Island Man

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Posts by Island Man

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  72

  Paranormal Warning

  by Cold Steel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've heard some weird stories coming from jws about the paranormal.

  i know about the warnings about items that come from unbelievers -- those don't interest me as much.

  what i am interested in are actual experiences in stories of the paranormal you've heard or experienced yourself.

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  Island Man

  Paranormal = mystical paranoia resulting in the misinterpretation of normal events.
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  28

  Who was the founder of Jehovah's Witnesses? JW Org states it was not Russell

  by ToesUp in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  found this article in the about page on jw org.

  i was a born in and was always taught charles taze russell was the founder.

  guess i was wrong!

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  Island Man

  I don't think it's a case of trying to distance themselves from Russel, specifically, as much as it's a case of them trying to deny the fact that they're a "Johny-come-lately", man-made religion started by an imperfect man. They always have to keep saying that Jesus is their founder to hide from the ugly fact of history that they started as a cult following the teachings of one man. It's similar to the JW spin that says: "we don't have human leaders - Jesus is our leader".
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  103

  JW and the Sabbath

  by Andromeda in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hello brothers and sisters and truth seekers,.

  i am an active jehovah's witness.

  i don't believe in 1914 and i'm tototally against their way of dealing with abuse cases.

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  Island Man

  If I'm not mistaken, a JW cannot be disfellowshipped for observing the sabbath provided he does not promote sabbath adherence to other JWs. I recall hearing talks where it was mentioned that if a JW chooses to observe the sabbath he can do so as long as he does not promote it and speak negatively of those that don't.

  But there is actually more biblical support for not needing to observe the sabbath, than there is for 1914. So I find it odd that it is the sabbath issue that causes you to want to leave and not the far more unscriptural 1914 issue.
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  18

  Do you think this would work?

  by LisaRose in

  1. social
  2. humour

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  Island Man

  Evasive, deceitful, obfuscating JW: "Well we're not here to share any sales pitches, fund-raising stories or religious messages. We're just discussing with our neighbors some of the problems we see in our world today and where they think the solutions lie. We think the solutions can be found in a special government that is mentioned in an ancient, well-respected book - not in any fund-raising efforts, commercial products or man-made religion."
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  532

  I conclude evolution is guided

  by KateWild in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  your qualifications are way above mine so i'd love to hear more about the specifics of what you have researched and how that supports the existence of a deity.

  k99, i am not really convinced that you're interested in my conclusions.

  in nature amino acids formed to then form dna.

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  Island Man

  Kate, I think it's time we stick a fork in it.

  I already just did Simon. It's still a bit hard. I say the baby should be well done in about another 20 minutes ... wait why would you be telling Kate to ... Kate isn't one of us and she wouldn't know about the you-know-what cooking in the oven ... oh, you weren't talking about that baby ... pig ... the baby pig - the piglet that we're roasting in the oven - I mean, who would be roasting an actual baby, right?
  
  
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  11

  Interesting find in the bible last night

  by Crazyguy in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  so i was reading genesis chapter 10 and 11 to see how it explains the man who supposedly is the offspring of noah and he and his offspring become the nation known as egypt.

  in some bibles they actually call him egypt.

  well as i was reading chapter 10 i noticed something.

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  Island Man

  No, no, no. There's no contradiction there. Chapter 10 is just an aside telling you how the different nations came to be from Noah's offspring, but that does not mean that chapter 11 continues the story from after these nations all come into being. That is an unreasonable assumption to arrive at.

  Bible books aren't written in perfect chronological order. Writers often make chronological detours to make a particular point. Genesis 10 is a detour from the regular chronology of Genesis for the purpose of explaining human lineage from Noah. The main story thread runs from Genesis 9 straight into Genesis 11. Genesis 10 is like a fork that branches out to a separate story thread that explains human lineages from Noah. The timeline of that thread goes beyond the timeline of Genesis 11. But that thread terminates at the end of chapter 10.

  There are plenty real contradictions and inconsistencies in the bible but what you mention in your first paragram, ain't one of them.
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  24

  Can baptism be considered a legal verbal agreement?

  by StarTrekAngel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  based on the requirements set forth and the questions answered at the end.

  i believe this question has been asked before.

  the fact that you can only be expelled after having been put under this oath of allegiance and that you have witnesses to you making this agreement ( i remember my name was shout to the crowd when i entered the pool ).. if it can be considered so, would there be a legal ground to say minors can not enter this agreement?.

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  Island Man

  I believe there are some legal trappings involved - not in the actual baptism, but in having the candidates answer "yes" to the questions before an audience of witnesses.

  I especially believe the question that says:

  "do you understand that your baptism identifies you as one of Jehovah's Witnesses in association with God's spirit directed organization"

  ... is for purely legal purposes. It serves to establish that the person agreed to the term that membership in the religion is tied to association with the organization. That way it is difficult to sue the organization if a person is involuntarily disassociated or disfellowshipped for disavowing the organization.
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  78

  How to argue with a JW who says the org never said the end in 75

  by dogon in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have argued with several jws who are now being trained to deny the org ever said the end in 75, what is your approach?.

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  Island Man

  JWs will exploit any and every frivolous technicality to defend the org. On a Y!A question about JW false predictions, I saw a JW respond by saying that JWs never made any false predictions - that such predictions were make by Bible Student groups before the group named Jehovah's Witnesses came into existence in 1931. Yes, they will stoop that low.

  When mentioning the 1975 issue, it's best avoid saying or implying that the org explicitly predicted the end in 1975. Instead, it would be better to say that the org. "implied" or "insinuated" through innuendo that the end would come in 1975. Such a claim would be more difficult for a JW to weasel out of.

  Keep in mind too, what the org says about Satan's words to Eve at Genesis 3. This could prove very helpful for exposing the hypocrisy of the "the org never explicitly said so" defence argument employed by JWs. How so? Well Satan never explicitly told Eve that God was a selfish ruler withholding good from humans and that humans are better off ruling themselves, did he? Yet the org. reads those insinuations into Satan's words and charges him with being just as guilty as if he had explicitly said it! So since the org. judges others for what they do not explicitly say but insinuate; then it is only fair that others also judge the org. for what it does not explicitly say but clearly insinuates. They clearly insinuated that the end would come in 1975!
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  10

  A conversation with my ultra dub relative

  by joe134cd in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  here's a conversation i just had with my relative a few minutes ago i'll let you decide.. relative : would you like to read your grandfather the days txt (she passes joe the phone).

  joe : sure.

  (then proceed to read it to my grandfather and explain it).. after discussing the points joe says to relative.. hey what's the story arnt they printing books any more.. relative : no they arnt necessary any more.. joe : really why is that.. relative : it's all on line.

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  Island Man

  Google "Gaslighting". JWs often practice a form of gaslighting when confronted with inconvenient truths of their past - especially the 1975 fiasco.
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  127

  Racial Insensitivity

  by Coded Logic in

  1. social
  2. current

  "blue" lives matter!

  - sheriff david clarke at the rnc.

  this bs really makes my blood boil.

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  Island Man

  This is why we need robot police who will evaluate a situation based purely on logic and untainted by favoritism or forms of irrational discrimination.