Syme

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Posts by Syme

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  80

  2020-New-October-Elders-Manual-Addendum-and-S-147-Announcements! (as of 2020-10-02)

  by Atlantis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  new--2020-october--shepherd the flock of god--elder manual.

  new--2020-october--addendum to elder manual.

  2020--october-s-147-e--announcements and reminders.

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  Syme

  Hi Petra, I would like a copy please. Cheers
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  26

  2020-09-14 English--Announcement and Analysis Report Form! (as of 2020-09-15)

  by Atlantis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  2020-08-s-10-english congregation analysis report form.

  2020-09-14 english announcement--2 pages.use of kingdom hall for judicial matterscircuit overseer's expensesmidweek meeting part on neutralitywhy is neutrality so important?reply below if you want a link sent to your pm box.. anybody hungry?.

  !https://docdro.id/qhkqbh0petra!.

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  Syme

  Thanks Petra! Would like a link too!
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  11

  Michael Palin: North Korea - Similarities In N.Korean and JW Mentality

  by pale.emperor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  did anyone catch michael palin's travel documentary in north korea?

  it was a fascinating insight into such a secretive and controlled country.

  totalitarian, suppressed and yet i found a few similarities to jw mentality.. particularly, this segment, where michael asks his handler about the limitations on freedom she has.

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  Syme

  Yeah, I remember it. In an instance, they talk about (lack of) elections. She says something like "since we're convinced that this leader and Party are perfect for us, why change them?" It reminded me of jw talk: "since we're convinced that this is the Truth, why research elsewhere?".
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  16

  Curious to know the Zoom attendance figures for for the memorial

  by joe134cd in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i’m just curious to know the local attendance figures for the memorial.

  my father told me they had an attendance of 140. not flattering for a cong of 100 pubs.

  i was sort of surprised at this considering the quarantine measures and everyone being forced to stay at home.

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  Syme

  I read "100 pubs" and my first thought was "what a nice area!"
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  11

  Don't forget to donate!

  by neat blue dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the lucrative events otherwise known as assemblies and conventions are cancelled, which i'm sure has hit the wts in the pocketbook a little.

  so the newest article on jwdotorg reminds us all yet again of the online recurring donation feature that takes credit and debit cards.. https://www.jw.org/en/news/jw/region/global/making-electronic-donations-in-view-of-covid-19-precautions/.

  a 74-year-old publisher .

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  Syme

  "It makes me so happy to know my donation is taken care of"

  Oh yes, it's taken care of, alright...
  
  
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  10

  No Religion is growing

  by Giordano in

  1. social
  2. current

  (cnn)for the first time "no religion" has topped a survey of americans' religious identity, according to a new analysis by a political scientist.

  the non-religious edged out catholics and evangelicals in the long-running general social survey.. https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/13/us/no-religion-largest-group-first-time-usa-trnd/index.html.

  ryan burge, a political scientist at eastern illinois university and a baptist pastor, found that 23.1% of americans now claim no religion.. .

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  Syme

  No religion is growing *in the US*, and no *Christian* religion is growing in the world in general. Islam is growing fast.
  
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  18

  How many would leave the organization right now if the shunning rule was removed?

  by HiddenPimo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  dream scenario: everyone is made aware of all the wrongs, the false prophecies / csa problem / double standards - .

  and they would not shun, how many would jump ship?.

  my parents are fully aware of the sins of the org.

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  Syme

  I tend to think that not only most would stay, but even if shunning as a rule was dropped, most 'faithful' witnesses would still shun those who leave, since shunning would now be "a matter of conscience" (you can't force them to talk to you anyways). The only quantitive (and not qualitive) difference would be that more witnesses would talk to their DF'ed friends, but hardly to apostates. The conscience of most non-awake jws would still compel them to shun apostates at least.

  On the other hand, I think there's this delicate balance between the cultish/totalitarian and religious aspect of WTS: the cultish/totalitarian part is prone to collapsing if inserted freedoms, as happened in the Soviet Union. The religious part is immune to collapsing, since many(most?) jws shun or pray or whatever, not because they're forced to, but because their faith (false but faith nonetheless) is so deeply rooted in their hearts and minds that they actually want to do it.
  
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  79

  Preparing the sheeple for finally abandoning the significance of 1914

  by under the radar in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  we all know the society would love to get rid of all the problems caused by clinging to 1914 and all they claimed it meant for the last 100+ years.. it looks like they are laying the groundwork for easing away from the whole concept of 1914. this would also let them do away with the ridiculous "overlapping generation" bullcrap.

  what a diaper load that has been.... anyway, the following is from their super secret marching orders for april, 2019. draw your own conclusions.... "3.

  “100 years of faithfulness”: the coordinator of the body of elders, or another elder, should be invited to read the following special announcement.

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  Syme

  The letter seems to be a joke/fake, however the problem with 1914 is very real and it's entirely plausible that they'll have to change it; but to completely ditch it, I don't think so. It's too central a doctrine.

  I think they'll do what they did with the generation: they'll just postpone the problem, to continue feeding off the rank and file, and leave the hot potato to the next GB generation. The "letter" gives a plausible scenario on the possible change: maybe they'll finally admit that Jerusalem fell in 587 BCE and not 607 BCE, as is the scientific consensus, so end of days will have been 1934 instead of 1914. I'm sure they'll find something around that date that can be fitted into the narrative. They have huge experience in that sort of (un)reasoning.
  
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  7

  Who were the Picts?

  by LoveUniHateExams in

  1. social
  2. current

  so, i've been reading a bit about the picts recently.. i'm not sure there's a consensus on exactly who they were or what type of language they spoke.. even their name - picts - has more than one explanation of where it came from.

  i've read some scholars believe it comes from latin pictus (painted), referring to their supposed habit of painting themselves and/or tattooing themselves.

  other scholars believe that the name pict comes from another source.

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  Syme

  Nice topic. Indeed, it's not clarified if they were Celts (and Brythonic-speaking) or a pre-Celtic population. The latter is quite plausible, since the Celts were not the first inhabitants of the Isles, and the Highlands were always a hard place to conquer. As for the first Gaels in Pictland, the Dalriadans, it seems they were partly defeated by the Picts and paid tribute to them, but instead of the Scots adopting the Picts language, the Picts adopted the Gaels language and eventually even their name (Scots). Which points to some kind of merging. As you indicated, some of the first known 'Scotish' kings were actually Picts with a Scottish name form. One of those first ones, I don't remember the exact name, had a Brythonic first name followed by 'Mac'.

  The whole process seems lost in time, but is very interesting.
  
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  34

  If Angels in the Bible are of neuter gender ? Then why are they always depicted as males by description and name ? And never a female ?

  by smiddy3 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  in all of the art i`ve seen in christendom, angels always have the form of a male, and in the bible those that are named always have a male name such as michael ,gabriel , etc, .

  nowhere in the art world that i have seen do angels have the female form, and in the bible they don`t have female names.. so if the angels are neither male or female why then are they depicted as males with male names ?and not female also ?.

  the watchtower illustrators also follow this line .when they illustrate an angel it is always in the form of a male and never a female form.. the anointed who make up the 144000 comprise of male and females right ?

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  Syme

  "Look brothers, there's been a misunderstanding. I was just researching the topic of female angels, I didn't look at them inappropriately".

  "Sorry brother. Leave your MS badge on the table as you go." :P
  

  [Insight book said "angels have no sex(gender)". Then why are they depicted as men, since it's 'technically' inaccurate? Supposedly because Adam (and not Eve, nor a genderless person) was created "at God's image", so here we have patriarchy by divine right. In reality, of course, man (Hebrew bronze age man, to be exact) created Abrahamic god in *his* image, hence the beard by the way. Older cultures were more just and gave due credit: they made goddess in woman's image because obviously life came literally through her].