I think i've posted this here before, but once when I was probably 4 or 5, we met for service and it was all women and children under 12. It fell to the woman who's house we were in to conduct, and she asked her son to find her a hat. He came back with a mickey mouse ears hat, and that's what she conducted the meeting for service in. Not a lot of things more ironic than wearing a mickey mouse hat in order to show respect and preserve the dignity of the arrangement.
OneEyedJoe
JoinedPosts by OneEyedJoe
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52
Changed: Head coverings for sisters, w15 2/15 QFR
by wifibandit indoes a female kingdom publisher need to wear a head covering if she conducts a bible study in the presence of a male publisher?.
in a questions from readers item published in the watchtower of july 15, 2002, it was stated that a sister should cover her head if she conducts a bible study in the presence of a male publisher, whether he is baptized or not.
further consideration of the matter suggests that a modification to this direction is appropriate.. if the male publisher who accompanies the sister while she conducts an established bible study is baptized, the sister would certainly want to wear a head covering.
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Ever since I learned TTATT, I stopped contacting a sister who I wanted to date
by Yondaime ini was head over heels for this girl, but when i realized i was in a self destructive cult i realized tieing the knot with her would screw up my future.
this makes me think of the highschool sweethearts i turned down that were worldly.
now she gives me dirty looks whenever our eyes meet a the hall or at gatherings.
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OneEyedJoe
It's difficult for you both now, but in the end you will both probably be better off.
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Changed: Head coverings for sisters, w15 2/15 QFR
by wifibandit indoes a female kingdom publisher need to wear a head covering if she conducts a bible study in the presence of a male publisher?.
in a questions from readers item published in the watchtower of july 15, 2002, it was stated that a sister should cover her head if she conducts a bible study in the presence of a male publisher, whether he is baptized or not.
further consideration of the matter suggests that a modification to this direction is appropriate.. if the male publisher who accompanies the sister while she conducts an established bible study is baptized, the sister would certainly want to wear a head covering.
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OneEyedJoe
Hair splitting at its best.
My thoughts exactly. And, what's more, hipocrisy at it's best. Taken from the "Draw Close To Jehovah" book, page 152-3, par 10 and 11:
The religious leaders buried God’s Law under a mass of man-made rules and regulations. The Sabbath law, for instance, simply forbade work on the Sabbath, setting that day aside for worship, spiritual refreshment, and rest. But the Pharisees made a burden of that law. They took it upon themselves to decide just what “work” meant. They labeled as work 39 different activities, such as reaping or hunting. These categories gave rise to endless questions. If a man killed a flea on the Sabbath, was he hunting? If he plucked a handful of grain to eat as he walked along, was he reaping? If he healed someone who was ill, was he working? Such questions were addressed with rigid, detailed rules.
In such a climate, how was Jesus to help people understand what justice is? In his teachings and in the way he lived, he took a courageous stand against those religious leaders. Consider first some of his teachings. He directly condemned their myriad man-made rules, saying: “You make the word of God invalid by your tradition which you handed down.”—Mark 7:13.
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U.S ZONE VISIT PROGRAM
by alexandre inwho have the program of this zone visit ?.
please send to us!
send a resume ,a synopsis!.
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OneEyedJoe
Just US branch
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wow, shaking my head
by Hortensia inmy neighbor told me she had been talking about me recently.
"i was saying to carrie in the office i just don't see how anyone can deny the existence of a higher power.
she needed some q-tips, and found a box of them on the free table by the office.
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OneEyedJoe
One time a lady admired my new vacuum cleaner as I was cleaning her house. I began to tell her all about the features. She said, "Well maybe the lord will bless me with one."
I need to talk to her husband. I've been trying to get my wife to call me her lord for years!
I was always bothered when I heard similar stories in comments at meetings. None of them ever convinced me that there had been any kind of divine intervention - just a devout person having a moment of good luck.
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Will Elders Still Perform Marriages If The Sister Doesn't Marry At Least A Ministerial Servant?
by minimus inbased upon the last big meeting this past weekend, would it be proper for an elder to perform a wedding ceremony if the brother is not at least a mini servant?.
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OneEyedJoe
I'm sure there will be a number of 'holier than thou' elders that will refuse to perform marriages on these grounds. That only seems logical than one of the 7 gods that you worship has already condemned the marriage as a mistake that they'll pay for.
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My Relief
by Smart inwhat a massive relief!
thank god i have just found this site the other day!
i don't know where to begin!
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OneEyedJoe
I don't live nearby, but I will agree 100% with GTTM's advice. Get out while you still can. If you really care about the girl, you might tell her what you've learned as far as TTATT (since it doesn't seem like you have much to lose if you get DF'd in the process) but don't expect her to run away with you. Even if she does agree to leave the cult to be with you, that's a deal I can't advise you to take. The cult creates a powerful hold on the minds that it has poisoned, and it seems there are cases where it just never lets go, in spite of outward appearances. Even if she leaves, you still have all the family drama and it's probably not worth it.
Get out as fast as you can, and live your life! No need to pile on extra problems for yourself.
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Lowering the standards: The sign of a cult struggling for survival
by Hidden-Window inmany of the recent changes in the jehovah's witness organization are a clear sign of a cult that is struggling for survival.
the internet has change the scenario in a very dramatic way.
many of us who for years struggled alone with doubts and cognitive dissonance thinking that we were the only ones, that we, as individuals were the issue, now know that there is a large community of individuals who see the organization as what it is, a mind controlling cult that is not only false, but also dangerous.. the governing body clearly understands the consequences of this awakening.
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OneEyedJoe
To qualify to serve as a MS, is there something lower than
1) worshipping the GB, and
2) having the ability to "fog a mirror"?
Doc
Doc - you forget that there are lots of unwritten rules to qualify as an MS - reported service time must be above 8 or 10 hours a month on average. Meeting attendence must be high, and I've been told that I need to comment regularly at meetings in order to qualify as well. I'm sure there are more/different rules depending on the BOE in a particular congregation, too.
It's pretty funny, they once sat me down and read the scripture about what's required to qualify (1 Tim. 3:8,9,12) and they asked me what of those qualifications do I not satisfy. I honestly said "none" and they asked me why I wasn't an MS. I said "I don't know" (at the time I was still mentally in and this seemed like a better response than "It seems like too much trouble"). They then told me that I didn't comment at meetings enough and I didn't get enough time in service. I left the conversation wondering if we'd read the same scripture...
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Lowering the standards: The sign of a cult struggling for survival
by Hidden-Window inmany of the recent changes in the jehovah's witness organization are a clear sign of a cult that is struggling for survival.
the internet has change the scenario in a very dramatic way.
many of us who for years struggled alone with doubts and cognitive dissonance thinking that we were the only ones, that we, as individuals were the issue, now know that there is a large community of individuals who see the organization as what it is, a mind controlling cult that is not only false, but also dangerous.. the governing body clearly understands the consequences of this awakening.
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OneEyedJoe
Aren't there studies which show that, counerintuitively, the more harsh & strict a religion is, the more its adherents tend to be fiercely loyal?
I can't point to one in particular, but I believe you're right. This is sort of the core of cognitive dissonance - the more people invest in a belief, the more resistant they are to changing that belief. The continued lowering of the requirements will result in the R/F investing less and less time/money/energy in their belief that the WT is the only true religion, and they will therefore be primed for awakening.
The other problem for the WT will be that any one with 2 brain cells to rub together that actually has fully bought into it will have no choice but to start questioning why everything is slowing down if we're so close to the end. At a certain point the questions override one's joy at having to do less and, again, they'll be primed for awakening.
Punky - thanks for the antimatter quotes, that really made my day. That's the sort of stuff that I enjoyed when I was a child, but now I look at it and realize that it was all based on some cursory sci-fi understanding of the way the world works. If Jehovah used enough antimatter to clean up even one skeleton, the radiation released would be sufficient to annihilate all life on earth many times over. It would essentially be the power of every atomic bomb on earth going off at once. But, by golly it sounds good, and it sounds smart, and it sounds like we researched, so let's put it in!
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what WAS the 'buisness' at the buisness meeting??
by sowhatnow init sounds more like a we want to get into your buisness , buisness meeting .
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OneEyedJoe
Technically it's called a branch visit... Not sure where this business meeting stuff came from, I never heard it called that outside of this forum.