Posts by rocketman

33

December 15 Watchtower --- A New Low in WT Anti-Intellectualism

by Room 215 in

i wonder whether any of you took note of the article in the 12/15 study edition wt "the simplified watchtower .. why introduced" i couldn't believe they actually had the temerity to put such tripe into print and onto the record.. i was flat-out astonished with its put-down of vocabulary building and self-improvement:.

one egregious example: " the time spent looking up words and explaining expressions (ostensibly from the "smart people's" watchtower) is now spent gaining an understanding of the scriptures and how they fit into the lesson.".

one jw cited in the article actually blames her college education for causing her to fall into the bad habit of "speaking and thinking a way that was more complicated than necessary.

rocketman

All of us, at times, have to simplify things in order to be understood. Parents have to simplify things for their young children, which seems to be a major part of the purpose of the Simplified WT.

The college-educated woman apparently recognized that, being very-well educated, she may have had difficulty expressing certain concepts in simple terms. This can hinder rather than help, depending on the person being addressed. Talking over someone's head isn't going to help them, nor is turning them away until they matched her educational level going to help them either. The simple fact is, some people are more educated than others.

I would think that, with more people of low-income, low social status, and people from third-world countries making up the bulk of newer converts, the simplification is necessary and helpful to the jw cause, whether you suspect that cause to be nefarious or not.

43

May 15 2013 WT: "REAL elders skip meals and lose sleep!"

by cedars in

finally we have the society's expectations of elders in print.. this is from page 9 of the may 15th study edition.... "as indicated by the experiences of the apostle paul, our ministry may result in sleepless nights and times without food.

(2 cor.

6:5) these expressions paint a vivid picture of self-sacrifice and may well remind us of pioneers who give their ministry first place in life while supporting themselves financially.

rocketman

We need to be careful about making a bit too much of this.

I was an elder for a decade. Yes, there was sacrifice involved. Many times, I "lost sleep" due to elders' meetings that were held after the Service Meeting. I'd never want to do that again. But it was part of the business of the congregation. The alternative was no better - holding elders' meetings on a non-meeting night - it would take you away from your family for yet another night.

That's basically the nature of the gig. The only thing that would make it better would be for the religion to stop demanding so much of these guys.

But it's not all negative. Some people need their clery to be available, sometimes at the drop of a hat. I would think church members lean on their clergy just as much. It's part of his job, too. And in most cases, there's only one pastor or priest to serve an entire church.

The difference is that the clergy get paid. Ideally, elders should too, but then the flock would be expected to donate more and perhaps even a collection plate would need to be passed.

143

A thought experiment about what it means "to be" GOD

by Terry in

all believers in god begin with the premise that he is the creator.. but-stop!.

go back one step.

what about before god was a creator.. creation is the "beginning" for the created--but--not for god.. .

rocketman

Thanks Terry....I'm still trying to wrap my brain around all of it, but I am finding this thread very challenging and interesting.

And I think I can safely say that God = Cake.

143

A thought experiment about what it means "to be" GOD

by Terry in

all believers in god begin with the premise that he is the creator.. but-stop!.

go back one step.

what about before god was a creator.. creation is the "beginning" for the created--but--not for god.. .

rocketman

I'm trying to get what you're saying Terry. Now, let me ask this:

What if, instead of God, we start with the matter that existed when the Big Bang apparently occured, the singularity that apparently expanded rapidly?

Could that have "existed" on it's own, with nothing else? Could it be differentiated, since there would be nothing to compare it with?

I'm not trying to argue the point; I'm just trying to understand whether it might apply only to God.

By the way, when I Googled Big Bang Theory to be sure of my facts, the entire first page of search results dealt with the TV Show.

64

A great picture for proving that JWs aren't weird and cultish...

by cedars in

it's a shame this is only in the study edition, so the general public can't see how normal and down-to-earth the witnesses are in how they perceive themselves.... .

.

cedars.

rocketman

Good to see that those angels are blasting their lats and biceps.

102

More on Punctuation

by compound complex in

jd souther ... is most widely known for his part in writing somber, elegiac songs that the eagles and linda ronstadt made famous, such as "new kid in town," heartache tonight," and "faithless love.

" the new yorker, february 13 & 20, 2012, troubadour, page 36.. .

"i've never made a record in new york, start to finish," he went on.

rocketman

Yes, I forgot to mention italics....interesting, CoCo...

102

More on Punctuation

by compound complex in

jd souther ... is most widely known for his part in writing somber, elegiac songs that the eagles and linda ronstadt made famous, such as "new kid in town," heartache tonight," and "faithless love.

" the new yorker, february 13 & 20, 2012, troubadour, page 36.. .

"i've never made a record in new york, start to finish," he went on.

rocketman

One thing I don't like is having to put quotation marks around song titles. To me, capitalizing the title is good enough. So if I'm talking about The Eagles' song The New Kid In Town, I don't see why I need the quotation marks. Of course, I'm assuming the reader understands the difference between the group name and the song title, but I guess that's not always obvious.

20

Baptizing toddlers while critical of infant baptism

by FatFreek 2005 in

there are no less than two (watchtower publications) examples where six year old toddlers have been baptized.

what do you think?.

len.

rocketman

Excellent post, Splash - it really shows how they have encouraged getting baptized at a progressively earlier age.

85

Did Life Originate By Chance or Intelligent Design? Or is There a Third Option?

by JimmyPage in

jw
friends

when discussing the argument of how life originated the wt always boils it down to being chance vs. intelligent design.. no scientist in their right mind believes it happened by chance.

nor do most scientists believe that life is a product of god.. there is a solution that the wt completely ignores and that is... natural selection.. how many here who believe in a creator have honestly examined what natural selection really is?.

(i've been reading "the god delusion" by richard dawkins and was very surprised when i came to the chapter that actually mentions the watchtower society's arguments for intelligent design.

rocketman

QCMBR: "Also when we die as a complete organism it is absolutely incorrect to say that the individual lieforms that once collaborated to make us die, the only thing gone is the human brain activity. The bacteria in our guts goes into overdrive and parasites compete with incoming invaders such as fly larvae to utilise the food sources of the body just as surely as when our brains were alive we utilised the resources of the food we ate. We are not alone, we are a nation of combined , independantly viable, lifeforms collaborating temporaily for mutual gain. A corpse is not useless."

Well, at least now I feel a little better about my eventual death.

25

Off-topic: hand shaking

by Libelle in

jw
friends

this is totally unrelated to anything jw, but it's the only group i'm in online with such a mix of men and women, so i'm asking.

what's your experience with hand shaking?.

me, when i meet someone for the first time, i offer to shake their hand.

rocketman

I really don't like shaking hands. I've seen so many guys leave a bathroom without washing (and I've heard that it's pretty common among women too) that I no longer wish to shake hands. So I try to do so only as a formality in the appropriate situation.