meeting a request was made to baptized publishers to give $20 apiece to fix this elder’s car.. while this sounds highly irregular to me and not necessarily approved by the religion, i am not at all surprised at the nerve.
this, unfortunately, seems to be the direction that things are going there!
Heh, yeah, we had a special pioneer couple, and the elder body (at least it wasn't the whole congregation) were "kindly requested" by the COBE to chip in to buy the guy a car.
Fortunately, it was an extraordinarily wealthy congregation and it was relatively easy for most to contribute. I think they got him an older Toyota Camry.
