_Morpheus

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Posts by _Morpheus

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  38

  No longer an MS! Hooray...finally!

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, it's finally happened!.

  im no longer an ms.. as many would know from our chats via this forum, i've seen it coming for a while....and while the way it was done stinks, i'm really happy to finally be free!.

  (would love to share more details...i will do in time...or perhaps a pm would be best).

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  _Morpheus

  Congrats! Im still reveling in no longer being an elder :)  we shall celebrate steps toward freedom together!  I raise my glass to you good fellow
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  6

  Sam Herd to speak at Orangeburg, SC assemblies Jan. 17-18

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just heard a fairly reliable rumor that sam herd will be the "guest bethel speaker" at the circuit assemblies at the orangeburg sc assembly hall on january 17-18. .

  orangeburg is about halfway between columbia & charleston, assembly hall is right off i-26.. just in case any of y'all want to be enlightened.

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  _Morpheus

  @eye,  i dont think theres any doubt that they use these events as trial ballons of sorts, although typicaly the big 3 day sales conventions arnt trials as some of the talks are printed verbatim to be used as wt studies.  The one day events seem to have that 'trial balloon' element (in my opinion) for sure.  Something else to factor in though, as in the case of losche, is that they all have their own personal views of things and, as you noted, they feel free to run with them because they are on the GB.  The locals tend to run with them because they are GB and it somehow gets codified without actually being written, again as you noted.   What i have noticed though is that these sorts of unwritten rules are usually adhered to for a short time frame by the majority, if at all. We also had losche rant  to us about football. I was a staunch believer at the time and missed not a game over it. In fact he was laughed at by every male in my congregation, with some suggesting he should be invited over for beer and wings (a local custom during football).

  i say all that to agree with you but im not sure how far that type of thing goes in the long run with most dubbies.  Even tony tight pants remarks about "spanks" (spandex) faded.  Local sisters tightned up for about one workout, seemed to realize the foolishness of it, and reverted to what worked (out) for them.  Their insistance on dubbies adhering to whats in actual print has a two edge sword effect in these situations. If they dont read it they tend to see it as having wiggle room (at least locally).  This GB may simply not be as powerful as some in the past, at least in as far as having the power to imply and get obedience.

   I also have noted that having the locals see them more isnt helping them any either.  Instead of the gb being a rare treat and having a 'man behind the curtain' mystic, the locals are seeing them often (on gb tv especially) and its losing its luster. 
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  17

  Child Shunned by Jehovah's Witnesses International Convention, Melbourne, Australia (17-19 October 2014)

  by jwleaks in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  documents and media releases relating to the shunning and discrimination of a special needs child by jehovahs witnesses in relation to the melbourne international convention, 17-19 october 2014. the following documents and press release were received by jw leaks in relation to the jehovahs witnesses international convention at etihad stadium, melbourne, australia.

  it is understood that due to last minute information in relation to the administration and control of the first aid health services at the convention the following press documents had not been released to the media.. prior to publishing and releasing the following sensitive information, the members of the team at jw leaks made formal inquiries with the victorian workcover authority (vwa) and the administrators of etihad stadium (melbourne stadiums limited) as to whether measures have been put in place to prevent the jehovahs witnesses and watchtower bible and tract society of australia from operating any first aid health services and first aid department in alleged breach of applicable health and safety laws.. we were assured that the jehovahs witnesses will no longer have control of the first aid management at the event but that st john ambulance first aid officers will be on site for each of the three days.

  it is our understanding that this was done for the purpose of protecting the health and safety of all 70,000 daily patrons and delegates attending the convention.

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  _Morpheus

  Perhaps i missed the paragraph that explained this but how, exactly, was the child "shunned"?
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  15

  New song 136

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this week's service meeting, the whole 30 minutes, is devoted to the "new songs" foisted upon jws.. note this from paragraph 8 of the km article that is to be considered:.

  we will conclude our meeting today with the new song entitled the kingdom is in placelet it come!

  this song, which was featured at the recent annual meeting, was specially composed to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the kingdom.. .

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  _Morpheus

  Billy took words out of my mouth.  Not only is it a bland tune the title is outright contradictory 
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  67

  Good Netflix shows to watch

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  in the long winter nights you need some good tv shows to watch while you wait for the eternity between seasons of game of thrones.. we've watched marco polo (pretty good) and have just started watching orange is the new black which is not at all what i imagined (didn't know it was funny!).

  house of cards is on the list too as we've heard good things about that.. anyone have any others that are worth seeing?.

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  _Morpheus

  Something else that was refreshing about district 9 was that it didnt have a "hero" as such.  The main character was deeply flawed and somewhat unlikeable but in the end you wind up feeling sympathy and some connection to him in the end.....

  Several have mentioned Sons of Anarchy... I absolutely loved that show but im not sure it would be simons cup of tea.  It plays to americans gun facination and is pretty brutal in its violance but man its a heck of a ride
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  263

  Poster country flags and privacy

  by Simon in

  1. forum
  2. announcements

  the new forum originally had a little country flag next to each post showing the country that the post was made from based on the geoip encoding (the country the ip address is from).

  before i switched over to the new site someone made an issue about it violating their privacy and i didn't want to complicate and confuse the switchover with policy debate at the same time as technical issues so removed the flags even though i disagreed.. someone has already requested it as a feature and i think it should be added back so i thought it's now time to open the discussion and get everyone's opinions.

  first, the reason i think it should be shown:.

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  _Morpheus

  Lol the ultimate ex-jw insult:

  
  

  "your acting like the GB!"
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  32

  2014 Watchtower Publisher Statistics

  by jwfacts in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the 2014 grand totals page has been released onto facebook.. .

  .

  i have started updating the statistics and graphs at jwfacts.com/watchtower/statistics.php, and will release highlights as i work through it during the rest of the day..

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  _Morpheus

  @jwfacts-  nice breakdowns and graphs. Im especially interested in the number that stopped publishing.  That figure has a lot of room to be variable and im not sure how to account for some of if.  For example, a person stops publishing (or becomes inactive in witness parlance) after six months of not reporting time.  That dosent make them gone forever.  If they report time once they become an active publisher again. However they also can easily fall into inactivity after another six months.  The reason i bring this up is that there was a specific and intense effort during 2014 when the CO came round to get inactive ones to report time.  The record cards were combed and inactive ones called on to push them to come to meeting and report time.  This may actually mean that six months or so from now there will be a drop off as these "reactivated" ones fade into inactivity again. It may well be the news is worse than we can even dicern from the report itself.  It may take next years report coupled with this years to see how that trend plays out
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  29

  Feb Kingdom Ministry 2015: Irate Householders - why so angry?

  by Trailer Park Pioneer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  feb kingdom ministry 2015, irate householders, "we don't apologize for our work", "did they hear rumors about jws"?

  why so angry?

  blood or disfellowshipping?.

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  _Morpheus

  I like your synopsis terry.  It describes very well the process and the reasons.

  
  

  i find it noteworthy they choose those two particular examples of householder objecrions to our beliefs. I dont ever recall anybody using them on me at a door in my 25+ years as a wt salesmen. I heard plenty of others, but not those specifically, at least not that i recall or made an impression on me.  It leads me to wonder if they are, as terry described, inocculating witnesses in advance from things they see are causing many to doubt and/or leave the org.   I also like millie observation that those writing this clearly arnt at door offen, if ever.

  
  

  edited to add:  it also makes me sigh inside to see them move a step back towards militant witnessisium with the 'we don't apologize for our work crap'.  
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  11

  Bizarre contrast of 'Gospel' Coprolite!

  by DocHouse in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  churches: jesus switched bodies for you and has risen!.

  jw org: jesus has been ruling for 100 years!.

  both equally ridiculous!~.

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  _Morpheus

  I will take it one further.....  Dubbies believe both.  They believe jesus switched bodies AND that yes been ruling for 100 years
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  18

  What if WT will claim, that Jehovah has pulled a "Jonah and Nineveh" on them?

  by prologos in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  wt seems to be helpless in really dealing with the failed prophecies, pending dates, overlapping groups--.. what if they declare victory, blame jehovah, in that he allowed the nations to come to their senses and not further escalate the use of weaponry, "destroying [life on] the earth"?

  in a second fulfillment of .

  the "repentant ninevites, disappointed jonah" bible story?

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  _Morpheus

  As some have already noted, there is simply no need for the comparison.  They have survived 120+ years simply saying "soon now. Veeeeeery soon!".  All they need is the carrot, not the proof or the reason. Using jonah would remove the carrot, in effect send the message that the "end" of this system was hindreds of years away.  No chance that happens.  They will just keep saying "soon now. Veeeeeery soon!".  And dubbies will keep believing because its exactly what they want to hear.