On the other hand, Jackson's testimony also makes it more difficult and inexcusable for GB members to refuse to testify. Do not forget the fact that Jackson testified VIA video link. So with that precedent set, the UK commission can request that GB members testify from the US VIA a video link if they can't make it to the UK.
Island Man
JoinedPosts by Island Man
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16
Are G.B. Members Too Scared to Visit the U.K. ?
by The Searcher in... in case the u.k. charities commission summons them - like the australian royal commission snared mr. jackson?
why else would they be sending two of their personal boot-lickers?.
credit to wifibandit for this post.. http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5658621048258560/boe-2016-01-13-britain-branch-visit-2016-01-18-correct-use-jw-org-inboxes.
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Ridiculous statements in this weeks study article
by the truth is mine inmaybe it is just me but when i read this paragraph all i could do is shake my head and wonder how i used to buy into this crap and how people don't wonder what the hell the writers are thinking'.
"imagine what life would be like if god did not have love for mankind.
we merely have to look at the awful history of this world with its human rulerships under its unloving and wrathful god, satan the devil.
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Island Man
In other words:
"Imagine what life would be like if God did not have love for mankind. It would be exactly as it is right now - not that that proves that God does not have love for mankind, no. It only demonstrates that we need his love . . . which he has for us . . . but is allowing the world to continue in the same state it would be in if he did not love us . . ."
ROFLOL.
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How the Bible disproves the JWs' 1914 invisible presence doctrine.
by Island Man inwatchtower teaches jws that christ's presence began invisibly in 1914. they also teach that the start of christ's presence coincides with the start of the last days.
whether you believe in the bible or not, watchtower claims these teachings come from the bible.
so does the bible actually agree with them?
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Island Man
Watchtower teaches JWs that Christ's presence began invisibly in 1914. They also teach that the start of Christ's presence coincides with the start of the last days. Whether you believe in the bible or not, Watchtower claims these teachings come from the bible. So does the bible actually agree with them? Let's see how certain bible texts expose their teachings as being completely at odds with what the bible actually says.
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1. According to the bible Christ's presence will not be a secret event that only a privileged few will see or discern.
Jesus indicated that it will be obvious to all when he compared it to lightning that lights up the entire night sky.
Look! I have forewarned you. 26 Therefore, if people say to you, ‘Look! He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; ‘Look! He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.+ 27 For just as the lightning comes out of the east and shines over to the west, so the presence* of the Son of man will be. - Matthew 24:25-27
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2. According to the bible the last days begins before the start of Christ's presence.
At 2 Peter 3:3,4, the bible mentions ridiculers living during the last days and asking where is the promised presence. According to JW theology it means that the ridiculers are living during the very presence that they're asking about! If the JWs were correct then this would be a very noteworthy irony calling attention to the spiritual ineptitude of the ridiculers. The irony surely would not have escaped the attention of the inspired bible writer. He surely would have exposed this great folly of the ridiculers in subsequent verses. He does not! The bible writer implicitly agrees with the ridiculers' assumption that the presence has not yet started and is future. See 2 Peter 3:9 and the next point.
First of all know this, that in the last days [during christ's presence, according to JWs] ridiculers will come with their ridicule, proceeding according to their own desires+ 4 and saying: “Where is this promised presence of his?+ Why, from the day our forefathers fell asleep in death, all things are continuing exactly as they were from creation’s beginning.” - 2 Peter 3:3,4
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3. According to the bible the start of christ's presence brings an end to the opportunity to repent. The presence starts destructively - not as a century of invisible rule from heaven.
In response to the ridiculers' question about the delay to the start of the "promised presence", 2 Peter 3:9 says that God is not slow in fulling the "promise" - the promised presence - but is patiently giving people time to repent because he does not want any to be destroyed. Thus the bible is indirectly implying that when the presence does begin it will be too late to repent as it would be the time for the wicked to be destroyed. If the presence really did begin in 1914, Armageddon would have started then and wicked people would not be still around a whole century later, still having an opportunity to repent. Thus the 1914 presence is at odds with 2 Peter 3:9
Jehovah* is not slow concerning his promise,+ as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not desire anyone to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance. - 2 Peter 3:9
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4. According to the bible the start of Christ's presence brings an end to anointed christians' patient endurance of trial and adversity in this world.
James 5:7 tells christians to exercise patience "until" the presence of christ. What does he mean by "until" but that their need for patience ends with the start of christ's presence. And yet, anointed JWs are still exercising patience more than 100 years after the supposed start of christ's presence in 1914. Clearly christ's presence could not have started in 1914.
Be patient then, brothers, until the presence of the Lord.+ Look! The farmer keeps waiting for the precious fruit of the earth, exercising patience over it until the early rain and the late rain arrive. - James 5:7
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5. Jesus told his followers of events that indicate to them that his presence is near - not that his presence is here, as JWs falsely teach.
Likewise also you, when you see all these things, know that he is near at the doors. - Matthew 24:33
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Thus a careful study of what the bible says exposes the JWs' 1914 invisible presence teaching to be a concept that is alien to the bible - a concept that is not hinted at by Peter or any other NT writer. In fact, a reading of 2 Peter chapter 3 reveals that the bible implicitly equates the start of the presence with armageddon.
Whether you believe the bible or not JWs believe it and profess to base all their teachings on it so its good to know which scriptures refute the bogus 1914 teaching so we can use it to expose Watchtower's teaching as being unbiblical.
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Why don't people believe Facts?
by The Rebel ini have enjoyed some fascinating debates on the forum.
i have found it interesting when" facts" have been presented to support a viewpoint, yet the " facts" have then been rejected.. what does this mean?.
well the " truth" is as a dub, i was often presented with " facts" that the organisation was wrong, yet as this information challenged my belief system i convinced myself the " facts" were either completely wrong or misinterpreted, .
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Island Man
Here's what I think. Belief is an involuntary faculty. You can't force yourself to believe or unbelieve something. Our belief is dictated to us against our will, by compelling facts and evidence. If you see clear facts or evidence pointing to a particular conclusion, you can't help but believe the conclusion is true.
What a person can do - and what I believe JWs do - is enter into a state of denial and suppress the inconvenient beliefs that the facts suggest. So its not that they don't believe - it's that they're suppressing the belief. A person can pretend to them self that their suppressed belief is not true and pretend to believe the contrary. But deep down, they actually believe what the facts suggest. They're just not prepared to accept and embrace the suppressed belief because the implications of doing so are painful in some way.
For example, fear of missing out on paradise or being destroyed at Armageddon for disloyalty to Jehovah's organization; or maybe the pride that has built up from the egotistical notion of belonging to the only true religion, may motivate JWs to suppress their belief that their organization is wrong, when confronted with compelling facts and evidence.
This is why they experience cognitive dissonance and is the reason why the organization coaches JWs to practice self-censorship and avoid apostate sites and information critical of the organization. Because right up to the top level of the organization - especially at the top level of the organization - they already believe deep down, that many of their teachings are false and that Jesus didn't really choose the GB in 1919.
They already believe this but they are suppressing that inconvenient belief because of the unpleasant implications of accepting it. And it is precisely because they already believe it and are suppressing it, that they project their own efforts to suppress the belief unto the rank and file publishers by telling them not to visit apostate sites and not to think independently. They are projecting their own battle with cognitive dissonance unto the rank and file. They know there is compelling, irrefutable evidence on apostate sites that disprove the organization.
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Evolution is a Fact #4 - Smelly Genes
by cofty inpart 1 - protein functional redundancy...part 2 - dna functional redundancy...part 3 - ervs.
the rule in gene survival is "use it or lose it".. when a gene ceases to be useful, mutations are likely to accumulate as they are passed on down the generations.
these broken genes are called pseudogenes and they provide powerful clues to our evolutionary past.. compared with other animals our ability to detect odours is poor, but if evolution is correct there was a time in our distant past when we relied on our sense of smell much more than we do today.. our olfactory receptors are coded for by or genes.
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Island Man
Genetics provides the strongest evidence that all species share common ancestry. I don't know how creationists can say there is no evidence for evolution. They are either very ignorant of the subject or they are lying - to themselves and others. -
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Evolution is a Fact #4 - Smelly Genes
by cofty inpart 1 - protein functional redundancy...part 2 - dna functional redundancy...part 3 - ervs.
the rule in gene survival is "use it or lose it".. when a gene ceases to be useful, mutations are likely to accumulate as they are passed on down the generations.
these broken genes are called pseudogenes and they provide powerful clues to our evolutionary past.. compared with other animals our ability to detect odours is poor, but if evolution is correct there was a time in our distant past when we relied on our sense of smell much more than we do today.. our olfactory receptors are coded for by or genes.
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Island Man
Why would an intelligent designer equip dolphins with smelling genes that they're not using? Answer that, clambake! -
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Evolution is a Fact #3 - ERVs
by cofty inpart 1 - protein functional redundancy.... part 2 - dna functional redundancy.... imagine you are teacher with suspicions that some of your pupils have been copying from each other.
comparing the correct answers in all of their assignments might not provide conclusive evidence.
they could simply claim they had all carefully revised the same textbooks so it shouldn't be surprising that they all gave the same answers.
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Island Man
"These threads aren’t about informing, they are about proselytizing. I really think these forums should be a proselytizing free zone."
What an utterly stupid thing to say! You must be trolling for laughs. You can't be serious. sharing scientific findings is proselytizing? Really? Come clean and just admit that you're trolling, clambake.
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When selling was preaching ...
by Hecce ini am going way, way back.
history reveals that in the beginning the wt was just a publishing house, selling books and magazines; over the years it evolved into what it is today..
the placement of the original publications was mostly done thru sales people masquerading as preachers.
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Island Man
Excuse if this subject that has been treated before.
Finkelstein has been doing a good job helping lurkers and everyone know about Watchtower's very commercial beginnings. But your op is still informative, nonetheless.
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How far will they go?
by careful ini've been drawing back lately and looking at the big picture going on in the org, somewhat like slimboyfat has also been doing, but i am wondering about different possibilities.
so the current gb has modernized recently in various ways.
they have done a strong and sudden about-face regarding the electronic world, from viewing the whole thing suspiciously and condemning bros. use tablets from the platform to suddenly embracing them and causing the r&f to do so to such a degree that old ones are spending hundreds of dollars to buy devices that they have no clue how to use; they have heavily embraced this media for their message, very much like the churches have been doing for years, especially with their jw broadcasting and their caleb and sophia animations.
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Island Man
I forgot to mention FS attire where I'm at. Field service attire is the same as KH attire. The only difference is that brothers don't wear Jackets in field service. -
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How far will they go?
by careful ini've been drawing back lately and looking at the big picture going on in the org, somewhat like slimboyfat has also been doing, but i am wondering about different possibilities.
so the current gb has modernized recently in various ways.
they have done a strong and sudden about-face regarding the electronic world, from viewing the whole thing suspiciously and condemning bros. use tablets from the platform to suddenly embracing them and causing the r&f to do so to such a degree that old ones are spending hundreds of dollars to buy devices that they have no clue how to use; they have heavily embraced this media for their message, very much like the churches have been doing for years, especially with their jw broadcasting and their caleb and sophia animations.
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Island Man
brandnew: Does anyone know of the dress code , in the carribean?
I'm not prepared to give my exact location but I live on an island in the southern Caribbean.
Here JWs are taught to dress conservatively and avoid worldly fads. I occasionally see the odd sister wearing shorter than acceptable skirts but it's not the norm and such sisters are invariably regarded by other JWs as not being the most exemplary.
Sisters can't go on the platform wearing pants. Brothers can't do a meeting part on the platform without wearing a jacket. Brothers wear jackets when roving the mikes and doing stage duty. Beards are a no-no. If a brother has a beard he will be spoken to about it. He will not be allowed to have any privileges in the congregation if he's not clean shaven.
One time at a convention I saw a visiting non-JW man enter the door with a stub in his ear (earring). An attendant went up and spoke with him and they both exited the door. A few minutes later the same non-JW re-entered the door without the ear stub. LOL.