Posts by slimboyfat

3

An excerpt from Plato's Republic, the 'Allegory of the Cave'.

by Truthexplorer in

an excerpt from plato's republic, the 'allegory of the cave' is a classic commentary on the human condition.

it is a story of open-mindedness and the power of possibility.. .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69f7ghasodm.

slimboyfat

Very interesting I enjoyed this.

Richard Rorty and others have argued that western civilisation, down through Christianity and modern science, has rested upon a distinction between appearance and reality that goes back to Plato.

We may now be emerging from this conception of reality.

I am convinced that distinctions between appearance and reality cannot ultimately be sustained and that this has implications for our understanding of ourselves, the universe, and everything we encounter or can encounter.

15

Daily text for 12-7-2016 Gods promises "Dynamic"?

by NikL in

jw
friends

wife read me the daily text this morning out of the blue this morning and a couple of sentences stuck out in my head.. all of jehovah’s promises are dynamic, not static, because he is constantly working toward their fulfillment.

(isa.

46:10; 55:11) once a person realizes this about jehovah’s word, what he reads in the bible can exert a powerful force in his life.. .

slimboyfat

They are perhaps alluding to their longstanding interpretation of the meaning of the divine name, something along the lines: he becomes whatever he needs to become in order to fulfil his purpose.

Also reminds me of the plan/purpose distinction they made when they dropped the word "plan" (as in Divine Plan of the Ages) in favour of Jehovah's "purpose". The idea is that a plan is fixed, whereas a purpose adapts to changing circumstances.

29

"While I love my two children very much, I feel today I should never have had them."

by running_away in

this is interesting:.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38145118.

"a whole lot of the time, i just don't like being a mother, and i generally don't fit well into this role.".

slimboyfat

There is a large and growing antinatalist sentiment. It is more than simply catharsis.

When this book first came out many people thought it was a joke.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Better-Never-Have-Been-Existence/dp/0199549265/

29

"While I love my two children very much, I feel today I should never have had them."

by running_away in

this is interesting:.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38145118.

"a whole lot of the time, i just don't like being a mother, and i generally don't fit well into this role.".

slimboyfat

The comments and framing in general of the BBC article.

29

"While I love my two children very much, I feel today I should never have had them."

by running_away in

this is interesting:.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-38145118.

"a whole lot of the time, i just don't like being a mother, and i generally don't fit well into this role.".

slimboyfat

I didn't think the aim on the piece was catharsis so much as openly antinatalist. In other words not for the psychological benefit of the parents making the comments, but to influence younger people to remain childless.

56

"You Wouldn't Believe How Many Have Crawled Back To The Meetings"

by minimus in

jw
friends

that's a comment i heard from an elder i haven't seen in over a decade, yesterday.

i mentioned it all on my other thread.

i responded that i knew of no one that was crawling back to the meetings and gave him an incredulous hearty chuckle.

slimboyfat

The elder who studied with me to baptism left the JWs in 1999 (lots of gossip the reason why) and came back in 2001 because of the terrorist attacks. I don't think he ever became an elder again and I'm not sure if he's still in.

32

Have any ex-jws considered joining the Bible Students?

by Rainbow_Troll in

their fundamental beliefs are much like jehovah's witnesses sans the paranoia, authoritarianism, stifling rules, and end-times enthusiasm.

you don't even have to become a bible student to be saved, you could be an idol worshipping heathen and still get resurrected in the milenium.

if i still believed in the divine inspiration of the scriptures, i would be a bible student.

slimboyfat

Wow there are still congregations in the UK? That would be interesting to see. Do you have any details of meeting times and places?

There's an interesting history of UK Bible Students here. They seem to have fizzled out mostly after the Second World War.

http://www.ukbiblestudents.co.uk/John%20Edgar/BIBLE%20STUDENTS%20IN%20BRITAIN.pdf

23

792 baptized this weekend at one convention

by dropoffyourkeylee in

at a 3-day convention in nairobi, kenya this week 12-2-16 through 12-4-16, they had 70,000+ attendance, and there were 792 baptized (i presume the baptism was yesterday).

i was amazed to hear this; i guess now we know where the wt's growth is coming from..

slimboyfat

Zambia is the most JWfied country on the planet. Something like 1 in 20 people attend the memorial there. If that happened in the UK there would be over 3 million at the memorial, more than ten times the number that actually attends.

32

Have any ex-jws considered joining the Bible Students?

by Rainbow_Troll in

their fundamental beliefs are much like jehovah's witnesses sans the paranoia, authoritarianism, stifling rules, and end-times enthusiasm.

you don't even have to become a bible student to be saved, you could be an idol worshipping heathen and still get resurrected in the milenium.

if i still believed in the divine inspiration of the scriptures, i would be a bible student.

slimboyfat

Do Bible Students actually exist as local congregations? Or are they largely a collection of online ex-JWs? I've never found evidence that they still have any kind of organisational or community structure left in the UK at least. Maybe there are still Bible Student groups in the US worth speaking about.

23

792 baptized this weekend at one convention

by dropoffyourkeylee in

at a 3-day convention in nairobi, kenya this week 12-2-16 through 12-4-16, they had 70,000+ attendance, and there were 792 baptized (i presume the baptism was yesterday).

i was amazed to hear this; i guess now we know where the wt's growth is coming from..

slimboyfat

I didn't know they still held conventions as large as this. In Europe it seems to be around about 10,000 normally.