emeth said: "russell never claimed to be a inspired prophet or without any failures or mistakes.
he was just a human as much as i and you are.
he is just a person who started a process of digging and searching for bible truths.
@Splash - Applause.
Yes, many people THINK the Watchtower has never proclaimed any individual person as a "prophet" but it has. Later (of course) that transfers over the the F&DS group... but logically speaking at the time in 1919, SOMEONE had to claim Russell was a prophet or else why the hell would anyone follow him? LOL.
i know that this has been discussed in the past but i wanted to get some fresh opinions.
there are many out there that recognize the "rot" that is in watchtower but still feel that there is a "wholesome" side to it and are trying to bring about change or reform from within.. in 2002 when the rose colored glasses came off for me and i truly started to understand ttatt, i still felt that there was some redemable aspects of the organization.. i felt that russell had some doctrinal things right.
i don't feel like that anymore.
To what purpose? If they are honestly going to be a Christian religion that is more about love and reality than separation, then they just need to merge with the Methodists and be done with it or else they come across creepy like the Mormons.
If they wan to go more evangelical then they need to start striking the 'fear of god' into their subjects and give them more than A bible colored that of a whitewashed grave and start punishing their subjects more.
They can go either way. The problem is that Jehovah's Witnesses (not really specifically) are trying to save EVERYONE (completely ignoring Revelation 8 LOL). So in their current state, no... why would they? They are a doomsday cult who, like the Mormons, have created their own dramatic end of days to perpetually keep people on a leash in order to maintain a successful money-making machine. AND IT WORKS.
So... What is there to reform?
on an earlier thread i made the statement that, "an evangelical christian government would look a lot like the taliban".. laika asked me incredulously, "do you really think your friends from your old church would govern like the taliban!?".
i thought it was a really interesting question and might work as a separate thread.. the people i worshipped with were mostly a nice bunch of people, but the thought of them having secular power would make me shudder.. christianity is mostly harmless because it lacks power.
christian politicians are restrained by secular laws and constitutions.
Christianity is by no mean harmless, nor does it lack power. Just because a good portion of them have realized that if they do bad "GOD" won't strike them down doesn't mean the evangelical Christian doesn't have plenty of power. With every mass shooting or natural disaster they gain more "proof" to their cause.
Christianity may be person with a gun, the power of which would be determined by the bullets it uses, but there really isn't that big of a difference between ammunition being used to kill innocent people, ammunition being used to fight a just war, or ammunition being stored in a warehouse... it's ALL ammunition and it ALL has potential power. The ONLY difference is the will of whoever is holding the gun. So when you dismiss Christianity as a faith as something that lacks power, you are dismissing the WILL (faith, maybe) of person themselves (which you are correct about) but not addressing the potential danger a person would have if they just had a tighter grip of their loaded gun (in the above example).
With that, yes I tend to agree with you Cofty... but only because of statistics and trends... not because I think Christianity itself is something to be passive about. The world is growing up... we can now put the talking snake and bloody cross into perspective. But make no mistake about its potential, a country run by evangelical christians would look no different than any country in the Middle East. In modern times, maybe more like the United Arab Emirates (Dubai mainly) or Egypt... maybe a few decades ago it would look more like Iran.
Christianity and Islam are practically the same religion anyway, just with different wardrobe. The core and structure of the two are identical... they just pray in different directions, so there's no reason to believe the extreme versions in political terms would be that different.
i have a ton of secret watchtower info stored on my tablet.
is there any way with my tablet locked with a password, can someone do a factory reset on it so i lose all my pdf files?
the boe at hubbys hall are aware i am in possession of secret crap from the watchtower.
Good general rule: if you don't know how to protect yourself on the technology you are using, then don't use that technology. LOL.
romans 3:25 says that jesus sacrifice was applied to the past for sins forgives.. then why god request animals sacrifice like "shadow of the good things to come" (hebrews 10:1) if the jesus sacrifice forgive sins to the past.. the animal blood not have none value, because jesus sacrifice was applied to the past.. why sacrificies for forgive of sins was requested by god if romans 3:25 says that jesus forgive the sins to the past?..
.
Just to interrupt (When I left this thread we were on sacrifices, now we're on JOB)...
There are a few things about the writer of Job. (1) they did not believe in Satan the Devil being a real entity and (2) They did not believe in the resurrection. In fact, as Apognophos mentions, Job 14:13-15 is used by the JWs for a warm fuzzy feeling of consistancy in the bible, but reading the scriptures as they are, Job is accepting of the finality of death. This is a widely accepted interpretation of this because at the time of writing, there was no resurrection hope in existance.
Please understand... the book of Job IS A POEM. There is absolutely nothing about it that should be taken with any weight outside that of metaphoric literature. It is a very deep and rich story... important for every one of us... but it is still just a poem.
matthew 5:37 " just let your word yes mean yes, your no, no, for what goes beyond these is from the wicked one.
" rnwt.
question: .
Is JEHOVAH God's name?
No. But it's a pretty good guess.
The word is a Latin-based hybrid of the vocalization of the Hebrew tetragrammaton (YHWH) as the proper name of the Hebrew god. Basically, Latin letters were used to replace Hebrew letters, and because the Hebrew alphabet has no vowels, the vowels were just assumed. "Jehovah" as a word didn't exist until the 1500s. Since then it has been somewhat debated because of the bastard nature of translation (letter-for-letter translation) and the assumption of the vowels. But it was widely accepted by the prodestants who included it in thier bible... which is how the JW's got a hold of it.
SIDE NOTE: To use ONLY the tetragrammaton for the name of god is a little disrepectful. The Hebrew god actually has many names depending on the aspects of YHWH (Orthodox Jews would argue this, I think). So, unless one uses ALL the names given and understand the meaning of each one, there is no gravity given to YHWH as a god... he is over-simplified in presentation.
It would be like trying to encompass all the effect that William Shakespeare has had on world literature humanity by just simply calling him "Willy".
ones that have themes that come uncomfortabllly close to the cult dynamic.. i already got him to watch the obsolete man on twilight zone.
he sauggested watching some old tz again tonight so i wioll pick where is everybody, and escape clause.. i have heard oters say the movie truman show was a good movie as is the matrix ( though i detest violence).
any more suggestions for my personal handy dandy list?.
Also, 'planting seeds' might not be the best term to use on this... LOL.
So, in reality, I think this seems like a slightly manipulative effort toward something that has no return (kind of). I mean, if he is a good Witness, no seeds would be planted. If he's not, then there are better (and easier) ways to go about this.
In attempting to concentrate on application, you might be missing the bigger picture that could possibly lead to a more productive oppritunities for his advancement away from the organization. For example in the Twilight Zone episode with the hypochondriac, there are A LOT of different themes going on. Yes, you can make the link between selling your soul to the devil and selling your soul to the WT, but there are themes of arrogance, preoccupation with one's self, presumptuousness, and the reality one must face when they live in a fantasy world. ALL of these apply to JWs.
However, if I were in your shoes (personal opinion), I would probably mention the differences between this and the Faust story on which this episode was based. Whereas the hypochondriac was high-strung and stressed upon making a deal with the devil, Faust did so out of boredom. But in both cases the journey of human emotion is displayed with this constant struggle to maintain “thrill” or importance. Making a deal with the devil is not the worst part of the story. The worst part of the story is the numbing power of arrogance and the box it puts us in... and have a discussion with him on that.
In this way, your are displaying something he is not allowed to experience: A greater understanding of human connection through literature NOT produced by the WBTS. I don't know if I'm getting this across successfully or if it even makes sense, but I guess the point is that if you really want to get him to think, don't point out the obvious in TV shows or movies... get to the gut of it and show him a few layers he perhaps wouldn't normally see. It is in those layers that are discouraged by the WBTS that will get him to think with more traction.
Hopefully. I think. I don't know, it's just a suggestion.
ones that have themes that come uncomfortabllly close to the cult dynamic.. i already got him to watch the obsolete man on twilight zone.
he sauggested watching some old tz again tonight so i wioll pick where is everybody, and escape clause.. i have heard oters say the movie truman show was a good movie as is the matrix ( though i detest violence).
any more suggestions for my personal handy dandy list?.
Honestly, I think the bigger issue here is that you talk during shows...
since my coming out publicly, i have received a lot of kind words.. i wanted to thank all of you from the depth of my heart.. .
on the other hand, i need to make two things clear:.
i'm often encouraged to use my position to create cartoons or stories for nickelodeon, etc.... i do not have that kind of fire-power.
Nickelodeon is in the business of entertaining kids; religion and politics are out of the question.
It's called "metaphor." Or "allagory if you choose.
new childrens activity on jw.org - "they listened and obeyed".
am i too skeptical or is there an implication that those who are disobedient are likened to lepers?.
http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/children/family-worship-projects/they-listened-obeyed/.
I would like to make it perfectly clear that my computer is allergic to jw.org website. I will never click on a link going there, I don't want to know what they are presenting. In fact I try my best not to get any NEW JW information caught in the tubes of the internet or in my head.
With the 'demonic' fear they have toward non-JW religious books of the world is exactly how I treat information coming from them.
Just... and FYI about me personally. :-)
