Posts by Mark

21

10 Longstanding Problems that I have with the WT Society: A Summary

by Bluegrass Tom in

i have a problem with this.

do they know what the right thing is?

this must mean that college is worse today than it was years ago, but is now okay to attend?

Mark

Bluegrass Tom,

I can see why you are concerned about these things. I know that many active witnesses are

worried about the same issues, and are having a hard time figuring out what they should do.

I hope you find the strength to do what's best for you. Now, there were a couple of things in your

post that I found quite puzzling, to tell you the truth. For example, you say that

It is difficult, if not impossible for an active, intelligent and aware person to remain a witness,

not because the general belief system is unfounded, but because the Organization?s Hierarchy

wants to control the belief structure of all its members even in minor areas.

The underlined statement appears to imply that the witnesses' belief system is scripturally

well-founded. But you gave us several arguments why this cannot be the case. The

issues you pointed out are not merely a matter of organizational policy, they are part and

parcel of the witnesses core beliefs. I find it very hard to accept that an intelligent person with

a moderate knowledge of the Scriptures could remain a witness, precisely because many of their

core beliefs rest on extremely poor schorlaship, and involve either too simplistic or downright silly

interpretations of the Bible. I'm also surprised that you have no trouble with the witnesses'

view of blood transfusions which, in my view, is most obviously wrong. Having said this, I agree

with the thoughts you expressed in your post.

Mark.

15

Clarifying the new policy regarding DF'd and DA'd announcements

by booker-t in

jw
friends

i read that in the new organized to do jehovah's will book coming out in march at the kh, elders will on say sister so and so is no longer one of jw's.

an elder that i work with said that they will announce from now on joe bloe has been disfellowshipped from the christian cong and is no longer a jw.

or jan bloe has disassociated herself and is no longer one of jw's so they are still going to say df and da but i think they are going to drop the part "conduct unbecoming of a christian" because this can get them into legal trouble when a person goes to the military or votes or takes a blood transfusion.

Mark

Hi,

Either the elder you're referring to is not well informed, or he was deliberately trying

to mislead you. From March 20th, the date on which the society's new book will

be released, both DF and DA announcements will read: "[Name of person] is no longer

one of Jehovah's Witnesses." If you care to know, the announcement for

unbaptized publishers will be: "[Name of person] is no longer recognized as an

unbaptized publisher", and the announcement of reproof will be: "[Name of person]

has been reproved." Nothing will be added to these announcements, which in

all circumstances must be approved by the PO in advance.

Mark.

17

Google's Gmail account....want one?

by cab1000 in

jw
friends

.

i have 50 gmail invites.

if you would like one, just send me an email to [email protected].

Mark

Hi Cab1000,

I sent you an e-mail for a gmail invite. Many thanks!

Mark

136

DA-ing Announcement in the Society's New Book

by Mark in

jw
friends

the society's new book 'organized to do jehovah's will', to be released in the congregations .

on the 20th of march, introduces a change in the df and da announcements.

announcements will read the same: "[name of person] is no longer one of jehovah's .

Mark

Elsewhere,

I'm afraid I don't have an easy way of posting the contents of the book in .pdf format,

but I'm sure someone will do so soon.

All,

I totally agree with your comments. The motivation behind this move is the advice of

the society's legal department, but I'm sure they will advertize the change to the rank

and file as an attempt at simplification. So now the elder bodies have a new inquisitorial

whip to crack at the 'spiritually weak' members of the congregation. I'm sure that, as we

speak, the service department is preparing instructions on how to use their new 'toy'.

Watch out for the 2005 elders' school.

Mark

136

DA-ing Announcement in the Society's New Book

by Mark in

jw
friends

the society's new book 'organized to do jehovah's will', to be released in the congregations .

on the 20th of march, introduces a change in the df and da announcements.

announcements will read the same: "[name of person] is no longer one of jehovah's .

Mark

The society's new book 'Organized to do Jehovah's Will', to be released in the congregations

on the 20th of March, introduces a change in the DF and DA announcements. Now both

announcements will read the same: "[Name of person] is no longer one of Jehovah's

Witnesses."

The book also redefines the notion of a disassociation to apply to an individual who"deliberately

repudiates his Christian standing, rejecting the congregation by his actions or by

stating that he no longer wants to be recognized as or known as one of Jehovah's

Witnesses" (p. 155).

This change (the old book made no reference to the person's actions), is in line with the

society's policy of DA-ing those who do not comply with its instructions regarding blood,

voting, joining the military, etc., while avoiding the potential legal problems of

disfellowshipping in such cases.

I believe the society will tighten its grip on the publishers even more. No changes in sight.

Mark

60

WOW!!! interesting response from my dad

by jaredg in

jw
friends

recently my father and i have been arguing over scriptual interpretation getting nowhere so i wrote him this email to see what his reaction would be...check it out!!.

here is my email to him...maybe we should take a break from these conversations on.

interpretation of scripture.

Mark

Jared,

Judging by his e-mail, I believe your dad is beginning to wake up from the WT nightmare. He doesn't speak like a

'true' believer. Best of luck there. However, I think you might have a problem getting reinstated if you have a girlfriend, beard

and the rest. Many elders will take that to be a 'bad attitude' and will 'encourage' (= harass) you to give them up as a sign of

your repentance before they let you back in the congregation. If you were DF over some issue with a girl, then

keeping a relationship alive will definitely be a no-no for the body of elders. If it was a 'rebellious attitude' of some sort,

then using a non-aproved translation at the meetings (or keeping a beard, the utter sign of rebellion in the witness world! )

won't help you at all. You see, those men attach a great importance to the smallest of things. It also feels like the elders

might try to get back at your dad through you and harass you for longer than you think, I don't know. Anyway, best of luck,

whatever you decide to do.

Mark

45

Special announcment 20 march fore JW ?

by happy man in

someone informed me today that in two months time there will be a "special announcement" to all congregations.

everyone must be present at the kingdom hall for it.

my elders already know what it is, but won't tell me.

Mark

There's no need to speculate. The announcement IS about the release of their new 'Organized' book.

'Organized to do God's Will', I think it's called. Every publisher, baptized or not, will be given a copy

of the new book at the end of that meeting. A rather uninteresting development, if you ask me.

No doubt many will be disappointed. The friends will go to the Kingdom Hall expecting to hear something

that changes the unbearable routines of witness life, and all they will end up with is yet another cheap

paperback rehash.

Mark

45

Special announcment 20 march fore JW ?

by happy man in

someone informed me today that in two months time there will be a "special announcement" to all congregations.

everyone must be present at the kingdom hall for it.

my elders already know what it is, but won't tell me.

Mark

They will be releasing the new edition of the 'Organized' book to publishers on that date.

Mark.

75

The Watchtower: Sincere Old Men or Deliberate Deceivers?

by metatron in

when a witness encounters injustices engendered by the watchtower and considers them.

with clarity of mind, he is likely to suppose that , at worst, the old men who run things.

are sincere but misguided.

Mark

Metatron,

I'm sure there are high-ranking witnesses of both types. But in my opinion

there's one common trait that they all share: whether sincere old men or

deliberate deceivers, they thoroughly idolize the Watchtower organization and

there is nothing they wouldn't do to protect it or to advance its interests.

Many witnesses, high-ranking and otherwise, realize the ethical and doctrinal

problems that sit deep withing the organization, but yet they're willing to suspend their

concerns indefinitely for the sake of their 'mother' organization.

Mark.

14

Details on "Advance Health Care Directive"

by ezekiel3 in

the ?blood card?

and dpa have been combined into one document that folds into a business card size.

(unfolded it measures 6.75 x 8.5 inches / 17 x 21.5 cm.

Mark

A letter was sent to all congregations in my state (the whole of the US?) asking the secretary to

destroy the instructions for filling out the DPA/blood card. These instructions, which were to

be distributed together with the DPA/blood card to each baptized publisher, had arrived to the

congregation only a couple of weeks before. Now, how's that for tacking in the wind?

The letter also included a modification to the written outline for the talk in the service meeting.

It said that those who thought their wishes regarding medical treatment were not represented

by either of the three options (a) - (c) in sections 3 and 4, would have other options

available in a document to be added to the DPA/blood card. The letter did not elaborate

on the details, and asked that no DPA/blood card should be completed until we

receive further information from 'mother'.

There really seems to be a power struggle among the Bether four star generals.

Mark.