Posts by blondie

13

Witnesses after Covid shut down are increasing their calls around my neighborhood

by wozza in

jw
friends

hi all , i just had another call by a an elderly jw ,let's call him ian.. only about 3 months ago i had a young jw call and trying to talk to him i had to tone it down a bit because he did'nt seem so theocratically bright as he only offered a tract and not much else , and i've had others call since covid.. so it seems around here they are making regular calls but not like back in the day when i used to auxillary pioneer where we would go over this turf every 1 to 3 weeks in the 80's.. but back to my caller ian ,on his own , but out with a group of jw's he was quick to get around the pleasantries and and so i interrupted him tactfully to slow him down.

started with a bit of my history easing into the fact that i had my first contact with jw's with my soon to be mother-in -law who was an invalided jw ,we had many good talks about her beliefs in the early 70's.. at this point he jumps in and wants to know if i would want a study again because i told him that i once did a study with jw's back.

i carefully steered him into telling me about those days ,what was he was doing back then.

blondie

wozza, I remember a jw told me that they WTS never forbade transplants, but I knew the WTS had a Questions From Readers , that showed all the possible reasons, it would be advisable not to have one. She said that they were not forbidden, although she always told people that her uncle died because he would not accept a kidney transplant even without transfusions being used. She said she did not remember saying that! The last sentence in this answer, says "The congregation judicial committee would not take disciplinary action if someone accepted an organ transplant." Why would the WTS says this if disciplinary action had been taken? In the March 15, 1980 Watchtower, Questions from Readers, p. 31 final paragraph it says this: "Clearly, personal views and conscientious feelings vary on this issue of transplantation. It is well known that the use of human materials for human consumption varies all the way from minor items, such as hormones and corneas, to major organs, such as kidneys and hearts. While the Bible specifically forbids consuming blood, there is no Biblical command pointedly forbidding the taking in of other human tissue. For this reason, each individual faced with making a decision on this matter should carefully and prayerfully weigh matters and then decide conscientiously what he or she could or could not do before God. It is a matter for personal decision. (Gal. 6:5) The congregation judicial committee would not take disciplinary action if someone accepted an organ transplant."

Here is a site that might be helpful regarding the history of the WTS views on transplants. https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/quotes/transplants.php

8

New book

by Levislet in

jw
friends

manuscript : knowledge book.

.

blondie

Beth Sarim, maybe?

5

Questionable Claims and/or Actions of The Governing Body

by Vanderhoven7 in

here are a few of the questionable claims and actions of the gb that i have noticed:.

a. writing themselves into the salvation formula.

b. claiming they are jehovah's unique channel of communication.

blondie

That's a good start.

263

Where is Tony?

by Athanasius in

jw
friends

on february 22, 2023, anthony morris iii was officially removed from the governing body of jehovah's witnesses.

a few months later it was revealed that the watchtower bought him a house in lumberton, north carolina.. however, and correct me if i am wrong, since leaving the gb nobody has reported seeing tony attending jw meetings or participating in field service.

in fact nobody has reported seeing him anywhere, not even at a local liquor store.

blondie

Gorby, the WTS must have made a deal with Morris to keep quiet about any details. The WTS did announce 3 times over time that certain GB members would no longer be on the GB. Ray Franz was one. Lots of rumors around Bethel at that time. Ray was not the only one asked to leave. BTW he was not the only one at Bethel asked to leave ,but that is another story. (let me add that Ray was not disfellowshipped tihen and later Ray was considered disassociated because he had lunch with a disassociated jw (he was not disfellowshipped, I know I heard it in person from him his wife and the disassociated jw that he had lunch with)

135

Rumour 144,000 literal number teaching to be abandoned at Annual Meeting

by slimboyfat in

say it ain’t so!

.

in one sense it’s a no brainer because the figures just don’t add up any more.. in another (negative) sense it’s a no brainer because it’s been fundamental to jws since year dot and might undermine the whole thing?

blondie

This is a discussion that seems to be caught in a time loop. Me, I'm just interested in the WTS teaching changes on this topic if any and how current jws will react if it is changed. This has been a long time teaching since 1935 when the WTS came out with a new "understanding" that there would only be 144,000 members of the anointed, not all jws. The great crowd was introduced which said those who did feel clearly they had the call to heaven, would be part of that group to live forever on earth. Interestingly, it occurred about the time that the number of jws would soon be approaching over 144,000, (no room for anointed in the first century then).

53

WTS 2024 Annual Business Meeting ...

by careful in

... is just three weeks from this saturday.

the org has been tight-lipped, really, successfully secret about advance info on these in recent years,.

now that these relatively recent changes on dress and grooming, reporting fs time, judicial matters, etc.

blondie

The WTS has backed off saying that everyone will receive a personal witness (see Matthew 10:23 and research it as to the timeline of this teaching re everyone having personal witness) WT May 2024 p.10 pp 7 "However, Jesus also told his disciples that they would not “complete the circuit of the cities,” or preach to everyone, before he would come. (Matt. 10:23; 25:31-33) Jesus’ words will prove to be true in our day as well. Millions of people today live in areas where the preaching work is severely restricted. In addition, hundreds of babies are born every minute. We do our best to reach people from “every nation and tribe and tongue” with the good news. (Rev. 14:6) But the fact is that we will not be able to share the good news with each individual on earth before the end comes."

So how can their god rightly destroy people who live in areas where a witness may be impossible (community responsibility per WTS), or babies born whose parent(s) are not baptized jws (family merit per WTS) waffling on whether it is fact or not. Say "we" cannot judge, when the do judge, and jws believe this.

Family merit WT 4/15/1987 p. 13

The people must accept responsibility for the nation’s acts.

Community Responsibility WT 6/1/1952 p. 345 par 14

135

Rumour 144,000 literal number teaching to be abandoned at Annual Meeting

by slimboyfat in

say it ain’t so!

.

in one sense it’s a no brainer because the figures just don’t add up any more.. in another (negative) sense it’s a no brainer because it’s been fundamental to jws since year dot and might undermine the whole thing?

blondie

How many partook in 1925? "Attendance grew steadily over the years, with at least 90,434 Bible Students observing the Memorial in 1925." BTW, there was no great crowd then, all members were considered to be anointed, due to go to heaven. I talked to Rodney Stark once on this, and he said it is hard to determine how many Christians there were in the first century. The WTS said the "apostacy" started after that with the death of the last apostle of the 12 with Jesus died. The WTS then suggests that few anointed were chosen then. 50,000 approximate for 1st century plus 90,000 = 140,000 total. They may change to "the bible does not say" but..."

https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/144000.php

To be conservative, from the figures above we can estimate that by the end of the first century there were at least 65,000 Christians and in 1935 there were 52,000 Anointed Watchtower followers. Therefore we have:

144,000
less 65,000
less 52,000
equals 27,000 true Christians called during the 1835 years between 100 A.D. and 1935

We understand that this heavenly calling continued down through the centuries, though during the so-called Dark Ages, there may have been times when the number of anointed ones were very few. With the reestablishment of true Christianity near the end of the last century, more were called and chosen. But it seems that in the mid-1930's, the full number of the 144,000 was basically completed. Thus there began to appear a group of loyal Christians with the earthly hope. Jesus termed such "other sheep," who unite in worship with the anointed as one approved flock." Watchtower 1996 Aug 15 p.31

53

Half hearted JWs compared to past generations

by JohnR1975 in

is it just me or has there been a massive change in jws of late?.

when i grew up in the cult they had a real sense of urgency and would do an hour minimum, these days it’s not even ten mins before coffee break.. same goes for everything else, it’s half hearted .

blondie

The WTS has declared the end is near so many times even assigning a year for it; you can only yell "wolf" so many times and there is no "wolf" before people stop believing the warning.

135

Rumour 144,000 literal number teaching to be abandoned at Annual Meeting

by slimboyfat in

say it ain’t so!

.

in one sense it’s a no brainer because the figures just don’t add up any more.. in another (negative) sense it’s a no brainer because it’s been fundamental to jws since year dot and might undermine the whole thing?

blondie

Of course, if the number of partakers zooms to over 144,000...

21

Do you recognize this?

by Gorb in

jw
friends

thinking sometimes about my youth days and the stories my grandfather told me about our jw congregation.

do you recognize that your congregation was full of somehowe strange folks, very low educated, poor and simple?.

the po was an elder with some distance, with some personality acting intelligent and following the rules strict.. there was always a kind of scandal.

blondie

"Being intelligent and/or gifted doesn't prevent one from getting caught up in a Cult, but I do suspect it is more difficult today in the "age of the internet" where most cults, like JWs, have been exposed and criticism is widely available." Exactly what Steve Hassan has said, many cults target university students and educated people. He was one when he joined the Moon cult.