There were a couple of people in the office this morning saying "It's the end of the world!". Admittedly it was tongue in cheek... but I think it does say something about human nature that the first response to any change in the environment is that it means the end of the world!
Onager
JoinedPosts by Onager
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36
is armageddon starting ?
by stan livedeath inthe sky is so dark here in the south of the uk.
could be armageddon starting.. or then it could be dust particles in the atmosphere..
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Avatar image or whatever it is called
by amicabl incould someone please tell me why my image is either sideways or upside down.
i feel an utter fool asking this question but i can't find any help anywhere.
sorry..
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Onager
Did the picture come from a phone or tablet? It may be upside down but a phone or tablet will automatically turn it the right way up.
Try opening it in Windows Paint and see if it's upside down in that. If so, you can rotate it in Paint and save it to sort out the problem.
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Did you leave the JW RECENTLY? Really? Recently? WTF were you thinking?
by The Real Edward Gentry innot to be overly harsh...but if you just left, what the hell were you thinking?
between 1995 and now, you never did an internet search of "jehovahs-witness" or "watchtower"?
good god.
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Onager
I think that the answer to the OP is that the trigger that awakens people is almost, if ever, logic.
The reason is that logical thinking has itself been subverted by JW conditioning. After all, if it was simply a matter of assembling and assessing the facts, then there would be no JW followers. None.
If you accept the premises that the world is full of evil people and that anyone who speaks against the JW organisation is an apostate who only tells lies. If you accept that the GB are, at the same time, fallible humans and yet divinely directed\inspired, then it doesn't matter how rational, intelligent or logical you are. In fact! These attributes will work against you as you will use those abilities to defend and reinforce your beliefs.
The factors involved in a trigger that awakens people are complex and almost random. Take the child abuse scandal for example. In theory that should be enough to awaken 100% of JW's. But a percentage of those on hearing about the child abuse scandal will "Wait on Jehovah", a percentage won't believe it at all and some will even not have heard about it at all. Of those that would be woken up, some will remain JW's through fear of losing their family, some through fear of death at Armageddon and so on. It's a minor miracle when all the factors align for a single person to wake them up.
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Using history as a means to pinpoint possible future events.
by HealthySkeptic inthe purpose of this thread is to share some history with the community.
i am an active jw.
the reason i picked this forum is due to the openness and ease with which information can be accessed.
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Onager
Bertrand! The best of the Russells! (compared to Charles T).
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Shunning accountability – To god or men?
by sinboi ini have met this brother a few times after i da’d.
in the past, when i met him, he was with another jw.
i am sure he saw me but he just continue walking, pretending not to see me.
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Onager
Is that a trick question?
It's men of course! That's obvious by your example.
It's obvious in a thousand different ways, have you ever tried debating the existence of god with a JW? It's pointless, yes, but the argument can go on for hours. Try debating that the governing body are a bunch of fallible, corrupt men and Boom! You're instantly branded an apostate and the conversation is over. God is abstract to them, but the GB are real.
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Free to sin but still cannot bring myself to do it
by sinboi inhave da'd myself nearly 3 months ago.
now i am part of this world but i feel myself the odd one out.
something inside me is still blocking me to do the things i have been longing to do while i was still a jw, such as attending birthday parties, sex, etc.... just last nite, i was on the way to attend a birthday party.
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Onager
Hey Sinboi,
One of the things I've found as I've got older is that I can't stand to watch "Real" violence in films. As I have settled down as an atheist I see more and more the sanctity of all human life. We are only here for one short chance at existence and the thought of that being taken away is too horrible.
Perhaps if you didn't watch too many of those kinds of films you wouldn't get so affected either?
(When I say real violence I mean violence that really happened, like war films, or violence that could happen like the Saw films. I enjoy films with fantasy violence like Aliens, although I do fast forward some of the more grisly moments tbh.)
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Using history as a means to pinpoint possible future events.
by HealthySkeptic inthe purpose of this thread is to share some history with the community.
i am an active jw.
the reason i picked this forum is due to the openness and ease with which information can be accessed.
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Onager
Hi HealthySkeptic,
Just addressing your topic "Using history as a means to pinpoint possible future events":
Have you read the second epilogue of Tolstoy's War and Peace? In it he expounds on his theory of the tides of history and how it's the infinite minutiae that dictate it's future course. That idea runs through the whole book actually, which is well worth a read, I can't recommend it highly enough.
Have you also considered the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov? These books explore the idea of predicting the future by examining the past and then going on to try and manipulate it.
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What was the biggest thing that convinced you that
by Ponyo in.....the truth was not the truth... ?
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Onager
What was the biggest thing that convinced me that the Truth was not the truth?
FACTS! :)
If you have a moment, please look up a youtube video titled: "Bertrand Russell - Message To Future Generations."
it is a wonderful summary of how to approach your question and, indeed, all questions.
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The Watchtower's Real Crisis
by JeffT inwhen discussing the watchtowers financial problems, i've generally been of the opinion that they probably are not in a real financial crisis.
i've come to believe that money may be something of an issue, but its wrapped up in a much larger problem.
this came to me this morning when reading about the annual meeting.. i think the society's leadership is just plain out of ideas.
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Onager
Morpheus, I think you have different definition of failure and collapse than you are assuming Slimboyfat has. I think that if you asked SBF if there will be people who identify as Jehovah's Witnesses in 50 years time then they would say yes.
It's the monolithic organisation that faces imminent demise and the fact that there'll always be some fanatics who cling to the wreckage and claim that it's still a working ship is irrelevant.
I think there will be many splinters, all proclaiming that only they are the true JW's, in fact I think you can see signs of that now. I have relatives that are against all blood products and I know JW's that would accept fractions. Some accept what they call Micro evolution (don't get me started) and those that reject any form of evolution. They're already not listening to "Mother" and choosing their own beliefs and this will just accelerate when the society, as a corporation, collapses.
(I made a lot of assumptions about other posters in this post. I hope I didn't get it too wrong).
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Is there anything good JWs taught you still benefit from?
by venus insome years ago, i attended a jw wedding.
marriage speaker said something which changed my life for the better, and it helps me even now.
he told the couple: “the very make up of man and woman is such that conflicts can often arise between you.
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Onager
Buying two TV's to resolve conflict can't be a JW teaching because this would conflict with their primary teaching of giving all your money to the organisation.