sir82 Westboro number less than 100 I believe (they are essentially a cranky family more than a religion). I'm talking about religious groups included in the survey. JWs are by far the most homophobic. See the chart.
slimboyfat
JoinedPosts by slimboyfat
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174
Awake #4/2016: Homosexuality
by Designer Stubble inthe new awake is up on jw.orgwith the legalization of gay marriage in many countries, they decided it was time to show: "what does thebible say about homosexuality?
"does the bible promote prejudice?still, some people would say that the bible promotes prejudice against homosexuals and that those who adhere to itsmoral code are intolerant.
‘the bible was written at a time when people were narrow-minded,’ they claim.
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174
Awake #4/2016: Homosexuality
by Designer Stubble inthe new awake is up on jw.orgwith the legalization of gay marriage in many countries, they decided it was time to show: "what does thebible say about homosexuality?
"does the bible promote prejudice?still, some people would say that the bible promotes prejudice against homosexuals and that those who adhere to itsmoral code are intolerant.
‘the bible was written at a time when people were narrow-minded,’ they claim.
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slimboyfat
Homophobia is on a level with racism and sexism in my view. All of which can be supported by using the Bible incidentally.
People who argue that homophobia is okay as long as it's stated in a mild manner are missing the point. If a church was really polite and used lots of scripture would it be acceptable to promote racism? I don't think so. Polite and mild doesn't cut it. Racism is racism. Homophobia is homophobia.
Society doesn't view homophobia exactly as racism yet, but the direction of travel is abundantly clear. We are in a transition period where homophobic views are tolerated in the name of religious tolerance. The exact same thing happened with civil rights. The Mormon church was openly racist until 1978! But societal changes win out in the end.
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174
Awake #4/2016: Homosexuality
by Designer Stubble inthe new awake is up on jw.orgwith the legalization of gay marriage in many countries, they decided it was time to show: "what does thebible say about homosexuality?
"does the bible promote prejudice?still, some people would say that the bible promotes prejudice against homosexuals and that those who adhere to itsmoral code are intolerant.
‘the bible was written at a time when people were narrow-minded,’ they claim.
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slimboyfat
Sorry those figures I gave above were actually for "should homosexuality be accepted" but the figures on gay marriage are similar and the trend is overwhelmingly toward acceptance among all groups.
Explore the figures here.
http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/
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174
Awake #4/2016: Homosexuality
by Designer Stubble inthe new awake is up on jw.orgwith the legalization of gay marriage in many countries, they decided it was time to show: "what does thebible say about homosexuality?
"does the bible promote prejudice?still, some people would say that the bible promotes prejudice against homosexuals and that those who adhere to itsmoral code are intolerant.
‘the bible was written at a time when people were narrow-minded,’ they claim.
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slimboyfat
According to the pew survey Evangelicals in the US declined as a share of the population between 2007 and 2014 from 26.3% to 25.4.%. Over that same period the percentage of Evangelicals who approve gay marriage increased from 26% to 36%.
So Evangelicals are declining in share of population and those who remain are increasingly tolerant of gay marriage.
Mainstream protestants in the US already approve gay marriage at a whopping 66%, up from 56% in 2007. Among Catholics 70% approve.
The tide is shifting quickly and dramatically. The question is how will JWs respond. They are the most homophobic group in the US as it stands and they are ill equipped to adapt.
It will be difficult. But in a situation where homophobia is as unacceptable as racism and where other churches are adapting to the new cultural climate what will the Watchtower do? Fascinating.
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174
Awake #4/2016: Homosexuality
by Designer Stubble inthe new awake is up on jw.orgwith the legalization of gay marriage in many countries, they decided it was time to show: "what does thebible say about homosexuality?
"does the bible promote prejudice?still, some people would say that the bible promotes prejudice against homosexuals and that those who adhere to itsmoral code are intolerant.
‘the bible was written at a time when people were narrow-minded,’ they claim.
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slimboyfat
Watchtower writers are practised in the art of arguing that black is white. If they were inclined to do so they could certainly make an argument for allowing homosexual marriage. Protestant believers have led the way in this, many of whom now argue that Saint Paul was not opposed to homosexuality as such, but against the casual sorts of relationships common in society at his time. If homosexuals form stable marriages then that could be portrayed as a tolerable situation. Watchtower writers could even claim that JWs and the Bible didn't change, but homosexuals changed and now meet Bible standards. I know that's ridiculous. I'm not saying it's a good argument. But when did that matter in Watchtower land? Or Bible believers generally.
Until just a few years ago the Watchtower claimed the Bible was right when it says "spare not the rod". Now they completely repudiate physical punishment of children and they explain away the meaning of Bible verses that say the opposite. They can clearly do the same again on other issues.
People who argue that the new video and magazine on homosexuality are "nothing new", the Watchtower has always been saying these things and, "how could they have been milder in stating their Bible view?" are missing the point. It's perfectly true that they are just restating their old position that is based on Bible texts. The point is that society has changed and such views are no longer acceptable.
Racism was acceptable and commonplace, until it wasn't. Churches had to adapt or die. Physical punishment of children was acceptable until it wasn't and people had to adapt. Homophobia was acceptable and increasingly it is not. Churches will again need to adapt or die. The change in public opinion in the US on gay marriage is one of the biggest societal changes in attitude ever recorded. Unless there is a dramatic reversal of that trend churches will simply need to adapt to the new situation. Whining that they are only being as homophobic as they've always been will simply not cut it.
What I find fascinating is that JWs are the most homophobic religion in the US according to Pew. This combined with their authoritarian and remote power structure makes them uniquely disadvantaged to be able adapt to the new situation where homophobia is increasingly unacceptable.
What they choose to do over the next 10 years or so will be interesting.
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Survey: How long were you in the cult vs what year you were baptized
by ILoveTTATT2 inhi people,.
i want as much data as possible on the effect of the internet on the time captured by the cult.. please answer the three following questions about yourself or about someone you know (for example, if your parents or grandparents were jw's and left).
1) were you raised as a jw, or did you convert?.
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slimboyfat
For me:
1) Not raised
2) baptised 1997
3) stopped believing gradually 2000 to 2006, last meeting in 2015
3 years to 9 years to 18 years depending how you count
I only read the first page so maybe someone has already pointed this out.
The results may appear to show that people stay in the JWs for less time now than in previous decades. But this is not a valid inference from the data for the following reasons. The people who joined the religion in the 1990s, and since, and who will stay in the religion for 30, 40 years or more, before leaving, obviously haven't left yet! Therefore the graph is necessarily skewed toward showing shorter times the nearer to the present you get.
Another major issue with the data is this: two people were both in the religion for only 3 years. One was a member in the 1970s and the other was a member in the 2000s. Which of these two people is more likely to be involved with the ex-JW community online in 2016 in order to report their brief involvement?
Now it may well be true to say that people stay in the JWs for shorter periods of time these days, but we cannot reasonably draw that conclusion from this particular set of data.
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Problem with the Like and Dislike Buttons
by Listener inthere is a problem with the like and dislike buttons.
depending on what source you are using it is easy to vote more than once on the like or dislike.. i noticed this initially on my tablet touchscreen.
if i tap quickly & continuously click on the like/dislike button, it will register as multiple votes, the same happens on my laptop when i do the same thing with my mouse but this method doesn't register as many votes.it is only a matter of time for others to pick up on this and there may be some who are already aware of this.
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slimboyfat
It doesn't work like that. Refresh the page and you'll see the extra votes don't count. Plus Simon pointed this out a while ago - if you click dislike by accident you can reverse the vote by clicking like instead and refreshing the page
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Circuit Overseer Guidelines (tg-E) October 2015
by wifibandit incircuit overseer guidelines (tg-e) october 2015. http://bit.ly/1utgizt.
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slimboyfat
Appendix G on "Taxes" appears to be entirely blank? -
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Circuit Overseer Guidelines (tg-E) October 2015
by wifibandit incircuit overseer guidelines (tg-e) october 2015. http://bit.ly/1utgizt.
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slimboyfat
Speakers are given actual ratings? Like out of ten or what? And they hold annual meetings to decide these ratings? Do the GB get ratings too? Because Morris is an absolutely awful public speaker, ditto Lett.
CONVENTION SPEAKER RECOMMENDATIONS
20. The branch office depends on circuit overseers to provide bal- anced recommendations for convention speakers. (See Instructions for Rating Convention Speakers and Interpreters [S-311].) As he visits the congregations, the circuit overseer should compile a list of elders who might qualify for this privilege. He should write down in- formation about these elders as he observes them in the congrega- tion and on circuit assembly programs. If a brother has the potential for qualifying in the future, the circuit overseer may schedule him for a circuit assembly part so that the brothers involved in the year- ly ratings meeting will have full opportunity to observe his speaking ability.—See 3:8. -
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Further CO Leaks
by wifibandit inbelieve inspired truth, not inspired error (s-341a-16-e).
instructions for the circuit overseer’s meeting with the pioneers and field missionaries in conjunction with the circuit assembly (s-312-tk16-e no.
circuit overseer meets with pioneers and field missionaries program for september 2015 through february 2016 (s-335-16-e).
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slimboyfat
Well, judging by the letter of December last year, it seems the GB keep COs in the dark about the true reasons for the cutbacks as much as the rest of us. The COs are not given much privileged information on the subject at all, at least not in written form. Just patted on the head, told everything is fine, and keep working your socks off whatever you do.