Island Man

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Posts by Island Man

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  24

  Further CO Leaks

  by wifibandit in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  believe inspired truth, not inspired error (s-341a-16-e).

  instructions for the circuit overseer’s meeting with the pioneers and field missionaries in conjunction with the circuit assembly (s-312-tk16-e no.

  circuit overseer meets with pioneers and field missionaries program for september 2015 through february 2016 (s-335-16-e).

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  Island Man

  All hail BAAL! (Brave Awake Anonymous Leaker )
  
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  28

  If death is a natural occurrence in the human species, why are we born with the innate feeling to continue living indefinitely?

  by Tenacious in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  there are some people that do in fact want to die.

  these people include the mentally unstable, emotionally imbalanced, and those suffering from ailments or diseases, just to name a few.. i've never met however, anyone, or heard of anyone, who is of sound mind, who just awoke one day and thought it would be an excellent day to die......naturally.. your thoughts?.

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  Island Man

  This makes perfect sense from an evolutionary standpoint. Very early in natural history, there would have been a mix of attitudes toward self-preservation owing to genetic diversity.

  In time, those animals that had a desire or drive to continue living on indefinitely, took less risks and cared for themselves better. As a result they lived longer and produced more offspring. Those animals that didn't have this tendency took more risks and tended to die younger leaving fewer offspring. As a result the gene pool in animal populations eventually shifted to the point that it is now made up entirely of genes that would tend to work toward self-preservation.

  It all goes back to natural selection acting on a diverse gene pool. Any genetic traits that offer survival and reproductive advantages get selected for and soon become the norm for the population. Genes that worked toward attitudes of self-preservation offered a survival advantage and got selected for and became the norm for virtually all animals. Humans just have a more sophisticated cognitive expression of these traits owing to our more developed brains.
  
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  12

  Mass baptism nullification 10/2/16 #unJW

  by rebel8 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i thought i would rework this and try it again.

  i found an old baptism nullification letter here written by poster balsam, and revised it a bit.. i really think we should do a large-scale baptismal nullification request.

  letter and more info here.. i am concerned there is no way to track how many people did it.

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  Island Man

  accomplishes precisely nothing, especially with JWs

  As I stated, JWs are not the target of this activity.

  Yes we need to think beyond the sleeping JWs. Activism isn't all about reaching JWs. It should be first and foremost about reaching the public, educating the public - inoculating the public. Then the public will do the rest when the JWs come to their doors.

  So never be too concerned about a particular method not being effective at reaching JWs. Instead think about if it will raise public awareness.
  
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  26

  Jehovah’s Witnesses are Taught to Lie but to then Lie about Lying

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jehovah’s witnesses are taught to lie but to then lie about lying.

  first off, let’s define what it means to tell a lie.

  i prefer the definition offered by aristotle way back in 4th century b.c.e.

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  Island Man

  This is my definition of lying:

  Deliberately communicating a false idea or impression.

  It covers all forms of deception - including lying by omission since the strategic omission of certain information also serves to communicate an idea or impression. In other words, you also say something by what you choose not to say. Once you're communicating in any form or fashion and you're deliberately communicating a false idea, you're lying.

  I notice that JWs will often use technically truthful wording deliberately couched in such a way as to give a false impression. That is lying according to my definition because they're still deliberately communicating a false idea even if they use technically truthful wording.
  
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  18

  Can God do everything? Can he sin?

  by James Mixon in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  reading this and it made me think, god cannot do everything.

  god is holy and he cannot.

  sin.

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  Island Man

  If God has free will then why can't he sin?

  If he doesn't have free will then how can he be God?

  If he does have free will but is unable to sin, then why didn't he make humans to be the same way so as to avert suffering and death?

  If he made humans with free will and the ability to sin - instead of making them to be without the ability to sin, like himself - then is he not ultimately responsible for sin?

  Thus God's nature as a being with free will who is unable to sin, contradicts the JW teaching that free will necessitates the possibility of sin, and calls into question the quality of God's human and angelic creation and makes him ultimately responsible for all the problems that have resulted from the sinning of intelligent beings.

  If a human inventor were to create an autonomous artificially intelligent robot capable of independent decision making and initiating its own actions with no design checks in place to prevent it from choosing to initiate harmful actions, is the inventor free from blame when the robot decides to kill an innocent person?
  
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  24

  New Light - Two Sticks in Ezekiel - July 2016 Watchtower

  by Listener in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  ezekiel 37:15-17 prophesies about two sticks being joined together to become 1. one stick represented the two tribe kingdom of judah and the other stick represented the 10 tribe of israel (ephraim).

  the article explains how the coming together of these two sticks meant the reuniting of these tribes in 537 bce.the modern day fulfillment was previously taught to mean that the anointed had once again come together in unity in these last days.the july watchtower now explains that one stick, the stick of judah, represents the anointed and the other stick, the stick of ephraim, represents the other sheep.

  they further explain that since 1919 god's people have gradually reunited to become one flock.they are now saying that the other sheep are represented by 10 tribes of israel.

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  Island Man

  "If they do get everyone to take the bread and wine, what about all those who have died rejecting it?"

  They'll come back in the resurrection of the unrighteous?
  
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  53

  Disturbance during Memorial 2016.

  by Ben131895 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  two documented disturbances during memorial 2016. type 'memorial 2016' on youtube.

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  Island Man

  Some say such activism is counterproductive as it reinforces the negative stereotypes about apostates and feeds the JWs' persecution complex. I understand where they're coming from. Such criticisms are valid but I think they're merely the disadvantages of this type of activism. What about the advantages?

  Memorial is a key meeting to target with activism because it's the meeting with the highest percentage of non-JWs present! So we can talk about the negative impact it has on JWs. What about the positive impact on non-JWs?

  A large number of non-JWs would find the memorial of JWs to be strange. But for a non-JW sitting in a crowd of compliant JWs its easier for him to dismiss his own reservations about the matter. It's easier for him to tell himself that the problem is with him - that he just doesn't understand the truth of the matter as the JWs do. Having vocal activists present and brave enough to challenge the authenticity of the observance serves as a form of confirmation to all the non-JWs present who are thinking to themselves that this doesn't seem right.

  Without the activists present some non-JWs be thinking: "It just doesn't seem right - but maybe it's just me. I mean, these JWs do seem to understand their bible pretty well..." But with vocal activists present, more non-JWs be thinking: "He's right, Jesus did say to eat my flesh and drink my blood. I know this doesn't look right. And clearly I'm not the only one who sees that." Some non-JWs also be thinking: "What drama! You don't see that at a weekly sunday mass, do you? What would motivate someone to do that? He seems knowledgeable of their beliefs. He must be a former member. This religion must have done a number on this guy for him to feel motivated to do something like that. I think I'm going to look up former JWs when I go home. The fact that ex-members are like that points to the fact that there must be hidden darker side to this religion."

  See folks! Activism isn't all or only about reaching JWs. I dare say activism should be primarily about reaching non-JWs! Stunts like this reach non-JWs! It is far better to reach the non-JW public than attempt to reach JWs. It's like fighting Ebola. It's far better to work on vaccinating vulnerable populations than trying to find a cure when people already get it.

  Reaching the public = vaccination against the JW mind virus = greatly stagnated JW growth = more JWs being exposed to TTATT at the door from non-apostates = more JWs doing serious research to prove the TTATT heard at the door wrong = more JWs waking up!
  
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  15

  JW Vs. Mormon program

  by pixel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i will like people on this forum and lurkers to see the big different between jws and other religion.

  following you will see the program from the upcoming distric/regional 2016 convention.

  look at the topics that are going to be discussed.

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  Island Man

  I'm making a prediction: Sometime in the future, as JW membership stagnates and even starts declining, the borg will start encouraging brothers and sisters to marry. They will also start discouraging married sisters from working secularly as they now discourage higher education. They will also encourage married brothers and sisters to have children. All of this would be a tactic to increase membership numbers through reproduction and indoctrination from the cradle.
  
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  23

  Why did Jesus have to suffer?? Something I never thought about.

  by ttdtt in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  something dawned on me last night.

  jesus was suposed to be a corresponding sacrifice for adam right?.

  a perfect life for a perfect life.

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  Island Man

  Freeandclear: "...the whole idea of the Ransom makes zero sense at all. It's a foolish idea to me now."

  A JW would find validation in a statement like that. He would say that the bible spoke about the torture stake being foolishness to people of the world way back in Paul's day. And he would be correct.

  There is a scripture in the NT that says the message of the cross/torture stake is foolishness to the Greeks/gentiles.

  What that actually means is that people way way back in the early days of christianity were smart enough to see the logical holes in it, and that is why they rejected it as foolishness. Christianity cannot stand up to logical and ethical scrutiny by intelligent people, this is why the writers of the NT had to resort to speaking badly about "the wisdom of the world" saying that God made it foolishness. The early christians could not withstand the scrutiny and logic of the philosophers of their day, so they desperately resorted to disparaging their wisdom and condemning philosophy.
  
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  11

  Walking Fish - evolution or adaptation?

  by Earnest in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a recent article in nature reports on a fish that has a pelvic girdle with features associated with terrestrial vertebrates.. discuss..

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  Island Man

  There's something wrong with premise behind the OP let me point it out by way of an illustration. Imagine you read an OP like this:

  A puppy increasing in size as the months go by - growth or cell-division?