The gray bibles that were seen in a few places was a test of the new binding and cover. It probably was just the regular NWT. It was mentioned at the meeting that they had been testing the covers and that they were proven to be "sister proof".
scotoma
JoinedPosts by scotoma
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25
I suspect the WTS mut be feeling pretty good about their own internal security...
by sir82 in...since it evidently was not confirmed in advance that the agm was going to be exclusively about releasing the rnwt.. i mean, we all kinda sorta expected it, but no one had a "smoking gun", as it were, officially confirming it.. in contrast, there was the leak, posted on this forum, of the july 15 2013 watchtower, a week or 2 before its official posting on jw.org.. .
i'm sure the rnwt was a well-guarded secret - on the other hand, there has been a rnwt translation committee in existence for 5+ years.
absolutely no one in the "apostate community" even hinted at this committee's existence.
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Bible Hoarders.
by scotoma ini was really turned off by the segment of the meeting dealing with the watchtower's bible collection.
i thought i was at the antique road show on pbs.. what was that all about?
it was so bizzarre for these "annointed" ones to get off on collecting these old printed bibles.. you can get excellent scans of just about any historical document.. looked like a personal hobby of sanderson the nararator.. there is something idolatrous and at the very least a sick display of the hoarding instinct in the glee coming from getting their "paws" on these treasures.. what a disappointment to see a religion started by people who wanted to abandon all earthly things and join christ in the air, fawn over these relics carefully preserved as a memorial they can fondle.. are they really in the museum business now?
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scotoma
Bildad,
I love museums. I wish it could all be under one big roof. I am a serious visitor to museums. I actually read what the curators write. I actually listen to the audio tours.
I believe in museums as an instructional tool and important function of society.
But what the hell. The Watchtower denies us the luxury of such "frivolous" non Kingdom pursuits. They would frown on expending our personal resources and time with a hobby.
Ray Franz said that Karl Klein advised those who have an inclination toward critical thinking to take up a hobby so they don't become apostates.
Apparently that's what Sanderson has done.
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Bible Hoarders.
by scotoma ini was really turned off by the segment of the meeting dealing with the watchtower's bible collection.
i thought i was at the antique road show on pbs.. what was that all about?
it was so bizzarre for these "annointed" ones to get off on collecting these old printed bibles.. you can get excellent scans of just about any historical document.. looked like a personal hobby of sanderson the nararator.. there is something idolatrous and at the very least a sick display of the hoarding instinct in the glee coming from getting their "paws" on these treasures.. what a disappointment to see a religion started by people who wanted to abandon all earthly things and join christ in the air, fawn over these relics carefully preserved as a memorial they can fondle.. are they really in the museum business now?
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scotoma
I was really turned off by the segment of the meeting dealing with the Watchtower's Bible Collection. I thought I was at the Antique Road Show on PBS.
What was that all about? It was so bizzarre for these "annointed" ones to get off on collecting these old printed bibles.
You can get excellent scans of just about any historical document.
Looked like a personal hobby of Sanderson the nararator.
There is something idolatrous and at the very least a sick display of the hoarding instinct in the glee coming from getting their "paws" on these treasures.
What a disappointment to see a religion started by people who wanted to abandon all earthly things and join Christ in the air, fawn over these relics carefully preserved as a memorial they can fondle.
Are they really in the museum business now? Maybe they ought to build a shrine.
Also the table with all the notebooks used buy the NWT translation committee. If those notebooks are so valuable why don't they scan them and put them on line so we can see what their thought
processes were. Since they are hiding their identity that ought to be the least these "scholars" should provide.
Instead they hoard these relics and try to generate excitement over the scrawlings of these faceless "experts". Didn't you feel priveleged to get a 5 second view of one of the pages of this historical project?
We now have Watchtower treasures just like the Vatican. The only difference is that the Watchtower isn't 2000 years old.
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New WT...Revised...The Name Jehovah
by Legacy inis jehovah a hebrew name?
why i ask, because last night after the agm meeting i was thinking...would god name himself a jewish name, since he in not partial...would he name himself a name that folks could get all puffed up about & say see...god is a jew.
also, jesus, well, he came from the line of jews, not really.
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scotoma
Good point. The reverence for the tetragramaton was obviously a form of idolatry and is part of the leven of the Pharisees.
It fits into the milieu of middle eastern culture.
The name Jehovah's Witnesses was part of a MadMan campaign on the part of Judge "Don Draper"-Rutheford.
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Anyone actually been to the BIG meeting yet?
by scotoma inwe should be getting some reports soon.
aren't some going today?.
i would like to know whether it will be entertaining enough to go tomorrow.. a good report would save me losing half a sunday..
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scotoma
We should be getting some reports soon. Aren't some going today?
I would like to know whether it will be entertaining enough to go tomorrow.
A good report would save me losing half a Sunday.
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Never "shrink back" - ironic quote from the yearbook
by zakharijah inthis morning i wanted to force myself to throw up so i read a few pages from the 2013 yearbook.. and here's what you can read p.7.
"in this time of the end, gods people.
have to cope with many problems, challenges,.
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scotoma
I am totally inoculated against Watchtower influenza. It was a series of shots similar to the desensitization treatment for allergies. And it works for Non-Watchtower organizations too.
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Missionaries to vacate all missionary homes
by seenitall inlatest news from a source (missionary in foreign land):.
no more missionary homes anywhere in the world.. all missionaries presently in missionary homes must vacate.
must get housing on your own / from the locals.. circuit and district overseers have moved into many of these former missionary homes.. reasons: liability, cost savings, real estate to be sold or used for other purposes.. needless to say, many of these longtime servants are very unsettled.
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scotoma
Groups of missionaries living together in a single location make a juicy target for groups that want to lash out at "Western Imperialsts".
This may be a wise move for the missionaries. Maybe it's time for them to get the hell out of some countries.
I wonder if this can be correlated with the move in Mexico to end the English speaking congregations.
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Musings about different types of atheist!
by Seraphim23 ina thought that occurs to me is that if one has the belief that all that is real is only explicable in terms of particles and forces, and that nothing exists that is not one of these, then good and bad doesnt exist either, the same would be true for any concept for that matter.
or perhaps it is only true when reduced to the level of matter and forces, but without the moral force, meaning and purpose that such a materialist only description would entail.
after all, if death is forever, which is materialist view, then what does it matter if a seventy or seven year old enters the grave?
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scotoma
Snare and a Racket:
There is a broad area that you missed in your education.
Look at it this way. Tie a simple slip knot in a rope. Now tell me what that knot is. Is it the rope? It isnt the rope. You can slide the knot to the end of the rope until it disappears. The rope is still there.
The knot was information. It added no weight to the rope because when you slide the knot to the end of the rope the rope still weighs the same. Information is weightless but nevertheless is functional and makes a difference.
Life is emergent. Is that really a new Idea for you? It's the centerpiece of evolution.
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Where Do You NOW Think Wickedness Comes From? The Devil or... ?
by LoisLane looking for Superman ini think wickedness comes from evil people.. there are many people in between the two extremes of, overly good people and overly evil persons.. i do not believe in a devil.. i think he is a concept dreampt up by evil ones to blame bad behavior, as a red herring, on anyone but themselves.. the watchtower makes up attrocious lies, brow beats good people not to better themselves,.
all the while, they are building their own empire.. they say, do not isiolate yourself.
it is not good for you.. but if you don't agree with them and their current teachings, you will be shunned, disfellowshipped.. that can and does, have earth shattering results.. so many things, i was taught as a born in, are now considered apostate teachings.
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scotoma
Snare and Racket,
I am not advocating belief in God or the Bible. I quote the Bible because western civilization relies on it as a moral guide. I don't believe in a God who sets the moral tone. Groups of people come up with morality which is supposed to emphasize practices that makes the whole of society function better. I think the scripture that I quoted about where evil comes from shows that a personal Devil is not needed to understand evil.
It's kind of like "company policy" or a statement of purpose in an advocacy group or charity organization.
I believe in evolution. Not just biological evolution but socio/cultural evolution. People over hundreds of thousands of years have figured out what seems to work. Religions try to explain those rules as God given.
I don't believe that.
I like what Dawkins said in the last paragraph of THE SELFISH GENE "We have the power to defy the selfish genes of our birth. We can even discuss ways of deliberately cultivating and nuturing pure, disinterested altruism-something that has no place in nature, something that has never existed before in the whole history of the world. We, alone on earth can rebel against the tyranny of the selfish replicators."
Sorry but if you re-read what I wrote you will find that you agree with me.
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Musings about different types of atheist!
by Seraphim23 ina thought that occurs to me is that if one has the belief that all that is real is only explicable in terms of particles and forces, and that nothing exists that is not one of these, then good and bad doesnt exist either, the same would be true for any concept for that matter.
or perhaps it is only true when reduced to the level of matter and forces, but without the moral force, meaning and purpose that such a materialist only description would entail.
after all, if death is forever, which is materialist view, then what does it matter if a seventy or seven year old enters the grave?
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scotoma
The world is NOT just forces and particles. The world contains information about relations between forces and particles. Information is weightless. Life is a special structure of relationships and introduces a new level to the universe. It introduces structures that perpetuate themselves. So basically the meaning of life is "life". Life is not a top down formation. It is a bottom up emergence.
Eventually, life produced sentient forms which make up a whole new layer that can plan and decide into the future. The laws that dominate in this sphere produce morality.