Posts by Apognophos

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Men are not looking forward to becoming Elders or Ministerial Servants

by Hidden-Window in

jw
friends

i have noticed an apparently increasing number of men who are not interested in becoming ministerial servants or elders.

i also know of some that have voluntarily stepped down (which is my case) for no obvious solid reason.. i remember, during my teenage years or even during my twenties, the brothers were always looking forward to being appointed... although many still do, i have noticed there are many others with whom you do not know what the deal is.. since there is no freedom of speech within the organization, we remain in the dark about the motives and desires of everybody else.

i attend a congregation with only two ministerial servants, while it is full of men who do not seem to be willing to do more.. it is hard to tell exactly what is going on, since honesty is not possible while you are inside, but i am starting to think that more and more are becoming disillusioned.... .

Apognophos

It's not fair to suggest that it's all about wanting to climb the ladder. It's funny how many of you were MSes or elders and now you can only assign bad motives to the ones who are still in. There's still sincere brothers in there who feel that they're just doing what's expected of them: they fulfill their assignments and go out in service, then one day they're asked to be an MS, and they don't feel they can say "no"... years pass, and the same thing happens again, and now they're an elder. And they feel like they're pleasing Jehovah by helping the congregation. They're working hard for little reward, and they don't wear their title like a badge.

Personally, it seemed like a world of pain, and I saw no reason to work hard enough to meet the field service requirement just so that I could be made an MS. But I was rather self-centered. I can't claim credit for having known TTATT at the time, I just didn't want all the work and the interpersonal obligations.

32

What's with this "no windows in kingdom halls" thing?

by Trapped in JW land in

jw
friends

i hear many people on this forum say that kh's don't have windows.

but i have never been to one that didn't have windows.

is this only in a certain area or something?.

Apognophos

Magnum, the whole reason for this silly meme about windowless Halls is that folks like yourself look around your specific area and extrapolate to the entire world's Kingdom Halls. I am aware of at least one Hall built within the last few years that has plenty of windows. They were never phased out from the general Hall plans.

63

LDC Semininar

by Sour Grapes in

jw
friends

ldc semininar @ patterson nov 15-18, 2014 .

entire ldc dept included remote workers/design/legal/real estate/purchasing.

oversight.

Apognophos

The pattern repeats. The delay of the eschatological end means focussing on building the Kingdom of God on earth with 'churches' and 'cathederals.'

Wow, great comment. History is repeating itself! We were taught as Witnesses that the first-century Christians expected the end to come in their lifetime. (The lesson was that we should keep on the watch just like they did; even though they were wayyy off, this time the end was really truly close, honest!) Now, as we enter the second century of our Lord's presence (the year "100 AD2"?) in this new form of Christianity, the religion is getting ever more situated and comfortable. The Kingdom Halls are going to get nicer so they're more inviting to the public. No more meeting in private homes like the earliest Christians did. The doctrine has possibly finished its first century of growing pains and is getting streamlined to last for the long-term.

I wonder, though, if 2,000 years from now anyone will know what the Jehovah's Witnesses are. Can history really repeat itself with a new religion in the age of science, or is this going to be an abortive effort that dies out in the face of modern skepticism?

52

Steve Pinker ... evidence on the surprising decline in violence

by digderidoo in

jw
friends

this is an interesting lecture.

one that flies in the face of current jw and i assume most non jw thinking.

evidence shows that when examining history mankind was more violent over the centuries than they were during the 20th and 21st century.

Apognophos

Even the whole "harmony" thing is grossly overstated. I wonder if SingleCell has taken the time to read about issues like this in the Bible: http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/238054/1/The-Bible-Full-of-Errors-And-Inconsistencies

52

Steve Pinker ... evidence on the surprising decline in violence

by digderidoo in

jw
friends

this is an interesting lecture.

one that flies in the face of current jw and i assume most non jw thinking.

evidence shows that when examining history mankind was more violent over the centuries than they were during the 20th and 21st century.

Apognophos

Note: Christianity produced modern science

What aspects of Christianity led to the development of the scientific method? Or do you simply mean that most early scientists were Christian because that was the culture they were immersed in?

Similarly, Western legal conceptions.

Those are based in common sense. Common sense predates the laws of the Jews, as seen in the Code of Hammurabi and other older documents than the Torah.

63

LDC Semininar

by Sour Grapes in

jw
friends

ldc semininar @ patterson nov 15-18, 2014 .

entire ldc dept included remote workers/design/legal/real estate/purchasing.

oversight.

Apognophos

So Jesus made creatures that can carry prey??? I thought animals were not designed to kill?

Haha, oh my God, I didn't catch that.

52

Steve Pinker ... evidence on the surprising decline in violence

by digderidoo in

jw
friends

this is an interesting lecture.

one that flies in the face of current jw and i assume most non jw thinking.

evidence shows that when examining history mankind was more violent over the centuries than they were during the 20th and 21st century.

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.

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