APOSTATES are like the Charleton Heston character in the original
PLANET OF THE APES
He was proof the worldview of the Apes was upside down.
TerryWalstrom
JoinedPosts by TerryWalstrom
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Why are JWs so afraid of apostates?
by Magnum inwhy are jws so afraid of apostates?
their view of apostates seems to be out of the realm of the ordinary, the natural.
its as if the words of apostates are supernatual or spiritistic as if apostates are some kind of jedi knights who can slightly wave their hands or twitch their eyes and bring one under a spell.
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The World Seems to Think Putin Is King of The North
by scotoma inthis past october geoffrey jackson told the audience at the watchtower corporate meeting that "they aren't sure who the new king of the north is".. this was applauded as new light.
but if you look up the search terms putin king of the north your won't see jw.org pop up as a top search result.
i checked through the first 100 results and n-o-t-h-i-n-g.. isn't interpretation of prophecy the special territory of the jw's.
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TerryWalstrom
I am 68 years old. I'm old enough to have lived through the Let Your Name Be Sanctified era of Congregation books studies.
The U.S.S.R. figured mightily into the sausage factory of Watchtower theology way back then. A lot of guesswork went on with certainty attached. The Cold War made the biblically naive unsettled and their conjectures went into overdrive.
The U.S.S.R. brought Gorbachev and that red birthmark on his forehead. Oh, what a field day the Bible donkeys had with that one! THE MARK OF THE BEAST!
Ha ha ha ha.
Nonsense is nonsense.
People who imagine the Bible to be something real, will carry on with silliness for two thousand more years just like they did in the past.
There is no THERE there--but, it hasn't stopped anybody yet.
These historical moments come and go; come and go, like the tide.
What do they 'mean?" What does a cloud shaped like Abraham Lincoln 'mean?'
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Eusebius history ecclesiastica and the god they chose?
by Crazyguy ini have read on the internet someone make the claim that in this writting eusebius writes that constantine at one of the meetings at nicea got together with the early church leaders to come up with a new god to worship.
this new god came from 5 final choices of cesar, krishna and others, finally picking krishna and a british god which i can't remember the name.
the two together became jesus.
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TerryWalstrom
A pretty good rule of thumb is to regard historical writing as evidence of a kind.
Always read the source before you read other people's opinion about the source.
Eusebius' writings need to be read directly.
What some internet maven thinks Eusebius was saying is not the same thing.
It's like reading what the Watchtower says the Bible is saying.
How close is that? :)
Early Church Fathers' writings are among the most interesting writings I have read.
My eyes were really opened.
Those people were all kinds of crazy. They were highly intelligent crazy people:)
Their opinions and beliefs are often incredibly naive, imaginative and bizarre.
No wonder Christianity is a mess. Foundationally, it was a mess to begin with.
I'd stick with what people DID rather than what they thought about what things 'meant.'
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The emptiness of science may explain the rise of fundamentalism...
by cognisonance inneurophilosopher, thomas metzinger says in his book:.
the ego tunnel: thescience of the mind and the myth of the self.
the ego evolved as an instrument in social cognition, and one of its greatest functional advantages was that it allowed us to read the minds of other animals or conspecifics and then to deceive them.
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TerryWalstrom
Self-awareness is not necessarily awareness of self in any insightful way.
Awareness of self-want and self-need is really more like it.
The morality of desire is this: I like it--so--it is good.
Rather than: It is good--so--I like it.
Superstition is a pre-echo of selfish awareness.
Gods need to be bribed. Gods are arbitrary, capricious, and whimsical.
This is a catalog of human wilfulness.
What the gods are capable of is no different from that of human gang leaders.
What is religious ritual but the self, attempting to govern self, by projecting outward
into the invisible realm of spirits a punishing hand?
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Who is on Top of the Witness Money Chain?
by runForever inwho is all this money benefiting?
when you have hundreds of millions or billions of dollars there will be someone trying to tap into that.
is it the governing body?
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TerryWalstrom
There is now an army of legal experts who probably have a magnificent income from 24 hour a day handling of the legal affairs of this 8 million person disaster machine called the Watchtower.
If you've read the 'secret' elders manual, you'll see the first and last line of defense against a tidal wave of litigation is the Hadrian's Wall of legal aid.
That is the one non-voluntary chink in the armor.
Now, as far as leadership is concerned, these men have a different incentive of
personal enrichment. The GB are little Christs. (Annoited means Christ, remember?)
They now have become JW TV stars. They travel around the world making celebrity personal appearances. I doubt many of them spend a night in an uncomfortable bed or eat less than a glorious meal. They now get to assume the title of "glorious ones" and never miss an opportunity to assert their imaginative opinions into the official beliefs of 8 million people instantly!
The GB are right up there with the Pope and the Dali Lama.
Three cheers for self-aggrandizement, hubris, and clout.
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This truly pisses me off
by Terry inhttp://www.jw.org/en/news/by-region/asia/kyrgyzstan/court-ruling-for-conscientious-objectors/.
december 30, 2013 | kyrgyzstan.
kyrgyzstan court rules in favor of conscientious objectors bishkek, kyrgyzstanthe constitutional chamber of the supreme court of kyrgyzstan unanimously declared on november 19, 2013, that the countrys current law on alternative service is unconstitutional and violates the right of freedom of religion.
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Circuit Overseer Field Service Advice
by MrFreeze inlol for some reason i was just reminded about the time a circuit overseer told my mom a good method of talking to householders was to say the following things "i don't have too much time to talk to you" or "i'm very busy today so i'll only share this one thought.
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i know if i had been at the door i woulda said "if you are so busy why the hell are you wasting time knocking on my door butthead?
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TerryWalstrom
JEHOVAH'S WITNESS TRAINING CENTER
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How about FIVE good reasons we can say the Faithful and Discreet Slave is "imaginary"
by Terry inthe catholic church has tradition and magesterium.. protestants have sola fide and sola scriptura.. mormons have 12 apostles and a priesthood.. muslims have the mullahs and the hidden imam.. 7th day adventists have the "visions" of ellen white.. jehovah's witnesses have the mouthpiece of god; i.e.
fds or faithful and discreet slave.. .
all these religions have something in common--mystical links to justify their own authority!.
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TerryWalstrom
How is it my pattern works and Simon's doesn't?
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Site Update: Jan 10, 2015
by Simon ini've made some updates to the user section of the site.
besides some cosmetic tweaks the most notable new feature is the ability to see a listing of the topics someone has posted on - this includes topics they started as well as topics they replied to.. it will look like this when you go to a user page or your own profile page:.
simon.
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TerryWalstrom
I must be a dunderhead--I can't find the EDIT function after I post (within the time limit) and need to make a correction.
I've hovered my pointer over everything and can't find it.
Should I try prayer and fasting??
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New member, no longer just reader...
by freemindfade inso i joined very recently and began posting and commenting without a formal intro.
been reading for a while, decided it was time to jump in.
mentally i am completely cleansed of this thing, but still have to maintain a minimal involvement for spouse and family.
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TerryWalstrom
A HUGE WELCOME!
You are in a weird spot and it must feel unbalancing at times.
I think of it--and have thought of it--a number of different ways. For instance. . .
Have you ever heard of some very prominent figure who was a war hero, and later it is discovered it was a lie?
How awkward is that?
What do you do with the built in respect once granted the phony war hero?
It was automatic--now--the basis for respect, admiration, and empathy is called to account!
When we awaken to the JW mirage, we see something quite like that before us.
_______________________
Except, in the case of JW's it is slightly different.
How so?
When we 'wake up' to the 'truth about the Truth' one nightmare ends as another begins.
We have discovered something about our own status!
We are like the folks who invested their life savings with Bernie Madoff who awoke to the headlines: FRAUD!
Now what?
The others don't know our worship is phony and our credentials are counterfeit.
The others in the Hall still insist Bernie is their guy!! They won't allow anybody to say he is a crook! They insist they'll eventually become extremely rich--if they JUST HANG IN THERE!
"Wait on Bernie. . ." echoes . . ."Wait on Jehovah. . "_________________________
Should we stand up and shout, "FRAUD" along with those who know? Or, do we keep silent?
The victims continue to treat us with solidarity, camaraderie, and equal status with themselves--only as long as we keep our big mouth shut.
_____________________________________
The problem is TWOFOLD.
1. The basis for belief vanishes between us and the Governing Body ( dogma and teachings disintegrate as corrupt.) The source authority as 'channel of communication' is revealed to be a superstition like a lucky horseshoe.
2. Our identity is dissolved into a fiction of persona. We are faking it, whereas before, we were feeling it. In effect, we are forced to become what we hate: phony poseur.
_________________________
What options are before us?
A. Go along to get along
B. Make the noises of a dissident and incur penalty
C. Go covert and plant seeds as agent provocateur.
D. Live a completely bifurcated life, a secret life. Those inside, who continue to love and respect you, are loving and respecting the 'not-you' and you are loving and respecting the 'duped-them.'
______________________
There is a fallacy: SUNK COST FALLACY
It goes like this:
"I have invested SO MUCH in this _______________; if I leave now I lose everything I've put in so far!"
It is a gambler's addiction, chasing after the Big Win to offset the losses.
There is another term for it: being a LOSER.
_________________________________
The price you pay can be long, slow, painful, costly, and ruinous over time.
Or, you can take the loss up front, and walk away from the table.
There is no mechanism in place whereby a courageous, honest declaration can be made which can cause a big RETHINK, is there?
_______________________________________________
Once there was a monk named, Martin Luther. . .
________________________________________________
Once there was a young student in Tiananmen Square who faced a column of tanks. . .
_____________________________________________
The fact of the matter is a harsh and ugly one. We have, and the others have, no
model of dissidence to look toward and say to ourselves:
"He/she did it--and so can I."
____________________________________________
Yours is a life ripped apart, secretive, ambivalent, and ultimately disingenuous.
We here, on this Discussion Group, have seen thousands pass through these portals.
We are the Triage center, the emergency room, the trauma ward, and the confessional.
We are each and all different. The only commonality we share, in truth, is we truly believed with all of our hearts one of the most insidious lies ever told.
Our hearts have a jagged tear, and the temporary Jehovah-shaped hole has cried out
to be filled with all sorts of nonsense.
So, bottom line?
We welcome you. We have been you. We are you.
Keep on keepin' on--and do the best you can along the way.
We appreciate the hurt which is your daily bread.
We are privileged and humbled by your demonstration of conscious integrity and
rational choice.
Now you stand to become the change in the world you wish to see happen.
Welcome!
