respectful_observer

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Posts by respectful_observer

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  43

  If this system goes on.

  by karter in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i heard my hard out jw sister say that for the 1st time in many years and i'm hearing more and more jw's saying that.

  years ago when i was in they talked about the new system coming any minute..

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  respectful_observer

  It doesn't help when we have a CO tell us from the stage that "It is an inspired expression of error to not believe the end will come in our lifetime". (btw, does anyone know why the quote" function here no longer works in Explorer?)
  

  What people tend to forget is that "zealous" Christians since Jesus death have ALL believed that the end would come in their lifetimes. That's hundreds and hundreds of generations over THOUSANDS of years. Why is our's suddenly the one? Ah, because that's what the Bible tells us. (Oh wait, but that's exactly what every other generation has argued too.)
  
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  63

  "Just around the corner." The dumbest song that I have ever heard..

  by DATA-DOG in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'm at my quasi-thanksgiving dinner with relatives.

  i hear a haunting sound from another room.

  "is that a children's song?

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  respectful_observer

  "Just around the corner...."

  More accurate to say they've "Gone 'round the bend'..." on this one.
  
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  16

  The Metropolitan Museum Oasis Bible Tours in NYC

  by Beachlover in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just came home from a day in nyc and was taken to the met for the the woman and her offspring tour i went to keep peace and just enjoy my family.

  i've been to the metrpolitan museum of art on many occasions and have enjoyed spending time wandering thru the exhibits appreciating the art and history.

  since all family members wanted to do the tour by the wts entitled a woman and her offspring, i thought i could just follow along and just enjoy the art and exhibits.. in all honesty, i'm still amazed at this whole tour.

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  respectful_observer

  Had anyone else been thru this? I just want to get along but this is was no real history, it was a few artifacts and iPad WT videos.

  Yup. I had to endure this tour. Within minutes I was so embarrassed to be associated with what the guide was saying to our group, I spent most of my time looking at other artifacts in the same gallaries. I could only imagine the other tourists off the street were thinking, "what a bunch of weirdos", as they overheard the craziness in that script.

  I did finally call the guide out on something when we were shown some object (sorry, can't remember what it was) that was claimed to be "the oldest item in the Museum" (of course backed up his whole "woman and the seed" theory). The date printed on the plaque was clearly centuries later than other items in the very same room. When I pointed that out, along with the fact that it pre-dated the WT teaching on how long ago Adam and Eve lived, he was not very happy.

  Thankfully the museum dining room served beer and wine at lunch! Everyone else in the group gave us looks for that one, like we were drinking at the assembly or something.
  
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  24

  My mom contacted me last night...

  by HereIgo in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  as i have revealed in other threads my mother and i havent talked in over 2 years.

  she has been keeping her distance, therefore staying loyal to jehovah.

  she found me on facebook.

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  respectful_observer

  All of your questions could be answered if you put Jehovah to the test, but I cant convince you, you have to allow it, we will talk soon."

  "Mom, if you understood what I wrote, you would see that I have 'put Jehovah to the test'. I just listed a half dozen questions I had for him on 'the test' and he didn't answer a single one. To me, he was put to the test and failed...or at least failed to even show up for the test."
  
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  11

  HQ move; a good thing?

  by Half banana in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so the new jw hq is to be in warwick and no longer that bleak architectural fixture on the brooklyn skyline.

  actually it makes more sense after all, upstate new york is a more suitable place to have a unicorn ranch than in a city.

  but it is just as easy to produce a drizzle of fairy dust out in the country as it had been in ny.

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  respectful_observer

  Actually it makes more sense after all, upstate New York is a more suitable place to have a unicorn ranch than in a city.

  Funniest thing I've read all day! I just might start referring to it as that. Or maybe as the Pet Panda Palace?

  
  

  
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  11

  Witnesses Repair 60-Year-Old Dam in Warwick

  by wifibandit in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in this propaganda piece they continue to obsess over this damn dam!.

  .

  http://imgur.com/a/icmez.

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  respectful_observer

  I've seen several Bethelites refer to that lake as "Big Blue" on social media lately.
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  27

  Will the UN turn on Religion?

  by no-zombie in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  as all witnesses know, the opening gambit of the great tribulation will occur when the united nations turns on organized religion to devastate them and leave them naked of people and resources.

  however, as jehovah's judgement day has been spoken of as being "imminent", the question that can be fairly asked ... 'is the united nations organization actually in a position to act as god's destroyer of false religion?

  while i have no doubt that most within that organization had in the past tried to make the lives of the desperate better, the united nations has unfortunately now become a weak and underfunded political eunuch.

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  respectful_observer

  Will the UN turn on Religion?

  No.

  But that won't stop the WTS from saying it has. My prediction is that in the next 10 years, the WTS will slowly start sowing the seeds to make the claim that the Great Tribulation has indeed already begun. They'll cite some vague series of UN statements that appear to de-legitimize organized religion, then point to their "waters" figuratively "drying up" (money). They'll then claim that only God's people (JWs) have the spiritual vision to see that these things have already started taking place. They'll back this up by claiming only JWs recognized Jesus' return in 1914/19, and that the rest of the world could only see and acknowledge its effect (WWI, etc.), but never--even through today-- truly understood how those events fulfilled Bible prophecy.

  Uber-dubs will lose their minds with the news the GT has indeed begun (invisibly), and the GB/WT would then have the means to keep millions on-the-hook for an event that does not have a defined time period attached to it (the GT could literally last for decades, and only the GB and JWs would have the "spiritual insight" to ever recognize it was even occurring. The "last days" JWs have lived under for 100 years would simply be replaced with living during the GT).
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  44

  The 1914 doctrine: How long it will last?

  by opusdei1972 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  one hundred years have passed and the society still supports this lie, which of course, is the basis of their other lies, like that of the unfaithful and not discreet slave appointed in 1919. however, i wonder, what will happen after 50 years, when the overlapped generation will pass?.

  and if you want, what will happen with this religion in 2100?, could it survive with the same lie??

  ?.

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  respectful_observer

  I think the only thing that would truly bring the 1914 doctrine to rest would be for the Jehovah's Witnesses as a culture to become more educated than they are. I am talking formally and informally educated. It doesn't take a college degree to read about and understand when Jerusalem was destroyed. Without 607 BCE, their 1914 doctrine crumbles to dust.

  I'm not sure even that would help. I saw the Dead Sea Scrolls touring exhibit with what I consider to be some of the better educated critical thinkers I've encountered in the JWs (all professionals with degrees). Throughout the exhibit, plaques everywhere referenced Jerusalem's destruction in 587. Not a single person even noticed; when I finally pointed it out, there was a collective shrug followed by "...at least we have the right date", or "So? I don't see why that really matters at all?"
  
  
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  25

  RC 2017 Rumors

  by wifibandit in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  source: http://www.extj.com/showthread.php?28321-asamblea-regional-2017 (for a more literal translation) here is the gist, edited for formatting/chronological order/correct minor errors:.

  regional convention 2017 rumors.

  theme: the bible and the divine name.. 3 dramas and 2 dramatic bible readings.. .

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  respectful_observer

  Where we are presented with a family that has 2 children. One is a regular pioneer, and the other is a businessman but not a witness. The drama will be based on valuing the Bible.

  Reminds me of a statement from this month's broadcast where he asks us to imagine parents who have two children-- one a regular pioneer and the other who never accepted "the Truth", but who has been successful in business and is therefore able to help his parents financially. The pioneer son feels bad because he can't help his parents the way his brother can and he senses his parents show more appreciation to that son and brag about him more. I wonder if that was coincidence or sowing the seeds for next summer.
  
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  81

  Elders and Attendants sing, clap and turn backs on Street Preacher after Duluth RC.

  by ToesUp in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  very strange behavior by the attendants and elders after the duluth, ga, rc.

  on the first link the attendants start to exit the arena, then line up and turn their backs on the street preachers.

  (around the 6:00 mark).. elders and attendants after duluth rc.

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  respectful_observer

  The orange lanyards are simply what all the "Attendant" ID badges are now held in, rather than the little paper card that went behind your Convention badge. No surprise, but the RC Administration managed to even over-engineer that process at my RC this year. They caused a huge back-up on the first day, making each attendant show his ID, write down his name, home cong, home address, etc., just to get the stupid lanyard, for fear that someone may forget to return his at the end of the RC. After almost an hour, someone with half a brain finally realized these things cost about $0.02 a piece, and it was no big deal if someone kept one.

  As for the protesters, we had a similar one at our RC this year from a local Baptist church. I knew that it was the same guy who showed up for each RC weekend at that facility, but only on Fridays. Of course not everyone knew that, so after he wasn't there on Saturday everyone was patting themselves on the back thinking their being shuttled out behind a wall of attendants on the sidewalk somehow scared him away. More likely was that he actually had something better to do with his Saturdays and Sundays than hang out at a convention center in a suit.