rocketman

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Posts by rocketman

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  23

  THE PROBLEM with reading the Bible literally is . . . you can't think too hard

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i want to begin with a quotation by stephen colbert: "we're not talking about truth, we're talking about something that seems like truth the truth we want to exist" - stephen colbert on the origin of the word "truthiness.".

  moses brought 10 plagues upon egypt to change pharoah's mind about letting jehovah's people go.. the 5th plague is to destroy only the egyptian livestock:.

  6 and the next day the lord did it: all the livestock of the egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the israelites died.. a few days later the 7th plague is described:.

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  rocketman

  Putting my robe on now...
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  29

  Suggestion for JWFacts

  by ILoveTTATT in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have a suggestion for jwfacts, and to help make the article easier to write for paul, the collective jwn community can help.. in his article of "religions similar to jehovah's witnesses",.

  http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/similar-religions-to-jehovahs-witnesses.php.

  paul uses mormons, cristadelphians, etc.... i suggest he also use iglesia ni cristo.

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  rocketman

  There are some notable differences - the INC gets involved in politics and members donate blood, for example.

  But the similarities are much more numerous.

  In some cases (explusion for marrying outside the faith) they are more extreme (but not by much) than the Witnesses. But again, the similarities are striking.

  Manalo's personal history also seems to closely parallel CT Russell's - disillusion with mainstrem religion, influence of the SDA, writing and distributing literature, for example. They can also claim persecution and opposition (a card which they no doubt play to affirm their 'blessing' by God).

  Parallel Evolution indeed.
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  16

  One of the dumbest - even nastiest - JW Facebook posts I've seen!

  by nicolaou in

  1. social
  2. family

  last month a british teacher was tragically stabbed to death in the classroom.

  today a member of my extended jw family posts this; check out his 'liked' comment.. .

  where do you even begin .

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  rocketman

  I saw some lack of compassion in the comment. It's a "sign of the times". In fact, he says "Yeah the sign of the times", almost nonchalantly.

  I will add though that people often post on Facebook and other forums without really taking stock of what they write.
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  76

  Humans have been on the earth for 6,000 years?

  by make yourself in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so i just heard this today at the meeting.

  honestly i've never really paid much attention too it, but i know it's out of place.

  can anyone shed some factual and historical light on this subject?

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  rocketman

  Actually, what Uriah is saying would discourage joining a cult such as Jehovah's Witnesses, since, as he said, they constantly want adherents to look to the future, to the near-exclusion of the now.

  I would say though that there certainly is a need to understand our past and how we got here.

  HIs post kind of reminds me of Spaceballs: "This is now, now"
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  24

  Recent WatchTower article about Witch Hunting

  by EverApostate in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is about an article in may 2014 awake that was published about witch hunting.

  it is a 2 page article on how evil the catholic and protestant inquision was, how wickedly they killed the witches and so on.. .

  http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102014166.

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  rocketman

  Some of the torture inflicted on those suspected of witchcraft was truly horrible.

  For instance, water torture was not like the modern water-boarding. Back then, water was funneled down the throat until the victim's stomach was distended to the extreme. One can only imagine how painful that would be.

  The strappado was a hanging by the arms, with the arms extended behind the back, designed to disclocate the shoulders. The torture rack, probably the best-known form of torture, was also designed to stretch the victim to the point of disclocation.

  Others were placed on The Wheel, lying prone while tied to a large spinning wheel while their limbs were beaten with clubs, again resulting in dislocation and disfigurement.

  The list goes on and on. All in the name of religion.
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  37

  10 Pragmatic facts why Jehovah's Witnesses can't face reality

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  1.the organization itself denies access to reality and substitutes its own version, interpretations and meanings.. a.only watchtower approved publications are allowed.. b.no higher education is to be pursued.. c.no non-jw friends or associations are encouraged with their "outside" points of view.. d.no free-style questioning of doctrine or criticism permitted.

  curiousity is verboten.. e.threat of being "marked" or disassociated looms over them.

  2.between every real-world event and the rank and file jw's mind is a roadblock.. a.the moment of identifying is short-circuited by an interpretive moment of re-labeling in watchtower-speak.. b.all things happening are forced into a narrow storyline and propagandized as end times happenings leading to armageddon.. 3.social and personal identity is expunged and replaced by a collective persona: "jehovah's witness".. a.private thinking is red-flagged as selfish and sinful.. b.personal improvement, welfare and ambition is crushed and door-to-door ministry substituted as "worthy" endeavors.. c.self-conscious obsession permeates witness awareness as each person is transformed into a public spectacle of performance for judgement.. d.since you aren't an individual you don't really have a right to fall in love and marry or educate or earn.

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  rocketman

  "They never said they were perfect". Very true. And yet, as we know, the loyal jw is expected to treat the "spiritual food" as though it comes from God, which implies that it is perfect.

  Until that jw notices that a mistake was made - a missed date for Armageddon perhaps. Or, he is informed that there is a change in "understanding" of a teaching.

  Then, it's "they never said they were perfect".

  In the meantime, it is implied, or even directly stated, that the fault lies with the average jw, who harbored "expectations" that turned out to be unrealistic, even though the expectations were created by Watchtower teachings.
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  23

  The Fossil Record: vs God Allowing Pain & Suffering

  by Shanagirl in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  what a man does with the fossil record tells a lot about his worldview.

  is it the result of a world-covering deluge?

  or did this sorry chronicle of pain, suffering, and death precede humans (and the reign of death) by millions of years?

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  rocketman

  Shanagirl made the point - this is not intended as a thread about Evolution vs Creation.
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  23

  The Fossil Record: vs God Allowing Pain & Suffering

  by Shanagirl in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  what a man does with the fossil record tells a lot about his worldview.

  is it the result of a world-covering deluge?

  or did this sorry chronicle of pain, suffering, and death precede humans (and the reign of death) by millions of years?

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  rocketman

  If I had a dime for every misunderstanding of the word Theory as it applies to evolution and science in general...
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  127

  OK..Seriously..Has GOD ever answered your prayers????

  by DATA-DOG in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  look...i am not an atheist.

  even so, i have never had one prayer answered my entire life.

  the only thing that would even come close was learning ttatt.

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  rocketman

  I've never experienced an answered prayer. But I've never truly prayed in faith either. Even as a jw elder, I was never really sure that God answered prayers.

  Part of the problem is that either way, God has an out, as it were, because we are told (and not just by the Watchtower) that God doesn't necessrily answer all prayers, even those directed to him in faith. He may wait, or deem it better for us that the prayer isn't answered.

  Well, if the answer is no, why aren't we told that? Instead, we are asked to somehow presume that when nothing happens, that means God has either said No or that he wants us to wait. But we have no way of knowing.

  A parent doesn't do that to his children. In Matthew, Jesus compared God's response to our requests to that of a parent "who knows how to give good gifts to his children". But if, as a parent, the answer is no, the parent will say No. The child is at least getting an answer.

  Imagine asking a parent for something and not getting any answer back. Silence. Not even a "we'll wait and see".

  That's part of my problem with the whole thing. We don't know where we really stand.
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  135

  Shark Evolution

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://descrier.co.uk/science/fossil-discovery-shows-model-evolution-sharks/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=fossil-discovery-shows-model-evolution-sharks.

  i used to consider sharks to be evidence for creation - and against evolution because it was stated that they are largely unchanged after millions of years ( hence, 'what evolution?')..

  that's not the case, however.

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  rocketman

  So let's summarize:

  Cofty was called Coffy, but issued a correction. But perhaps this Coffy will convey an advantage and eventually appear elsewhere on this board in the future.

  In fact, I put forth that in the future, Coffy will be called Coffe, and eventually, Coffee, with the obvious survival advantage of reminding us all of a aromatic beverage that many of us like to consume.

  Evolution, explained!

  I'm just playing around.

  I find this thread very interesting, with many fine posts by Satanus, Ruby,OldHippie, Snare&Racket, and Coffy.