Well, it explains how the org became so wealthy. What a great way to make money! Get volunteers to build Kingdom Halls and then sell them off. And the volunteers don't question it because they think Jehovah needs the money.
Brilliant!!!
jehovah's witnesses' land sell-off has brooklyn dreaming bigcrain's new york business - amanda fung-1 hour ago.
at stake are 34 mint-condition properties in brooklyn heights and dumbo that the jehovah's witnesses spent decades accumulating and now are considering ...it's always has been about the money...they talk about pristine real estate and the excellent pool of skilled craftsmen/women .
hey what about the paradise for my family 4 generations that slaved?.
Well, it explains how the org became so wealthy. What a great way to make money! Get volunteers to build Kingdom Halls and then sell them off. And the volunteers don't question it because they think Jehovah needs the money.
Brilliant!!!
or at least the public may be given the impression that jws and the wtbts are fair minded and do not discriminate against the homosexual lifestyle.
check out this quote from the nov 1, 2011 watchtower (public edition).
the article on page 4 is entitled 'ten questions about sex answered'.. question 8: does god approve of homosexuality?.
Here we collide with the difference between god-centred morality and common-sense morality.
You are suggesting I have no common sense. Shame.
I am happy to let you have your beliefs but it's not me you need to convince.
Good luck.
or at least the public may be given the impression that jws and the wtbts are fair minded and do not discriminate against the homosexual lifestyle.
check out this quote from the nov 1, 2011 watchtower (public edition).
the article on page 4 is entitled 'ten questions about sex answered'.. question 8: does god approve of homosexuality?.
The bible is quite clear about homosexuality right?
Please don't be offended by my words but I have always understood this to be the case. I guess what I'm saying is that what I think or what Jo Bloggs thinks or what the GB thinks is irrelevant. If they believe they are following the bible then naturally they will condemn it.
Just to avoid any confusion, I believe God loves us all. Whether or not he loves our actions is another thing entirely.
Personally I treat gay people as I do all others.
i couldn't find if this has been discussed in the past, but do we have any idea how many former posters/apostates from this forum have actually returned to the jw's?
i am not talking about those that were reinstated for family reasons, but rather, those that actually had a change of heart and "repented" to become active jw's again?
i can't imagine it is many, but would be curious if anyone knows individuals that have gone back because they truly believed again?
I haven't been for a long time but as time goes by I am more and more convinced that many so called 'apostates' do really believe it but rage against it because it has hurt them in some way. Catharsis I suppose.
And remember, there is a very fine line between love and hate. Many of us left because of individuals, not because we hated the teachings.
It's a very complex issue and I never take it, or people, for granted. In my experience you can never say that someone will NEVER go back because people change their mind for an infinite number of reasons.
I've seen people spitting fire at it one moment and then you hear that they have gone back and seem very happy and have continued for many years. This is why I am always careful what I say to people who have fallen away.
Nothing is cut and dried. Many people on this forum will return. Not today perhaps but certainly in the years to come.
Sorry if this isn't what you want to read but really, I've seen so many go back to the meetings. If it's what they want then who am I to stop them.
erbie
just wanted to introduce myself.
i went to the kh for the first time 2 weeks ago...and will go again tomorrow.
i don't believe anything witnessy...(i was raised in the assembly of god church and now the closest thing i "do" with religion is yoga or sometimes the buddhist temple).... but the man i'm in love with is a df'd jw (we've been together for 6 years).... and he wants to get reinstated just to talk to his family again (i can assure you he does not believe it).... and he wants his family to accept me because we are about to get married... so, i'm going to meetings...its very interesting, but only because it shows me more about how he was raised.
Where has Teary gone?
I was enjoying his comments.
I have to say that a lot of what he says is right. I don't want to fall in to the trap of tearing down all the time. I'm far too self reflective for that.
Everybody should have their say right? That's why we are here.
well, things have moved very quickly with the survey, and it now has it's very own website at www.jwsurvey.org!!.
if you are new to this forum and would like to have your say on what the governing body is teaching and practicing, then please visit this new site and register your views.. for those of you that have followed the development of the survey over the past month or so, feel free to visit and take a look around.. the website gives those who participate in the annual survey the opportunity to review the results of the survey at the same time as they register their responses.
that way they can get a feel for how the rest of the world is voting once they have submitted their own answers.. you can also check out the progress of the survey by logging on from time to time (anonymously, of course) and checking out the latest results.. there will also be a number of "mini surveys" run regularly, which i feel represent a completely unique experience for those who enjoy visiting jw-related forums.
If attempting to destroy the WT gives your life a purpose then who is to stop you.
Whether or not it will bring anyone happiness or enable them to better serve their fellow man is, I believe, questionable.
We all need to be careful that we do not become the monsters that we believe we have escaped from.
He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster.
And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Beyond Good and Evil, Aphorism 146
German Philosopher (1844-1900)
As Yoda would say: 'I sense much anger in you'
i don't know if anyone has noticed this yet but the jan. 2012 g is now up on jw.org.
the average printing per issue is now.
41.042,000 which is an increase per issue of 1,129,000 more compared with last year.
They're all misprints, surely.
since leaving all organized religion, all superstition, all acceptance of deity, i have a terrible time truly understanding 'religious' thought.. i really do.. how is it possible for thinking people to just accept, without proof, all they accept?
this morning i overheard a conversation between two christians in a coffee shop.
they say to me 'dad, what's wrong with just being a nice, good person?
Hell, I'm doomed! ;(
.
how did it just so happen that a world war took place in the very year that russell had attached so much importance to?
i realize that he expected 1914 to see the end of the world's governments, and of course that didn't happen, but it still seems to be quite remarkable that this war happened that very year ... a war that would later be construed to be the fulfillment of jesus' prediction in matthew 24:7.. the explanation given on the e-watchman site is that satan deliberately caused the war to happen so as to mislead jehovah's witnesses into thinking they had actually seen the fulfillment of bible prophecy, in order to make them think that jesus had returned invisably.. any ideas?.
Fact: Many people predicted that there would be a war around 1914 or so because Germany was building up a huge military and naval force and many people were concerned. We all know about the Ferdinand shooting but nevertheless, facts are facts.
It's just what the history books say.
just feeling good about this place right now.
give yourselves a pat on the back!.
-sab.
Well, we keep coming back don't we.
And nobody forces us to!