scotoma

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Posts by scotoma

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  9

  The Hope Of The World?

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/10/more-nsa-leakers-followed-snowdens-footsteps-whistleblower-lawyer-says/.

  why do i post this and think it could be the most hopeful development in the world currently?.

  there are some fringe opinions out there that i believe may be credible - in particular, the "breakaway group" theory of historian richard dolan which assert that parts of the us intelligence community know about some astounding technology - and are keeping it strictly secret.. just suppose that we enter a world-wide period in which the whole edifice of secrecy collapses as whistleblowers surge forward into public view.

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  scotoma

  Metatron,

  I agree with Prologos. I've met Richard Dolan and have talked with him after a lecture he gave recently.

  I respect his scholarly approach but keep my distance because he is selling books and lectures and he has to always act like

  there is more. As Art Bell would say: "Stay tuned because in the next hour we're going to hear from an eyewitness to some extraordinary things"

  There is enough evidence already available that aliens are visiting this planet and that by the very nature of having arrived they have advanced technology that most likely make our carbon based

  energy sources obsolete.

  "keeping it strictly secret" Is the watchword for hucksters that want you coming back for more.

  There have been NO alien abductions, face-to-face communications, UFO crashes, back engineering, cattle mutilations or any close encounters of the third kind.

  The information we have is the information they want us to have. Basically they could visit without us knowing but they seem to want humans to be open to their capabilities. So we see them flying around

  menacing nuclear facilities and playing games with military aircraft. That's it.
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  97

  Unconfirmed 2014 Year Book Numbers - Peak Pubs, Baptized, Hrs, Reg Pio & Studies

  by OwnAccord in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i bethelite sent this email out - can't really give out names.

  we wrote these figures as quickly as possible, but could not keep up 100%).

  you get to check these figures out when you get your 2014 yearbook.

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  scotoma

  These figures are pure propaganda.

  Example: Some called our stand "the best in the whole fair".

  Compare that with the number who attended: More than 500,000 attended.

  If you get 500,000 people to attend an event is "some called our stand "the best in the whole fair" significant?

  Was there a vote? "Some" is an evasively ambiguous non-quantity.

  Of the 500,000 that attended 400 filled out follow up forms. That's 0.0008. Nothing to brag about.

  Probably less than 400 felt the display was "the best in the whole fair>"

  Then there is the setup they're planning for Mexico. In business that's called an opportunity. But based on the pittyful results from the crowd in Columbia they will probably be fortunate to get 72 follow up forms.

  Since maybe 3% of studies get baptized we're talking a net result from the Columbia and Mexican event would be at best 14 new JW's.

  So you have to ignore the size of the alleged audience and think about the REAL results. Big numbers by themselves aren't worth cheering.

  Bulgaria did a little better. But considering the audience it was very unique and actually disadvantaged.

  Romania was given as an example of those thirsting for Watchtowers. They again give a large number of around 4 million people in Romania who live in small towns and villages. But what about the other 18 million people in Romania that don't live in small towns and villages? They happen to live in cities with better internet than the USA. How much success are you going to have once the villagers (conservative family oriented) learn about shunning their families? But they targeted a good area. Close to 32,000 studies started. They should get at least 1,000 new members from that effort. The local priests are going to apply a lot of heat.

  Sounds like the squeal of spinning tires.
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  52

  NSA spying on Vatican! My JW parents are SOO EXCITED!

  by BU2B in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it just came out yesterday that the nsa has spied on the vatican and pope francis.

  when i went over my parents house yesterday, you could see the excitement, the energy in their eyes when they talked about it.

  my dad even pumped his fist like he won something when he was talking about it.

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  scotoma

  SFPW,

  I challenge you to prove that Babylon the Great is false religion.

  You can't prove that and neither can the Watchtower writers.

  ALL and I mean ALL the evidence in the description of Babylon the Great indicates that it is a political entity.

  The idea that it is a relgious entity is another one of those ideas that they borrowed from the Protestants.

  It was very popular in the 1800's for White Anglo-Saxon Protestants to pick on the Catholic Church.

  The witnesses took that idea and used it to demonize ALL religions.

  Give it your best shot SFPW try to prove that Babylon the Great is the "World Empire of False Religion".

  They've repeated the mantra "Babylon the Great-The World Empire of False Religion" so many times you are conditioned to actually believe that it is obvious.

  Good luck trying to prove it.

  You believe it only because you've been told to believe it.
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  14

  If Somethingbad

  by minimus in

  1. jw
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  scotoma

  When I feel like praying I know I've reached the point psychologists call the "impasse".

  Instead of praying I just tell myself that there doesn't seem to be much more I can do and then do some deep breathing.

  I find something I like to do to distract me.

  Once you create enough tension and acknowledge the impasse - take a little break - a lot of creative solutions start streaming. You start making an inventory of your assets.

  That's just how the mind works.

  And if no solutions seem viable. I just tell myself "tough-shit".

  So how is that any different from praying.
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  32

  Why does it matter?

  by tenyearsafter in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have been on this forum for a number of years now, and one thing that seems to be a persisting theme is the "battle" between atheists and believers.. what i have not understood is the extent to which the supporters of either side engage in showing their position to be the correct one...and in turn debunking and demeaning the opposing position, or in many cases, insulting the intelligence of the holder of opposing belief.

  i guess the simple question is, why?

  does it really matter, or cause harm to be a supporter of either side of the coin?

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  scotoma

  Appartently atheists can be dogmatic too - just like fundamentalists.

  The battle between any ideology isn't really won or lost on presentation of information. It's deeper.

  If an atheist spends too much time trying to convince others it might be that he is trying to convince himself.

  If anyone is interested in the deeper aspects of this debate take the time to read:

  http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/unique-everybody-else/201309/dogmatism-and-openness-experience-in-the-non-religious
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  56

  They are really begging for money again..

  by XBEHERE in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  sorry i don't know how to post the actual letter but here is the text of it.

  lol.

  christian congregation of jehovahs witnesses 2821 route 22, patterson, ny 12563-2237 phone: (845) 306-1100.

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  scotoma

  Why are they asking for money from people who were told not to go to college, told to refuse promotions, told to refuse overtime etc.
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  13

  Shutdown, christening, Obamacare, AGM, phhht

  by Hortensia in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what i want to know is, what is your favorite kind of apple?.

  today i ate an aurora, a variety i haven't seen before.

  big yellow apple, sweet and crisp with a good apple flavor, but no tartness.

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  scotoma

  Don't forget they're in the Rose family. And smell wonderful when blooming.
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  20

  How I miss the 'Truth' of my youth....

  by gingerbread in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my family moved from the city to the country.. part of the reason for the relocation was to move 'to where the need was greater'.

  i loved our new home - i was free to roam the woods and fields, enjoy the wildlife, work in our garden and feed the chickens.

  i had new friends in our new congregation.

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  scotoma

  The love of the greater number IN THE CONGREGATION has cooled off.

  At least that's how some would bend this narrative.
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  19

  WATCHTOWER HOAXES on the spectrum of mendacity

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the word hoax is thought to be derived from the magician's utterance of silly "hocus-pocus" so-called magic incantation.. this is jibberish, of course--a fake latin-sounding phrase mimmicking the priest's words in catholic mass changing wine into the "actual" blood of christ.. yeah.. only a conscious attempt to deceive separates a hoax from an otherwise mistake or urban myth.. according to folklorist jan brunvand, a 'hoax tends to indicate "relatively complex and large-scale fabrications" and includes deceptions that go beyond the merely playful and "cause material loss or harm to the victim".brunvand, jan h. (1998).

  american folklore: an encyclopedia.

  taylor & francis.

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  scotoma

  Don't blame the Watchtower. Blame the Bible.

  Jesus treated epileptics and deaf people like they were demon possessed.

  What about the cleansing of lepers. It sounds like any magic ritual.

  Leviticus 14:49-53 (Read this like a line from Harry Potter)

  New International Version (NIV)

  49 To purify the house he is to take two birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop. 50 He shall kill one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot. 51 Then he is to take the cedar wood, the hyssop,the scarlet yarn and the live bird, dip them into the blood of the dead bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 52 He shall purify the house with the bird’s blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn. 53 Then he is to release the live bird in the open fields outside the town. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.”

  If you accept that as part of Jehovah's PERFECT LAW it can only go down hill from there.
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  17

  Does he look like Nathan Knorr? little bit?

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  scotoma

  My mother used to tell me about a "brother" who left the organization after Knorr became president because Knorr used to make beer with a bunch of bethelites during prohibition.

  I think they called it Bethel-Lite.