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inbetween
JoinedPosts by inbetween
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8
Is "Old Light" really called independent thinking?
by I_love_Jeff inwhen "old light" becomes "new light" sometime down the line the "new light" will eventually become old.
i do realize the superiors use passages (aka word magic) to explain such a big change.
what would be the difference between holy spirit revelation vs. man's opinion in this particular situation?
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inbetween
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inbetween
you put it perfectly, Julia, nothing to add.
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inbetween
its about hypocrisy and appearance, those who are in for that, your description fits exactly, there are others, who are really genuine though.
The point however, the whole pioneer arrangement supports this kind of behaviour in people.
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1
Equilibrium
by DeWandelaar ini was watching "equilibrium" last week (seen it before) and it striked me how much comparison there is with the "truth".
here is the plot summery:.
in a futuristic world, a strict regime has eliminated war (are we not in a spiritual paradise?
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inbetween
when I saw the movie last year, I thought very similar.
Becoming a JW for some people indeed solves some problems. Its the way this is achieved or rather enforced, what makes the whole thing highly questionable.
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27
How many people have you helped/facilitated to leave JWs?
by Julia Orwell inme: one, my husband, so far.
if we all snatch one person from the borg, will our numbers grow exponentially?
i'm no mathematician.. how many have you personally helped?.
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inbetween
atm i have one "study" - my wife.
Hope she will one day be on her way to "babtizm", but only after she dedicated herself to complete independent reasoning and decsion making based on facts, not on what 8 guys in Brooklyn tell her to do. She makes progress though, I have to intense my return visits on her ;-)
all others I can contact are B-NH (brain not at home)
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8
Exam time again
by jean-luc picard inmy stepson has just finished his national exams in his mother tongue.. talking about how it went, i suddenely had a flashback.. did you, like me, used to right about the "new system" paradise, or other jw stuff, given any opportunity, ( usually in english essays ) ?.
............... and did you count the time?.
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inbetween
always shyed away from giving "witness" or confessing to be one, even in my days of fully believing, somehow I always was embarrassed, only when it was absolutley necessary, like during holiday season, I came forward. Then sometimes question arose, and I could give a wonderful witness (rather an attempt to prove, why i am not aboslutely nuts as most people think JW are anyway)
The only time I remember in school talking about God was when i defended the belief in creation, thinking that my education on this level (based on the old creation-book) was soo much better than any college education concerning evolution. I feel still ashamed when I think of how ignorant and stupid I was.
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11
the danger of apostacy
by inbetween inundoubtely the biggest crime in watchtower world is apostacy.
the upcoming dc apparently has quite some parts on this issue.. recently i read a book from the philosopher hubert schleichert, the title is something like "how to discuss with fundumantelist without loosing your mind".. he goes into fanatics of all kind, and shows, why apostates are so dangerous for any ideology, may it be religious or even political.. the reason: any strong ideology is convinced of possesing the truth.
this creates a problem, since apparantly not everybody accepts this belief or ideology.
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inbetween
Undoubtely the biggest crime in watchtower world is apostacy. The upcoming DC apparently has quite some parts on this issue.
Recently I read a book from the philosopher Hubert Schleichert, the title is something like "How to discuss with fundumantelist without loosing your mind".
He goes into fanatics of all kind, and shows, why apostates are so dangerous for any ideology, may it be religious or even political.
The reason: Any strong ideology is convinced of possesing the truth. This creates a problem, since apparantly not everybody accepts this belief or ideology. However, those outside (world, pagans etc) did not have the chance or did not want to have the chance to fully get acquanted with the "truth" of a certain ideology. So they can be viewed as ignorant, blind whatever, and it creates not a big threat for the ideology itself. However, when those, who at one time shared the belief, turn away, those who seen the "light" turn on purpose to darkness, they must be outright evil, haters of truth, "mentally dsiseased" etc.
In history, every fundumanetly belief or ideology acts like this (example heretics in catholic church, dissidents of marxist world views etc)
They reason, the reaction is soo strong, is in my opinion, because the existence of those turning away from an established truth would lead to a question, a true believer never should ask: "Is there maybe something wrong with my belief ? " The only reason why people turn away from such an obvious truth can only be out of wickedness and hatred for truth. I cannot be because maybe it is not the truth after all.
Apostates, heretics and the like actually create a real problem for every belief. I think this even is worse for witnesses, who pride themselves in accepting people only after a thorough study of the belief system. How can someone fall away after "making the truth their own"?
Therefore its quite to be expected that a belef system like JW will react soo strongly to apostaes, its a defense mechanism, since its very foundation is endangered.
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4
GB not recognized as such till 1944, is this the cutoff for F&DS?
by Wasanelder Once inok so this is from the w71 12/15 p. 757 a governing body as different from a legal corporation.
governing body.
according to the apostolic example of the first century c.e., these dedicated, baptized christians known today as jehovahs witnesses have a governing body, as specifically noted from the year 1944 onward.
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inbetween
While the whole idea behind the new understanding of the FDS is to put the GB on the high place, I think we must not overlook their careful wording. They did not say, the FDS is the governing body, but it is those, who prepared spirtual food at headquarters. this would include brothers (president ?) even before establishing of a GB.
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My Letter to Brooklyn about the Parousia that got me disfellowshipped
by cofty inthis is the letter i wrote back in '96 about the parousia.
following the '95 watchtower that disconnected the "generation" from 1914 i began to look carefully at end-time prophecy and soon discovered what i knew were basic errors in what i had been taught.. i was a loyal jw at the time and was still serving as an elder.
i used only watchtower publications in my research.
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inbetween
cofty, wow I'm so impressed.
I remember, when a WT-article around 1995 came out with a verse to verse explanation of Matth 24, Luke 21 and mark 13, I really, as a full believer, tried to study and to understand, since I alwas liked the more "deep things", but I couldnt get the whole idea.
Now i know why, when you try to fit the 1914 teaching in it, it cannot make sense, therefore the society always needed to adjust the understanding (generation, sheep-goat, signs in heaven, fds). Its like adding epi-cycles ;-)
In our family worship night, which i use to slowly get my wife to learn TTATT, we go through this information again. Your reasoning, cofty, is something I will use. Suddenly everything is soo clear....thanks again for posting it.
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Former Long Time Elder, Part 4
by James Jackson inan elderly brother came up to me the other day and said: "you are a true christian"!
i asked him what he meant by that and he said because i "really care about the older ones in the congregation".
he went on to say that the elders and pioneers are so busy, they have to "get their time in the field service", no time left to check on the the older ones.
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inbetween
Hi, you have a pm