Posts by Mephis

27

What is the Watchtower view on donating to charity?

by HereIgo in

i've always had the impression that they frowned upon it, but never quite knew for sure.....

Mephis

Like Simon and keyser soze, I grew up with the impression that spare money went to the WBTS and Armageddon was going to sort out everything else. 'The poor will always be with you' thing. No real 'official' policy, just the internal culture pushing things in a certain direction. They push things like giving to WBTS means 'charity' in the normal sense of the word happens.

eg "How Can We Help to Meet the Needs of Others" (13 November, Watchtower)

In the face of natural and man-made disasters, we do not tell needy brothers and sisters to “keep warm and well fed.” (Jas. 2:15, 16) Instead, we seek to provide for their physical needs. Similarly, after receiving warning of a coming famine in the first century, “the disciples determined, each of them according as anyone could afford it, to send a relief ministration to the brothers dwelling in Judea.”—Acts 11:28-30.
As Jehovah’s servants, we are eager to help needy individuals in a material way. However, people also have a spiritual need. (Matt. 5:3) To help them become aware of that need and take steps to satisfy it, Jesus commissioned his followers to make disciples. (Matt. 28:19, 20) We individually devote much of our time, energy, and resources to carrying out that commission. As an organization, we use some donated funds to provide material help, but donations are used chiefly to promote Kingdom interests and spread the good news. We thus show our love for God and for our neighbors.—Matt. 22:37-39.
Those who support the worldwide work of Jehovah’s Witnesses can be sure that their donations are used properly and effectively. Are you in a position to help bring relief to your brothers in need? Do you desire to support the disciple-making work? If so, “do not hold back good from those to whom it is owing, when it happens to be in the power of your hand to do it.”—Prov. 3:27.

WBTS is a one stop charity shop according to Brooklyn.

13

The status on the child abuse inquiry in ENGLAND

by Sliced in

looks like we lost ben emmerson for the england inquiries.

does anyone have an update on what's happening in the uk?

.

Mephis

They need a new senior counsel and a new junior counsel, and those both have to be up-to-speed and ready for the hearings scheduled to begin early next year. Lot of conflict over scope and methods of the inquiry, so the legal challenges may start to mount up if the (current) chair Prof. Jay doesn't get to grips with things quickly.

28

2016-09-21 BOE Re: Global Assistance Arrangement for the 2017 Service Year

by wifibandit in

september 21, 2016 to all congregations re: global assistance arrangement for the 2017 service year.

ps to bodies of elders:.

this postscript should not be read to the congregation, and this letter should not be placed on the noticeboard.

Mephis

"After the resolution has been considered and approved by the congregation"

I am shocked, shocked, that there isn't guidance on what to do if the congregation considers WBTS' insurance not as reliable as taking out something with a reputable insurer and rejects the resolution.

8

JW refugees and politics

by Anders Andersen in

jw
friends

in the netherlands, an action going on to get two brothers from sierra leone a residence permit.. the men fled the horrible civil war in their country when 14 and 11 years old.

without parents.. they have now lived in the netherlands more than half of their lives.

they are well educated, have nothing in sierra leone and everything in the netherlands.

Mephis

You're right to call attention to how things get viewed. As these men are JWs, Caesar's law can be contested and a political campaign launched. Much as I recall being urged to write letters to various nasty regimes around the world to tell them to be nice to JWs. But those legal protections, that 'do unto others', does not extend past JWs. The Australian Royal Commission picked up on this too - they questioned the JW definition of 'neighbour' if DF'ing a pedophile from a congregation protected the congregation but if no-one informed the police how was that protecting the community within which JWs live. It's like they want all the benefits of society, all the protections granted under laws, but with none of the communal responsibilities. Bet none of those politicians or churches or other groups will see or hear from the JWs when trying to stop the deportation of non-JWs.

8

What were two Chinese doing in Roman London?

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

in the ancient world, people moved around much more than we may have expected, (think of paul's reported journeys and those of his supporters), but the identification of two skeletons in a roman era burial ground, as chinese has surprised historians.. the uk bbc reports: .

dr rebecca redfern, curator of human osteology at the museum of london, told bbc radio 4's the world at one, the find was "the first time in roman britain we've identified people with asian ancestry" and it was "absolutely phenomenal".. http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37452287.

Mephis

I'd be sceptical on them actually being Chinese just for the moment. The very fragmented bones 'look' Chinese, and they definitely are not from Britain. And that's it. There could be a number of explanations before we get to China sadly. Hopefully they're able to recover something more substantial from the bones (ie DNA) to give weight to the suggestion they're making. It's certainly not impossible (lots of evidence for trade contact albeit via Iran, and hints at embassies between China and the Roman Empire) but the evidence for this is being pushed way beyond the caveats in the peer reviewed paper.

12

At last something about JWs on a German news site.

by Driving Force in

for anybody who understands german.. http://www.n-tv.de/panorama/masha-16-jahre-zeugin-jehovas-article18689741.html.

it is quite rare that a german news site actually puts something up about jws, after all they are insignificant from a newsworthy point of view.

but i like the fact that they have put this up..

Mephis

All the best to her, and I hope it helps others in a similar situation.

9

Pity the poor Bible believers - Australian Native People left Africa over 70,000 years ago

by fulltimestudent in

many bible believers accept the genesis documents explanations of human origins.

but the modern science of genomics is making that a very difficult intellectual position to hold.. increasingly, to believe the bible, is to accept superstition over rationality.. three papers published in the scientific journal nature demonstrate the point:.

1. the ancestors of australia aboriginal and papuan peoples left africa around 72,000 years ago.. 2. they arrived in the geological locations we now identify as australia and papua around 50,000 years ago.

Mephis

If Noah only had 3 sons and all humans came from them, why have we got genetic evidence that humans interbred with neanderthals, with denisovans and with a species which we haven't yet pinned the bones to (Homo Erectus is current best guess)? It's that super-fast evolution like what happened to the animals, right?

(https://www.newscientist.com/article/2098566-mystery-ancient-human-ancestor-found-in-australasian-family-tree/)

8

Daily Legal News: 9th District partially reverses Jehovah’s Witnesses molestation suit - (Zalkin case. Decision mostly in Plaintiff's favor)

by AndersonsInfo in

9th district partially reverses jehovah’s witnesses molestation suit.

tracey blairlegal news reporter published: september 20, 2016. a lorain county trial court erred when it ordered the west congregation of jehovah’s witnesses to produce certain documents for discovery in a child molestation case.. however, the trial court was correct in concluding the majority of documents that were compelled are not protected from disclosure via the clergy-penitent privilege or the first amendment, according to a recent decision by the 9th district court of appeals.. former west congregation member elizabeth mcfarland sued the lorain-based church in 2013 for negligence, ratification and fraud by omission/concealment.. according to case summary, mcfarland was a member of west congregation from 1997 to 2001, when she was 10 to 14 years old.

mcfarland’s parents told church elders that scott silvasy, a fellow member, had molested their daughter for several years.. silvasy died in 2003. mcfarland claimed elders never disciplined him or reported the issue to their superiors, and discouraged her parents from doing so.. in her suit, mcfarland said church elders were aware silvasy had previously molested a minor and was a danger to her.

Mephis

So the WBTS believe that every letter sent to and from the service desk, regardless of content, is protected by privilege, Judge Whitmore's judgement there has already demolished that comprehensively. She's taken the view that WBTS can do that if someone requests and then receives spiritual guidance, but just quoting a few scriptures in a letter and claiming everyone on the service desk is an attorney really, really doesn't meet that requirement.

Hope the survivor is eventually able to hold them to account for knowing that the man who abused her was a pedophile.

9

J.W.'s Interfaith Hypocrisy

by The Searcher in

w02 10/15 p. 27 questions from readers - "would it be a form of interfaith to purchase a building from another religious group and convert it into a kingdom hall?

"generally, jehovah’s witnesses avoid such dealings with other religions.

except when cash clarifies their thinking!.

Mephis

Temple Farm most likely derives from the Hanningfield Temple Manor, which was land once owned by the Knights Templar. I'm not sure that really counts.

(History of Temple Farm: http://planning.chelmsford.gov.uk/Planning/StreamDocPage/obj?DocNo=5405301&content=obj.pdf )

9

J.W.'s Interfaith Hypocrisy

by The Searcher in

w02 10/15 p. 27 questions from readers - "would it be a form of interfaith to purchase a building from another religious group and convert it into a kingdom hall?

"generally, jehovah’s witnesses avoid such dealings with other religions.

except when cash clarifies their thinking!.

Mephis

One that was not listed, in Penygraig, was converted many years ago into a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses for the flourishing Rhondda Congregation.

Holywell congregation, also in Wales, has (had?) a converted chapel too. Purchased in the late 80s or early 90s I believe. Amusingly, considering the pagan foundations quote, that congregation wanted to retain elements of the chapel's interior decoration but were ordered to have a suspended ceiling so that the gold Hebrew lettering of YHWH couldn't be seen. Wonder if it's still there or if they've whitewashed that wall since.

Oh, found a listing for the historic chapel Holywell congregation has: http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/8168/details/tabernacle-calvinistic-methodist-chapeljehovahs-witnesses-bagillt