Posts by Reasonfirst

26

Is the USA gradually moving to a majority of citizens being non-religious

by Reasonfirst in

jw
friends

this is a topic discussed in a current article in the hongkong based asia times*.

find it at: https://asiatimes.com/2023/09/nones-still-no-match-for-us-christian-nationalism/.

the claim is made in the article, that near 30% of americans are non-believers, and that this number is increasing.

Reasonfirst

And a report in the Economist points out (for what it's worth) that many denominations are closing churches:

'' What is a shepherd without a flock? Many of America’s pastors may soon have to answer.

Quote: "In 2014, 3,700 Protestant churches closed, by 2019 that figure was 4,500, according to Lifeway Research, a non-profit organisation that provides resources for ministry. Many parishes simply do not have enough congregants to pay the bills. In 1972, 90% of Americans called themselves Christians; now just 64% do. The waning of religiosity in America is not new, of course. But newly released data shed light on where religious adherence has dropped most, and among which Christian denominations."

Are the stats reliable? Well, they come from a source, that could be described as 'friendly'

Quote: "Every ten years the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (asarb) attempts a tally of membership for every church in the country. It is a monumental feat of data-gathering, covering hundreds of religions and thousands of congregations. Figures for the 2020 census are now finally available. They issue a stark warning to the country’s “mainline” Christian denominations: membership of these old churches, such as the Methodists, Lutherans and Episcopalians, is shrinking at an alarming rate. Whereas the ranks of all religious Americans rose by 10.6m believers (7%) from 2010 to 2020 (when the overall population grew by 7.5%), the number of Episcopalians and Methodists dropped by 19% each, and the Lutherans plunged by 25%. Presbyterians, a Protestant group characterised by disdain for flashy ceremony, lost nearly 1m (40%) of their members

Source: https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/04/20/american-religion-is-becoming-less-exceptional

55

Trinity Statements in the Dead Sea Scrolls

by Sea Breeze in

dr. ken johnson has identified several statements in the dead sea scrolls that predict that god would visit the earth as a man... as the messiah.

.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljrfvytjhve&ab_channel=kenjohnson%28biblefacts%29 .

Reasonfirst

..... And another quick search:

"Texas Christian University is the biggest religious university associated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and is open to students of any faith."

So I'm not sure about Johnson's "expertness." Maybe he's just another "quack" christian.

55

Trinity Statements in the Dead Sea Scrolls

by Sea Breeze in

dr. ken johnson has identified several statements in the dead sea scrolls that predict that god would visit the earth as a man... as the messiah.

.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljrfvytjhve&ab_channel=kenjohnson%28biblefacts%29 .

Reasonfirst

I wondered just who this Ken Johnson may be?

A quick search of the web, produced this:

Ken Johnson is an author and lecturer who speaks about a variety of issues related to Bible prophecy, ancient history, and the apostasy that will form in the church in the last days. He received a doctorate in theology from the Christian College of Texas, Texarkana, TX, in 1989. He has authored 33 books as of 2021. He attends Calvary Chapel Johnson County in Olathe, Kansas with his wife, Dr. Donita Johnson.

26

Is the USA gradually moving to a majority of citizens being non-religious

by Reasonfirst in

jw
friends

this is a topic discussed in a current article in the hongkong based asia times*.

find it at: https://asiatimes.com/2023/09/nones-still-no-match-for-us-christian-nationalism/.

the claim is made in the article, that near 30% of americans are non-believers, and that this number is increasing.

Reasonfirst

This is a topic discussed in a current article in the Hongkong based Asia Times*

Find it at: https://asiatimes.com/2023/09/nones-still-no-match-for-us-christian-nationalism/

The claim is made in the article, that near 30% of Americans are non-believers, and that this number is increasing

For American's on this site, what do you think of these claims? And, would a majority that did not believe in a god, change the USA?

----------------------------

if you've never heard of the Asia Time, here's what I know about it:

The Asia Times, has been around for a long time, the last owner was a wealthy Thai, who on-sold it to a consortium that may have been led by David P. Goldman, a former N.Y financier, who often wrote under the pseudonym of 'Spengler.' I understand that he is still and American citizen. He claims that in Trump's first run for the presidency he voted for Trump.

And here's how they see themselves:

Asia Times’ fast, accurate news, commentary and analysis is now read by millions in over 30 different countries worldwide. Find out why by signing up for our Daily Report for all your must-reads from across Asia.

Founded in 1995 as a printed broadsheet newspaper, Asia Times relaunched in 2016 and has since developed into one of the region’s largest English-language pan-Asia digital news platforms.

Asia Times currently has more than 100 commentators, reporters, editors, contributors and multimedia producers working across the globe. Their editorial work is published at www.asiatimes.com, the main website, and at social media sites on Facebook and Twitter.

Asia Times is owned by Asia Times Holdings Limited, a Hong Kong company holding multimedia and public relations assets.

11

Nobody ever said JUH hovah or Jee sus until the 16th Century

by Terry in

jw
friends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na22kkydprshttps://www.dictionary.com/e/j/".

Reasonfirst

English is not the only language in the world.

Here's how Chinese Christians would talk about 耶稣

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPywKY_QLBQ

26

Jeffrey Jackson: Too much excitement got in the way for the ''false dates''

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

annual meeting 2019—talks and 2020 year textthe governing body members are nothing but a bunch of weasels.

here is a talk by jeffrey jackson on how the governing body ''the slave class'' has remained spiritually awake over 100 years and alerted its members.. he looks back on the ''faithful and discreet slaves'' false dates over the 100 years: '' but at times, we look back over 100 years, and there were times they got excited about a certain year or time, and the end didn't come at that time.''.

he makes the comparison between the ''slave class ( who disappointed others when the end didn't come ) to a barking watchdog ( who in his enthusiasm barks at nothing in the middle of the night and wakes up the owner).

Reasonfirst

It's not just the JWs, this page on Wikipedia goes over 50 failed past predictions and yet to fail future expectations. Only a few are from the Jws.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predictions_and_claims_for_the_Second_Coming

Yet mentally screwed christians, continue to get excited and wet them selves over a fairy story.

17

Getting Fed at Assemblies and Camping Around the Stadium

by mikronboy in

jw
friends

this was the 1963 assembly at twickenham.

i recall the wt deciding no more camping after this due to "immorality" having taken place.. https://youtu.be/lhcl-13dyne.

Reasonfirst

Besides convention food service, there was the problem of getting rid of human waste. All this talk about the (not so) joyfulness of assembling together, brought this long forgotten memory to mind.

It was, I think, a National or international assembly in Melbourne. VIC._ There had been problems in procuring a site, (for some forgotten reason) - so a decision was made to use a greenfield site, and build our own facilities.

Seating etc was easy, and so was the cafeteria, but what about the dunnies? And, here we see the JW genius for shit at work.

Instead of individual toilets, with all the attendant problems of changing full pans (which would fill fast at big assemblies), some genius came up with the idea of big pits, which could be screened with perimeter screening.

Then the most brilliant part of this pre-assembly planning. Instead of individual seats with holes for your bum, there would be long poles so you sit on the pole with your bum hole over the open pit, and have a brotherly chat with your your neighbour, about the wonders of the assembly program.

What a great idea, cheap, labour-saving etc. Gotta say, I made sure I went at home, before I left home, so I only used these pit toilets to pee.

The climax of this assembly experience, is that the inevitable happened. An elderly sister fell backwards into the open pit, and the sisters facility had to be shut down while some brothers were called in to wade through the divine shit and help her out.

If you think I'm making this up, I assure you it's god's truth.

54

Is AI going to change the world?

by Reasonfirst in

jw
friends

had lunch with a friend, whose a lecturer in the accounting dept.

of one of australia's best universities.

he told me he expects to lose his job at some point in the next 5 years, as the accounting dept, will disappear, as all accounting will be done by ai programs, so why teach it.. if his fears are correct, that means that any profession that involves the mind, may one day face the same future.

Reasonfirst

And, today I find this variation on the theme:

Scientists Are Frighteningly Close to Achieving Synthetic Biological Intelligence (msn.com)

17

My report from the "trying my patience" DC

by nowwhat? in

embedded in the cleveland ohio convention.

pre covid attendance was always 7k+ this year 4500.. 37baptised mixed bag.

less then half were children.. as far as patience goes, it can certainly help you be a better person when dealing with others but needless to say, this having patience waiting for jehovah is pure b.s.!

Reasonfirst

Quote: ". Also the drama was about the brothers in Africa having to flee their home and country by listening to the direction from the branch. Jehovah saved them by sending them to a U.N. refugee camp!"

The camp is not named, but for sure B.O.Y.(bloody old yahweh) is sure moulding those African bros.

and ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53e-sdWviRc&t=34s

17

Getting Fed at Assemblies and Camping Around the Stadium

by mikronboy in

jw
friends

this was the 1963 assembly at twickenham.

i recall the wt deciding no more camping after this due to "immorality" having taken place.. https://youtu.be/lhcl-13dyne.

Reasonfirst

Hahaha!!!!

Some Aussie conventions could've been better organised (that's putting it very kindly).

I recall one DA just out of Sydney at Fairy Meadow (a suburb of Wollongong). Make what you will of the 'fairies' in the suburb's name. And, it was on a larger open grassed area

Anyway the Circuit OS, a H.F. James, who been put in charge of the organising the convention, either wasn't given much money for the arrangements, or he believed in doing it cheap. He decided to use hessian bagging to screen off large areas, and much of it blew down on (one very windy days) .

All the seating was in large tents, and on the first day, heavy rain turned the seating areas into deep mud with a particularly nasty smell. We soon found out from the local bros, that the seating area was where a circus using the area couple of weeks before this convention, had tethered the elephants. If we learnt nothing else at this assembly, we learned what elephant shit smelt like. I recall being up to my knees in mud after walking on one spot

The cafeteria was also on grass, with hygiene hassles. The branch overseer, D.H.Held, looked askance to find big red ants under a covered plate on his tray.

Being a JW was (occasionally) fun in those days.