L3G

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Posts by L3G

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  1

  New novel about the blood issue

  by lrkr in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  heard this book review yesterday on npr.

  sounds like a good read.. .

  http://www.npr.org/2014/09/05/346060805/in-the-children-act-the-electrifying-human-dimension-of-a-legal-drama.

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  L3G

  Thanks.
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  9

  For 46 years Jehovah's Witnesses compromised their worship in Mexico to retain ownership of material property

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qohven3gjlk.

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  L3G

  Thanks WT-free for updating what Ray Franz says in his book about the double standard there. I have long wondered what the current situation was in Mexico, whether they were still unable to sing songs, pray, etc. Would you mind providing, if you can, evidence for the legal change in Mexican law that the post speaks of?
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  11

  Jehovah deceives us

  by opusdei1972 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  paul said that god does not lie:.

  in the hope of eternal life, which god, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time (titus 1:2).

  however, jehovah god deceived his people:.

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  L3G

  Doesn't Jeremiah just state outright, "You deceived me, O Jehovah, and I've been deceived"? (20:7)
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  10

  Interesting query and reply about THE CROSS on Bart Ehrman's blog

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  kleenmaint july 5, 2014. dear bart:.

  i couldnt find a topic on josephus so i hope you see my question.

  in your book did jesus exist on page 59 you quote (antiquities 18.3.3).. both this quotation and the more conservative version that seemed more plausible as his original writing have one very fundamental flaw that you didnt mention.

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  L3G

  Not that I believe the stake thing, but just to be fair, the Swedish scholar Gunnar Samulson published a book 4 years ago that has caused some controversy on the matter. Perhaps Ehrman is unaware of it, or just doesn't give it much credence. But maybe he should have at least mentioned the book.

  http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/jesus-christ-died-cross-scholar/story?id=11066130

  http://earliestchristianity.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/gunnar-samuelsson-swedish-crucifixion-scholar-has-a-website/

  There are dozens of other links to this if you do a google search. No offense to Ehrman, but the now "inactive" (yikes, a JW term applied to a forum member here!) Leolaia did the best research on this right here on JW.net years ago.

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/92381/1/The-facts-on-crucifixion-stauros-and-the-torture-stake#.VA8hB1b-vwI
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  8

  What Happened to Elihu Books? Greg Stafford's Website is Gone!

  by BucketShopBill in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i loved this guy, he was cool and now i found out his website domain is up for sale.

  what happened to greg, is he still alive and doing well?

  did he return to the organization, any information would be appreciated!.

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  L3G

  But the latest post is back in early June. Most of the posts are much older. So what's up with thim? Is he still actively doing anything on his board(s)/forum(s)?
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  16

  A locally produced video for JW's - come to Tennessee!

  by gingerbread in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we received this link through an email chain.

  not too sure what the purpose is....it's mostly about food.. .

  vimeopro.com/user4747451/tnvideo.

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  L3G

  gingerbread,

  Thanks for the link. I wonder too what the purpose is... Isn't this sort of INDEPENDENTly produced thing supposed to be against the direction of God's organization? I thought the official view is WE will provide all publications, videos, public talks, etc. Anything INDEPENDENT is inherently evil. Or this is this some sort of exception? Has the ORG's view on this INDEPENDENT activity changed?

  Others' thoughts on this blatant example of INDEPENDENT thinking? Maybe it's not so blatant?
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  3

  UK novelist Ian McEwan: the law versus religious belief

  by wizzstick in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  interesting (and well written article) on the uk children act and religious belief.. contains some thoughtful comments by mcewan:.

  http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/05/ian-mcewan-law-versus-religious-belief?cmp=twt_gu.

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  L3G

  Thanks for the post.
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  91

  one reason for the dumbing down of the org

  by Magnum in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  a lot of us have said that theres been a dumbing down in jw land.

  its just not like it used to be especially a few decades ago.

  it seems to me that if jw are right and the end of the world is near, the spiritual food should get tastier and more nourishing as time goes on, but it's getting more and more bland and less nourishing.

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  L3G

  Magnum, a BIG THANK YOU for starting this thread. There are so many excellent, spot-on comments that there remains little to say!

  Many have added insightul, truthful observations. Yes, whatever intelligent ones are left—very few—indeed must compartmentalize and be scared of exercising their thinking abilities theologically (that's too sacred—hands off!). It IS such brainless drivel. Whatever Freddie did, however strange and off-base it sometimes was, the caliber was infinitely better than the pablulum served up since the 90s and esp. now. The one exception seems to be the revised NWT. There are numerous changes for the better in it (and I'm sure some that are for the worse), the one thing they've done that bucks the overall trend. And, yes, the doing away with the small, in-home book study fits into this overall duhhhh trend perfectly.

  Thanks for the great input!
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  3

  For the more studious types: question on the revised NWT

  by L3G in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i know it's a small point, but i couldn't help noticing.

  it's about a now inconsistent rendering in ecclesiastes.

  to help visualize the matter:.

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  L3G

  I know it's a small point, but I couldn't help noticing. It's about a now inconsistent rendering in Ecclesiastes. The older Fred Franz editions of the NWT had consistently rendered the Hebrew kesīl (Strong's 3684) as "stupid one(s)" throughout Ecclesiastes, but now the revised NWT has "fool," but only at a cluster of 4 instances from 7:5 to 9:17. There are 11 occurrences of the word from 2:14 to 7:4, and 3 more from 10:2 to 10:15. Only these middle 4, namely, 7:5, 7:6, 7:9, and 9:17, have been changed to "fool."

  To help visualize the matter:

  2:14 stupid one(s)

  2:15 "

  2:16 (twice) "

  4:5 "

  4:13 "

  5:1 "

  5:4 "

  6:8 "

  7:4 "

  7:5 fool(s)

  7:6 "

  7:9 "

  9:17 "

  10:2 stupid one(s)

  10:12 "

  10:15 "

  Why has this happened in only this middle cluster of the word? It can't be just coincidence.

  I have an idea, but it's just that, only an idea. Of all these passages, ONE is popularly used to counsel those viewed as going wayward, those "getting offended." It's right in the middle of the 4, 7:9. In the NWT it reads:

  Do not be quick to take offense (old NWT, Do not hurry yourself in your spirit to become offended), for the taking of offense lodges (old NWT, rests) in the bosom of fools (old NWT, the stupid ones).

  Of course this verse in the older editions suffered from Fred Franz's literalism, outdated English, and general eccentricities, and that's a factor here in now modernizing the translation. But why this inconsistent change in translating the word in only four verses that appear in sequence?

  If you were around the Org for any time, you know that this passage is regularly used to counsel the brothers and especially the sisters, both from the platform and individually. It's popularity is up there with Prov. 3:5 or Heb. 10:25. Could it be that they wanted to make this popular "counseling verse" more palatable to those being counseled, less likely to hurt them by being called stupid, so they changed the instance in 7:9 to "fools" instead of "stupid ones," and they tried to pad this by also changing the 2 occurrences of the word before it and the one after it to "fool" too? The inconsistency has to stem from something.

  If this is right, then it shows how they are more interested in applying the Bible's counsel (at least in this case) than in presenting what it really says, eh?
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  63

  Being a JW Used to Be Fun :-)

  by snowbird in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we found some people who were happy to welcome us into their homes, even offering us food and drink.. sometimes, they would flag us down and ask for the magazines, walk miles to the kh meetings, come to our defense if someone got ugly or rude.. now, jw's are either routinely ignored or outright vilified.. no one respects them anymore.. sad.. .

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  L3G

  Again, some people at this forum will always say there was nothing fun about being/having been a Witness. Snowbird, I agree it used to be much better than now. The minstry was often memorable, just as you describe. I had many wonderful experiences doing the preaching and teaching work. The assemblies were true fun, especially working at them, like some of the reaction to time hooper's recent thread realate:

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/280205/1/Anyone-recall-asemblies-actually-being-fun#.U5Xd2_3HMlI

  The only way to have joy now is to live in the total fantasyland that most JWs live in. It's tragic, really.

  Snowbird, are you still in?

  Magnum, you words are soooo true:

  Then it all started changing. I gradually began to see behind the curtain until I got a full glimpse of the little old powerless men behind that big old curtain. The magic is gone.