by minimus 34 Replies latest jw friends
Yup. HQ passes along word-of-mouth that Jesus more than likely was dressed very expensively by rich converts in his day. This is to absolve the heirarchy of purchasing clothing from Armani, Gucci, St. Laurent, Chanel, etc......
Come ON!!! A good cheap polyester lasts FOREVERRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Frannie
Mary, how do you know Russell smoked?I'm pretty sure he smoked a pipe......Hmm.......lemme look into that. I know for sure Rutherford did. It went nicely with all the bootleg whiskey he consumed.
Yeah, I knew about Rutherfraud but I've never known anything like that with CTR.
The standards pressed on the JW rank and file are impossible. I know for a few years my ex-husband was an elder the pressures on him were terrible too. There was no way one could take care of their families and responsiblities as Elders. Some of the Elders just plain rebelled at the pressure and became cold and and distant with the congregation. Others tried to knock themselves out to meet their obligations and suffered emotionally from depression. My ex-husband Elder coped by becoming involved with needy and emotionally unstable sisters who came to him for help. To live your life as a JW is hard and unrelenting, and Elders who are into the the the position and power beat the flock. The other Elders the ones that do care suffer and eventually have to disconnect to save their sanity.
Elders are councelled by the society as was pointed out to disfellowship, and elimate trouble makers to prevent the rest from having the guts to question the ridged control of the WTS. Is it any wonder that that witnesses break under the pressure put on them. I feel for the caring Elders who suffer and care about the flock but must reinforce the rules un-mercifully, and truly believe that the WTS are guardians of truth. I don't blame all he elders for the deceit of the WTS, some are sincere and some are power hungry. I refused to open my eyes to the truth of things with the religion I trusted in so completely. So many of us were lead by our desires for something that told us how to live and believe, had God all laid out for us.
Balsam
It was a juggling act to listen to "Mother" and still treat persons with mercy and genuine kindness. It's an "us vs. them" mentality.
balsam,
that was a great post, there are always two sides to a story. However, a honest person, when seeing people being abused would refuse to be a part of it and STEP DOWN from their position of elder. It is that title, that POSITION that keeps them hanging on. If they received no special title, how many would serve the brothers? A few, I'm sure, b/c there really are good sincere men in the org, as there are anywhere.
How about giving a speech about not allowing teenagers to attend their proms, homecoming or any kind of school functions/dances but allowing their own to go?
Imustbreakaway, here is the article on voting from Nov.1,1999 WT pg 28-29 Hope this works.
Questions
From ReadersHow
do Jehovah’s Witnesses view voting?There are clear principles set out in the Bible that enable servants of God to take a proper view of this matter. However, there appears to be no principle against the practice of voting itself. For example, there is no reason why a board of directors should not take a vote in order to arrive at decisions affecting their corporation. Congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses often make decisions about meeting times and the use of congregation funds by voting with a show of hands.
What, though, of voting in political elections? Of course, in some democratic lands, as many as 50 percent of the population do not turn out to vote on election day. As for Jehovah’s Witnesses, they do not interfere with the right of others to vote; neither do they in any way campaign against political elections. They respect and cooperate with the authorities who are duly elected in such elections. (Romans 13:1-7) As to whether they will personally vote for someone running in an election, each one of Jehovah’s Witnesses makes a decision based on his Bible-trained conscience and an understanding of his responsibility to God and to the State. (Matthew 22:21; 1 Peter 3:16) In making this personal decision, the Witnesses consider a number of factors.
First, Jesus Christ said of his followers: "They are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world." (John 17:14) Jehovah’s Witnesses take this principle seriously. Being "no part of the world," they are neutral in the political affairs of the world.—John 18:36.
Second, the apostle Paul referred to himself as an "ambassador" representing Christ to the people of his day. (Ephesians 6:20; 2 Corinthians 5:20) Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Christ Jesus is now the enthroned King of God’s heavenly Kingdom, and they, like ambassadors, must announce this to the nations. (Matthew 24:14; Revelation 11:15) Ambassadors are expected to be neutral and not to interfere in the internal affairs of the countries to which they are sent. As representatives of God’s heavenly Kingdom, Jehovah’s Witnesses feel a similar obligation not to interfere in the politics of the countries where they reside.
A third factor to consider is that those who have a part in voting a person into office may become responsible for what he does. (Compare 1 Timothy 5:22, The New English Bible.) Christians have to consider carefully whether they want to shoulder that responsibility.
Fourth, Jehovah’s Witnesses greatly value their Christian unity. (Colossians 3:14) When religions get involved in politics, the result is often division among their members. In imitation of Jesus Christ, Jehovah’s Witnesses avoid becoming involved in politics and thus maintain their Christian unity.—Matthew 12:25; John 6:15; 18:36, 37.
Fifth and finally, their keeping out of politics gives Jehovah’s Witnesses freeness of speech to approach people of all political persuasions with the important message of the Kingdom.—Hebrews 10:35.
In view of the Scriptural principles outlined above, in many lands Jehovah’s Witnesses make a personal decision not to vote in political elections, and their freedom to make that decision is supported by the law of the land. What, though, if the law requires citizens to vote? In such a case, each Witness is responsible to make a conscientious, Bible-based decision about how to handle the situation. If someone decides to go to the polling booth, that is his decision. What he does in the polling booth is between him and his Creator.
The November 15, 1950, issue of The Watchtower, on pages 445 and 446, said: "Where Caesar makes it compulsory for citizens to vote . . . [Witnesses] can go to the polls and enter the voting booths. It is here that they are called upon to mark the ballot or write in what they stand for. The voters do what they will with their ballots. So here in the presence of God is where his witnesses must act in harmony with his commandments and in accordance with their faith. It is not our responsibility to instruct them what to do with the ballot."
What if a Christian woman’s unbelieving husband insists that she present herself to vote? Well, she is subject to her husband, just as Christians are subject to the superior authorities. (Ephesians 5:22; 1 Peter 2:13-17) If she obeys her husband and goes to the polling booth, that is her personal decision. No one should criticize her.—Compare Romans 14:4.
What of a country where voting is not mandated by law but feelings run high against those who do not go to the voting booth—perhaps they are exposed to physical danger? Or what if individuals, while not legally obliged to vote, are severely penalized in some way if they do not go to the polling booth? In these and similar situations, a Christian has to make his own decision. "Each one will carry his own load."—Galatians 6:5.
There may be people who are stumbled when they observe that during an election in their country, some Witnesses of Jehovah go to the polling booth and others do not. They may say, ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses are not consistent.’ People should recognize, though, that in matters of individual conscience such as this, each Christian has to make his own decision before Jehovah God.—Romans 14:12.
Whatever personal decisions Jehovah’s Witnesses make in the face of different situations, they take care to preserve their Christian neutrality and freeness of speech. In all things, they rely on Jehovah God to strengthen them, give them wisdom, and help them avoid compromising their faith in any way. Thus they show confidence in the words of the psalmist: "You are my crag and my stronghold; and for the sake of your name you will lead me and conduct me."—Psalm 31:3.
"Sacred Service"...rank and file think it means going in field service...wrong...WTS has its own "flexible" definition which they confidentially apply to just about anything or anyone if they want to and if your "in"...eg sacred service for some can include: temping at bethel (with a special skill eg nurse or engineer); int'l construction work; "quick build KH construction, etc...only a very selective few are "allowed " to consider their activity here as "sacred service"...the key then is they can "count the time" as if they were in FS...most in these activities were not "qualified or selected to get there efforts deemed as "sacred service"...others were (and were told to keep real quiet about it)...I lived near the Farm and saw a number of instances of this application toward a favored few...real bias...WT (and the elders) says ministry is the most important activity -- unless they need you to do some other task for them first...then their version of "sacred service" supersedes what they tell everyone else...
This is very sad. Many years ago my grandfather and his neighbors were involved in a rather nasty tug-of-war between two different districts (he lived in a rural no-mans-land with no fire protection). There came the point when he and the folks around him wanted to go with the district that could actually provide fire protection and the one that could only tax the neighborhood (due to the relative proximity of the firehalls). Well, when push came to shove, they had to vote, and my grandfather had no choice but abstain (particularly since he was a Ministerial Servant). It was only good luck that he and his neighbor had convinced enough of the others to vote the right way, but he felt like a hypocrite both to his religious beliefs and to his neighbors.
