Why is it that in most WTS photos like this, they show everyone reading or holding a WTS publication and never the Bible? Yea, the Bible is laying open on the table, but the subliminal message here is that the WTS publications are more important. Every meeting shot taken shows everyone holding up their WT, but with their Bible on their lap or even out of sight. What happened to "Bible" studies?
undercover
JoinedPosts by undercover
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53
Images of Paradise: A move Away From Artwork?
by Stephanus inin the october 15 watchtower (the one dmouse used the cover of for his competition...) there is an article on how to make decisions.
this picture was part of it:.
note the image on the right.
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74
The underlying cause of rape
by Loris inthis will make your blood boil.
emphasis mine.
awake, march 8, 1974 page 15
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undercover
I don't want to hi-jack the thread, but I have a question:
Who was at fault when Dinah was raped?
The WTS likes to use that story as an illustration as to why JWs should avoid bad associates. Because she associated with non-believers and didn't follow a wise course she got into a bad situation and was raped. To listen to the JWs tell it, she was at fault for getting raped. If she hadn't gone out with those people, if she stayed home with her family, etc, etc she would never have been in the situation to begin with, therefore she is to blame for what happened to her. That's what happens when you don't follow direction. That's what happens when you associate with the wrong people.
So going back to the very first post which quoted an old WT and how it places blame on a woman for getting raped, and seeing how they still use the Dinah story to scare their people, I see no change in their way of thinking on the subject.
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208
THEY'VE DONE IT!!!! The WBTS set a new date!
by dmouse inthe latest watchtower, dec 15th 2003, is an out and out attack on the rank and file for dropping into a drowsy state spiritually.
ok, so armageddon didn't come before the generation of 1914 grew old and died.
but does that mean that the big a isn't near?
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undercover
I see where Minimus is coming from. The article doesn't come right out and say 1914+120=2034, be prepared because the Big A will come by then. It does make a parallel with Noah's day, his preaching and the time it took for the flood to come to today, because we're 90 years into a similar time period.
At the same time though, the publications were always very vague about the 1975 date. They never came right out and said Armaggeddon will be in 1975. They just said it was an important date. Over time, however, because of the repeated mentionings of this date both in the publications and at assemblies/halls, everyone came to believe it was THE date. The WTS let them believe that. Later, when the WTS tried to not take blame for it, they met with resistance and had to basically issue an apology.
Only time will tell if this date or the 120 year time period will be significant. If they continue to harp on the 120 year period and compare it to Noah's preaching time period then yes, I would tend to believe they are using another date to
extortencourage the JWs to stay vigilant. If this is just a one time use of this tactic toscaremotivate people then I wouldn't place to much significance on it.Resurrect this thread in a year and let's compare notes then.
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46
What was the first "Bad" CD/Record/Tape you ever bought?
by ColdRedRain ini was looking on the thread on music when i just thought to ask that question.
for me, it was gwar's violence has arrived.
i remember loving that band so much when i first heard of them to the point where i downloaded everything they had, from album mp3's to rare bootlegs.
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undercover
I owned a lot of 60s and early 70s stuff early on in my teens. Only the occasional album created a stir to my parents. They(my dad anyway) seemed to be a little more liberal than the elders and pioneers. But I do remember buying The Eagles' Hotel California and catching hell from almost everyone I knew in the congregation. They said the song Hotel California was about "demons" and "spirits". The photo when you open the album showed a scary looking character up on the balcony looking down on everyone below. I was told that this person was the head of some Satanic cult in LA. They said that Don Henley was pals with Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac and she was a witch(burn her, burn her. ooops. Monty Python slipped in there). I was kinda flabbergasted. C'mon guys. It's a country-rock group, not Black Sabbath. I ended up buying Fleetwood Mac's Rumours also, but didn't advertise it to anyone to save being ridiculed.
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29
The Revolving Door; Does Nobody Notice?
by shamus inthink about a typical dub.. you get brought into the truth.
the person that brought you into the truth brings in, say, 2 people.
yourself and another... 1 person stays, the other leaves.
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undercover
There is a small number of Hard Core JWs who all hang around with each other... then there are the rest of the people who come and then disappear on a regular bases. The ones who come and disappear are not really noticed by the hard core jws who are too busy looking at each other admiring just how good of jw's they are. ...
It's like a social club, you only miss the ones who are there all the time.
The area where I grew up was like that. Only two congregations in a whole region of the state in the 60s. In these two congegations 80% of everyone was related somehow or another. 35-40 years later and now there are dozens of congregations and thousands of JWs but those original ones(that haven't died) are still around. Their kids have grown and had kids of their own. Some of the kids and grandkids have remained loyal but the majority have not. But you can go into those two original halls and see the oldtimers still waiting for the end to come any day now, just like they did in the 60s.
I have mixed feelings on how these people have spent their lives. One way it's sad. Waiting your life for an event that isn't coming. I hate to see my parents get old and watch them as they think they won't die. But at the same time, in spite of raising their kids in a wacky religion, they were good parents. They were good, decent, law-abiding people. Just mis-lead. They could have been worse. Maybe a belief in a religion, any religion, is what they needed to make themselves be good people. I know that I don't need it anymore and I hope they can accept that before they die.
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108
"SCHOLAR" and UNFINISHED BUSINESS
by Gamaliel inscholar,.
back on october 7, you said:i will respond to your response to the historical blunder made by franz and jonsson as alleged by me in a couple of days.. .
(the post was http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/59355/901501/post.ashx#901501 the thread was wts chronology(oslo hypothesis) from vicar;trinity college fellow,cambridge.).
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undercover
Scholar says:
In the final event it is up to each reader to make up his mind as to whether Jonsson, Franz and Penton are deceitful in discussing this matter.
Interesting comment. Jonsson and Franz are X-JWs. Apostates. It's nice of Scholar to agree that "it is up to each reader to make up his mind" in regards to accepting the apostate teachings or not. That's something his religion doesn't allow. In fact, Scholar is guilty of associating with such apostates, discussing and debating spiritual matters with them. If Scholar's elders knew as much about him as people on this board in regards to discussing and debating chronology he would be in a Judicial Committee meeting sooo fast.
Isn't it time for you to confess to your elders Scholar and set your feet on the paths of righeousness?
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34
NEW 2003 Worldwide Service Report
by Joker10 infor all those curious, here's a look at the new 2003 report.
jehovah's witnesses have been growing, but not a whole lot.
a peak of 6,429,351 publishers reported preaching in 235 lands.
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undercover
The number of partakers dropped 195 from 8760 to 8565. That's roughly 2.22 percent. I'd be curious to see what percentage of the poplulation of people who were alive between 1914 and 1935 died off.
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Halloween after leaving the JW's
by TresHappy inwhen i was a kid, we did halloween every year.
no big deal, just costumes and trick or treating, but that was the 70's.
when i was 11 we stopped celebrating everything, and several years ago i left the jw's.
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undercover
I was raised a JW but only from the age of 5 or 6 on. I do vaguely remember going trick-or-treating at least one time as a kid but then it stopped when my parents became witnesses.
Now that I'm inactive and for all intense purposes not a JW, Halloween is my favorite holiday. Even as a JW I secretly liked Halloween. The spookiness, creepiness and darkness of it all. The cool costumes and scary movies. I've always enjoyed it. I'm way, way too old for trick-or-treating now, but I have been to a couple of halloween parties and I watch scary movies that week and I buy scary decorations. You can keep Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving, give me Halloween. It's much more fun.
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undercover
Since the outbreak of the great tribulation can occur at anytime, it is imperative that we heed Jesus? admonition, ?Prove yourselves ready, because at an hour that you do not think to be it, the Son of Man is coming?.
If the WTS says that the great tribulation can occur at any time, but Jesus said it will be when we "do not think to be it" doesn't that like cancel out any chance of it ever happening?
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23
Has Anyone been "Spotted" or "Reported" for being here?
by In_between_days inhas anyones jw friends or family ever spotted anyone on here who shouldnt be and reported you or confronted you?
how did they work out it was you?
how did you take it, and if you were in good standing at the time, what counsel did you receive?
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undercover
Ohoh. Somebody has posted a link to another discussion board that doesn't like JWD. Shouldn't that link be -deleted- ?