Posts by Island Man

34

Do you have / admire Charisma?

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

"charisma is a certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which the person is set apart from ordinary people and treated as exceptional".

as a kid i was afraid of such charisma, as it was usually the quality i noticed elders, head masters, and parents had to exercise with unloving authority over me.. but now i think about it "charisma" doesn't need be only for people with authority.

" charisma" is something even we can have?

Island Man

"I can't agree that charisma is a pretty wrapping. People with charisma have a strong electricity to them comes from deep with in. They are not always physically attractive."

You misunderstood my illustration. I wasn't suggesting that charisma has anything to do with physical attractiveness of persons who are charismatic. I was suggesting that charisma is an attractive quality that "dresses up" your message but at the end of the day it is the substance of the message that is important and we should focus on the substance of the message and not be distracted by a speaker's charisma lest we swallow a figurative turd because of being distracted by the shiny wrapping that is charisma.

82

meeting with elders about WT involvement in UN

by LevelThePlayingField in

i still go to the meetings because of my in wife and it came about that the elders knew of my pissed off attitude about the society getting involved in the un.

so the elders said they could help me get over that and wanted to meet with me.

now just to let you know, i have only told my wife and her mom so far about it, that's it.

Island Man

"Every time I think I' fully awake, I keep waking up more and more."

The organization exhibits a surreal, dizzying level of hypocrisy. You see them printing clearly in their literature that 'X, Y and Z is wrong. The pharisees did X, Y and Z.' Then you do research and discover that the organization does X, Y and Z, and you think to yourself: 'But wait a minute ... how could ... didn't they say ... what?!!' Then you bring it up with elders and its like you suddenly wake up to the realization that you're living in a twilight zone masquerading as reality, and the elders are there to prevent you from unmasking the twilight zone to others. They're pretending to be pure and righteous but they're really deceitful hypocrites who are afraid to be confronted with the truth of their error and hypocrisy. It's a very infuriating and frustrating experience.

34

Do you have / admire Charisma?

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

"charisma is a certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which the person is set apart from ordinary people and treated as exceptional".

as a kid i was afraid of such charisma, as it was usually the quality i noticed elders, head masters, and parents had to exercise with unloving authority over me.. but now i think about it "charisma" doesn't need be only for people with authority.

" charisma" is something even we can have?

Island Man

Charisma is just a pretty wrapping. A pretty wrapping can house a chocolate bar or a turd.

405

Origin of Life

by cofty in

in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?

as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.

there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.

Island Man

Am not sure if we can ever solve the question of how life developed. But I think scientific knowledge will progress to the point that we can demonstrably prove at least one theory of how it could have happened. We will be able to say, with proof, that life definitely could have come about by X, Y, Z.

Maybe with future technological advances we will be able to examine remnants of the earliest most primitive microscopic pre-life biological systems that are currently hidden with current day technology. There might be other kinds of trace remnants of organisms apart from fossilization that we are currently unaware of or don't have the technology to examine.

36

This week's WT study article "Keep on the Watch" - the latest dumb article from the Gang That Couldn't Think Straight

by sir82 in

ok so this week's wt study article is entitled "why must we keep on the watch?"..

it is filled with statements on the importance of "being watchful" for the beginning of the "great tribulation".

paragraph 2: “keep looking, keep awake, for you do not know when the appointed time is.”after that, jesus admonished them repeatedly: “keep on the watch.”.

Island Man

I think the real reason that Watchtower joined the UN is that they were trying to fulfill Revelation 17:17. After so many failed predictions of the end they probably thought that they need to join the UN so that Jehovah can use them to influence the UN to hate all religions and turn on them.

37

A list of top You tubers out there worth visiting, please add yours.

by pleaseresearch in

i'm an unbelieving but baptised jw.

i woke up to ttatt around 4 years ago.

i haven't been regular to meetings for nearly 10 years.

Island Man

Vicious Fiction 101 - One of the most powerful and articulate defenses at a Judicial committee anywhere on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXEwf8u1GzhxcM2WoYGxJsudv2d6a_GT5

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXEwf8u1GzhyQZNpO_c9pnAmJuSMKSnQp

76

Visit From Jehovah's Witnesses

by Vanderhoven7 in

had two lovely jws (stephen and ruth) visit this morning.

this was our second study in the last 2 weeks.

they first knocked on my door (bell is out) 3 weeks ago and i shared my testimony and we arranged to meet last tuesday which we did.. our first study went like this:.

Island Man

"Then his statement about other churches and how the witnesses are not the only true religion? He really seems like more of a social witness than someone who cares about their dogma."

No. Stephen is clearly a flat-out, shameless liar!

23

Any word on the annual meeting?

by careful in

have all the leaks at ny bethel been discovered, or are there still some who are revealing the inner secrets beforehand?

i haven't seen anything here about the annual meeting just a month away now.

anyone have any real info on it?.

Island Man

"I bet they mention at least a word or two about not trusting the media and or apostates."

In view of the increased negative publicity that they're receiving for poor handling of pedophilia, I wouldn't be surprised if this subject took center stage at the meeting.

4

Religion's evil folly of stigmatizing doubt.

by Island Man in

punishing doubt - theramintrees (jws get mentioned in this one.).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdtzbvlg3ni.

Island Man

punishing doubt - TheraminTrees (JWs get mentioned in this one.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdTZBVlg3nI

76

Visit From Jehovah's Witnesses

by Vanderhoven7 in

had two lovely jws (stephen and ruth) visit this morning.

this was our second study in the last 2 weeks.

they first knocked on my door (bell is out) 3 weeks ago and i shared my testimony and we arranged to meet last tuesday which we did.. our first study went like this:.

Island Man

That's great information on Eisegesis vs Exegesis, Vanderhoven. I look forward to your further updates on your interactions with Stephen and Ruth.

By the way, here's an interesting and revealing exercise to pursue: apply the standards of good exegesis to NT passages that quote and interpret OT passages as being prophecies pertaining to christ. Are the NT authors applying sound exegesis. To me it seems like they're applying "I-see-Jesus". lol.