Posts by 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.

35

Go Bag and Catastrophes

by StephaneLaliberte in

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.

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"?

39

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

by Sea Breeze in

honda vfr 750.

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.

9

The racial term 'black' has become sooo diluted

by LoveUniHateExams in

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.. .

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?

40

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

by Brock Talon in

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.

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.

14

Do you know of any JW that likes to watch Military Flyover?

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

just wondering!

.

FFGhost

Back in my younger days, there used to be an air show in the city where I worked in a downtown office building. The air show was held over a long holiday weekend.

On Thursday & Friday, the planes would practice their performances from the small airport within viewing distance of the building I worked in.

Every year there was an exhibition from military planes - alternating one year the Blue Angels, the next the Thunderbirds.

The Navy / Air Force pilots got a kick out of buzzing the skyscrapers. You'd hear this low rumble, then a window-rattling whoosh, a remarkably fast shadow, and if you were quick enough, four F-15s or F-18s a few hundred feet away, at almost eye level.

I was a full on 100% believer at the time but I was always the first to jump out of my seat to try to catch a glimpse.

53

Did you think this was it for the Watchtower-(Covid)- Well-They are coming back with even greater ZEAL!

by pistolpete in

so you all probably heard that the awake magazine is back, .

https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/?contentlanguagefilter=en&pubfilter=g&yearfilter=.

and one of my jw relatives said they were told by some elders that meetings and field service will resume before the end of the year.. they said this covid virus was a test, like when the romans breached jerusalem and retreated, only to come back later and sack jerusalem.

FFGhost

Strange heard assembly will be online for 2022.

There was an announcement a few months back that there would be no international conventions in 2022.

They have not said anything about the "normal" (how's that for a misnomer) regional conventions for 2022.

9

Time Indefinite

by StephaneLaliberte in

from a very young age, i was always annoyed by this translation time indefinite simply means: time that has not been defined.

where the new world translation uses "time indefinite", other translations use "everlasting" and "eternal".

honestly, it makes much more sense to me "everlasting" and "eternal" as "time indefinite" would leave room for god to define that time later on.

FFGhost

It seems that the WTS have dropped the phrase nowadays.

The Revised NWT cleaned up the worst of Freddy's "I don't give a hoot if it is an idiom, I'm going to translate it as literally as possible" renderings.

They did the same thing with "soul" and "Hades" - now it is, for the most part, "life" and "the grave".

Although there are still readability issues - for example they have replaced every instance of "fornication" with "sexual immorality" which is remarkably clunky.

53

Did you think this was it for the Watchtower-(Covid)- Well-They are coming back with even greater ZEAL!

by pistolpete in

so you all probably heard that the awake magazine is back, .

https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/?contentlanguagefilter=en&pubfilter=g&yearfilter=.

and one of my jw relatives said they were told by some elders that meetings and field service will resume before the end of the year.. they said this covid virus was a test, like when the romans breached jerusalem and retreated, only to come back later and sack jerusalem.

FFGhost

told by some elders that meetings and field service will resume before the end of the year.

There's nothing "official", but it's definitely on the way.

For example, in the local congregation, they announced that the January 2022 circuit assembly is scheduled to be held in person at the nearest assembly hall.

Subject to change of course, but it's a sign they are planning on trying to resume "normal" activities.