Posts by Incognito

12

How many of us check the obits for JW relatives' names?

by Scully in

jw
friends

i have jw relatives who are getting on in years.

the relationship is very strained - very little communication, and frankly i'm getting exasperated being the only one making any effort to maintain it.. several years ago, when a non-jw relative passed away, it took several days before the custodian of the information (a jw) decided to send me an email to inform me - you read that correctly - i was informed, not over the phone, but via email.

a couple of years go by, and in the meantime, a jw sibling has a baby, and again i learn that i was left uninformed about the pregnancy and the birth until well after the fact.

Incognito

In addition to Google, I often use sites such as this one http://www.legacy.com/TheStar/Obituaries.asp?Page=OBITFINDERRESULTS which searches the Obit announcments of the larger newspapers within the US & Canada. Many smaller papers are not listed.

You can narrow the locations checked by State or Province and if you insert "Kingdom Hall" or "Jehovah" in the Keyword field, all obit text will be searched for those words. Include the quote marks in the keyword search to search for multiple words together.

Often announcements will state that a Memorial Service is to be held at the 'Kingdom Hall' without mentioning 'of Jehovah's Witnesses' or if the service is held elsewhere, it may state that the person was 'a loyal servant of Jehovah' or something similar, so you may need to search both keywords seperately.

Unfortunately, the site only displays obit announcments for up to one year otherwise, there is usually a fee for fully viewing older archived announcements.

8

FREE Kindle edition of Evolution book!

by 3Mozzies in

jw
friends

free kindle edition of evolution bookby jerry coyne - why evolution is true .

added: tuesday, 06 september 2011 at 8:30 am.

http://richarddawkins.net/articles/642957-free-kindle-edition-of-evolution-book.

Incognito

Scully,

If you use the free Calibre e-book management & conversion software http://calibre-ebook.com/ , it should be able to be compatible with Kobo and most other e-book formats.

2

Honduras plane crash - So much for divine protection

by JWinprotest in

not sure if anyone has started a thread on this.

here's an article on the plane crash in honduras.

the article mentions that the man from toronto that died moved to honduras along with his wife two years ago and joined other jehovah's witnesses to teach bible studies.. when tragedies fall on those leading immoral lives they are very quick to point out that perhaps it was a result of losing god's divine protection.

Incognito

Here are a few links to news reports on the crash.

The first link contains many JW comments about sympathy for the brothers. Too bad JW's don't show the same level of concern for non-JWs undergoing similar tragedy.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/02/15/1545375/richland-man-killed-in-honduras.html#dsq-comments

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/940298--toronto-missionary-dies-in-honduran-plane-crash

http://www.waaytv.com/news/local/story/Friends-of-Honduras-Plane-Crash-Victim-Speak/ugeRGovj3UWzhcC2Qe8x-w.cspx

99

Jehovah's Witnesses - Once Again the Fastest Growing Faith in the U.S.

by davidl7 in

jw
friends

according to the latest statistics published by the ncc in its yearbook of american and canadian churches, the jehovah's witnesess had the highest growth rate, in 2010 growing 4.37%.

this is, i believe, is the 4th year in a row, that the witnesses had the highest growth rate.

roman catholics grew by less than 1%, as did most of the other churches listed.

Incognito

1) Where does the NCC obtain their information? The link states: Ranked 20th in size, the Jehovah’s Witnesses denomination reported a 4.37 percent gain in membership, with 1,162,686 members total. So the WT reports the growth rate which is not verified by the NCC?

2) Is the same growth calculation criteria used throughout all reporting denominations?

3) What does the WT use as an indicator of growth? Baptisms, Field Service reports (15 minutes reported once every three months), number of seats filled on average, number of seats filled at the memorial?

4) Are walk-aways, DF'd, DA'd, deaths subtracted from the growth figures?

5) Are the figures accurate or are they doctored to bring prominence to the report?

It's interesting that JWs were included within the groups named following this statement: But a few church bodies, regarded as cults by some Christians, continue to increase in size.

30

Is that podium thing unique to JW's? Do they build them?

by InterestedOne in

jw
friends

i was wondering about that half-table/half-podium thing that jw's use on the platform.

is that unique to jw's & do they build them, like shakers had their own furniture?.

Incognito

Actually, the proper use of the word Podium refers to a raised platform that is stood upon. A Lectern is a slanted book support.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lectern

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podium

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lectern?show=0&t=1297834156

I think some dictionaries recognize that the incorrect term has been commonly used and have included a link to Lectern within the Podium definition, as shown here: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/podium

I recall hearing (unconfirmed) that the two/three tier style of lectern commonly seen in KHs are either built at Bethel (and I assume sold to the Cong) or are built by a brother in business to make such items.

26

"All generalizations are false, including this one."

by Mr. Falcon in

the above mark twain quote made me think about some of the comments i heard this weekend during the watchtower study.

several commentors alluded to the seeming ignorance of "wordly" people as regards bible knowledge.

comments such as "people who go to churches don't know the bible like we do, so they may go to church and afterwards say that was a very good sermon.

Incognito

I first read this post a few hours ago.

Mr. Falcon said:

... the manner in which people in "Christendom" worship God by "flailing their arms around." I'm not sure what this meant exactly or what sect they were referring to, but the audience thought it was a hoot and yukked it up.

I didn't know what it meant either, and then I was doing something else and it hit me. Hand and arm movements - in the Sign of the Cross.

14

Scammer Targeting Me. Iam Not Surprised

by Scott77 in

here is a message i got today from a scammer.

he/she didnot send it to me through jwn pm but to my private email address.

sigh.

Incognito

Scott77

These types of messages usually get broadcast to hundreds, maybe thousands of email addresses at one time. I doubt that they're targetting you specifically. I often get similar emails and usually ignor and delete them.

I presently use 'Gmail' as my main email service. Although Gmail is very good at removing spam, there is an occasional one that slips through.

You're right to not confirm your email address as your address will probably be further targetted by additional spammers.

When I go to a questionable web site that I need to provide an email address to gain access or receive something, I usually give my hotmail address which is not my main address. My hotmail account gets numerous 'Spam' messages every day as a result.

Although there is a service to filter out spam for anyone running an email server http://www.mailroute.net this is not for individuals relying on their ISP or a web based email account.

31

Six-Screens web site overhaul????

by Prov1320 in

jw
friends

is it possible rick took our advice and changed the face of his web site?

satanic looking home page, bad web-scripting... all gone!!!.

although i haven't checked the content of the site in all the pages, i must say "kudos to rick" for taking some constructive criticism!.

Incognito

Much improved Home Page and easier to navigate without the 'noise'.

Way to go Rick!

Ultimately, any web site is intended to draw a target audience to provide information, assistance, direction or entertainment to that audience.

Using the participants of this Board as a representation of the SS site's target audience, much of the feedback about the site's atmosphere was negative and it seemed to be turning people away and effecting the credibility of the information presented on it. To remain relevant, changes needed to be made regardless of how the site's owner may have felt about or favored the site's original composition and layout. I'm glad that Rick recognized this and stepped-up to make some needed changes.

149

Johnny the mysterious bethelite .. Six Screens conference call tonight Sat.Jan 15, 2011

by koolaid-man in

jw
friends

announcement........ http://sixscreensofthewatchtower.com/upcoming.html.

we are all anticipating the return of the active bethelite ,johnny, who was hiding in a closet talking to us from the world headquarters of jehovah's witnesses.

link to jan.1,2011 call.... http://www.sixscreensofthewatchtower.com/conferencecall-1-1-11.html .

Incognito

Rick,

The recorder was off but some were still on the call and had over an hour conversation with him.

You have previously permitted the 'post call' to proceed with the recorder on. Why not this time?

22

Is A 'Moderate' Opinion of the Governing Body Possible?

by metatron in

jw
friends

radical circumstances push people into extreme frames of mind.. it seems to me that, for some time now, the governing body of jehovah's witnesses has been surrounded by increasingly more difficult circumstances and hardships.

they have cut magazines, literature, sold off real estate, dumped long term bethelites, dumped paid subscriptions, railed against facebook, condemned college attendance, and begun to sell off branch offices.. a moderate, reasonable viewpoint of these changes is easy to come up with: the rank and file are broke, burned-out and dispirited.

furthermore, the increasing depth of these changes would push any reasonable person to conclude that the organization is in quiet decline - far from any realization of heavenly intervention.. the above would logically push a reasonable person towards the conclusion that the 130 year doomsaying history of the watchtower society is a pious fraud at best.

Incognito

JWs on the whole seem to think everything is either Black or White, right or wrong.

In reality, few things are 100% right or 100% wrong.

JWs cling to any example of the WT being correct on any matter as broad proof that it MUST BE God's organization and is being directed by Jehovah.

I think that many JWs have invested so much of their lives in the religion, it's virtually impossible for them to even entertain the idea that it isn't what they were lead to believe.

Many JWs often look to others as having 'special' insider knowledge and insight.

A family member indicated that her cong had a visiting speaker from Bethel and he said: Armageddon is so close and that we wouldn't need to wait much longer (I think she mentioned no more than 5 years). She stated that 'he knew' and that her cong was privileged that he had provided them with this special info. I think it is now more than 5 years since this occurred and if we were to bring it up, I'm certain that she wouldn't recall the statement ever being made.

A recent conversation with a JW acquaintance revealed that instructions recently given from the KH platform are that 'although we may not understand the reasons, if the Faithfull Slave instructs us to do something, DO NOT ANALYSE OR QUESTION but to carry it out, whatever it is without hesitation'.

My immediate thoughts went to 'Kool-Aid' cults.

Although this JW guy seemed all proud to be informed of this new found information, I expressed the silliness of the statement and my disgust in the expectation of not using our brains and reasoning abilities as God had intended and instructed. Although this same guy would be the first to criticize any other group or religion for making a similar statement, the WT is not held to the same standard.