Hi Prologos
The problem you will have pointing your camera at the southern celestial pole is that it will point to the ground. It is well below the horizon where you are.
Keep doing what you are doing - you have some nice results.
k99
konceptual99
JoinedPosts by konceptual99
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Star Trails
by ILoveTTATT inone of the things that i have only done once... but i would love to do again and again until i perfect the technique, is called star trails.. my camera is a canon 60d.
there is a way to "hack" the canon dslr's so that they get some amazing functionalities, such as taking a picture just by clapping (really cool for when you want to take a picture and no one is able to push the button) and taking pictures at certain intervals.. you can read more about this "hacking" on .
http://www.magiclantern.fm/.
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Critique of Mar 2014 Awake on Creation by Alan Feuerbacher
by jwfacts inalan feuerbacher has written a tremendous critique of the march 2014 awake!, which contains a grossly dishonest discussion on creation.
the pdf file can be downloaded from awake_march_2014_creation_critique.pdf.
it highlights watchtower use of poor and contradictory reasoning..
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konceptual99
There was a recent discussion on that other site about this recently. Although several posters were adamant that the 7000 day teaching is no longer there, which is the case, it is clear that the vague way this is presented leaves some at best confused and some old timers still sure 7000 and 49000 are special numbers in the context of the JW view of creation.
The reference is here
w87 1/1 QFR
Second, a study of the fulfillment of Bible prophecy and of our location in the stream of time strongly indicate that each of the creative days (Genesis, chapter 1) is 7,000 years long. It is understood that Christ’s reign of a thousand years will bring to a close God’s 7,000-year ‘rest day,’ the last ‘day’ of the creative week. (Revelation 20:6; Genesis 2:2, 3) Based on this reasoning, the entire creative week would be 49,000 years long.
this also....
g88 12/8 What Does Genesis Really Say
Was each one of those six days a literal 24-hour day? That is not what Genesis says. The word “day” in the Hebrew language (the language in which Genesis was written) can mean long periods of time, even thousands of years. (Compare Psalm 90:4; Genesis 2:4.) For example, “the seventh day” in which we now live is thousands of years long. (Genesis 2:2, 3) Hence, the evidence shows that the entire period of six days should be viewed as tens of thousands of years long.
it-1 - Creation p545
That a day can be longer than 24 hours is indicated by Genesis 2:4, which speaks of all the creative periods as one “day.” Also indicative of this is Peter’s inspired observation that “one day is with Jehovah as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.” (2Pe 3:8) Ascribing not just 24 hours but a longer period of time, thousands of years, to each of the creative days better harmonizes with the evidence found in the earth itself.
rs 125-126
But is it reasonable to believe that everything on this earth was created in six days?
There are some religious groups that teach that God created everything in six 24-hour days. But that is not what the Bible says.
Genesis 1:3-31 tells how God prepared the already existing earth for human habitation. It says that this was done during a period of six days, but it does not say that these were 24-hour days. It is not unusual for a person to refer to his “grandfather’s day,” meaning that one’s entire lifetime. So, too, the Bible often uses the term “day” to describe an extended period of time. (Compare 2 Peter 3:8.) Thus the ‘days’ of Genesis chapter 1 could reasonably be thousands of years long.rs - 88
Was all physical creation accomplished in just six days sometime within the past 6,000 to 10,000 years?
The facts disagree with such a conclusion: (1) Light from the Andromeda nebula can be seen on a clear night in the northern hemisphere. It takes about 2,000,000 years for that light to reach the earth, indicating that the universe must be at least millions of years old. (2) End products of radioactive decay in rocks in the earth testify that some rock formations have been undisturbed for billions of years.
Genesis 1:3-31 is not discussing the original creation of matter or of the heavenly bodies. It describes the preparation of the already existing earth for human habitation. This included creation of the basic kinds of vegetation, marine life, flying creatures, land animals, and the first human pair. All of this is said to have been done within a period of six “days.” However, the Hebrew word translated “day” has a variety of meanings, including ‘a long time; the time covering an extraordinary event.’ (Old Testament Word Studies, Grand Rapids, Mich.; 1978, W. Wilson, p. 109) The term used allows for the thought that each “day” could have been thousands of years in length.ba 5
Similarly, religious fundamentalists today distort the Bible when they insist that the earth was created in six 24-hour days. (Genesis 1:3-31) Such a view agrees neither with science nor with the Bible. In the Bible, as in everyday speech, the word “day” is a flexible term, expressing units of time of varying lengths. At Genesis 2:4, all six creative days are referred to as one all-embracing “day.” The Hebrew word translated “day” in the Bible can simply mean “a long time.”6 So, there is no Biblical reason to insist that the days of creation were 24 hours each. By teaching otherwise, fundamentalists misrepresent the Bible.—See also 2 Peter 3:8.
and so.. until 2002.
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SECRET SIGN FOR FADERS
by Bob_NC infaders need a secret sign to use at the khall.
the thought came to me after reading replies to datadogs post on stopping singing at the meetings.. i can suggest a few secret signs for faders to use and to look for at the khall, but it would be better that current meeting attenders make suggestions here.
if readers on this site can agree to a secret sign to use at the meetings, just imagine the power that would have at your kingdom hall.
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konceptual99
Broadsword calling Danny Boy....
Broadsword calling Danny Boy....
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konceptual99
Hi talesin,
Sorry, I did not make my point very clearly. I agree 100% that the content on the site can stimulate critical thinking and by coming here, even one that starts off as an apologist could change their opinion.
My understanding of the OP is that the site on it's own will not change opinion. Someone has to, at some point, be receptive to the information. It is not likely that someone who is still mentally in would hit on the site and have their opinion changed by browsing a few of the threads. Sure, lurking and continued access will increase the chance of a change of mind but if someone is lurking then they are likely already questioning things and looking for answers.
None of this minimises the fact that this site has been instrumental in helping many. many ones along their journey away from the WTS.
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konceptual99
Do you think some expect that simply accessing this site over a period of time will change a visitor's religious opinion? I would be surprised if anyone really thinks that. So it's a bit of a dud point surely?
From my own experience I would second the messages above that being on here has helped to change religious opinion. I have been able to hear ideas and points of view expressed that would have been simple noise to me a couple of years ago. I have had support and encouragement. Sure, you could argue that I was pre-disposed to changing my view already but surely the important point is that coming here has been an indispensible and major part of supporting ones leaving the WTS.
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What is "The Truth"?
by EndofMysteries into jw's if you think about it, this is what "the truth" is..... .
"the truth" is that you must be in 'the truth' and spend every waking moment you have getting others in 'the truth'.
anything the governing body says to do is 'the truth'.
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konceptual99
So what are the differences in the meaning of the ransom over the years?
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Petty Gambling
by konceptual99 inaccording to the shepherd book.... .
the elders do well not to involve themselves in what individuals do with regard to petty gambling solely for entertainment.
they may need to give counsel if this becomes a cause of stumbling for others or affects the spirituality of the individual or the congregation.-w02 11/1 p. 31.. .
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konceptual99
I've heard that reasoning as well.
The fact of the matter is that there is always someone losing out in the commercial world. You may get a nice dividend on a share or it may be increasing in value but what has the company had to do to acheive that? Are their staff being paid and treated fairly? Are customers being ripped off? And so it goes on...
I really don't think that corporate greed is any different to any other kind of greed. Unethical behaviour in the commercial world happens all the time. Witnesses are actually very poor judges of ethics. Very few actually develop convictions about what businesses or products they will patronise since they avoid the questions around politics and ethics that most intellectual people have to face when decieding exactly what they feel the moral position is on any given subject.
So gambling is wrong but investing in a corporate with questional ethics and business practices is fine.
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ECHR looks into Russias treatment of Jehovahs Witnesses
by emeth inmoscow, march 25 (rapsi) - the european court of human rights (echr) communicated a vast collection of complaints this month to russia in connection with the treatment of jehovahs witnesses throughout the country.. russia and the applicants were asked earlier this month to consider a plethora of questions related to treatment of jehovahs witnesses and their congregations in light of the european convention on human rights (convention) guarantees of religious freedom and free expression, as well as its prohibition of discrimination.. according to court documents, in 2007, a russian deputy prosecutor general notified the countrys prosecutors offices that the jehovahs witnesses and other foreign religious and charitable organizations may have constituted a public threat.. the letter stated: there are various branches of foreign religious and charitable organizations within the territory of russia whose activities do not formally violate the provisions of russian legislation but quite often promote the growth of tension in society.. the letter grouped jehovahs witnesses with the unification church, the church of scientology, various eastern faiths, and satanism, referring to them collectively as branches that frequently carry out activities that damage the moral, mental, and physical health of their members.. prosecutors throughout the country were instructed to look into the threat that extremist material was being produced or disseminated in violation or russias mass communications law.. according to the complaint, the present collection of cases revolves around ten claims, many centering on jehovahs witness literature:.
1. the liquidation of a local jehovahs witness organization in taganrog, russia, along with the confiscation of its property and a ban on 34 of its publications; .
2. seven other instances of the banning of religious publications in various russian regions;.
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konceptual99
Even were Russia, or any other state, ban the Witnesses it would have little effect on those in. The org carries on. It does not protect people, just reinforces the persecution complex.
In places like Russia it also increases the amount of physcial persection individuals recieve which cannot be condoned, especially when the issues are with the leadership far away.
It is far better for people to come to understand TTATT through open and public means. I am not suggesting that the WTS should not be open to scrutiny or that it is not hypocritical in it's application of freedom of speech and religion, just that using draconian means to try and snuff the Witnesses out has never worked and it's actually the exposure of the org in the open internet along with apathy where there is little physical persecution that does more to undermine the organisation in the long run.
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Not All Anointed Ones Alive Today Are Part Of 'This generation'
by OwnAccord inwhere do they come up with this stuff?.
this is a topic on 'the other site'.
i actually called our bethel ny branch and talked to a brother on the writing committee, at writing correspondence.
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konceptual99
The point of restricting the overlap to 1 crossover is to restrict the overall length of the generation. The GB can imply a short time (e.g. using phrases such as those in the 2nd group being "advancing in years") without committing to specifics and leave the door open for yet more changes as time progresses.
The 3rd group comes about since, using their "logic", there must be ones that who became annointed after the overlap time period completed.
I wouldn't be too sure about those following this on jwtalk becoming apostates. They seem to be lapping it up. Given there are no scriptures to back this up it's bizarre but then again I did the same for years.
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Petty Gambling
by konceptual99 inaccording to the shepherd book.... .
the elders do well not to involve themselves in what individuals do with regard to petty gambling solely for entertainment.
they may need to give counsel if this becomes a cause of stumbling for others or affects the spirituality of the individual or the congregation.-w02 11/1 p. 31.. .
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konceptual99
I knew an elder and his wife that were on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. They did not actually get to try for the £1,000,000 as they did not get through the selection round. They had LOADS of grief. He was fortunate not to lose all his service privilages and there was lots of talk about them being greedy etc.
The truth of the matter is that people were just jealous. If someone said to them they could win money by answering a few questions then they would. No gambling was involved. It's a quiz. You could argue about the "love of money" and what "heart condition" (TM) it exposed but it's still jealousy underneath it all. How much money is it OK to win? Would someone turn down an inheritance since they did not earn the money?
It's never logic or reasonableness that drive the moaners - just simple jealousy. I've said it before but I've never seen so much jealousy and bitterness over what others have as in the org. The prevelance of schadenfreude is outrageous. I know very few that a genuinely happy for other peoples' success or opportunity.