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Atlantis

Momma-Tossed-Me:

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Atlantis

"They officially and publicly instruct their followers NOT to pursue Higher Education and yet they rely on the expertise of people that have advanced degrees in accounting, law and architectural engineering. Why is that?"

Because

1. Most of those people they actually train themselves. If you've ever been to Bethel HQ before, then you'd know that they have some rather amazing training facilities actually built in.

2. Some of them might have recieved their degrees or education before becoming Witnesses. Nothing you can really do about that, but from a practical standpoint why waste those skills?

3. The Society encourages the same thing that Jesus encouraged: seek first the Kingdom of God, and not the things of the earth that perish and that moths and rust consume.

"In reference to your comment about it being "common sense" to get rid of old policy letters to avoid confusion, again--from a practical standpoint--I agree. However, you ignore the context of the Society's long-standing practice of revising documents and then denying the past."

The letter in the documents wasn't in such a speculative and unproven context, so why should I pay attention to it? The letter was in the context of the policy on inviting and selecting speakers, not "how to secretely murder everybody in the congregation and cover it up." Mountains out of mole hills...

"BTW, you're the one that raised question of whether any of these practices are "sinister" or not. But since you opened that door, let's go through it! My comments at least were on the facts revealed by these documents, not the motives of the source. I believe these documents help to prove a pattern of hypocritical deception and duplicity of the part of the leadership of the WTBTS."

I didn't "raise" anything. That is simply speaking an observable fact. The only reason why people here are digging through these papers so fervantly is to find "dirt" that they can use to prove sinister activity on the part of an organization which they don't particularly like. If they weren't trying to find something that they could spin into sinister activity, then they wouldn't bother stealing documents and rumaging through them like this in the first place.

Unfortunately though, the "dirt finding" has been lackluster so far (even with the inevitable stretches and straw grasping). Definitely nowhere near Wikileaks level, but more on the level of common theft of ordinary documents for no good reason.

00DAD

To Teary Oberon,

All I can say is, "Hmmm!" You conveniently avoided every point I made and responded with irrelevant replies.

You remind me of the illustrious Mr. Rick Fenton who, in response to a UK police inquiry regarding Jehovah's Witnesses' description of those who leave the church as "mentally diseased", said, "If a person changes their mind about Bible-based teachings they once held dear, we recognise their right to leave."

Nice. But what, my Dear Mr. Fenton does that have to do with the charges that your publications are in breach of Britain’s religious hatred laws by referring to individuals as "mentally diseased"?

BTW, don't you know that by just posting here Teary you can be subject to judicial censure by the elders in your congregation. And regardless of what they say or not, you're being disobedient to the GB?

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

I think the Bible is an old publication that Watchtower has effectively discarded, other than a few carefully twisted texts.

Teary Oberon

"Nice. But what, my Dear Mr. Fenton does that have to do with the charges that your publications are in breach of Britain’s religious hatred laws by referring to individuals as "mentally diseased"?" --00DAD

1. There are also some places that try to ban preachers from discussing homosexuality in their sermons as well. But the Bible doesn't change just because some politically correct dunce in office wants it to change.

2. The WT didn't refer to people as mentally diseased, the Bible did. That is a proper literal equivalent translation of the term the Bible uses in reference to apostates.

Greek: νοσ έω
Transliteration: noseō

Outline of Biblical Usage:

1) to be sick
2) metaph. of any ailment of the mind
a) to be taken with such an interest in a thing as amounts to a disease, to have a morbid fondness for.

Vines Entry:

Dote:
signifies "to be ill, to be ailing," whether in body or mind; hence, "to be taken with such a morbid interest in a thing as is tantamount to a disease, to dote," 1Ti 6:4 (marg., "sick"). The primary meaning of "dote" is to be foolish (cp. Jer 50:36, the evident meaning of noseo, in this respect, is "to be unsound."

1 Timothy 6:4 (Common English Bible)

"They don’t understand anything but have a sick obsession with debates and arguments."

1 Timothy 6:4 (Contemporary English Version)

"...they don't really know a thing. Their minds are sick, and they like to argue over words."

1 Timothy 6:4 (Darby Translation)

"...he is puffed up, knowing nothing, but sick about questions and disputes of words,"

1 Timothy 6:4 (English Standard Version)

"He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words,"

1 Timothy 6:4 (New American Standard Bible)

"...has a [a]morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words,"

Footnote [a]: is sick about

1 Timothy 6:4 (New Century Version)

"...but is sick with a love for arguing and fighting about words."

factfinder

I for one, only looked through the letters from the society to see if I could find any interesting statistics. I was glad to see the photos on the Wallkill expansion. I have no interest personally on trying to find "dirt" on the wts as much as I disagree with much of their teachings and attitudes towards those of us who no longer believe as we did when we were witnesses.

I find the constant nickpicking against the society very tiresome and discouraging. Much of what the society does is simply operate as any corporation would. there is nothing wrong with that. Some people hate the society so much they make a big deal if someone sneezes! Well, you know what I mean!

Reading constant complaints about minor things the society does, which are not wrong in themselves, wears me out.

I want statstics about the wts printing operations! I don't want to read nitpicking!!!!!!

Note: this triple posted for some reason so I erased the other two. I'm sorry about that. there seems to be something wrong with my mouse. i hope not! I cannot afford to replace it!

factfinder

00DAD

Teary, thank you for the detailed Bible Lesson which still misses the point.

jmorgan74

00DAD: "That is obvious. That also was not my point. ... However, you ignore the context of the Society's long-standing practice of revising documents and then denying the past. ... Regardless, it is clear that they are not what they claim to be, and they make demands and place restrictions on their members that they themselves ignore. ... You conveniently avoided every point I made and responded with irrelevant replies. ... BTW, don't you know that by just posting here Teary you can be subject to judicial censure by the elders in your congregation. And regardless of what they say or not, you're being disobedient to the GB?"

Whoa. Dude. When did you become Greg Stafford?

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