konceptual99

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Posts by konceptual99

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  218

  Debating With Evolution Deniers is Just Like This

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  arguing with those who reject scientific evidence can be like arguing about football; just as angry and passionate, but the goalposts keep moving, and one team doesn't exist.. read more here....

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  konceptual99

  That's why it remains a theory. It cannot demonstrated.

  Oh dear.
  

  
  
  
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  13

  UK 2016 Sheffield Convention

  by darkspilver in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is actually, cinematographically, a pretty good video, certainly better then most of them anyway!.

  1 to 3 july 2016 at sheffield arena, uk.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1ra2ji909w.

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  konceptual99

  So the first London convention at the Excel was last weekend.

  Peak attendance - 17447

  Baptised - 68

  By my maths that's 0.39%. Well in line with other figures from around the UK. My guess is overall growth of 1% +/- 0.1% in the next annual report.

  There's another convention this weekend coming. It will be interesting to see what that brings as it's a bank holiday long weekend and I suspect people will prefer to be elsewhere.
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  23

  JW charged regarding child pornography

  by Listener in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/crime/article39058014.html#1.

  church shouldn't have divulged child-porn suspect's alleged confession, attorney says.

  elders in the jehovah’s witnesses church violated the confidentiality of steven lindhorst of paso robles when they told police about an alleged confession he made regarding child pornography, according to a defense motion.. .

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  konceptual99

  So my understanding of this is:

  • Lindhirst gets caught viewing child porn by his wife.
  • She waits 6 months and goes to the elders
  • Elders meet Lindhirst who denies the accusation
  • Lindhirst's wife picks up the computer and leaves. Lindhirst fesses up to the elders.
  • The next day Lindhirst's wife takes the computer to the police and tells them the perv had fessed up to the elders.
  • The elders get questioned by the rozzers and confirm Lindhirst had confessed.
  • The rozzers get a warrant and search the computer and, presumably, the house etc.
  • The perv gets brought up to the beak and then his slimy counsel tries to get the whole thing thrown out of court by claiming the search warrant was not valid as Lindhirst's clergy-penitent rights had been ignored.

  As the judge rightly says the fact the weasel's wife was in the police station with his computer and her own statement was enough for the police to act.

  I guess some credit must be due to the elders for making their statements. I accept they didn't go to the police themselves but they also didn't hide behind some legal framework to avoid making any statement. I wonder what advice WT legal gave them? I also wonder what the circumstances were for the perv's wife to go to the police? Was she advised or encouraged to do so by the elders or did she go because the elders wouldn't do anything themselves?
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  53

  Jw's and beards

  by wannaexit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  without going into details.

  it appears that new light might be coming down the pipes that beards are acceptable.

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  konceptual99

  @dubstepped

  I guess in principle what you say is correct however I think the reality of the situation has been somewhat different. The article on jwfacts does a great job of detailing what has actually been said as well as the implicit messages presented in the literature here;

  http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/beards-jehovahs-witnesses.php

  The upshot has been that in many Western lands beards have been frowned on and the overwhelming majority of brothers do not have a beard. When looking at elders I can only recall a handful in almost 30 years as a baptised witness who have had a beard. I can't recall one brother present a talk at an assembly with a beard. If you've not wanted to be appointed then having a beard is one sure way of minimising your chances. There are numerous cases of large inconsistencies and differences in policies even in neighbouring congregations. For example you may have an MS with a beard in one but in the next door congregation a brother with a beard won't even be permitted to carry the roving mikes.

  The org has been helped in that time by the beards being generally worn by a minority of men in society in general however in recent years the popularity of beards has come back. Of course some are more extravagant than others but many men are now wearing well clipped and neat beards. This trend has been reflected in the congregation and far more young men have been happy to wear beards and either take the hit in terms of JW career progression or openly question the unwritten cultural rules that the old school elders have maintained. Coupled with this anecdotal evidence suggests that fewer and fewer young men are "reaching out" and there is an increasing lack of brothers willing to work as elders and ministerial servants.

  I think the organisation has sought to clarify the position, as much as this woolly and open ended paragraph clarifies anything, so that brothers that would normally be used in the congregation save for their facial hair are less likely to be left on the sidelines. I think the GB still hate beards but are being forced into documenting some kind of compromise since it is obvious there really needed to be something in writing.

  Of course, locally bullish BoEs with dictatorial COBEs will still try and insist that beards are offensive in their area but this WT does allow the CO to question the BoE about the matter if the congregation is preventing men from being used.

  So whilst not really a change in policy it should knock out some of the unwritten rule nonsense that has undoubtedly been a factor in an increasing proportion of young men sticking two fingers up to the idea of "reaching out". I think that the GB are naively thinking this is the only barrier for some men without considering that perhaps many of them are also pretty disillusioned with the whole concept of spending time engaged in thankless tasks anyway.
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  53

  Jw's and beards

  by wannaexit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  without going into details.

  it appears that new light might be coming down the pipes that beards are acceptable.

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  konceptual99

  wannaexit...

  Check out the WT Study Edition Sept 2016 and the article "Does Your Style of Dress Glorify God?"

  https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/watchtower-study-september-2016/does-your-style-of-dress-glorify-god/

  17. What are some factors that may affect whether a brother wears a beard?
  17 What about the propriety of brothers wearing a beard? The Mosaic Law required men to wear a beard. However, Christians are not under the Mosaic Law, nor are they obliged to observe it. (Lev. 19:27; 21:5; Gal. 3:24, 25) In some cultures, a neatly trimmed beard may be acceptable and respectable, and it may not detract at all from the Kingdom message. In fact, some appointed brothers have beards. Even so, some brothers might decide not to wear a beard. (1 Cor. 8:9, 13; 10:32) In other cultures or localities, beards are not the custom and are not considered acceptable for Christian ministers. In fact, having one may hinder a brother from bringing glory to God by his dress and grooming and his being irreprehensible.—Rom. 15:1-3; 1 Tim. 3:2, 7.
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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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  konceptual99

  I thought the guy in the yellow t-shirt was Perry...

  The whole thing is bizarre. All that noise and fuss for a couple of guys with loud hailers. They should have just ignored them. If you go to the guy's channel and take a look at videos 11 & 12 of the event the brothers get pretty close to being physical with him. It would have been interesting to see how the brothers would have responded if the police had been called for restricting his freedoms.

  Aside from when he changes the words to "We're Jehovah's Witnesses", which is quite funny it's sad that what he says is typical evangelical anti-witness fare and easily dismissed by the r&f. Sad to say, I suspect most would have thought the brothers were doing a good job rather than look at it as an embarrassment and question why the org was so keen to try and drown the guy out in that manner.
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  37

  Second in the Medal Table - Well Done TeamGB

  by konceptual99 in

  1. social
  2. physical

  can't believe it - gb is currently second in the medal table, with more golds and silvers combined than even china.

  given the size of the nation it's an incredible achievement and we have won in some sports where other countries typically dominate.

  i can't imagine we will stay in second but i am happy to enjoy the moment.. well done to the whole of team gb!.

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  konceptual99

  Thanks to another set of wonderful performances, including the amazing Mo Farah, we have now exceeded the 2012 totals and become the first nation to exceed a medal tally in the games subsequent to the one hosted by the nation.

  It looks like TeamGB might actually do what I thought was not likely and end up in second place overall.

  Whatever your thoughts are about the money that has been invested in GB's Olympic success, it's an awesome performance.
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  14

  More daming evidence against evolution from an expert

  by konceptual99 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  don't worry, i'm taking the piss.

  it's just another jw.org video promoting one of their own who had the benefit of a university education and medical training before they became a witness and letting him try and debunk years of research with an appeal to emotion about the placenta.

  https://tv.jw.org/#en/video/vodintexp/pub-jwbiv_201608_1_video.

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  konceptual99

  Come on Cofty, the man has a white coat on. How wrong can he be?
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  14

  More daming evidence against evolution from an expert

  by konceptual99 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  don't worry, i'm taking the piss.

  it's just another jw.org video promoting one of their own who had the benefit of a university education and medical training before they became a witness and letting him try and debunk years of research with an appeal to emotion about the placenta.

  https://tv.jw.org/#en/video/vodintexp/pub-jwbiv_201608_1_video.

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  konceptual99

  Don't worry, I'm taking the piss. It's just another JW.org video promoting one of their own who had the benefit of a university education and medical training before they became a Witness and letting him try and debunk years of research with an appeal to emotion about the placenta.

  https://tv.jw.org/#en/video/VODIntExp/pub-jwbiv_201608_1_VIDEO
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  136

  Sun,moon, earth and mathematics .

  by atomant in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just thought id let you all in on some info i found on northeasttruth.com.

  that magical moment where the moon blocks out the sun!

  but only just enough to perfectly cover the suns disc, whilst still allowing us to see the corona of light and other electromagnetic forces radiating from it.. this only happens because the moon diameter is exactly 1/400th the size of the suns and is positioned at exactly 1/400th of the distance between earth and the sun!so, when we see it from the surface of earth, we are in the only place this can ever be seen, at the only time it could ever happen.

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  konceptual99

  Apples and oranges Pro.