Good work my man!
konceptual99
JoinedPosts by konceptual99
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62
25 YEARS of compiled yearbook statistics
by 88JM inhello again folks - as promised in my last thread here, i've been working on turning yearbook statistics into excel spreadsheets.. coincidentally, today is my 25th birthday (spare a thought for a fader).. i've now updated the spreadsheet with yearbook data all the way back to 1988 (the year i was born), therefore it now contains 25 years of statistics.. there were a lot of countries changing around and for some it was possible to create a continuation of data.
some are a simple change of name like south-west africa to namibia.
others, for example - in 1993 with czechoslovakia splitting into two countries (czech republic and slovakia) i have added an extra row that provides a continuation of the data, combining czech republic and slovakia back together as if they were still one country.
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Latest Metal Detecting Find
by cofty innow the harvest is underway up north i can get out for a walk with the metal detector in the evening.
i am lucky to live on a historic rural estate and i have permission from the landowner to detect.. this is a coin that popped up last night.
it was only about 2 inches deep and had been tumbling around in the plough soil for the last 750 years.. it is a silver penny of king henry iii.
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konceptual99
Interesting find Cofty. Did you watch the comedy series, The Detectorists? It was really, really well done - very bitter sweet with a great cast. There have been two series. If you've not seen them then I would recommend checking them out.
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JW's are like vegetarians
by darkspilver inhttps://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/60685/should-witnesses-vegetarian.
italian chef gianfranco vissani: "vegans?
they’re like the members of a sect.
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konceptual99
I have friends who are vegan and they have a very good diet.
The problem that comes along with veganism is the potential for extremism. People become vegetarians for many reasons, including choices about animal welfare, but not solely and this often moderates their attitudes towards those who are not vegetarian.
However, in my experience the vast majority of vegans are driven by their ethical viewpoint as much as dietary choices. This means that there is always a "better" vegan. There is always someone out there who is more purist than another and this leads to polarisation of opinion along with viewing anyone who doesn't agree, including other vegans, as wrong.
The self-righteous, preachy and confrontational nature of some vegans is exactly the same as the behaviour I have seen time and time again by those who view themselves as spiritual supremos in the Jehovah's Witness faith.
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Jw's and beards
by wannaexit inwithout going into details.
it appears that new light might be coming down the pipes that beards are acceptable.
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konceptual99
Beards are everywhere at R&F level in the org. Go to any meeting or any assembly and you will see loads of them.
I bet you any money that one or more of the following scenarios have been happening time after time:
1 - CO's feeding back that BoEs are not filling the need for appointed men as otherwise capable brothers are sporting a beard
2 - BoEs phoning bethel asking for clarification as they are being openly questioned on the matter by brothers in the congregation
3 - the GB and senior helpers seeing everytime they attend a regional convention how many beards there are and realising they need to make some statement on the matter
4 - Someone convincing the GB that they need to choose their battles. Alienating a whole generation of brothers because they can't get their head round the unwritten rule simply opens the door to further criticism and scepticism.
5 - The GB wanting to give old school BoEs the ammunition in an up to date publication to claim local circumstances dictate a rule for no beards.
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218
Debating With Evolution Deniers is Just Like This
by cofty inarguing 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 inthis 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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JW charged regarding child pornography
by Listener inhttp://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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Jw's and beards
by wannaexit inwithout 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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Jw's and beards
by wannaexit inwithout 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?"
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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Elders and Attendants sing, clap and turn backs on Street Preacher after Duluth RC.
by ToesUp invery 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.