Posts by Apognophos

It's difficult to even know how to respond to your posts, SingleCell, because there's so many untested assumptions. You've built up a skyscraper's worth of scientific and intellectual rationalizations on a foundation of sand (it reminds me of myself a couple years ago, though I think you've gone even further into the madness than I did).

But I'm curious how you can say that any of the prophecies about Jesus (which were actually about a Jewish king, not a teacher or the son of God) were fulfilled. We don't even know if Jesus existed and much of his specific teachings bear the mark of a later hand who wanted to put words in his mouth for didactic or pseudo-prophetic purposes. We certainly don't know where he was born (according to the Gospels, he was born twice, in Nazareth and in Bethlehem, with separate lineages each time) or how he died (executed by the Romans because the Jews clamored for it, but there's no record of such a freak occurrence made by the Romans?).

39

OMG! The world is worse than ever! This system can't last! Violence is increasing! Wait, what's that you say?

by sir82 in

jw
friends

if you read jw literature, the world has been progressively getting "worse and worse" since 1914.. is that really the case?.

for a more rational analysis, look here:.

a few highlights:.

Apognophos

In any case, I agree that conditions are getting better. And while we may be running out of oil, we are moving towards other fuel sources. Solar power is still being refined. And when people get serious about it, we will probably see a lot of movement towards putting up windmills for wind power, and exploring other options. Maybe public opinion will even start to swing back towards nuclear power. Man has a tendency to bumble through one situation after another, despite his lack of foresight. We're the most successful species on the planet in terms of altering the environment to suit our needs, and that's not going to come to an end just because nation-states collapse, if indeed that happens.

39

OMG! The world is worse than ever! This system can't last! Violence is increasing! Wait, what's that you say?

by sir82 in

jw
friends

if you read jw literature, the world has been progressively getting "worse and worse" since 1914.. is that really the case?.

for a more rational analysis, look here:.

a few highlights:.

Apognophos

DJS, in 1900 most people aged 30 could expect to live another 35 years: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005140.html

Please don't propagate that misunderstanding of how life expectancy works.

105

I'm a Neutral Jehovah's Witness

by Martini in

jw
friends

dear brothers and sisters,.

i martini, will confide in you that i have become a neutral jehovah's witness.

i wonder if i'm not coining a new phrase here!.

Apognophos

Wow, well isn't this a piece of forum history. Simon's 70th post, ha!

39

OMG! The world is worse than ever! This system can't last! Violence is increasing! Wait, what's that you say?

by sir82 in

jw
friends

if you read jw literature, the world has been progressively getting "worse and worse" since 1914.. is that really the case?.

for a more rational analysis, look here:.

a few highlights:.

Apognophos

World powers come and go. Sometimes their collapse is even ugly. It's still not the end of the world.

26

Campaign to Israel

by humanperson in

i have been wanting to introduce myself but i don't know where to begin.

my husband and i are enjoying our third guilt-free weekend of our lives (both born-in, almost 30).

he has been out mentally for the last year and a half but patiently waited for me to come around.

Apognophos

Thanks for sharing your story, humanperson. I haven't read many stories from spouses who learned TTATT after their mate did. It's a really delicate situation for the mate who learns it first, in order not to scare their spouse too badly with their newfound knowledge. Ultimately, though, even when the mate does everything right, I think that it's a journey each person has to make for themselves. If the religion works well enough for the other spouse that they aren't terribly unhappy, or don't see a lot of hypocrisy, then there's no reason why they're going to be willing to take in the amount of information, and process it, that can show them TTATT.

14

Encinitas Congregation Encinitas CA.

by exwhyzee in

jw
friends

anyone from that hall?.

we attended a memorial for a long time friend there this past weekend.

it was my first time in a kingdom hall since memorial 2008. as per usual, the people were lovely but the message had gaps and left me feeling somewhat blank and cold.

Apognophos

Most people here will just tell you to run, run far away from the religion while you have the chance. Personally I think if you don't mind hearing things from the platform that most of us regard as nonsense, then maybe give it a try. But keep in mind that you will be expected to give talks and go in service, unless you don't mind being on the social fringe and being looked at as "weak" or odd by your fellow Witnesses.

45

What products have you bought that exceed your expectations?

by skeeter1 in

well?.

Apognophos

My Macs pretty much never die. I still use one I bought in 2000 from time to time. Apple was still issuing updates for it as of a few years ago even though the hardware and OS were obsolesced long ago. I also have a 1st generation iPod touch that still works perfectly. People keep saying that the batteries don't last, but this one still holds a charge, and it's just turned eight years old. Besides Apple products, I can't think of any that exceeded my expectations.

24

Watchtower buys apt complex in Fishkill, NY

by lostinthought in

jw
friends

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2014/12/22/jehovahs-witnesses-buy-fishkill-rivercrest-apartments/20788311/.

jehovah's witnesses now owns a major apartment complex in the town of fishkill.. tenants say they've been told their leases will not be renewed.. the sale of the 250-unit rivercrest luxury apartments closed dec. 3, the deed on file at the dutchess county clerk's office shows.

while sale price is not stated, the transfer tax indicates a transaction for $57 million.. rivercrest is a modern development west of route 9d just north of beacon and was a project of avr realty, which also developed other housing and commercial spaces in that area as well as projects in eight states.. the sale deed is between rivercrest development llc, based in yonkers, and watchtower bible and tract society of new york, inc. as the buyer.

Apognophos

Sorry, I just didn't want to see the resident conspiracy theorists get wound up over the names of various Watchtower locations. We have a few people here who think they can divine deep meanings from words just because they sound like other words.