Colossians says LOVE not sameness of beliefs is the strongest bond of unity. Matthew 7 clearly shows the "narrow road" to walk is not sameness of views but LOVE in action.
anewperson
JoinedPosts by anewperson
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The SDA and Unity
by Defender inhere is an interview with the president of the seventh day adventist church.. http://presidential.gc.adventist.org/insidelook/data/2001/09/1002231786/index.html.en.
i could not help but notice his emphasis on unity and remembering something ray franz alluded to in one of his books as recurring repetitively throughout christian churches history.. the second value is unity.
god gave to this church a unique structure.
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EX-JW Activism, anything new?
by Mindchild inive seen posts here and there in the past months on this board that talk about ex-dub activism but i hate to admit this but most of the activities mentioned are rather ineffective in really doing anything but making us ex-dubs feel collectively better.. we have discussed protesting at conventions, making a protest walk, peeing on c.t.
russells grave, playing some games at local kingdom halls, and playing mind games with dubs online.
i really dont have anything against these forms of activism but i dont think they accomplish much.. what i therefore dare suggest and beg for your comments are new ideas of how we can redirect our anger more effectively and support actions and causes that sting the borg like hell and also help others out the door.. i have nothing but praise for the actions of people who take a stand like silent lambs, or others who have setup informative ex-dub websites and i think one good thing we could do is support these efforts by doing some fund raising.. i also would love to stick something right up the ass of the gb but im trying to think of just how to do it.
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anewperson
Another approach: articles by Steve Bates in the U.K. and those put out by silentlambs.org in the U.S. are getting to many in the public. Accelerate this. Talk Simon into posting their emails in a permanent prominent place on this board, not just the url for silentlambs which is often at the top. Also we can pass along leads and article ideas to those two, i.e. Bates and silentlambs.org including for example bleedings to death and suicides we know of. For the record, we are not destroying the Watchtower for it is doing that itself, but we are exposing its misdoings as an act of love to save others pain and in some cases even death from inadequate medical care.
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EX-JW Activism, anything new?
by Mindchild inive seen posts here and there in the past months on this board that talk about ex-dub activism but i hate to admit this but most of the activities mentioned are rather ineffective in really doing anything but making us ex-dubs feel collectively better.. we have discussed protesting at conventions, making a protest walk, peeing on c.t.
russells grave, playing some games at local kingdom halls, and playing mind games with dubs online.
i really dont have anything against these forms of activism but i dont think they accomplish much.. what i therefore dare suggest and beg for your comments are new ideas of how we can redirect our anger more effectively and support actions and causes that sting the borg like hell and also help others out the door.. i have nothing but praise for the actions of people who take a stand like silent lambs, or others who have setup informative ex-dub websites and i think one good thing we could do is support these efforts by doing some fund raising.. i also would love to stick something right up the ass of the gb but im trying to think of just how to do it.
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anewperson
Some of the ideas presented here are not ethical and hopefully were just presented in jest, for otherwise in the U.S. might well be deemed hate-crime material, e.g. the virus thing, and so I'm sure we denounce those - I for one certainly do. The informational ideas like billboards or bumpersticks are practical and cheap as would be letters-to-editors.
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EX-JW Activism, anything new?
by Mindchild inive seen posts here and there in the past months on this board that talk about ex-dub activism but i hate to admit this but most of the activities mentioned are rather ineffective in really doing anything but making us ex-dubs feel collectively better.. we have discussed protesting at conventions, making a protest walk, peeing on c.t.
russells grave, playing some games at local kingdom halls, and playing mind games with dubs online.
i really dont have anything against these forms of activism but i dont think they accomplish much.. what i therefore dare suggest and beg for your comments are new ideas of how we can redirect our anger more effectively and support actions and causes that sting the borg like hell and also help others out the door.. i have nothing but praise for the actions of people who take a stand like silent lambs, or others who have setup informative ex-dub websites and i think one good thing we could do is support these efforts by doing some fund raising.. i also would love to stick something right up the ass of the gb but im trying to think of just how to do it.
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anewperson
Put up a huge or easily seen billboard: Watchtower Society's Pedophile Coverup: www.silentlambs.com ; put it near a highway if possible so that a lot of people will see it. Later put another up, then another. They will be good witnesses to the real truth. If the billboards are not affordable do the same with posters put in the lower back part of your car/s though not to where they block your own
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JW Numbers Are Set To Grow
by Defender indespite the lackluster records of jw number growth in the past 6 years, i believe that their numbers will start to swell again and remain high for at least another 10 years here is why.. the society is becoming more and more business like in its approach (especially after last year's re-org) on how to maintain and increase growth.
the wts, like any corporation when it becomes acutely aware of stagnation, begins to formulate a number of new techniques in order to bolster its sagging membership or sales.
this could include, tv ads (i believe intuit39 mentioned something to that effect), radio, newspaper and magazine ads and direct mailings.
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anewperson
Many JWs became such in 1970-80, are now 40-50 & about to go into their 60s & 70s, when many will die, thus decreasing membership.
The 1970-80 time was when Knorr ruled in a firm but usually kinder way than his successors and predecessors. He was also a tyrant but not as bad.
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Do they bug people?
by bluesapphire ini have heard comments in the past about people being bugged, telephones, homes, cars, etc.. does anyone really know this happens or is it apostate urban lore?
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anewperson
I believe their rationale for doing it is that it helps keep the congregations pure from dissenters/apostates, sexual sinners etc. It helps them to better test and refine potential elders, watch suspect elders. To them it breaks man's laws but not God's so is okay. I knew a sister they said was about to commit suicide, a little later elder so-n-so happens to come by and talk her out of it. Often I've heard of pioneers pray for help, say cash to go to a convention. Lo and behold here comes cash in the mail. It's been called Jehovah's Spirit in action but inevitably some of the human "angels" will get caught and even the pedophile thing will be eclipsed. Maybe some of us could start dropping some leads in the mail to the right officials on these things like the pedophile coverup and privacy concerns.
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Do they bug people?
by bluesapphire ini have heard comments in the past about people being bugged, telephones, homes, cars, etc.. does anyone really know this happens or is it apostate urban lore?
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anewperson
Yes, there are numerous anecdotes some in writing about the problem. Amazing appears to have wondered if it was done with him. I've had elders and their toadies tell me things that they would have had to have bugged me to have known about. Someone I know also has some devices that they considered notifying fbi.org about but did't because not sure of them as not an electronics expert and not wanting to called a liar or crackpot if they didn't pan out. From Paul Blizzard back to William Schnell there are written statements that the Watchtower Society spies and keeps files. There's a reason they are the "Watchtower" Society over JWs. People also need to find out about the Watchtower Security company in California, apparently not security as in stocks and bonds but as in surveillance.
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REMOVED as an Elder
by LDH infor those of you from upstate ny, an elder was removed last week.. his name rhymes with "dud heffer.".
he moved away immediately.. according to the gossip, "his pride got the best of him.".
lisa
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anewperson
Mmmmm, not sure. Wish we had a hint. Wonder what he was "proud" about? Did he proudly defy Big Momma WTS?
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Question about Easter
by Adonai438 ini read a post on here recently about the origin of the word 'easter' and was wondering what it said (i only skimmed it the first time).
it was some info that contradicted the jw argument that it came from the fertility goddess, ishtar.
anyone want to fess up .
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anewperson
The name may be from Eostre a pagan goddess, the Anglo-Saxon word for East, a combination or some other source. The absolute Truth that you seek is no living person can now be 100% sure. But it is sure that the day has for well over 1,000 years been accepted as Christian & has been used to attack & replace pagan observances.
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Question about Easter
by Adonai438 ini read a post on here recently about the origin of the word 'easter' and was wondering what it said (i only skimmed it the first time).
it was some info that contradicted the jw argument that it came from the fertility goddess, ishtar.
anyone want to fess up .
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anewperson
EASTER, WHAT'S THE REAL TRUTH: Previously, and as found in most encyclopedias, most scholars took the view of "the Venerable Bede" who in 8th Century England speculated that the name Easter may have come from the name for the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eastre. But more research research shows several other possibilities. One is that the name more likely came from the Latin for "White Week," that spring week when people wore white to be baptized as Christians. The Latin expression "Hebdonada Alba" (White Week) was misunderstood as the plural for the word dawn and mistranslated into Old High German as Eostarum. Another possibility is that Easter came from the Anglo-Saxon word "eastre" akin to the words easterly or eastern, that is something that came from the East. This is possible because Christianity entered Germany and England in Western Europe from the east, the Middle East. A lesser possibility is that it derived from the Bible's speaking of Christ as someday returning to resurrect people from out of the east. Of course there might also be a combination of possible reasons for the name.
In any event, when Christianity reached Germany in the 1500s the Christians there symbolized the resurrection hope, that is new life, via rabbits and eggs. This was because from eggs clearly come new life, and also because rabbits were well-known for appearing first here and then there which is exactly how Christ did, appearing in first one place then another, after he was resurrected. Some modern persons have attacked the celebration of Easter by promoting in writing their theory that the continuing usage today of Easter rabbits and eggs is a vestige of ancient fertility or sex rituals that pre-dated Christianity, and so this day that is so highly esteemed by those of different beliefs is, they contend, tarred with an immorality that God could not possibly find acceptable. Such criticism from some persons is well-intended because it comes from a lack of full knowledge and such critics having been mistaught, and it is true that some ancient cultures used colored eggs to symbolize different ideas or as part of worship as when, for example, the Chinese, have used eggs dyed red to symbolize good luck.
Therefore let can conclude that those not celebrating Easter from lack of correct knowledge, or who out of honest doubts and sensitivity do so, deserve our respect too but yet we can also feel free to educate them to the real truth about Easter, the rabbits and eggs, even as those who honorably observe the day and its traditions also deserve full respect, which is exactly what Paul counsels at Colossians 2:16. This carries over to other things, for usually those with misinformation the call "the truth" about Easter are also persons taught that Christmas trees and Santa are pagan instead of the real truth which is that the tree began as the tree of paradise used in Medieval church plays and Santa came from Saint Nicholas who was a Medieval gift-giver also in Medieval times. Visit our nonprofit Jah Christians egroup at the following to request more free Bible information: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jahchristian, or contact: jahchristian at yahoo.com