there's a new article about john the baptist (not sure why they reverted to baptist instead of the modern english 'baptizer'), and it goes into several areas of his life followed by quotes from josephus showing that these specific things were historically documented.
the article is summarized by saying:.
the first-century historian josephus viewed john the baptist as a real person.
...and that Jerusalem's desolation lasted 50 years instead of 70, destroying 607 and therefore 1914
I'm guessing this wasn't in a JW publication.
Besides....how do we know that Josephus really existed and even if he did, how does any of it make JW's the one true religion?
ewart chitty was appointed as secretary-treasurer , which position he held until his appointment to the governing body in november 1974.. when in brooklyn, chitty seems to have preferred younger men as roommates.
the actual charge brought to the gb against chitty was made by a former roommate and involved some sort of inappropriate conduct.
the gb concluded that chitty had homosexual tendencies, and asked him to resign.. a rare photo of chitty in happier days.
I was an 18 year old Bethelite when Greenlees and Chitty were on the G.B. I was assigned to the G.B. table and knew all of the "old guard" Knorr, Sidlig etc. I couldn't believe these were the people running the show.
I once encountered a very old and wisened Chitty on the roof of the building wearing a speedo type baithing suit sunning himself (gag). He had ill fitting dentures and was so thin, he looked like he'd snap in half if anyone bumped into him. Leo Greenlees was very flamboyant in dress and mannerisms and reminded me of an old hoity-toity lady of society that you'd see in an old movie.
As usual, with my JW trained brain, I chastised myself for questioning what everyone else seemed to be unaware of.
Nothing said here comes as a surprise. I wish it wouldn't have taken me so many years to listen to my own sensibilities about an organization that would put these obvious creepers, in positions of power.
i was seeing a jw man for about a year and a half until l broke it off with him last week.
we met on a dating site.
he shouldn’t have been on there, of course, but he was lonely.
He might be nice enough as a friend but on some level you realize he’s a flake and a narcissistic user who doesn’t know his own mind and you’d be foolish to hitch yourself to a wagon that has no one steering it.
Why does he stay in? He’s heavily indoctrinated and doesn’t even realize it. He wants the best of both worlds... wants his cake and eat it too... he’s a walking JW cliche’.
last evening (15 nov 2019) at a high school football game in new jersey, another shooting.
"fortunately," the injuries are apparently not life threatening.. that's at least the second shooting this week.
if all the students were armed, they could have just shot the guy.. we need more guns, not less.
Kids have 2nd Amendment rights too. Remember, the more guns we have the safer we will be. Just ask the NRA.
Oh good...you weren't serious.
last evening (15 nov 2019) at a high school football game in new jersey, another shooting.
"fortunately," the injuries are apparently not life threatening.. that's at least the second shooting this week.
if all the students were armed, they could have just shot the guy.. we need more guns, not less.
If all the students were armed, they could have just shot the guy.
Really?? You think a school full of armed school kids is a good idea?
Imagine what the death toll of the bystanders would have been if a school full of armed teens all began shooting as soon as they heard the gunshot? Not to mention all the accidental mishaps that would likely happen during a normal school day, if everyone were carrying a gun.
at least at the moment it looks like no one is dead, but 6 injured (9:00 am pacific time 14 nov 2019).. i don't know if the school allows students to carry weapons, but many will think it would be a good idea for the students to carry concealed weapons to provide personal protection.. we shall see.. rub a dub.
It's like blaming drink-driving on easy access to cars.
Simon, I usually agree with a lot of your comments but I think comparing drink driving to gun violence is a classic strawman argument.
Perhaps the similarity of the two examples could be seen if it were said that a contributing factor to the drink-driving problem is the easy access to alcohol rather than an easy access to cars and that a contributing factor of the mass shootings is the easy access to bullets instead of guns.
The thing is, alcohol and cars have always been available to the public but the difference now is that there are the increase in the drink-drive problem is because there are more drivers on the road and the odds of there being a drunk driver among them is higher and so is the likelihood of them accidentally hitting someone on the crowded roads.
Similarly, guns and bullets have always been available here in the U.S. but the troubling thing is that something has changed recently in society itself, to cause the use of guns for intentionally killing people in public places, to become a trend.
I feel that the things I mentioned in my earlier post, as well as a trend toward a victim mentality and to blame others for ones problems, coupled with the availability of guns, could be the perfect storm that is taking place and resulting in what we are seeing.
at least at the moment it looks like no one is dead, but 6 injured (9:00 am pacific time 14 nov 2019).. i don't know if the school allows students to carry weapons, but many will think it would be a good idea for the students to carry concealed weapons to provide personal protection.. we shall see.. rub a dub.
My Theory:
There's a whole generation of kids out there, many of whom are pampered, narcissistic and too thin skinned to deal with the realities of life. We live in a time of instant gratification where Microwave ovens are too slow and fast food takes far too long. Calling someone on the phone is too much of a commitment compared to sending a text or instant message. Behind the wheel of a speeding car, even a generally balanced person will fell justified when they become enraged by a driver who isn't going at least 10 mph over the speed limit.
Kids spend hour upon hour playing video games where one simply blasts everything out of their way. They've grown up with Social Media where one can anonymously weigh in with their opinion or spew hatred and unfriend or block anyone who disagrees. They've seen their parents, from the anonymity of their speeding car, become enraged and endanger themselves and everyone on the road, because someone dared to get in their way.
I fear that some of the kids today have become so isolated and detached from others that their view of reality is skewed. Those they view as enemies, aren't seen as real people. Every problem they encounter or difficulty they have with someone in the real world, feels like a life or death matter to them and they don't have the coping skills they need to work things out in real time. They deal with these things the only way they know how...swiftly and with the skills they learned in their imaginary world.
Combine all this with the availability of a gun and there you have it...
here are some visuals to help show what is going on with the jw numbers game.
i am not a numbers guy and there maybe a few errors (info directly from grand total pages on jw.borg).
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I'm not sure how the "deficit" numbers were figured.
I think that the Peak Publishers number includes "Unbaptized" Publishers. Although a certain number of individuals were baptized in a given year, doesn't mean there would be an increase in the number of Peak Publishers because they were already being counted in the previous years.
Also, each year, young ones who aren't baptized become old enough to be counted a Publishers and are included in the Peak Publishers numbers.
Could this be where the deficit comes about?
could it really be this simple ?.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4ueqsbriu8.
A letter from God, written by a man named Paul Harvey.
Same old problem...sounds reasonable enough at first glance but there's no proof of anything being said.
some people on this forum have said that they never really believed any aspect of wt teaching, that they couldn't wait to get free of it all.. others seems to have been really gung ho, believing it all until something happened that got you questioning "the truth.".
i would say my own high water mark was about 50%, which put me squarely on the fence, trying to decide if i should be in or out.. how about you?.
Most JW's see the flaws in the doctrine but they have been conditioned to believe that if they have doubts, THEY are the problem.
Deep down, I realize that I didn't believe all of the teachings but deep down, I was 100% convinced that I should and acted accordingly.
