Posts by slimboyfat

23

Does a jw have to miss counting time for 6 months to be inactive

by blondie in

jw
friends

how many months consecutively does a jw have to miss turning in time to be inactive?.

slimboyfat

Yes, irregular after one month, inactive after six.

6

What's their game?

by punkofnice in

blimey o'reilly, what are those blokes up to?.

the governing body seem to pull 'new light(tm)' out of their backsides when they can save money.

then, out of the blue comes some weird crap that will lead to the jobos getting spat at.. what is the gov bods game?

Pacifism is Morally Indefensible

by cofty in

i have been surprised recently to see so much support by ex-jws for the watchtower's refusal to fight and kill.

in my opinion it is a vice masquerading as a virtue.

of course war should always be a last resort but there are occasions that it has to be done.

JWs teach that lethal force can be used to protect themselves and their families. That they seek to avoid doing so unless absolutely necessary may be a fine distinction, but one many could understand.

I think most pacifists defend that position on moral grounds. So I don't think it makes sense to say you can't defend it on moral grounds. If it's not defended on moral grounds, then how?

Kant suggested that a key test for any ethical action is the question: what if everyone did the same? If we apply that test to pacifism, then the result is clear. If everyone acted as pacifists do, there would be no war. Would that be a good outcome? Realistically not everyone opposes war. Fascist intellectuals, such as they were, taught that wars are good for nations, and many businesses make good money from war. So not everyone would be pleased if there was no more war. But many ordinary people, the sort called on to fight, or their families, probably a majority of people, would consider the end of war to be a moral good.

78

Pacifism is Morally Indefensible

by cofty in

i have been surprised recently to see so much support by ex-jws for the watchtower's refusal to fight and kill.

in my opinion it is a vice masquerading as a virtue.

of course war should always be a last resort but there are occasions that it has to be done.

slimboyfat

JWs belive you can defend yourself or loved ones if their life is threatened. Where did you get the idea this was forbidden? I'm surprised no one else pointed this out.

8

The soteriology of Revelation

by Doug Mason in

my draft chapters on the book of revelation is available at:.

http://www.jwstudies.com/the_book_of_revelation_s_nature_and_its_soteriology.pdf.

i am seriously seeking corrections, criticisms, and advice.. thanks,.

slimboyfat

Two key issues I tried to understand in Revelation. What did the author mean by the "Lord's day" in Rev 1:10? Some, like JWs, believe it referred to a vision of the apocalypse. Others think that John simply had a vision on a Sunday. Which sets up the whole thing rather differently. I didn't see this discussed in the essay.

Another is Rev 3:9. Who is John referring to as Jews here? Ethnic Jews or Christians as "spiritual Jews"? Does Revelation view the Jewish people as part of God's plan or as superseded by the Christian community of "spiritual" Jews?

9

The Elephant in the room: ExJw disunity

by Diogenesister in

jw
friends

fantastic new video by the lovely susan gaskin and friend andrea discusses the huge variety of exjw opinions and why our supposed disunity is in reality our strength.

the witnesses will claim we cannot agree and there are nothing but fights and a lack of harmony within our community whereas they are the most unified religion who believe the same things where ever you go.

however andrea points out that this is just an illusion, there is no unity amoung jws.

slimboyfat

I bought my brother an elephant for his room.

He said thanks very much,

I said don't mention it.

34

Strange

by Jrjw in

a couple of times at the meetings this year we've been told that in the future we might get some strange directions from the society that might not make any sense to us.

then they've said will we show our loyalty to jehovah by still obeying?

seems a rather unusual thing to say.

slimboyfat

Is it just to cover themselves, in case tight pants Tony goes off the reservation again?

48

Latest JW.org Statistics Are Confusing & Lack Context

by steve2 in

earlier this week a new post on this forum announced that the 2017 worldwide annual service report was available on jw.org.

wow - that's earlier than the statistics for the 2016 service year which appeared in the 2017 yearbook last january!

good effort, jw organization!

slimboyfat

Does anyone know how come branches increased from 89 to 90? Was one new branch added, or a few closed, and others opened?

178

Charging $150 To Tell Your Stories

by Bangalore in

jw
friends

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/how-to-escape-from-jehovah-s-witnesses-religion#/.

for $150: collaboration with the backer so that their story of successfully escaping an abusive belief system (300 words max) features along with others in the final pages of how to escape from jehovah's witnesses.

the text will be written by the author but will include a minimum of one quote worded by the backer.

slimboyfat

Okay going to delete this post.

48

Latest JW.org Statistics Are Confusing & Lack Context

by steve2 in

earlier this week a new post on this forum announced that the 2017 worldwide annual service report was available on jw.org.

wow - that's earlier than the statistics for the 2016 service year which appeared in the 2017 yearbook last january!

good effort, jw organization!

slimboyfat

This is so incredibly disappointing, if they're not going to publish the country figures any more.

The worldwide figures are compiled by combining all the country statistics. So the country statistics are already available and known to whoever published the summary. (To state the obvious)

If they are not going to publish the country figures, I think it's incumbent on us to gather statistics on WT growth or decline as best we can from all the sources that are publicly available.