Around 1980/1 the WTS clamped down on private pre-study of the publications, due part to the Great Apostasy at Bethel, many high level jws were asked to leave Bethel. Then the WTS tried to say "small groups" for wedding receptions and that went over like a lead balloon. Then the WTS tried to say how many was a small group. It was very disheartening, families could study together, mom, dad and kid (or more), but not say 4 single people not related to each other (with chaperone). The feeling of belonging left totally and never came back.
Posts by blondie
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55Ban on Independent Meetings
by lssjr insource - march 2021 announcements - - https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5085868283920384/2021-march-147-english-german-announcements-reminders.
this is a sobering reminder of what happened some 40 years ago when raymond franz and others were literally kicked out from the jehovah's witnesses for having pre-arranged private spiritual discussions.lesson: paragraph 7 is another example of the i and t in dr. steven hassan's bite model of the 21st century cult - information and thought control at its best!!!!
"my gosh, there must be a lot of independent meetings these days.
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51
Changed behavior of the governing body on the topic of “vaccinations” in the Covid era
by Pedro ini'm looking for an explanation why the gb has made a radical change on the issue of vaccinations.
was there pressure from outside?
were there any financial or other benefits to promoting experimental genetic therapy?.
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blondie
You can imagine what backlash the WTS was trying to avoid on vaccinations since many jws still don't realize that the WTS made it a "conscience" matter in the 1950's. That idea still permeated the WTS even just before 2019. You can imagine that some jws were going around telling other jws they couldn't be vaccinated as the WTS said so (without any proof from a publication, wow). Evidently, those people weren't keeping up with the chariot of god (WTS/GB). So the WTS had to get direct and specific to jws not to say it was a WTS teaching not to get vaccinated but their personal choice. There is no personal choice in the WTS, it is their way or "the highway" (in other words you can leave). (Yes, Jehovah’s visible organization is keeping pace with the celestial chariot and its Rider...If you are one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, are you keeping pace with God’s visible organization? Doing so is not simply a matter of attending Christian meetings and spending time in the ministry. Primarily, pace has to do with progress and spiritual growth. It involves having a positive outlook, setting proper priorities, and being up-to-date. If we are keeping pace with Jehovah’s celestial chariot, our lives are consistent with the message we proclaim)
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15
spirit directed organization
by enoughisenough ini was watching a video about wt and money and the "brother" refers to the "spirit directed organization.
" he also says they use donations wisely and modestly.
are the gb so deluded and therefore their followers?
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blondie
"spirit-directed" organization
Eventually substituted for the "spirit" mentioned in Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,"
To see how baptism changed over time in the WTS: https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/baptism.php
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70
A BEARD PREDICTION FOR 2024
by AndersonsInfo infyi, i posted this prediction on my facebook page last night and it has received 224 likes and there have been 83 comments made.
many of the comments are hilarious.. .
a beard prediction for 2024:.
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blondie
Van Amburgh on the Board of Directors/WTS
I see that the WTS will need to have rules as to what is allowed for beards. I remember when they had rules about side burns. Or how far your hair could go below your earlobes. And all the rules about mustaches, like the one where hispanic men could have mustaches only. That was probably a regional thing.
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54
Is AI going to change the world?
by Reasonfirst inhad lunch with a friend, whose a lecturer in the accounting dept.
of one of australia's best universities.
he told me he expects to lose his job at some point in the next 5 years, as the accounting dept, will disappear, as all accounting will be done by ai programs, so why teach it.. if his fears are correct, that means that any profession that involves the mind, may one day face the same future.
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blondie
I think of AI as a tool. But like a gun, in the hands of child becomes very dangerous, I have already heard the word "Skynet" in my mind.
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109
Why disfellowship must be eliminated for the survival of the WT itself
by TheScientist inthis topic i digress about why the watchtower relaxing the rules of disfellowship is essential for its survival.
many things i'm going to say are not my ideas, some are, the point is, i'm condensing everything in a logical and concise way.. the first thing we have to keep in mind is that the wt's main objective in instituting disfellowship has always been not to lose members because of the damage that a dissident could do, or to avoid gaining new members because of the bad reputation of a confessed sinner in the his/her region.
in the end, the more active members, the more money to the coffers.. in this case of disfellowship due to apostasy, to avoid any spark, texts were sought out of context that even prohibited saying "hi".
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blondie
Df'ing, a punishment to keep the "diseased" jws out and make sure their jw family/friends stay away from them and punishment them even further. It was no a thing until about the mid-40's and 50's, scaring people to stay.
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7
crazy ebay listing
by stan livedeath ini was searching a sellers listings for my hobby stuff--model railways--and the seller has listed this amongst it.. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/395090358779?hash=item5bfd3871fb:g:qmyaaoswidnliyfk.
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blondie
I never saw or used those, but my mother did. She called it a 7 scripture sermon that had to be memorized and she was a newly baptized jw. She used to say that people at the door would never stand there that long to listen now. Now the WTS has said the first thing said at the door has to be short, attention span has gone done over the years.
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18
Another kingdom hall up for sale
by pepperheart inhi another kingsom hall is up for sale if you look in the rightmove property website and look for bradford in the uk you will see that its priced at £170,000.. but why should they need to be selling a kingdom hall off espically when they are not printing about 50 million magazines a month they vant be that short of money can they ?
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blondie
The WTS seemed so sure the end was coming in 1975 but kept building expecting that people would fill them up trying to escape destruction. Then destruction didn't come. And gradually the increase like that stopped and there were KHs that were no longer filled, There were so many empty seats, that some congregations took out the chairs in the back. There was a turnover, as jws started forgetting about the pre-1975 days by people were not even born or jws then. Congregations are being combined in one building, four in the KH I last attended. KHs sold. There had been talk in the past of making more congregations, that went out the window. I never thought that the 2 congregations that were combined would ever have that happen. Some jws I have met say it means the end is near. ha!
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19
A City Having Real Foundations.
by LostintheFog1999 insomeone asked me recently when did i start to have doubts as an elder about what i was teaching from the platform.. i have given it a lot of thought and i can say that it was when i was delivering a public talk about the book of hebrews.
so i paused and read it again.. i looked at the audience and said to them let's look at the cross-reference for this verse which is hebrews 12:22 and i read that verse.
after which i remember saying "and this is how the outline puts it.... " and i read from the outline verbatim.. abraham was not looking forward to an earthly kingdom hope.
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blondie
Verses that don't mean what it says:
What verse does the WTS to come up with the idea "governing body"?
"Read Acts 15:1-35, and see how the first-century governing body discussed and resolved a dispute with the help of the Scriptures and holy spirit."
Acts 15 No where is the phrase "governing body" ever used. And it will be hard to find where the WTS in its publications puts quotes around that phrase, meaning that phrase is not in the bible scripture cited.
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3
The GB's New Year's Resolutions
by NotFormer intowards the end of this year, they managed to shock many on here and elsewhere with new resolutions, like publishers no longer having to record hours and now allowing men to grow beards without having to face judgement or judgemental behaviour.
but, as pointed out by a few, these amount to being not much more than cosmetic changes, one in administrative paperwork and the other in personal grooming habits.
the other major change announced in the leaked agm video is the possibility of being saved at the last minute.
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blondie
joeyjo,
"Like beards, there is no clear law in the bible that disallows celebrating birthdays." Most jws don't realize there is no clear law disallowing birthdays. I didn't until I tried to explain it to a non-jw. I saw how the WTS strings scriptures together and tries to "connect the dots." But the picture they are trying to convey pictures nothing when the dots are connected. But many jws realize that if they don't go along with it, it will damage their standing and the congregation and seem to be troublemakers. It isn't until the WTS says it is okay or let your own conscience dictate your decisions, they still in qualifiers that make it seem your decision is wrong. I do believe though that the continuing revealing to the public media about cases of child sexual abuse and the WTS hiding them, resulting in big fines, is making more jws wonder and maybe even research. The WTS wants to save their so-called good reputation with non-jws who have no idea what goes on behind the closed doors of the WTS. I have seen a lot of changes over my 60 years, and the more things the more the stay the same. The difference is more and more jws are finding ways around the "rules" of the WTS. Especially PIMOs. Once the door is open, it is very hard to shut it.
