i'll share mine first.... i had never missed a memorial for at least a quarter of a century of my life.
i was kind of raised to believe that missing the memorial was a sin in itself.. by 2013 memorial season, i was missing most of my meetings (even though i was still technically part of my foreign language congregation), and i had just come off the pioneer list.
i still made plans to attend the memorial (god forbid if i missed that lol).. i knew that typically our memorials were around 9 pm, since we usually got last priority (being a foreign language hall and all).
Really, when we think about it, HOW did witnesses view those "submarine witnesses"? You know the disdainful opinion of those who "only surfaced once a year"!?
Why would a person choose to attend a function where you know most in attandance are looking down on you anyway?
i finally found the questions from readers i was looking for.. from nov 1, 1999 wt .
it says.... 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.
As to the whole voting thing, as I was waking up, I realised that there was nothing wrong with going into the poling place. What I did on the ballot form was a different issue.
(voting is compulsory in Australia)
Different elders told me that "it would be a bad witness to the community and other JWs if they saw a witness going in to the polling place"
So it depends on the level of control the local body of elders employs....
i finally found the questions from readers i was looking for.. from nov 1, 1999 wt .
it says.... 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.
Yes, the elders book would class it as "the person has disassociated HIMSELF from the congregation by such 'non-neutral' activity"
if you can't upload one vote on others suggestions.
.
Just get a can of paint and change the official logo to:
JW.ORGY "come one, come all!"
or
JW.BORG "join the collective, resistance is useless, we will assimilate you"
according to victor yarofeyev, who publishes a blog for a radio station in moscow, echo of moscow, the total value of the jw properties in russia is 1.9 billion rubles.
which converts to $31,956,955 us.
almost 32 million dollars.. yarofeyev speculates that, if the supreme court refuses the org's appeal on july 17, some of the jw's properties may prove difficult for the russian government to seize.
Amen smiddy!
so everyone is supposed to get all excited about the invitation work starting tomorrow, according to the announcement from the platform.. maybe this makes sense if you're giving out invitations in the city where the convention is, but what if you're many hours away?.
a huge part of western canada is scheduled to attend edmonton alberta this july.
so how does that go over giving out invitations in winnipeg, about a 13 hour drive(that's just driving time).. i know some are actually planning on flying there, so i can't see getting excited about getting the public to make the trek.. i was curious how this is going over in other areas?.
And as mentioned by others, Witnesses actually DO NOT WANT everyone who gets a tract to attend! It would be chaos, as the crowds would not fit!
AND, if "Jehovah's spirit " draws people, why do they need sister smith to hand out a flimsy leaflet?
so everyone is supposed to get all excited about the invitation work starting tomorrow, according to the announcement from the platform.. maybe this makes sense if you're giving out invitations in the city where the convention is, but what if you're many hours away?.
a huge part of western canada is scheduled to attend edmonton alberta this july.
so how does that go over giving out invitations in winnipeg, about a 13 hour drive(that's just driving time).. i know some are actually planning on flying there, so i can't see getting excited about getting the public to make the trek.. i was curious how this is going over in other areas?.
These campaigns are like the "game" we play while on a long drive to keep the kids busy, entertained and prevent restlessness: "lets see who can be the quietest and who can count the most white cars while we drive!"
It just keeps them occupied.....
birds of a feather flock together.
australian cardinal george pell: "they are false.
the whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me.".
Isn't it odd that these religious groups say they abhor child abuse, yet their primary textbook, the BIBLE, is full of accounts of "virgin girls being taken as wives and concubines"!
These CHILDREN were forced into situations that the secular laws of today rightly condemn! Yet supposedly God was ok with it! So why should the religious groups of today be any different to their "God"?
the meeting this week is mind-blowing in the way it fuels the crippling "persecution complex" of witnesses!.
paragraph 1 set the theme with this gem:.
does it shock you that you can expect to face many tribulations before you gain the prize of everlasting life?
Bumped for a new overlapping generation of forum members.
Prompted by recent discussions with a family member who was again talking about how bad the world is getting, and how "we need Jehovah to act" etc...
I simply reminded him that in many ways, life is better now than ever before. Imagine living in the Middle Ages?
I reminded him of the quotes: "Life is 10% of what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it"
And
"You can't control everything around you, but you can control your reaction to it"
its taken a while for this to happen, but the victorian (australia) police have decided there is sufficient evidence to charge cardinal george pell with multiple sexual abuse charges.. .
pell was once the highest ranking catholic in australia, but once the accusations of child abuse started to surface, he was shipped off to rome where, since 2014 pell has been prefect of the secretariat for the economy, (the vatican’s treasurer).. he is generally seen as no 3 in the world catholic heirarchy.. full story: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jun/29/cardinal-george-pell-charged-with-multiple-sexual-offences?cmp=soc_567.
Yes possum!
The clever point Tim Minchin is making in "the Pope Song" is lost on some people who find " the language offensive"
BUT when compared to the OFFENSIVE acts it addresses, then language pales into insignificance
