FT: I'll just say again, that almost all the major positive world-changing events in history have been done by theists.
Can you provide evidence of this claim?
Here is some of the best work of theists:
i'm not naming names, but i just want to encourage people on here or on reddit or twitter, and tell you that you do not have to tolerate people who act like schoolyard bullies in the way they speak to you online.
i think anonymity is a big part of it.
they feel like there is zero accountability so they can be a bully all they want.. i recommend just ignoring or blocking anyone who is verbally abusive or treats you like schoolyard bullies treated you.. life is way too short to spend any time dealing with those kinds of people..
FT: I'll just say again, that almost all the major positive world-changing events in history have been done by theists.
Can you provide evidence of this claim?
Here is some of the best work of theists:
due to some recent developments i find myself in a new place, and at this point i've lost all of my family and fri....oh that's right, i never really had any friends in the organization anyway.
just people that wanted something from me and a few people that i would invite to do things that occasionally said yes.
the recent rejections of me got me thinking, so let's take a rejection inventory.. i had to reject all of the holidays when my parents started studying.. i had to reject any worldly friends that i already had.. even family became rejected, and the new religion had some place in that.. i was rejected in school and bullied all of the time, not just because we were poor and i made good grades, but for jw reasons too.
dub, you really put things in perspective and expressed what so many of us feel.
I'm glad you have been able to reconcile with your brother.
From here on out you will know that the friends you make will be people that love you for WHO you are and not WHAT you (pretend to) believe.
It gets better, but it's process.
i just dont get it.
the gb moved to patterson and are conducting business from there, right?
they are not printing as much literature as they once were and they are still operating walkill for the magazines...er a ....pamphlets.
I am sure they are saying that it is God’s will they expand as a spin for what is really happening, but what is its actual purpose?
Actually, one of the GB, Guy Pierce, publicly admitted at the 127th annual meeting of the Watch Tower Society, held on October 1st, 2011, that they did NOT know if it is/was Jehovah's will or not to do this.
“There are plans to develop a 248-acre (100 ha) property at Warwick. ‘Although we are not yet certain of Jehovah’s will regarding Warwick,’ said Brother Pierce, ‘we are proceeding to develop the site with the intention of relocating the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses there.’ Plans are also being made to use a 50-acre (20 ha) parcel of land situated six miles (10 km) north of Warwick to facilitate the staging of machinery and building material. ‘Once construction is permitted, we hope to complete the entire project within four years,’ said Brother Pierce. ‘Then our property in Brooklyn can be sold.'” - w12 8/15 p. 17
Well I guess we now know the answer. Stephen Lett informed us last month that there's a "shortfall" of funds for the project. So evidently it must not have been Jehovah's will.
my wife is pleasant and easy to get along with.
she is also helpful to many.
lately, however, there is a jw sister who some are curious about has befreinded my wife.
QB back to me: Oubliette: I googled your question, a few sites came up. Take a look.
That means you missed the point.
so this weekend there was a part about not following jesus at a distance.
the speaker made a big point of stating that any baptized jw male who was not either appointed ms/elder, or at the very least "reaching out" actively, was in fact following jesus at a distance.
he said that the only way to live through the big a was to follow jesus closely.
LisaRose: I think they want everyone to feel guilty, because guilty people are easier to manipulate.
That's it. And no matter what you do, it's never enough.
Let's review: It's a cult!
i was thinking that maybe the monthly broadcasts are a occasion for some jw's to wake up.
before those broadcasts they probably imagined that the gobgoverning y members are some very special peopleand that you see in their behavior and words that they are "chosen".
but now all jw's can see them for who they really are: average men, some full of themselves, some ridiculous, some just normal men with nothing special.
PB, But now all jw's can see them for who they really are: average men, some full of themselves, some ridiculous, some just normal men with nothing special.
Great point! I've heard quite a few rumblings as a result of these broadcasts, and these comments are from people that usually never say anything negative about the WT leadership.
The only thing I'd disagree with is your comment that these are "average men." From everything I can tell, they are as a group below average in many significant ways: education, intelligence, real-life experience, compassion and empathy.
Stephen Lett is clearly far below average in intelligence. Anthony Morris is a conceited, arrogant bigot.
Add to these facts the additional problem that they are all paranoid, delusional people and it's not at all surprising that they have completely lost the thread. They are completely detached from reality.
What is hard to understand is why anyone would follow them, but then--as you said--perhaps that will change as more people see them for who and what they really are and are not!
my wife is pleasant and easy to get along with.
she is also helpful to many.
lately, however, there is a jw sister who some are curious about has befreinded my wife.
QB: She (the JW sister) looks like a Lesbian
What does a lesbian look like?
i wasn't alive for this but my parents and many old timers told me that at one point it was pretty much a rule that you couldn't go to college.
some of you may remember that from that time.
over time they relaxed that rule to that you did what you had to do in order to provide for yourself.
XBEHERE: Social pressure from other members is the true cornerstone of this religion.
This is so true. Obviously all of us here know it, but clearly people outside of the religion do not. I'm not convinced the average R&F JW is consciously aware of it either even though the majority clearly succumb to it.
It's very devious because it gives the WT leadership plausible deniability while simultaneously exerting significant manipulation and control.
Let's review: It's a cult!
i wasn't alive for this but my parents and many old timers told me that at one point it was pretty much a rule that you couldn't go to college.
some of you may remember that from that time.
over time they relaxed that rule to that you did what you had to do in order to provide for yourself.
In the late '80s - mid 2000s it was "a conscience matter." But we all know what that means: anyone that went to college was viewed with suspicion.
I was actually serving as an elder when the WTBTS sent a letter out changing the policy. I'm pretty sure this was the summer of 2006 or early fall of that year, I'm not sure what month. But the letter stated that anyone that pursued higher education (HE) would not qualify for "privileges." If an "appointed man's" children pursed HE, his "qualifications" would be called into question.
I distinctly remember the letter because I had been attending university at the time on the downlow and felt very upset because of this policy change with no justification and explanation. I also felt upset because now something that had been "a conscience matter" was now to be viewed as being disloyal to Jehovah. I had just finished my degree a month or so before the letter was received by and read among the elder body.
I remember thinking: If this letter had come just a couple of months earlier, I would have been faced with the decision of abandoning my degree weeks before graduating or resigning as an elder.
an update on the canada branch hasn't been made (i think).. year-over-year, canada's equity decreased by 11 million in 2012, 17 million in 2013.. however, the 2014 report shows a huge increase (20 million) in the cost of "purchased supplies.
" with the shrinkage of the mags, and the push to online, how the heck did this go from 39 million to 58 million?.
even with this number, the equity in 2014 went down by a staggering 56 million.. what the heck is going on?.
Interesting.
What is the source for these figures?