Island Man

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Posts by Island Man

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  42

  2014 AGM announcement rumour

  by yadda yadda 2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  from barbara anderson, former watchtower headquarters researcher and writer, on another recent thread:.

  it is expected that at the 2014 annual meeting, usually held the first saturday in october, will serve watchtower leaders well to cover-up all the 100-years of prophetic nonsense.

  rumor has it they are going to celebrate their 100-years of announcing the kingdom in an adroit way by featuring a move of "great" significance to do with the expansion of the governing body to an "apostolic" 12 or some other fantasy idea.. .

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  Island Man

  Marked.
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  35

  The Blatant SEXISM of Watchtower!

  by Island Man in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  from my yahoo answers question here: .

  "the bible says of deborah: "now deborah, a prophetess, the wife of lappidoth, was judging israel at that time.

  5 she used to sit under the palm tree of deborah between ramah and bethel in the hill country of ephraim; and the sons of israel came up to her for judgment.

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  Island Man

  From my Yahoo Answers question here:

  "The bible says of Deborah:

  "Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 She used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment." - Judges 4:4,5 NASB
  
  The text explicitly shows that Deborah the prophetess was a judge. But note what the Watchtower publication 'Insight on the Scriptures vol. 2' page 135 says as part of its summary of the contents of the bible book of Judges:
  
  "The section running from chapter 3, verse 7, to the end of chapter 16 is, basically, in chronological order and relates the activities of 12 judges (not including Deborah), starting with Othniel and concluding with Samson."
  
  Watchtower makes it a point to say, in parentheses, that Deborah is not included or not to be included in the list of judges. Watchtower also says this:
  
  "In the days of Israel's judges, one woman who had God's backing was the prophetess Deborah. She encouraged Judge Barak and played a part in helping the Israelites to rid themselves of oppression, ..." - The Watchtower, August 15. 2014 page 8 par. 12
  
  Why is Watchtower stealing Deborah's title as a judge of Israel and giving it to Barak when the bible never calls Barak a judge? Barak was a warrior who was sent for by Judge Deborah - he was Judge Deborah's instrument, not the other way around!
  
  Why is Watchtower contradicting the bible?

  All JW sisters: when you have your Watchtower study this week (week of September 29 - October 5, 2014) are you going to bravely raise your hand when paragraph 12 is being discussed and mention that Deborah was actually a Judge according to what Judges 4:4,5 says? Or are you going to cowardly keep quiet and give tacit support to the unscriptural and sexist Watchtower view that Deborah was not a judge?
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  35

  The height of delusion on display at last Tuesdays meeting...

  by BU2B in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i literally just sat there with my mouth open.

  sometimes the delusional mind of jws takes steroids.. it was during the draw close to jehovah study where they praise the mosaic law and how perfectly wonderful it was.

  you should have seen the almost giddy attitude the conductor had and the comments from the audience.

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  Island Man

  What I found rather foolish was the point about if a creditor took a coat as security he had to return it before nightfall so that the debtor will not be cold without his coat. It had me thinking what is the whole point of taking the coat for security then. What creditor would hold a coat as security when he knows he is obligated to return it before nightfall? Doesn't that negate the whole concept of holding something as security?
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  34

  The WT's biggest deception?

  by BU2B in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it just dawned on me that one of if not the most deceptive thing that the wt convinces the members of is that the truth does not stand up to investigation.

  they teach that lies trump truth.

  the reality of course is something entirely different.

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  Island Man

  BU2B, here's a link to my new Yahoo Answers question sharing your observations.
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  34

  The WT's biggest deception?

  by BU2B in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it just dawned on me that one of if not the most deceptive thing that the wt convinces the members of is that the truth does not stand up to investigation.

  they teach that lies trump truth.

  the reality of course is something entirely different.

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  Island Man

  An excellent post, BU2B!

  Do you mind if I share the contents of your post in a Yahoo Answers question?
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  15

  Special Meeting at Bethel by GB just before Annual Meeting

  by notsurewheretogo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i see there is a special meeting held by the gb at bethel a week before the annual meeting.. .

  wonder what that will be about?.

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  Island Man

  Maybe a few days before the annual meeting some Bethelites, by virtue of their responsibilities, will inevitably get knowledge of new light or new policies to be unveiled at the annual meeting.

  But the GB wants to prevent the embarrassment of such confidential information leaking out ahead of its grand revelation at the annual meeting. They don't want apostate sites like JWN stealing their thunder and exposing the fact that there are dissidents at Bethel. So in a desperate bid to avoid this the GB will meet with all the Bethelites to stress the need to maintain confidentiality.

  Those who will have the privilege of knowing new info. ahead of the official unveiling will be impressed upon to keep their mouths shut. Maybe they'll be informed that they'll be on lock down for that week, no one being allowed to leave the compound until after the annoucement at the annual meeting; and all their electronic communications would be monitored.

  Those at Bethel who wont have the privilege of knowing will be told that, for that final week, they're to treat those who have the privilege of knowing as apostates, avoiding communication with them so that there's no possibility of them divulging the new light to them before Jehovah's great and powerful celestial chariot driven by the almighty GB, drives up on the red carpet at the annual meeting and thunderously proclaims its earth-shattering revelation of new light.

  Those Bethelites who refuse to comply with these directives will be expelled from Bethel and disfellowshipped for brazen conduct.
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  30

  1914 or 1934 ?

  by Chris Tann in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i have thoroughly researched the watchtower doctrine of 1914, and am convinced it is neither biblically or historically correct.

  but every now and then i wonder how ironic it is that world war 1 did start in that year, also pestilence and famine perused.

  maybe, just maybe the witnesses are correct.

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  Island Man

  Another important point to remember about the bogus 1914 doctrine is this: JWs teach christ was enthroned in October of that year and that his first act as King was to expell satan. WWI is supposed to caused by the anger of the already expelled satan. But here's the problem: WWI started in late July of 1914 - months before Jesus' enthronement and Satan's expulsion! So WWI actually does not fit the time line of Jesus being enthroned in October 1914.

  It's interesting to note that the last public magazine that featured WWI was suspiciously silent in not mentioning the exact date or month when WWI started. You can be sure that even Watchtower is aware of this inconsistency and tries hard to avoid the subject.
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  9

  Dedication of Buildings (e.g. Kingdom Halls, Branch Offices etc)

  by IMHO in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just did i quick search it doesn't seem like this has been discussed.. why it's such a big deal, especially with branches where they are usually "dedicated" by a member of the governing body?.

  is there a spiritual, biblical, theocratic significance.. does it "change" the building?.

  should it be "un-dedicated" if it is sold.. i await your insight and responses.. .

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  Island Man

  It's an example of Watchtower's old testament mentality. I think they use Solomon's dedication of the temple in Jerusalem as the scriptural precedent for this practice.

  First century christians never built and dedicated buildings to serve specifically as meeting places. They simply met in private homes of believers. Jesus' words to the Samaritan woman at John 4 is very relevant to this subject. Jesus indicated that true worshipers would not focus on particular physical locations for worship, but that they will worship in spirit and truth.

  The way JWs dedicate Kingdom Halls and practically regard them as holy places - as Jehovah's house - flies in the face of Jesus' words to the Samaritan woman. JWs are beggarly looking back to the glamor of the OT temple in Jerusalem. See my related post here.
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  138

  A question about lying and the Jehovah's Witnesses

  by Change Name in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i have seen questions regarding how much jehovah's witnesses lie all the time on yahoo answers.

  here is the latest question:.

  jehovah's witnesses, is lying at any time something jehovah approves of?.

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  Island Man

  Bumping this thread because of its relevance to a question on Yahoo Answers asked by Change Name. LOL.
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  49

  Faith - Virtue or Vice?

  by nicolaou in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  faith gives you permission to believe that jesus actually did feed thousands with a few loaves & fishes, walk on water and rise from the grave.

  all the evidence proves that none of this happened so why persist with faith?

  why be dishonest with yourself?

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  Island Man

  Let me state what I said here on an older post:

  If I were the All-powerful Creator of all the universe it would be a very easy thing to prove my existence, requirements and will in an indisputable and unambiguous way. Everyone would know of my existence and requirements without them having to put forth effort to believe based on limited, ambiguous evidence that is highly subject to interpretation.

  I would regard faith as a harmful trait that makes one vulnerable to being deceived. My wisdom would cause me to understand that the concept of faith would make it easy for charlatans to devise all manner of false claims and teachings in my name and conveniently use the faith card to guilt persons into believing them in the absence of conclusive proof.

  I would teach my worshipers that faith is a flaw to be avoided and in this way protect them from being easily deceived by charlatans. They would be taught to see the wisdom in refusing to believe false, outlandish claims that require faith since they cannot be conclusively proven. There would be little room for doubt as to who is the true God and what are his requirements. There would not be a multiplicity of false religions as exist today.

  An All-powerful God who values and requires faith from his worshipers, is actually molding their minds in a way that makes them vulnerable to being deceived. It seems to me that such a God would not be very wise at all. Conversely, wise is the charlatan who, being unable to prove his outlandish claims, realizes that he can get persons to believe (or at least convince themselves that they believe) if he can convince them that having faith is a virtue and that disbelieving is an evil. It is the shrewd but powerless - the con[fidence] men - that rely on their victims having confidence - faith - in their claims. Faith is useless to the powerful as they can easily get others to know that their claims are true.