Athanasius

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Posts by Athanasius

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  26

  Watchtower Study: How Strong Will Your Faith Be?

  by RULES & REGULATIONS in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the watchtower—study edition | november 2021. study article 47. how strong will your faith be?.

  16 note the example of geydi, a sister from guatemala.

  her husband, edi, was murdered as they were returning home from a congregation meeting.

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  Athanasius

  What is with all the smiling faces at the Watchtower Study and everyone with their hand up eager to comment? In all the years I served as an elder, I never saw a Watchtower audience that looked like that. Most in attendance were bored, sleeping, or otherwise distracted and wishing they were some place else. In a congregation with 80-100 in attendance, you would be lucky to see five or six raise their hands when the conductor called for comments.
  

  The Watchtower editors advice to grieving ones, like their illustrations, shows how much the JW leadership is detached from reality.
  
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  11530

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  Athanasius

  "Do not tell a friend anything you would conceal from an enemy."--Arabian Proverb

  Unfortunately Lloyd has given the Watchtower something to brag about. Sadly he has betrayed his family and the Ex-JW movement.

  Hopefully he will see a mental health professional and get the help he needs.
  
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  31

  What Do You Want To Talk About Regarding Jehovah’s Witnesses?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we do talk a lot about how this site doesn’t center on all things jw.

  so what would you like to discuss?.

  the floor is yours..

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  Athanasius

  What is the latest on that court case in Illinois where the JW elders are being prosecuted because they didn't report a case of child sexual abuse even though the state law required them to do so? Moreover, in their defense are the elders are claiming that the Watchtower legal department gave them bad advice?
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  8

  Interesting bit of JW World War II Trivia.

  by Athanasius in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  during world war ii when the nazis occupied a large section of the western part of the ussr, heinrich himmler considered various methods to help control the indigenous population.

  alexander dallin reports in his book german rule in russia 1941-1945—a study of occupation policies, page 616:.

  “himmler conceded that the easterners needed some general system of values, but it was madness to spread nazism among them, and to revive the orthodox or to promote the catholic church in the east was dangerous.

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  Athanasius

  During World War II when the Nazis occupied a large section of the western part of the USSR, Heinrich Himmler considered various methods to help control the indigenous population. Alexander Dallin reports in his book GERMAN RULE IN RUSSIA 1941-1945—A Study of Occupation Policies, page 616:

  “Himmler conceded that the Easterners needed some general system of values, but it was madness to spread Nazism among them, and to revive the orthodox or to promote the Catholic Church in the East was dangerous. He believed the solution consisted in cultivating those religious sects which preached non-violence. Thus he would spread Buddhism 'among all Turkic peoples'--i.e. Moslems! Among the Christian Slavs, he would promote the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses [Bibelforscher], whose members within Germany had been confined in Nazi concentration camps. They would be suitable because, he believed, they were pacifist, 'anti-Catholic' farm hands who neither drank nor smoked. Hence—in July 1944—he urged Kaltenbrunner to start screening the inmates of German concentration camps to find suitable 'bible students!'”

  Unfortunately for Himmler, by late 1944 the German Army had been evicted from Russia and the Red Army had invaded Germany. So his JW missionary plan probably came to nothing.

  Surprisingly the Watchtower has never mentioned Himmler's possible use of the JWs to help subjugate the Russian people. Though in view of the poor relationship between the present Russian government and the Watchtower, I'm sure the JW Governing Body would prefer that the book be closed.
  

  
  
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  34

  Speedy Gonzales and Pepe The French Spunk And Others Are Offensive!

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  these cartoons have been labeled by the venerable new york times newspaper as offensive.

  they offend mexicans and pepe is a womanizing french skunk too handsy enabling the “rape culture “.

  this stuff is getting so ridiculous it isn’t funny.

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  Athanasius

  Back in the 60s I saw a film titled FAHRENHEIT 451. It was based on Ray Bradbury's novel of the same name. Anyway in the film the government decided that books had a negative effect on people. The government leaders claimed that reading books gave people the wrong ideas and therefore books were banned and burned.

  Looks like it is about to happen here in the USA.
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  65

  2020-10-12--Year End Report! (as of 2020-10-14)

  by Atlantis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  2020-october-12th.. re: 2020 year end report.

  reply below for the link and a milkshake back in the pm section.. https://www.legendairymilkshakebar.com/.

  petra!.

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  Athanasius

  Hi Petra and Atlantis,

  Thanks for sending the year end JW Canadian report. An interesting document, but difficult to accept as a truthful report of JW activities in Canada.

  What is really interesting is that according to their report: "The number of return visits and Bible studies were substantially higher than in pre-COVID months. Of Special note is an all time peak of 13,624 regular pioneers in August."

  Probably with the Kingdom Halls closed and the COVID restrictions making it difficult for the elders to monitor the flock, the rank and file JWs are padding and inflating the time spent writing letters and making phone calls.

  Is the time spent driving to and from the Post Office now counted as time spent in field service? How about taking a coffee break while letter writing and emailing?
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  158

  8 Documents Arrived Today!

  by Atlantis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  1.--authorization and release agreementfor disaster relief medical assistance.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------2.--for the attention of all elders------------------------------------------------------------------.

  3.--additional direction regarding assistance with practical needs------------------------------------------------------------------.

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  Athanasius

  HI Petra,

  Please send me the links to the latest documents.

  Thanks.

  Athanasius
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  19

  Amazing Read,Check this out!

  by ZindagiNaMilegiDobaara in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  currently reading : 30 years a watchtower slave.

  cannot put it down.. this book pre-dates ray franz book "crisis of conscience", written from early 20th century, shortly after the jehovah's witnesses were formed.

  the author describes the original true background of the watchtower society as a multi-million dollar publishing company.

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  Athanasius

  I read "30 Years a Watchtower Slave" back in 1970. Though I was an active JW at the time, Snell's book was interesting to read and answered many of the questions I had regarding the work in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s and the reason for Hitler's banning the JWs in Germany. Snell's account made more sense than the white washed Watchtower histories.

  Unfortunately Schnell's book, though informative, didn't cause me to break free of the Watchtower. That happened 14 years later when I read "Crisis Of Conscience."
  
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  32

  After the death of a spouse, how long did people wait to get remarried?

  by RubaDub in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was on the phone with a long-time friend from my original congregation north of new york city and she told me that the 'shit hit the fan' when a brother (long-time elder i know well) got remarried about 6 weeks after his wife died.. he was about 60 and his new wife (a pioneer that i also know) was about 50 and had never been married.. it became a huge issue when the co came.

  due to all the talk and chatter in the congregation, he even included in one of his talks without naming names, that marriage is something sacred and that when and how people get married is a personal matter as long as it conforms to bible standards.. anyway, it shut everybody up.

  any similar experiences in your current/former congregations?.

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  Athanasius

  Wasn't the cult leader in question named Jackson?
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  10

  Question: When did the JWs start having judicial committees?

  by Spiral in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've been reading the book recommended by zing "soul snatchers, the mechanics of cults" (bought a used copy online) and one of the things mentioned was how cults police all aspects of their members' lives.

  so it got me to wondering, when did the practice of three men (elders) having a hearing (or should we say trial) and passing judgment on a member start?

  did the early bible students do this?

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  Athanasius

  The JW disfellowhiping arrangement by the congregation service committee was put in place in the early 1950s. In 1954 there was a sister in our congregation who was disfellowshipped for immorality. In those days one had to wait a year before they could be reinstated. She did her time and after the year was up she was reinstated. A couple of years later some teens also got canned for the same reason.

  However, in those days the disfellowshipped person could still talk to their family. Then in the 1970s during the reforms of Watchtower Vatican 2, disfellowshipped people were treated more humanly and not harshly shunned by non-family members in the congregation.

  But after Ray Franz was removed from the GB, the new rules now required family to shun the disfellowshipped.