Excellent thread.
Bookmarking for possible future chats with extended JW family.
om
Open mind
JoinedPosts by Open mind
-
36
What's so mysterious about "generation" (genea) in Matthew?
by kepler inthanks to a number of notices about a website titled www.jwfacts.com, i took a quick tour and found some very informative pages and charts about the organization's positions and history.
thanks also to a number of posters for their reminders.
i can't summarize the whole site in a topic, but it did include a history of the interpretation of the phrase "this generation", appearing in matthew 24:34.. "truly i say to you that this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur.".
-
-
-
95
Forum Owner and Member Integrity
by Simon insome people recently raised concerns about security of the site relating to whether forum members could be watchtower plants trying to obtain information about people.
apparently, this was because a previous forum that was setup was either owned by or later handed over to someone who used it to collect personal information about people which was then used to harrass them.
i don't know all the details, i'm just paraphrasing what i've heard and recognize that it's a concern to some people.. i want to first of all put people's minds at rest: i've been running this site for what will be 13 years next month.
-
-
Open mind
Sooooooo.
Dr. Evil and his lover, (Simon and Angharad) have been patiently waiting, filing away terabites of personal JW info, for 13 long years before finally springing the Watchtower's trap!
I KNEW IT!!
Simon, I take back anything nice I've ever said about you!
om
-
76
Are homosexuals born that way? The March 15 Watchtower seems to say so.
by matt2414 in15 one brother who was raised in a christian household wrote that for as long as he could remember, he struggled with homosexual tendencies.
he said: i always felt awkward.
it seemed that i didnt fit in anywhere.
-
-
Open mind
Hey there matt2414, you make some great points. I could put the "dunce cap" back on and throw back a couple of WT thrusts and parries, but I really don't have the stomach (or time) for it.
Especially since I no longer believe in the Bible or Bible God.
om
-
24
Who songs that remind me of the jehovahs witnesses
by hoser intwo that come to mind are.
my generation and.
won't get fooled again.
-
-
Open mind
Dedicated to some particularly mean-spirited elders:
*************************
MISUNDERSTOOD by Pete Townshend:
Just wanna be misunderstood
Wanna be feared in my neighborhood
Just wanna be a moody man
Say things that nobody can understand
I wanna be obscure and oblique
Inscrutable and vague, so hard to pin down
I wanna leave open mouths when I speak
Want people to cry when I put them down
*************************
om
-
76
Are homosexuals born that way? The March 15 Watchtower seems to say so.
by matt2414 in15 one brother who was raised in a christian household wrote that for as long as he could remember, he struggled with homosexual tendencies.
he said: i always felt awkward.
it seemed that i didnt fit in anywhere.
-
-
Open mind
First off, lest I be misunderstood like Bella15 was earlier, I'm as gay-friendly as you can get without actually being gay.
*Donning my WT-apologist hat, since they don't seem to last very long around here*
matt2414: "If God is perfect, and his creation of man and all life was "very good," how did homosexuality and all the other so called flaws enter the human race so quickly?"
Because God actively took away Adam & Eve's ability to live forever. He also supposedly "cursed the ground" for good measure, only lifting that curse after the global flood. So, it's not a design flaw, it's a curse of imperfection which was imposed on humans after the original sin.
matt2414: "The idea that we have become more damaged or we've changed because we are 6,000 years away from Adam's perfection is really an admission that we have evolved!"
Humans changed from perfect to imperfect with one Divine fell swoop in the Garden of Eden. The only "Biblical evidence" (pardon me while I hurl
matt2414: "There is no scriptural basis for believing that God created in humans a desire for alcohol or alcohol dependency."
God made booze and sex for humans to enjoy, per the Bible.
"Let her breasts intoxicate you."
"Wine that makes the heart of mortal man rejoice."
Homosexuals and alcoholics, at least in part due to their inherited imperfection, take those basic God-given desires and twist them so that they are no longer acceptable to God.
*Removing WT apologist hat*
om
-
76
Are homosexuals born that way? The March 15 Watchtower seems to say so.
by matt2414 in15 one brother who was raised in a christian household wrote that for as long as he could remember, he struggled with homosexual tendencies.
he said: i always felt awkward.
it seemed that i didnt fit in anywhere.
-
-
Open mind
People born now are 6,000 years away from Adamic "perfection". Therefore we have people with a predisposition towards homosexuality and those who are susceptible to alcoholism.
Both are sins deserving of death and must be fought. You'll have to wait until the New System for Jehovah to "satisfy the desire of every living thing".
It's not Jehovah's fault. It's Satan's and Adam & Eve's.
So goes the "logical" party line.
om
-
9
Just for fun: April 2013 Convention Reminders
by pixel ini'm feeling like sharing stupid things from the wt/gb/fds, so here it is (underline mine):.
from the april 2013 km: 2013 distric convention reminders (no theme yet):.
[...] avoid eating or drinking during the program.. .
-
-
Open mind
A few years ago we attended a Circuit Assembly where the chairman, whose remarks are always 100% scripted from the CO, informed the audience why hand washing after using the restrooms is recommended.
om
-
-
-
Open mind
Phizzy: Not sure if it was intentional or not, but you've created a bit of a "straw man" argument with this statement:
But I still stand by my "You should be ashamed" statement for those who go and do not make any kind of stand against the WT/JW machine in any way ever.
I didn't say "don't take a stand". For us, we take a very insidious, crafty, cautious stand. By attending the Memorial, we continue to have access to extended JW family, and therefore are able to take "baby step" stands against the WT in a way that doesn't completely shut us out from conversations with them. It's the path we've chosen.
Best to you on your path.
om
-
9
Just for fun: April 2013 Convention Reminders
by pixel ini'm feeling like sharing stupid things from the wt/gb/fds, so here it is (underline mine):.
from the april 2013 km: 2013 distric convention reminders (no theme yet):.
[...] avoid eating or drinking during the program.. .
-
-
Open mind
Any prohibitions on firin' up the barbie in the hotel room?
om
-
-
-
Open mind
jwfacts: " That may be a message some want to portray in order to keep the peace,"
To be honest, "keeping the peace" is the main reason I will attend for my mid-80s JW parents. They've already lost my gay older brother. I don't want to add to their pain at this stage of their life. For me it's a pretty small price to pay.
Beyond that though, even if my parents got hit by a bus tomorrow, I'd still attend for the purpose of having access to other extended JW family. There is one family in particular that my wife and I have pretty high hopes for. If they thought we were completely inactive and even refuse to attend the Memorial, I think our access to them would be curtailed. I played double-agent elder for about 3 years getting my immediate family out. I can keep up a tiny facade for the forseeable future in the hopes of reaching them.
om
