Posts by _Morpheus

Much of the book is real life experiances, both rays personal ones and organization as whole accounts. Those dont change with time and they still carry a lot of significance. Milawa vs Mexico bribery, flip flopping on teachings and the impact on peoples lives, the writing of the aid book etc etc all still have relevance.

further, as marvin noted, the org still runs the same. Ray pulls the curtin back for those that were never in middle managment let alone upper cult managment, and shows how there is nothing special and certainly nothing spirit directed going on there.

The doctrinal stuff was interesting to me at the time i read it because i was still semi believing. Now, not so much, but that one aspect doesnt lessen its value for me at all.

72

Have you heard the one about "Back to the Future" Predicting 911??

by EndofMysteries in

when somebody posted this on fb, i was anxious to see how ridiculous it would be, probably worse then the gb prophecies, etc.

after watching the clip, i honestly don't know what to believe.

at the very least it's very entertaining and interesting.

_Morpheus

he gave me something wild and and fanciful for my money.... What do you got to equal it ;)

72

Have you heard the one about "Back to the Future" Predicting 911??

by EndofMysteries in

when somebody posted this on fb, i was anxious to see how ridiculous it would be, probably worse then the gb prophecies, etc.

after watching the clip, i honestly don't know what to believe.

at the very least it's very entertaining and interesting.

_Morpheus

Mind= blown! Who do i send my money too

37

We discovered a Dyson Sphere! . . . maybe

by Coded Logic in

okay, okay, okay - i know we're not supposed to jump to conclusions.

but the odds this is a "naturally occurring event" are pretty low.

and it's just the sort of megastructure we would expect an advanced alien civilization (type 2) to build.

_Morpheus

I prefer aliens built it to invisible sky daddys doing it

44

If there is anything to bible prophecy, keep an eye out on Israel

by EndofMysteries in

what will be the end game whether in a few years, our lifetime, or hundreds + years from now.

bible prophecy did say israel / jews would be scattered then eventually brought back.

russell was declaring that and it was believed before being changed shortly before it happened.

_Morpheus

Given that the the bibles writers were jewish and lived in paliestine its easy to see why their writtings were centered on those topics. Nothing much to see here.

30

Who would you like to hear of leaving the Jehovah's Witnesses ?

by wozza in

jw
friends

i'll start off with this one:.

some years ago when i was formulating my exit, i employed for some time an ms brother from another congregation.. i'd had a couple of young "worldly" lads work for me but they proved unreliable as they used drugs or alchohol and consequently would'nt arrive at work and such like.. so when i was was contacted by this brother and spoke to him and heard he'd worked at the australian bethel for some time on construction and wanted an opportunity to learn the trade of bricklaying ,i thought ,"great someone to finally trust and be reliable".

he was in his 40's at the time and he worked like a trojan ,was honest ,really likeable and interesting ,could play the classical guitar beautifully ,had a beautiful family.

_Morpheus

Morpheus would be my 1 pick, followed his kids....

18

Another Resolution

by truthlover in

jw
friends

has anyone on the board been at the recent meeting where they are asking for more money to help out the co's, insurance and health and travel??

this is supposed to go into a general fund???

they can use it for anything they want..... oh, and also, if you can give more, it would help as many congregations may not be able to give - based on number of pubs in each cong.

_Morpheus

"sir8219 hours ago

These special funds for COs and KH accident payouts have been in place for many many years, at least a decade.

They probably require an annual resolution because it is based on congregation headcount, and the headcount can change from one year to the next."

normally you amd I are on the same page with these sorts of nonevent items. However the wording was different this year as it specified that money would go to a general fund to be used for any purpose. This left me with a legitimate 'wtf' look as i quickly inderstood the shell game.... Its a new manditory donation disguised as a donation to the kaa/toa as it was in previous years. The level of deceit continues to grow in the wt's finances.

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16

re construction halts. Go to Berean Pickets

by umbertoecho in

meleti has not been wrong so far.

if anything he can be too cautious.

have a read of his last post on a wt study this week past.

_Morpheus

I tried several times throughout the day to get in and could not. I finally did and enjoyed the perspective. I am going to copy and paste below, it seems worth the time to read if this topic is of interest To you .Below is the relevant part of the article

Begin quote

"This statement is based on the premise that humans will have to follow the Israelite model of apportioned land in the New World. This is pure speculation. Nevertheless, the real problem is the presumption that we can prepare for the New World by learning how to submit to the direction of men today. This is the key teaching point of the article. We prepare for submission to Jehovah’s rulership in the New World by learning how to submit to the instructions from men in the Organization. Allegedly, these men are merely following instructions they somehow receive from Jehovah God. This is in line with Anthony Morris III’s statement that this is a theocracy, an organization governed by heaven.

The article continues:

The privilege of living under Kingdom rule is well worth any effort we make to cooperate with Jehovah’s organization and care for theocratic assignments. Of course, our circumstances may change with the passing of time. For instance, some members of the Bethel family in the United States have been reassigned to the field and are now enjoying abundant blessings in other forms of the full-time ministry. Because of advancing age or other factors, others who were in the traveling work have now received special pioneer assignments. – par. 8

One of my closest friends was a circuit and then district overseer for many years. A traveling overseer’s needs are all cared for, housing, car, allowance, and generous gifts. He was also a special pioneer for many years prior to entering the traveling overseer work. That he found much more difficult. He had to live on a very small allowance, pay for his housing, food and transportation himself. It is hard to understand how advancing age is a factor for being reassigned from the traveling overseer work to become a special pioneer. This causes one to wonder about the “other factors” mentioned.

I know of many who have given their entire adult life to Bethel service. They have no pensions. They have few marketable skills and they are now senior citizens. They are not convinced they will be “enjoying abundant blessings in other forms of the full-time ministry.” They certainly didn’t ask for this.

We can also prepare for life in the new world by exercising patience regarding revealed truth. Are we studious and patient as our understanding of Bible truth is progressively clarified today? If so, we will likely have no difficulty showing patience in the new world as Jehovah makes known his requirements for mankind. – par. 10

We are not told how the truth is revealed, only that it is revealed. The assumption is that it is Jehovah who is doing the revealing, presumably to the Governing Body. However, if it is God who is revealing the truth, why does it keep changing?

The idea that Jehovah is revealing truth and that, as Anthony Morris III said, the Organization is governed from heaven, is being seriously questioned of late due to some surprising new developments.

A Startling Turn of Events

In late September, Bethel families around the world received a shocking announcement. The size of Bethel families everywhere is going to be reduced drastically. Some by 20% and others by as much as 60%. Brothers and sisters who have spent 20, 30, even 40 years faithfully serving in Bethel homes are suddenly facing the bleak prospect of fending for themselves. Older ones know they will be the first to go. Since the organization has made no provision for pensions,[i] and since the option to become special pioneers and receive a monthly stipend is not on the table, many are very anxious and worrying how they will provide for themselves.

Not surprisingly, brothers loyal to the organization are spinning this as a positive development. They argue that the most important thing is the field service work. Therefore by freeing up thousands of workers currently caring for mundane duties such as cleaning, laundry, and food preparation, the Governing Body is focusing on what really matters. They deny that this has anything to do with cost-cutting, stating that the organization has lots of money. If that is the case, then why are these Bethelites not being reassigned as special pioneers so they can devote even more time in the field service? Why are we hearing reports that special pioneers are being demoted to regular pioneer status? Special pioneers can devote 50 hours more than regular pioneers in the field ministry every month. If the issue is not money, why reduce our preaching force in this way?

Another fact not widely known is that those most likely to be targeted for “re-assignment” (Bethel-speak for “downsized”) are the older ones. I have a number of older friends still in Bethel who are very concerned as they have no means to provide for themselves and are sure they will be gone since that has been the pattern for the past while. A younger brother is brought in, trained, then the older one is given his walking papers. Some of these already-downsized Bethelites are having a hard time getting work since who wants to hire a senior citizen with no resume to speak of? Again, if it is not about the money, but about the preaching work, why send older ones into the field in the first place? Young people are healthier and stronger. They will be able to find work more easily. Many will enjoy the support of parents. They will be more able to travel with less concern about health costs and insurance. In short, they will be more effective preachers than older, infirm ones.

Worldly companies downsize by dumping older workers who are paid more and can’t work as hard. Their concern is not the welfare of the worker, but the bottom line on their balance sheet. However, when the Organization does it, we are expected to believe it is all about the preaching work.

Yet another argument being spun to defend this decision is that there is a significant amount of waste of resources in Bethel families. It costs millions of dollars to keep thousands of workers on staff to do menial tasks that each individual could do for themselves—cleaning their own rooms, doing their own laundry, cooking their own meals. Therefore, the reasoning goes, Jehovah is directing his organization to focus on the preaching work by cutting the fat.

Indeed?!

Would this not imply that those claiming to be the “faithful and discreet slave” are not discreet at all? If they have been wasting resources for decades, they can hardly lay claim to the discretionary use of resources.

Only five months ago, this so-called faithful and discreet slave was asking for money to build 140 regional translation offices and thousands of new kingdom halls. Now we find that everything has been put on hold with the exception of the head office in Warwick where the Governing Body will reside. This is done allegedly because the most important thing is the field service work. This is not about money. This is not about getting rid of older workers who will soon become a burden on the system because of age and infirmity. This is about the preaching work.

If this isn’t about money, but the proper discretionary use of funds, we must conclude that Warwick is a wise use of dedicated funds, but every other project on the books is suspect. If so, how were these decisions made in the first place? Through videos, we have been led to believe that committees of qualified men have carefully reviewed the statistics to determine where a kingdom hall or a regional translation office is needed. These decisions were made only after thoroughly researching and reviewing the data. Before the final decision was made, these qualified and skilled men prayed for Jehovah’s guidance. Now suddenly everything is put on hold, but it’s not because we don’t have the money? Did Jehovah fail to answer every prayer except the one involving the Warwick construction?

The most egregious aspect of all this is that it does not reflect the spirit of the Christ.

The organization has often warned us about becoming desensitized. For example, we’ve all seen study articles that show how scenes on television that would have shocked us 30 years ago are now considered completely acceptable.

There was a time in the corporate world that an employee who was loyal to the company could count on a lifelong of employment. He could look forward to retirement with a good pension and a gold watch. However, that has all changed in recent years. There is no longer a presumption that if the employee is loyal to the company, the company will be loyal to the employee. Downsizing is now common. Nevertheless, we have built-in protections in most civilized nations. Dismissing an employee because it makes good fiscal sense still requires the company to put together a reasonable severance package.

If Jehovah were truly running the organization, it would set the example. God is love. He would not dismiss a Bethel worker in his late 60s saying, “Go in peace, keep warm and well fed,” while not providing him with the necessities of life, would he? (Ja 2:16)

The evidence is that this is very much about money. If indeed the organization has lots of it, this is about making sure it doesn’t lose what it has. And if, as many suspect, the organization is really hurting for funds, then this is further evidence of an organization in decline. None of this demonstrates the loving care of our heavenly Father. Rather, what we are seeing mimics the decisions from the directors’ boardroom of worldly corporations. To say that Jehovah is behind this decision is to bring reproach on his good name." End quote