Posts by SAHS

51

Today's W.T on GB not being inspired is having ZERO impact on most J.W's

by Isambard Crater in

jw
friends

the congregation i attend had it's watchtower study on thursday night because of l.d.c work this week-end, and another congregation i have some not very spiritual friends in had their watchtower study on wednesday.

from what i have delicately prised out of people, the congregations loved the watchtower study this week, saying it was so encouraging and all the usual stuff, with no-one seeming to realise the g.b.

said they're not inspired, so the spirit int he past has moved them to teach wrong things, and all the other ideas excellently summed up on reddit.. today's watchtower will wash over the heads of most j.w's like it never even happened, the all remaining as loyal as ever, and it makes me so, so sad..

SAHS

It’s really a calculated gamble for the Watch Tower corporation: They are hoping that by acknowledging they are in fact infallible, then people will say how wonderful and humble they are for admitting that they are less than the divine representation of Almighty God on earth.

However, such pseudo-candid acknowledgment of the obvious infallibility of the cult’s leadership opens the door for an avalanche of critical introspection within their membership.

The governing body is hoping that their rank-and-file membership will somehow look past the obvious multitude of deal breakers in their credibility so as to still espouse their evidently progressive and dynamic leadership – still with all the disengenious twists and turns of their predecessors.

15

Porneia !

by zeb in

jw
friends

friends!

we haven't heard that word for some time!

it must be due for another round from the wt you know what you can and cant do in marriage.. incoming!.

SAHS

“Thisismein1972”: “I once committed pornia on my baptism date of all days.”

Was that before the deed was done? . . . I mean, before your dunkening? . . . I mean, . . . Boy, with this syntax you kind of have me over a barrel . . . I mean, . . . . . . . . Oh, is it getting hot in here? (Where are those old Chinese paper fans when you need one?)

51

NEWSWEEK: After Ban, Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia Harassed by Police During Religious Services

by AndersonsInfo in

jw
friends

http://www.newsweek.com/jehovahs-witnesses-russia-ban-police-589791.

after ban, jehovah’s witnesses in russia harassed by police during religious services.

by jason le miere on 4/25/17 at 4:48 pm .

SAHS

“sharing faith in homes” . . . “laws against sharing faith in homes, online, or anywhere” . . . “Christians in Russia won’t be allowed to email their friends an invitation to church or to evangelize in their own homes . . .”

As much as, I must admit, I don’t agree with the Watchtower organization, this is quite disturbing and alarming. Putin seems to be the next great powerful totalitarian dictator of our 21st century.

Obviously, the “a man’s home is his castle” principle of the west is on the way out in Russia. . . . I sure wouldn’t want to live there – no matter what my religious affiliation is!

51

Bearded students on Ministry school?

by NikL in

jw
friends

so at last nights ministry school we had 2...yes that's right two that had parts and gave them with beards.. i found it interesting.

i thought the consensus was that you couldn't have any extra privileges if you wore one.. maybe the school is different?.

anyway, anybody else seen this in the u.s.?.

SAHS

“neverendingjourney”: “There were 3 types of approved haircuts for men in my hall, middle part, side part, slicked back:”

You really should have read to them Matthew chapter 23 and then told them to go straight to hell, where they belong!

I’m sorry, but that level of disgusting hubris is so extremely offensive that I don’t even know what to say or how to rebel against it.

51

Bearded students on Ministry school?

by NikL in

jw
friends

so at last nights ministry school we had 2...yes that's right two that had parts and gave them with beards.. i found it interesting.

i thought the consensus was that you couldn't have any extra privileges if you wore one.. maybe the school is different?.

anyway, anybody else seen this in the u.s.?.

SAHS

“

darkspilver

”: “As recently as October 7, 1949, the new east window of Stepney Parish Church, the mother church of East London, England, was unveiled by the Earl of Athlone. The photograph of this church window, as published in "The Illustrated London News," October 1, 1949, shows a cross with a young man nailed to it, beardless and with short hair, to represent "Christ crucified, but triumphant."

Thanks - interesting

Artist was: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Ray_Easton

The Church is: http://www.stdunstanstepney.com/photos-building.html

(the website wrongly says it is the West Window )

And notice also that Jesus is shown on a CROSS!

Now, a totally clean-shaven “man” on a little telephone pole, as was depicted so earnestly by “judge” Rutherford – well, that really IS ridiculous, isn’t it?

51

Bearded students on Ministry school?

by NikL in

jw
friends

so at last nights ministry school we had 2...yes that's right two that had parts and gave them with beards.. i found it interesting.

i thought the consensus was that you couldn't have any extra privileges if you wore one.. maybe the school is different?.

anyway, anybody else seen this in the u.s.?.

SAHS

I grew a big, bushy beard in the 1990s and was told that “the beard must go” if I wanted to remain on the Theocratic Ministry School. The elders said that it was “regionally determined” and that “we are ultra conservative.” (My folks had been away in Québec for a week, during which I had let my beard grow, and I decided to keep it.) It was in a rather small town.

Meanwhile, a Jamaican brother in the other congregation already had a goatee – and had already been on the ministry school for some time.

When the elders advised me that “the beard must go,” then I actually went to high-end city lawyer’s office and had them courier a very detailed opinion letter to our presiding overseer / coordinator of the body of elders, my dad, and the Canadian branch legal department!

As a result, fortunately for me, the branch office called our presiding overseer and actually told HIM off! According to my dad (a well-known and long-time elder), the Bethel told our presiding overseer to the effect that that is not how we do things. My dad informed me that I had, in effect, won my case!

The very idea that the local elders felt that they could – and should – micromanage every little detail of their congregation’s lives, right down to their dress and grooming, left a most definite and pronounced bitter taste in my mouth – which was to eventually validate and inspire my departure from the Jehovah's Witness sect (at least mentally, for now).

184

Outcome - Banned in Russia - Final

by OrphanCrow in

jw
friends

i just watched the live feed from the russian court room and followed the updates on the russian exjw forum.. just waiting for confirmation from other sources...but, it looks like the final (and expected) result is:.

banned.

which means that the wts property in russia now belongs to the russian state..

SAHS

“OrphanCrow”: “And practices (preaching, blood refusal, etc) will not be allowed.”

👍👍

115

Could a petition to make shunning illegal work?

by aboveusonlysky in

jw
friends

we're currently watching leah remini's series about scientology and the main thing she seems to focus on is the shunning policies of the scientology organization which let's face it are very similar to jw procedure.. i was wondering with all that's in the media recently about bullying could a petition be put together to get the goverment to consider making religiously mandated shunning illegal?

has such a thing been tried before?.

https://petition.parliament.uk/help says the following - .

SAHS

“Simon”: “So what do they care then?

A club they don't want to belong to doesn't want them as a member ...

That's where this always ends up. "I want to leave - but how dare they say I can't be a member!".”

Actually, disfellowshipped or disassociated people don’t have to care that they are no longer considered members – quite a lot of them really couldn’t care less. The problem, however, is that their close family members are severely pushed by the Watch Tower organization to completely shun them. It is, in effect, an extremist, totalitarian regime functioning within democratic countries – and operating above the law.

The thing is: Just how much “above the law” should religious sects/cults be allowed to operate? Acid-in-the-face attacks? Stoning? Shootings? Arson? I mean, just where do we – or should we – draw the line? And doesn’t such undue influence and coercion/blackmail constitute a clear and present danger to emotional and mental health? (And, of course, what about the Watch Tower’s most unique and deleterious blood issue, which has actually killed thousands of men, women, and children/babies – also a result of the intense fear of disfellowshipping?)

The real culprits are those at the very top of the Watch Tower organization; i.e., the executive doctrinal policy makers. The leadership which promotes, promulgated, and perpetuates such clearly harmful tactics are most reprehensible – and therefore liable.

115

Could a petition to make shunning illegal work?

by aboveusonlysky in

jw
friends

we're currently watching leah remini's series about scientology and the main thing she seems to focus on is the shunning policies of the scientology organization which let's face it are very similar to jw procedure.. i was wondering with all that's in the media recently about bullying could a petition be put together to get the goverment to consider making religiously mandated shunning illegal?

has such a thing been tried before?.

https://petition.parliament.uk/help says the following - .

SAHS

I agree that no one can be forced to communicate or associate with anyone else, and I agree that publicly announcing that so-and-so has effectively chosen to no longer be one of Jehovah’s Witnesses is simply and rightly stating a fact; HOWEVER, the problem is that the Watch Tower corporation has deliberately and consistently published in its enormous collection of literature the very clear and binding directives to all its membership that they absolutely must shun any who lose their standing within the organization (or else!) – regardless of any close family ties, and regardless of the very real and profound psychological and emotional damages this inevitably causes.

So, although the secular law cannot mandate fellowship among members of any group, I think that the government should carefully investigate the practices of blatant coercion within religious groups, especially considering the tax-free status demanded by such groups and the very real damages suffered by many people in the community.

Whether or not the government can, or should, enact legislation to directly adjudicate specific cases of damages suffered from a religious group’s harmful policies, the thing which is perhaps most important is the public reporting on such harmful policies and their effects on real people in the community through the media. No doubt just one minute of coverage in the general media exposing the destructive tactics of these disingenuous religious outfits would probably be of greater worth than all the petitions we can muster. That gets them where it hurts the most: their public reputation. And such negative public exposure is the worst enemy of an outfit like Jehovah’s Witnesses – because it has the greatest power to cost them dearly in the very thing they need: the numbers of new members!

15

Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 4-2-17 WT Study (January 2017)(ENTRUST)

by blondie in

jw
friends

blondie’s comments you will not hear at the april 2, 2017 wt study (january 2017) (entrust).

https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/watchtower-study-january-2017/these-things-entrust-to-faithful-men/ .

excellent general website: www.jwfacts.com .

SAHS

“blonde”: “In one congregation, there were not enough younger brothers to handle accounts, sound, stage, literature, magazines, territories, hall maintenance, etc. The elders wanted to have sisters handle some of this, but the CO said absolutely not, if no brothers qualified then the elders would have to do it.”

It seems really strange and ridiculous to me that theoretically some young punk guy covered with tattoos who has been in a drug gang and been in prison but who happened to quickly move up the ranks and just recently became a ministerial servant would automatically be qualified to perform all those congregation duties simply for being male – WHEREAS, a kindly, mature, elderly sister who has a lifetime of experience with regular pioneering – or perhaps even have been know as one of the anointed remnant for many years – would automatically be disqualified simply for being female.

Indeed, in this example, the young tattooed, punk (male) ministerial servant would be seen handling the microphones or sound system, working behind the literature counter, doing the congregation accounts, etc., . . . . while the mature elderly pioneer sister (female) would probably be seen scrubbing the toilets or baking brownies for the pioneer service school.

So, evidently™, either the Watch Tower is run by a little bunch of old men making up and embellishing the rules as they go; OR, this Jehovah God isn’t really a God of justice and fairness after all!