I have not stepped inside a Kingdom Hall in about 12 years, maybe longer. For those who are PIMO or have just recently left, please tell me what have Witnesses done with the congregation library inside the Kingdom Halls? The Kingdom Hall I attended as a really young child had a massive library with literature going back to the beginning of Russell including the old phonograph records.
truth_b_known
JoinedPosts by truth_b_known
-
39
J. W's Are Afraid of Old Literature
by IWant2Leave ini'm reading babylon the great has fallen, god's kingdom rules, published 1963. this was studied years ago when i was about 10-12 years old.
i wanted to just read some of the beliefs from decades ago.
my wife wants to know why i'm reading this book.
-
-
-
14
Spiritual Paradise Watchtower Style
by Vanderhoven7 incan you believe the presumption?.
https://youtu.be/1mamt-krcnc.
https://youtu.be/wjnk-mr_860.
-
-
truth_b_known
Where is there ANY evidence of the Christian Church being in "spiritual captivity" of anything, let alone itself? So, for less than 200 years the Christian Church is A-Ok, but then for nearly 19 centuries it is in spiritual captivity until a publishing corporation's president is released from prison?
Apostolic succession is documented in the Bible starting with Matthias replacing Judas in the book of Acts. Other examples are Timothy and Titus. Their are Catholic priests living today who can trace their apostolic succession all the way back to the original 12.
It baffles my mind sometimes that I was ever a Witness.
-
62
Organized Rioting Across America Due To A Black Man’s Death
by minimus incities across america have been pillaged and destroyed these last few days.
a white policeman has been charged with murder of a black man.
protests have been organized across major us cities and horrible riots have occurred.
-
-
truth_b_known
370 Million Americans
1 Million Americans serve in some capacity as law enforcement officer
250 Million contacts between law enforcement officers in their official capacity and private citizens annually
Annually in the U.S. about 1,000 of those 250 million contacts result in law enforcement officers using deadly force and less than 1% of those encounters were declared unjustified. in 2019 there were 1,005 people in the U.S. that were killed by the police.
Statistically speaking, in the U.S, more white people are killed by the police than any other ethnic background. Also statistically black and Hispanic persons are more likely to be killed by the police. However, studies have shown that the ethnicity of the police officer who uses deadly force has had no bearing on whether deadly force was used because of the suspect's skin color.
Studies have also shown that a reason for the disproportionate amount of deadly force used against minorities is because contact between the police and minorities is higher. This may be because the police contact may be higher in economically depressed areas.
-
39
J. W's Are Afraid of Old Literature
by IWant2Leave ini'm reading babylon the great has fallen, god's kingdom rules, published 1963. this was studied years ago when i was about 10-12 years old.
i wanted to just read some of the beliefs from decades ago.
my wife wants to know why i'm reading this book.
-
-
truth_b_known
What would a PIMI define as "old"? That refers to a anything not in the present. Yesterday is old (i.e. day old bread).
Is there an expiration date on Watchtower literature like there is on a carton of milk? At what point is it no longer safe to read a particular book or magazine that was published by the Watchtower?
If I drink expired milk I risk getting food poisoning and getting physically ill. What risk do I take from reading old literature?
The Bible was literally written thousands of years ago. Should we stop reading it since it is no longer safe to read a Watchtower publication based on the Bible that was written a decade or two ago?
If there is something wrong with reading a Watchtower publication today, why was it considered required reading by the entire organization at the time it was printed? Why was the release of that publication literally celebrated with thunderous applause at a convention?
-
15
Welsh Police v American Police
by ThomasCovenant inhow's we do it in my home country.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w30sckf9j2s.
.
-
-
truth_b_known
Deadly force is deadly force. That man chose to threaten those officers with deadly force. He proved it when he stabbed the one officer multiple times. He made his choice.
-
40
Resurrection, Reconstruction? What is it? It never made sense to me. Your opinion.
by Wasanelder Once ini never had much faith in whatever resurrection was.
what appealed to me about jw doctrines was the rejection of the "it's a mystery" defense of the indefensible.
when i would ask how going into non existence could be reversed when all the atomic parts of who we are had been scattered for thousands of years, the answer was "jehovah can do anything".
-
-
truth_b_known
Regardless of the denomination, Christian afterlife has always perplexed me. It is like signing a contract without reading it or understanding it.
There is no clear understanding of what humans living on Earth will be doing for eternity in the Witness paradise or what life will be like as a resurrected human. I have heard speculation of the resurrected not being physically recognizable or even being brought back in these sexless bodies.
Being told "Whatever it will be like we are sure it will be good (translation - at least you will be alive, forever)." Sorry, but I want to know the details. Living forever isn't necessarily a good thing and one person's paradise is another persons hell.
-
18
Gorby has to admit
by Gorbatchov infor the first time in my life, i have to admit that the world is rapidly deteriorating.
first i saw a decline in democracy worldwide.
elections were a tough battle every time, unfair too.
-
-
truth_b_known
The only thing that has changed is we now are bombarded 24 hours a day with news on "cable" news networks and social media. 24 hour news networks have about 5 hours worth of news they have to spread out over 24 hours. They also have to compete in a saturated market so things are dramatized/sensationalized.
-
40
Gorby's question about current US situation
by Gorbatchov infrom the peacefull netherlands i have a question about the current situation in the us.. is a civil war possible?.
g..
-
-
truth_b_known
The American Civil War took place for many reasons, but what allowed such a situation to arise was geographic concentration of economics. The 13 States that all seceded from the Union were geographically connected and were all agriculturally based economies that relied on the labor of African slaves. The "Union" states were all industrial manufacturing based economies.
What you see going on in the United States now is ideology bases opposition that is not geographically isolated. Urban areas with high poverty are in every state of the union. Think of a polka dot pattern. Opposing ideologies also do not have equal amounts of monetary resources, military equipment, or private citizens willing to risk their lives in a shooting war.
-
13
Bias in News
by Simon inyou can't escape bias in the news media, so making it visible is the next best thing.. just came across this site which aims to label the news stories to show who is covering it.
you can see how some stories are only covered by one side which shows either their bias, or the bias of the other side from not covering it.. well worth checking out:.
https://ground.news/.
-
-
truth_b_known
it is quite sad such a situation exists. "News media" should be just that - news and nothing but news.
-
30
I had a somewhat paranormal experience 2 days ago, but I think science is just light years behind on this.....
by Bad_Wolf infor the record i'm agnostic, never seen any direct evidence of spirits, afterlife, etc.
i've been visiting my mother during this corona ordeal.
a year ago i had a dream i was much older and talking to somebody about how my mom died this year but it was avoidable.
-
-
truth_b_known
Atheist advocate and YouTube personality Aaron Ra made a compelling argument when he told theists "You don't know - you believe!"
The only honest answer to the paranormal is "I don't know" until there is evidence to prove it. That is true of just about everything. Just like with the debate between theists and atheists on whether there is or is not a god/gods the questions that must also be answered are -
As a theist who believes in a god/gods, what evidence would it take for you to accept atheism?
As an atheist who does not believe in a god/gods, what evidence would it take for you to accept there is a god or gods?
Unfortunately many people will refuse to change their beliefs regardless of the evidence provided. What we find in the arena of the paranormal is that non-believers will often state "I refuse to believe because their must be evidence that provides a reasonable explanation."
Albert Einstein's "spooky action at a distance" or quantum entanglement is an interesting possibility to explain some paranormal experiences. I recently listened to a program on NPR dealing with Einstein's theories on time travel. Einstein theorized that time and space are connected. If you could fold space back onto itself you can travel back in time. So, what if premonitions are memories being transmitted back to ourselves?