Posts by slimboyfat

58

Mexico branch......Now closing!!!

by krismalone in

a circuit overseer friend of mine serving in latin america called me today to say hi.

i asked him what's new and he dropped the news that they have received notification that the branch in mexico will be closing!!

this branch also called the central american branch (although located in mexico) oversees all of mexico's 800,000+ publishers plus all 7 countries of central america of over 100,000 publishers.

slimboyfat

When are they going to introduce the change where Governing Body members get a job and support themselves. Ridiculous? I don't see why not, those that are young and able. They could work part time or part of the year, to pay their travel and living expenses.

Which makes me wonder, suppose a wife of one of the GB one day said, "I fancy getting a job", or even pursuing some sort of career. I wonder what they would say to that. Or what if they tried to stop her but she did it anyway. It's funny that the JW organisation is such a rigid system that such a natural everyday thing as a woman wanting a career or indepdendent income seems a far fetched notion at the top of the organisation. In other churchs, being a leader of then church is no barrier to the spouse having an indepdendent career.

33

Which bible translation do you think is best and most acurate?

by NikL in

jw
friends

for those that still care to read the bible of course.

those that don't, please keep the snarky comments to yourselves :-).

i am assuming nwt is not very popular?.

slimboyfat

When I was at uni I did a few courses on Hebrew and the New Testament. In all the courses I attended the NRSV was used as standard. It was regarded as the best translation available and I guess I have internalised that bias. If I want to know simply what "the Bible" says, I look up the NRSV first. It is in easy to understand modern English, uses good base texts, and was produced by a team of very capable scholars. It avoids the extreme sectarian bias of some translations (it's commonly used as an ecumenical version, acceptable to Catholics and Protestants), the translators were neither extreme conservatives nor extreme liberals, and the version retains a flavour, but does not follow slavishly the King James tradition.

So all around I think there is a good case to be made for the NRSV as one of the most reliable, accurate, and useable translations.

But I like a lot of other translations. In particular I enjoy where translators have gone to the trouble of translating individual books with lots of footnotes amd explanation. Robert Alter's translation of Genesis for example is excellent, as is Raymond Scheindlin's version of The Book of Job. For a readable and interesting version of the New Testament I like The Authentic New Testament by Hugh Schonfield. The Jerusalem Bible is a well respected Catholic version with loads of helpful footnotes.

41

Can Trump Be Forced To Take A Psychological Exam To Prove His Mental Fitness (Narcissistic Pernsonality Disorder) A Mater Of National Secrui

by Brokeback Watchtower in

i'm think with the president having the ability to use nuclear weapons the need for a psychological exam should be a must for world safety because of the very real damage an easily offended narcissist could do if in a narcissistic rage he had access to nuclear weapons.

since he has clearly shown he has all 100% of the signs that he is one,, surely he can be impeached over this even in conservative run house and senate.

i think the united states owes the world that precaution to not let a mad man have access to nuclear weapons.

slimboyfat

Jehovah's imaginary angels going to destroy more than 99% of humans - fear mongering.

Real nuclear weapons of the superpower in the hands of an unstable narcissist - not fear mongering.

There is no real comparison here.

Anyone not concerned about the future of the planet under Trump has not given it enough thought.

41

Can Trump Be Forced To Take A Psychological Exam To Prove His Mental Fitness (Narcissistic Pernsonality Disorder) A Mater Of National Secrui

by Brokeback Watchtower in

i'm think with the president having the ability to use nuclear weapons the need for a psychological exam should be a must for world safety because of the very real damage an easily offended narcissist could do if in a narcissistic rage he had access to nuclear weapons.

since he has clearly shown he has all 100% of the signs that he is one,, surely he can be impeached over this even in conservative run house and senate.

i think the united states owes the world that precaution to not let a mad man have access to nuclear weapons.

slimboyfat

If China can only destroy the planet once with its weapons is that less concerning than the US and Russia who can destroy the planet many times over?

Plus I'd be astonished if the Chinese don't have more capability than they admit or the US is even aware of.

Plus if a smaller power is convinced, because of Trump's erratic behaviour, that the US will attack, they may strike first, even against overwhelming power, because they perceive it as their only choice.

41

Can Trump Be Forced To Take A Psychological Exam To Prove His Mental Fitness (Narcissistic Pernsonality Disorder) A Mater Of National Secrui

by Brokeback Watchtower in

i'm think with the president having the ability to use nuclear weapons the need for a psychological exam should be a must for world safety because of the very real damage an easily offended narcissist could do if in a narcissistic rage he had access to nuclear weapons.

since he has clearly shown he has all 100% of the signs that he is one,, surely he can be impeached over this even in conservative run house and senate.

i think the united states owes the world that precaution to not let a mad man have access to nuclear weapons.

slimboyfat

Yes that is also a concern. Trump's instability and inconsistency may prompt some other world leader to conclude nuclear weapons are their best option. It could be Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran... who knows.

50

No updated Watctower's articles on Evolution

by opusdei1972 in

as far as i know, the "creation" book is out of print ?, am i right?.

well, i was searching for new watchtower articles trying to debunk, for instance, human evolution.

so, i did my homework, for the first time, so as to read past and updated papers and books on human evolution.

slimboyfat

For Russell the ransom was the main theme of the Bible. For Rutherford the main theme of the Bible was the vindication of Jehovah's name, and the ransom was secondary.

JWs can change any belief or doctrine they wish. The could claim God produced an Adam and Eve by evolution, and sin came through them, which I think is a position some Christians take. Or they could redefine their understanding of the origin of sin.

Or they could cling on to their version of creationism indefinitely...

41

Can Trump Be Forced To Take A Psychological Exam To Prove His Mental Fitness (Narcissistic Pernsonality Disorder) A Mater Of National Secrui

by Brokeback Watchtower in

i'm think with the president having the ability to use nuclear weapons the need for a psychological exam should be a must for world safety because of the very real damage an easily offended narcissist could do if in a narcissistic rage he had access to nuclear weapons.

since he has clearly shown he has all 100% of the signs that he is one,, surely he can be impeached over this even in conservative run house and senate.

i think the united states owes the world that precaution to not let a mad man have access to nuclear weapons.

slimboyfat

It is not fear mongering, it is a realistic and serious concern.

Even a thoughtful and intelligent president such a Kennedy brought us to the brink. Averting disaster in the nuclear age is a demanding task, even for a good president.

And yet you say we should not be concerned about a man who:

1. Has uncontrollable rage.

2. Has no empathy.

3. Has an all consuming ego.

4. Has said: "if we have them why can't we use them?"

https://youtu.be/bPBscIIYomA

There are very good reasons to be very concerned.

57

Jehovah's Witness / ex-JW Suicide Rate?

by Simon in

it's no secret that both remaining a jw or leaving the wts can take a toll on mental health.

some will suffer from depression and ultimately some will have thoughts of suicide and a few will succumb to those.. but i don't recall ever seeing any hard stats or studies on it though.

i'm sure we all know of some people who have committed suicide but i don't know if, because you may have loose association with a much larger pool of people through the religion, that this only seems higher or maybe not be actually higher than the general population.. what i mean is, you go to a kh here there maybe 100-150 people, you attend circuit and district conventions with many tens of thousands - if any one person commits suicide then you likely hear about it and it becomes part of the anecdotal 'evidence' that is then put forward as a fact that there is a higher rate ... but is there?.

slimboyfat

It's commonly assumed that JWs have high mental illness and suicide rates, but I am not aware of any strong evidence to support it.

Personally I know a lot of JWs with mental health problems and I've know 3 JWs who committed suicide, and heard of others. Anecdotal evidence suggests to me JWs do have a problem. But I don't know of any firm empirical data to back it up.

41

Can Trump Be Forced To Take A Psychological Exam To Prove His Mental Fitness (Narcissistic Pernsonality Disorder) A Mater Of National Secrui

by Brokeback Watchtower in

i'm think with the president having the ability to use nuclear weapons the need for a psychological exam should be a must for world safety because of the very real damage an easily offended narcissist could do if in a narcissistic rage he had access to nuclear weapons.

since he has clearly shown he has all 100% of the signs that he is one,, surely he can be impeached over this even in conservative run house and senate.

i think the united states owes the world that precaution to not let a mad man have access to nuclear weapons.

slimboyfat

Democracy is a fine principle, and I'd support it almost all the time. But preservation of human life on the planet is also a worthy goal. And if it's a straight choice between upholding democracy or preserving the human species, then in this one instance, I'd vote for survival over democracy. The fear that this might set a dangerous precedent is not as great as the fear that this mad person will visit annihilation on the planet. When the mushroom clouds ascend what fool is going to say, "it's what the people wanted, we had to accept it."

41

Can Trump Be Forced To Take A Psychological Exam To Prove His Mental Fitness (Narcissistic Pernsonality Disorder) A Mater Of National Secrui

by Brokeback Watchtower in

i'm think with the president having the ability to use nuclear weapons the need for a psychological exam should be a must for world safety because of the very real damage an easily offended narcissist could do if in a narcissistic rage he had access to nuclear weapons.

since he has clearly shown he has all 100% of the signs that he is one,, surely he can be impeached over this even in conservative run house and senate.

i think the united states owes the world that precaution to not let a mad man have access to nuclear weapons.

slimboyfat

Trump is clearly a dangerous narcissist. I have no doubt about this whatever. If Trump at any point needs to choose between suffering damage to his ego or blowing up the planet it is not at all clear he could stop himself from blowing up the planet. Ego is so all consuming for narcissists that they will do absolutely anything to avoid loss of face.

But won't people around him stop him? Unfortunatley the system doesn't work like that. I heard a general explain that the exact protocol around nuclear decision making is classified, but the public should be in no doubt the system is designed for speed to carry out presidential orders, it is not designed for deliberation or debate.

Americans should have thought about this and voted accordingly. I don't know what can be done now other than cross our fingers and hope for the best. I am not optimistic about survival of the next few years if Trump is in charge. I guess the best hope is that he is arrested or impeached fairly quickly.