Stephanus

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Posts by Stephanus

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  6

  Sydney BBQ Proposition

  by Stephanus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have a laptop and a webcam; anyone interested in getting their mug plastered all over the 'net?

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  Stephanus

  I have a laptop and a webcam; anyone interested in getting their mug plastered all over the 'net?
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  5

  From Simony to Paedophilia

  by Stephanus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i remember a few years ago a watchtower article on simony, the buying or selling of privileges in a church setting.

  the wording struck me at the time.

  there was one of those "true christians should" statements that proliferate in the wt: something along the lines of "true christians should not be giving money in exchange for positions within congregations" or some such (i may have to dig through my old issues of the 'tower to find it).

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  Stephanus

  It's named Simony after the guy in Acts who tried to pay the Apostles for the power to confer the gift of the Holy Spirit
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  5

  From Simony to Paedophilia

  by Stephanus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i remember a few years ago a watchtower article on simony, the buying or selling of privileges in a church setting.

  the wording struck me at the time.

  there was one of those "true christians should" statements that proliferate in the wt: something along the lines of "true christians should not be giving money in exchange for positions within congregations" or some such (i may have to dig through my old issues of the 'tower to find it).

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  Stephanus

  No takers?
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  21

  A FAIRY TALE....

  by peaceloveharmony in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a fairy tale for the assertive woman of the 21st .

  century .

  once upon a time, .

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  Stephanus

  Oh, if he was a Greenie, that's alright then!
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  5

  From Simony to Paedophilia

  by Stephanus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i remember a few years ago a watchtower article on simony, the buying or selling of privileges in a church setting.

  the wording struck me at the time.

  there was one of those "true christians should" statements that proliferate in the wt: something along the lines of "true christians should not be giving money in exchange for positions within congregations" or some such (i may have to dig through my old issues of the 'tower to find it).

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  Stephanus

  I remember a few years ago a Watchtower article on simony, the buying or selling of privileges in a church setting. The wording struck me at the time. There was one of those "true Christians should" statements that proliferate in the WT: something along the lines of "True Christians should not be giving money in exchange for positions within congregations" or some such (I may have to dig through my old issues of the 'Tower to find it). Whenever an article says something like that, I notice. In this case I took it as 'Tower-speak for "There are people bribing elders, COs, etc. to give them positions of prominence within the congregations and we want it to stop, but we're not coming straight out and saying it because we're not going to admit such an embarassing problem exists in Jehovah's Clean Organisation".

  Can anyone point to any similar articles over the last few years where a problem rife in the Org has been discreetly hidden behind this "true Christians should/shouldn't" Newspeak?

  How likely are we to see an article in the near future addressing the paedophilia issue by saying "True Christians shoud avoid acts of paedophilia if at all possible" or some such meally-mouthed non-statement.
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  2

  (Soon to be) an Extinct Species?

  by dutyfree in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  jws all over the world will not be happy bunnies to hear that the number is falling, especially is countries like germany, japan and canada.

  currently standing at just over 6 million, we could be down to 5m by the end of next year!!.

  any guesses as to how long before we are rid of these pseudo-religous people and they are made extinct, like the dinosaurs?

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  Stephanus

  I don't think the overall numbers will go backwards anytime soon. There's still the third world. Numerical growth there will continue to obscure the backwards growth of the 'Tower in wealthier countries.

  Still, the pressures on the Tower are mounting. The next decade or two will see the "turning point", whatever that will be.
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  21

  A FAIRY TALE....

  by peaceloveharmony in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a fairy tale for the assertive woman of the 21st .

  century .

  once upon a time, .

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  Stephanus

  Er, since when is murdering someone who suggests something you find distasteful considered "assertiveness"? What ever happened to a polite "No, thank you!"
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  11

  Probably the Biggest Con in the World

  by dutyfree in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have a question:.

  why is it that since the inception of this bizarre religion, there was no problem with blood transfusions during russell's reign, no problems during rutherford's term and then out of the blue... no blood!.

  as my jw tenant said to me the other day, '...you cannot mis-interpret that line in the bible (referring to the passage which says, '...you should abstain from blood...').. if that is the case, why did it take over 60 years for the jws to realize that there was a problem after all, and thus issuing a total ban?.

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  Stephanus

  Actually the archaeologists in Southern Israel have no problem with the Biblical view; every site which the Bible mentions as being an Israelite campsite shows evidence of a large encampment of Middle Bronze I people, a group which shows a large amount of Egyptian (Middle Kingdom) influence, who eventually sacked and settled most of what is now Palestine. The MBIers tended to live in tents even on the cities they had conquered; MBIIers tended to build large cities like those which are recorded as being those of the kings of Judah and Israel. The trouble is that the MBIIers are too early to be the Israelites according to current dating practice (all dates ultimately derive from Egypt) The trouble with dating using Egypt is that Egyptian dates aren't too reliable and getting less so all the time. For example it has been discovered that the cattle muster in the Middle Kingdom was actually annual rather than biannual as was originally believed. This would effectively halve the length of the Middle Kingdom period of Egypt. In Middle Kingdom Egypt, there were huge settlements of semitic labourers working on various building projects; they simply vanished. The evidence for the Exodus is actually there, if you look.
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  16

  Sydney BBQ: HELP!!

  by Stephanus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i will probably need a lift to get to the bbq; i live in wollongong but can meet someone at a train station near the venue.

  if someone can pick me up, please email me.. yours sincerely,.

  a golf ball

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  Stephanus

  now don't get any ideas .. stealing trains is real stupid! ;)

  Shows how sheltered an upbringing you've had, UB! It may be stupid, but Boy! Is it fun! (Just ask Ronnie Biggs)
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  20

  WTB&TS As Moral Compass

  by Francois in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  incredible tale of jaw-dropping, eye-popping dishonesty from the borg!.

  my father, who continues to be in the borg, managed the construction of one of those 48-hour wonders several years ago.

  just a few months later, someone had a "welcome to the neighborhood bonfire" um, using the new kh as the bonfire.. the new hall was, of course, insured and application was duly made for payment so that another soaring, magnificent testament to man's spiritual longing could be constructed.. well.

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  Stephanus

  Have any of these Bethel bastards ever gotten out among real R&F dubs and found out how tough they really do it???