I think I've got a parasocial relationship with my computer big time.
Noumenon
JoinedPosts by Noumenon
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7
Research on social exclusion ( shunning )
by A Paduan in"ostracism, rejection, social exclusion, bullying, the silent treatment - their power to undermine our confidence and wellbeing is enormous, but rarely discussed openly.
over two weeks, natasha mitchell speaks to the leading international researchers spearheading research into the psychology of this nasty phenomena.
surprising insights into aggression, the vicious cycle of loneliness, the impact on cognition, health and much more.
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Strange picture in this week's Watchtower on porneia?
by eyeslice inlink to picture: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/file/7d83e711-da29-44aa-bde7-f74f9a3d79bd.ashx.
the following caption appeared opposite the paragraph porneia (quote: "porneia includes such acts as oral sex, anal sex, and masterbating another person") what can happen if we ignore warnings?.
now is it just me, but isn't the picture of the little boy trying to rescue his ball from out of a pond just a little weird?
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Noumenon
paedophiles like pictures of little boys reaching for balls....
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5
Churchill's Comment about World State 2 years before WW1
by Thirdson ini found this quote interesting considering how much the watchtower has claimed that the events of 1914 were so unexpected.
winston churchill said this in a recently discovered letter written two years before the conflict of world war 1 began but predicting a war: .
"the european situation is far from safe and anything might happen.
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Noumenon
I don't recall ever reading that the bible students or JW's ever said that the war in 1914 was 'so unexpected'. It is the significance of WW1 not any 'unexpectedness' that they emphasis.
There are also numerous quotes testifying that Europe was more less very peaceful and prosperous for the decades leading up to 1914.
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Noumenon
What hogwash. Sisters all over the world wear bikinis and it's totally fine and acceptable...just not when they're getting baptised.
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The Mystery Person of Luke 9:49, WTBTS Friend of Foe?
by Valis in"and john answered and said, 'master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.
' and jesus said to him, 'do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is for us'.
" (luke 9:49,50, nkj).
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Noumenon
Forgive me for defending the bible (oooohhhh), but I don't see that Jesus is contradicting himself. In His words "for he that is not against us is for us" is spoken of in the context of those who are showing at least some faith in him. His later words "He that is not on my side is against me, and he that does not gather with me scatters" is spoken in the context of disproving his accusers false claim that he was only able to expel the demons by means of Satan. They are two entirely different situations.
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United Nations in Prophecy
by littlemike inhello i am new to this board, but wen out of truth about 18 months ago.
reading crisis of conscience etc helped me greatly.
however like most of you still recovering.
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Noumenon
Now why would Brooklyn criticise the UN when the Awake and Watchtower are being used by UN agents at the Watchtower to disseminate UN globalistic 'new world order' propaganda....
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24
Anointed in JW's midst?
by Noumenon inin your time with jw's did you meet any of the 'anointed' ?.
i have met a number over the years, and they all seemed very normal, intelligent, balanced, loving people.
i've met a few obviously 'bogus' ones too.. my question is (atheists, agnostics, and god/bible basher please ignore and move on to another thread): what if there are genuinely anointed christians in jw's midst?
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Noumenon
Thanks for your thoughts so far...much appreciated.
I don't doubt for a second that many of those who partake of the emblems amongst JW's are more in the had a 'spiritual experience' bracket.
But then again I do feel that there truly are genuine ones of the heavenly calling on earth today. The Christian Greek scriptures are clear that true christians back then had a heavenly calling. This theme is woven inextricably throughtout the new testament. So it follows that there would be a goodly number of christians in modern times with a heavenly calling.
Now personally I am utterly convinced that the main doctrines taught in christendom are phoney, ie, the trinity, immortality of the soul, and eternal damnation in hellfire. They are all without a doubt false pagan derived dogmas to my mind, with no real spiritual foundation whatsoever (and I've looked at all arguments inside out). I also am convinced that only a relatively modest number of persons will in fact receive the heavenly calling, to be co-rulers with Christ over the planet one day (those things are immutable truths for me, so I don't want to engage in a specific discussion on the validity or otherwise of these teachings, if you don't mind).
Now I have no trouble with accepting that the Watchtower leadership are in serious error on many matters and have led the whole organisation astray on lots of things, all eloquently highlighted on sites such as this. However, what troubles me is this: why would God anoint christians that believe in such profoundly false doctrines as the main dogmas of Christendom?
Someone might then immediately point out: 'but why would God anoint persons froms amongst JW's when they also are in error on a number of important things, eg, the 1914 creed'. So it is a bit of a conundrum. The question is: Just how much doctrinal error does God permit one of his anointed 'holy ones' to remain in before he adopts them as one of his spiritual 'sons'?
Could it be that God and Christ do in fact allow most of the anointed ones to remain 'blinded' to many things for now (kind of how e-watchman suggests)?
The options appear to be:
- All true christians are 'anointed' and thus have a heavenly calling. This seems the most popular view. But I have trouble reconciling this with the scriptural notion that God's Kingdom is described as a government type rulership over the earth (a separate subject in itself I realise)? It seems hard to believe that such a government to be made up of millions of christians who have gone to heaven (I'm not saying the number is literally144,000 either).
- Only the 1st century Christians were of the heavenly calling. The number was filled back then, and there are none on the earth today. This notion would seem to be in conflict with scripture however, notably many prophesies in Revelation.
- That God has his anointed ones scattered throughout lots of different 'Christian' religions, or even on their own. But that raises the dilemma I described above re doctrinal truth, eg, would God anoint someone who does not even have a clear concept of who his heavenly Father is in relation to the son, ie, who believed in the Trinity? I can't speak for the mind of God, but I very much doubt this.
- That all of the anointed are actually amongst JW's and other JW type religions that have discarded the main babylonish pagan dogmas (eg, Unitarians, the Worldwide Church of God, some Russellite groups, Jehovah's Christian Witnesses, the Lord's Witnesses). This seems quite a reasonable proposition to me.
I tend to believe that the majority of the anointed are in fact amongst JW's, notwithstanding ones who just sincerely believe they are, having had some kind of spiritual 'experience' at a deeply emotional level, but that there may be some who are also scattered amongst other religions that hold similar beliefs to JW's. The bottom line is I feel there must be some knowable minimum foundation of doctrinal truth (ie, the truth about the human soul, the condition of the dead, and the true nature of the Father in relation to the Son) that God would reveal through his Holy Word the bible in modern times and that he would make known to his anointed servants, and that those who do not hold to this basic foundation of doctrinal truth could not reasonably be of the anointed. HOWEVER, I do not believe that Jehovah's Witnesses as an organised religion are being used by Jehovah or are his 'visible organisation'. The 'organisation' I see as a totally separate entity from Jesus 'faithful and discreet' slave class (which term the Governing Body have basically kidnapped to apply to themselves only). I tend to believe there really are members of the 'faithful and discreet slave' scattered amongst JW's, yes, but I believe they have been misled on many different subjects by the Watchtower leadership, which fits the description of the 'evil slave' in many ways.
Am I being reasonably logical with my deductions here? Am trying to avoid 'black and white' thinking or wishful thinking as much as possible. Am open to other options and possibilities tho (but not in the context of atheism or bible bashing please.)
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Anointed in JW's midst?
by Noumenon inin your time with jw's did you meet any of the 'anointed' ?.
i have met a number over the years, and they all seemed very normal, intelligent, balanced, loving people.
i've met a few obviously 'bogus' ones too.. my question is (atheists, agnostics, and god/bible basher please ignore and move on to another thread): what if there are genuinely anointed christians in jw's midst?
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Noumenon
In your time with JW's did you meet any of the 'anointed' ?
I have met a number over the years, and they all seemed very normal, intelligent, balanced, loving people.
I've met a few obviously 'bogus' ones too.
My question is (atheists, agnostics, and God/bible basher please ignore and move on to another thread): What if there ARE genuinely anointed Christians in JW's midst? What in fact if the majority of those who take the emblems, or say at least half, really are what they feel they are? What if in fact the only anointed ones on earth today, if such exist, are amonst JW's only? Where does that then leave us, even though the JW leadership are obviously in error on many things.
If there really are genuine anointed ones amonst JW's, it creates a bit of a dilemma for opponents of the organisation does it not?
Or is everyone on this site convinced that every one of those 8,000 odd partakers have just convinced themselves they are of the heavenly calling and are just totally deluded?
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15
Ray Franz
by scrubmaster in.
i am sure this has been asked before -- but has anyone here every spoke to ray franz or email him.
if so i would like to email him or call her.
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Noumenon
Yeah I briefly emailed him a few months ago, and received a very prompt and friendly reply. I was just curious about what he thought of e-watchman's harsh attack on him. He didn't seem to care about it.
He said he cannot do as much as he can these days as had a small stroke not long ago and is in his 80's now...poor old fella.
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what do you believe???
by walker22 ini have been df for a nummber of years now and have recently been doing research via the web for the past few weeks.
mostly because my new husband has been also doing his own research because i have been saying for years i want to go back, but never have and he had questions about the religion that he didnt understand.
the only time i ever go to the hall is for the memorial.
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Noumenon
"If I die, then I get to stand in line in hell and wait my turn to punch each member of the GB in the nuts. Can't wait."
Looks like Hunyadi hates JW's, at least the GB.