Island Man

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Posts by Island Man

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  82

  How Far Up The Ladder Did You Go In JW Land?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i pretty much did it all.

  vacation pioneered as a youngster and became a regular pioneer out of school.

  i became a ms then an elder.....the organization pushes you to be somebody within the confines of their realm.

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  Island Man

  I once climbed all the way up the top of a ladder to do some work on an elder's roof after a hurricane - a two-story building, even!
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  56

  Southern California USA Congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses On High Alert

  by JW GoneBad in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  circuit overseers, elders, ministerial servants, pioneers and rank & file are stressed out over an ex-jw (kevin) who has visited nearly 20 congregations (orange county) and has high-jacked the opening prayers and done some effective witnessing before he is escorted to the back door.

  and everything is caught on video!.

  kevin is also visiting numerous jw cart locations from the los angeles area to orange county and giving a most effective wiitness at each location and they're all on video.

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  Island Man

  "I noticed that in the videos I watched, the kingdom halls he visited were practically empty. I wonder if that's the case now in most places?"

  Keep in mind that he usually comes at the start of the meeting and interrupts the opening prayer so the empty seats you see may not be a true reflection of the level of absenteeism when you factor in the number of JWs who are habitually late to the meetings.
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  40

  Movies I'm Watching

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have, for about 6 months now, been trying to watch every single movie that was "cool" or interesting since 1960.it started out with a desire to watch as an adult all disney movies.

  then it morphed into all bond movies (except for the non-canonicals).now it's turned into pretty much any and all movies.

  here is my list, scratched out are ones i have seen, green are recent next-in line.turns out there was a lot i had never seen before, about 70% because of the cult restrictions!

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  Island Man

  You missed out two great movies that you definitely do not want to miss:

  War of the Worlds - 2005

  I Am Legend - 2007

  Trust me when I say that both movies are highly underrated.

  The Mist - 2007 is another great movie that you definitely do not want to miss.
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  9

  Before attempting to persuade someone that life evolved, first discuss genetics.

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the reasoning behind the thread''s title was developed by a team looking at the teaching of evolution.

  "the team, led by professor laurence hurst at the milner centre for evolution, university of bath hypothesised that since core concepts of genetics (such as dna and mutation) are so intimately linked to the core concepts of evolution, then priming students with genetics information might help their understanding of evolution.

  more at: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170523144131.htm.

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  Island Man

  Not just genetics. They should also be primed with a knowledge of statistics and epidemiology. Epidemiology is not directly related to evolution but it provides some useful memes that would be helpful in understanding evolution.
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  52

  Gas or Electric Stove

  by just fine in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am getting new appliances.

  i have decided on black stainless for the finish.

  the house is stubbed for gas and electric for the range.

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  Island Man

  Ever heard the expression "now you're cooking with gas"? The very existence of that expression says it all. Electric is definitely safer from the standpoint of a fire hazard or gas leak, but it lacks the level of heat control that you get with gas.
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  36

  Please tell me: what is a relationship with the "person" Jehovah like?

  by Maryo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  does anyone out there know of any jws that have talked about what their personal relationship with jehovah was like?

  for example, hearing his voice, a certain feeling?

  an intellectual understanding?

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  Island Man

  The "personal relationship" with Jehovah that JWs talk about is wholly a product of their imaginations based on what Watchtower tells them. They imagine that Jehovah is happy with them because of their obedience to all the instructions handed down from Watchtower. It is a form of self-delusion where they give themselves a 'feeling in their heart' that Jehovah is smiling down on them. It is no different from other chrisitians talking about feeling God or Jesus in their hearts, or a Mormon talking about getting the "burning in the bosom" upon reading the Book Of Mormon and praying to ask God if it's true. It's all the same emotional self-delusion working in different theological contexts.
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  36

  Please tell me: what is a relationship with the "person" Jehovah like?

  by Maryo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  does anyone out there know of any jws that have talked about what their personal relationship with jehovah was like?

  for example, hearing his voice, a certain feeling?

  an intellectual understanding?

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  Island Man

  "We do not want to make Jehovah "sad" seems ultra ridiculous to me."

  I believe this is actually a PR strategy. It's an attempt to make the tyrannical monster of the bible seem less like a tyrannical dictator and more like a sensitive victim of the actions of sinners. Saying that missing meetings makes Jehovah sad sounds more palatable than saying it makes him angry. People tend to show more sympathy for a sad person than an angry person. Sadness tends to evoke sympathy and compassion while anger tends to evoke fear.
  
  
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  32

  If Jesus had to choose his earthly organisation NOW, who would win?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  we all know that the society claims that jesus invisibly chose the bible students (forerunners of jw) in 1919 to be his organization here on earth.. yet, as we know, so much of what they then taught and did was wrong according to current teaching and practice.. the reply witnesses will give is something like "they were the most sincere seekers of truth blah blah...and jesus could see their potential".

  so, pretend for a moment that the current organization and the 1919 organization were both in concurrent existence at the time he invisibly came to choose.... which would he choose?

  the current or former?.

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  Island Man

  It would not be a large, self-serving, self-praising organization like the JWs. It would not be an organization that claims they alone are the truth and all others are nothing, even while that organization itself has a history of error. It would also not be an organization that treats allegations of pedophilia in the manner that JWs and other large organizations, treat it.

  Jesus would choose a humble non-denominational church that preaches the bible instead of boasting and promoting itself as the only true religion. It would also be an organization that truly cares for children and deals with those who abuse them, in a serious way.

  The Jesus of the bible detests prideful boasting and the showy display of ones righteousness and the discounting the righteousness of all others as "nothing". (Luke 18:9-14) The Jesus of the bible hates the pharisaic practice of focusing on preserving image and outward appearances over truth, justice and righteousness. The Jesus of the bible also loves children and said woe to those who stumble such little ones.

  The Jesus of the bible broke the sabbath law to show compassion to the sick saying that his father is one who 'wants mercy and not sacrifice'. He would certainly have choice words for the JW organization which advocates the opposite view, painting his father as one who wants sacrifice and not mercy, when it comes to the matter of blood transfusions. This is how you can know that the Jesus of the bible - if he exists - would not choose the JWs.
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  27

  Quick question can a monisterial servant conduct the watchower

  by poopie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hello.

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  Island Man

  Only if all the elders are off to the annual Monisterial Training School. Then they assign "capable" monisterial servants to care for the sunday meeting.
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  133

  Why is the white race so different?

  by Crazyguy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what i'm saying is the white race is the only one that has a verity of eye and hair colors , so what gives?

  is it that this race was influenced genetically by a group of pre humans that didn't mix with other races?

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  Island Man

  I think the problem is that you assume all white people are one race. There is no one white race. There are several white races. There are also several black races. You have a very simplistic view of race based purely on skin color. The Italians are a different race from the scandinavians but they both have white skin. A race is nothing more than a very large family with persons sharing a few common genetic traits that give them common phenotypical characteristics. These large family groups with common traits arose because of populations being isolated resulting in the same genes recurring over and over and becoming very common within the group. The less isolated a group is, the greater diversity will exist within it. If there is greater diversity among people of the white races it could be due to the fact that there has been a lot of wars of conquest and migration among people in the northern hemisphere in the relatively recent pass resulting in a lot more mixing in the gene pool of the white races. But there is also a lot of diversity among other races too but maybe your eyes are not trained to notice it because you don't interact with people of other races quite as much as you interact with people of white races.