slimboyfat

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Posts by slimboyfat

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  14

  Paranoia at Britain Branch?

  by The Fall Guy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i just 'phoned britain branch and asked to speak to someone in the public information department.

  it looks like the days of questioning the branch over the 'phone are a thing of the past.. here is the substance of my conversation with the sister who answered the telephone:.

  operator: "what sort of information, please - is it a legal question or an accounting or construction question?".

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  slimboyfat

  I would hate to answer the phones at bethel, it must be the most hated job.

  To lighten the mood, and because Morph’s comment reminded me ...

  I saw a man in the supermarket throwing around yoghurt and milk and cheese. I said how dairy!
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  28

  I don't get why some point to the no tolerance for gays and subjugation of women as a JW thing.

  by blownaway in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  some churches have taken the step to allow gays, women instructing men ect.

  but its not a jw thing.

  its a bible thing.

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  slimboyfat

  According to the Pew survey JWs are by far the most homophobic religious group, more so even than Mormons or Evangelicals. And those groups are likely to soften more quickly than JWs in response to societal norms. So I think it’s fair to say JWs are beginning to stand out on this issue.

  The chart on this page shows that JWs stand out.

  https://religionnews.com/2015/11/03/mormons-50-more-likely-to-accept-homosexuality-than-in-2007-says-new-pew-study/
  
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  14

  Evolution of a congregation 1978- 2018

  by joey jojo in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  our whole congregation was excited as we stood in front of our brand new kh and smiled for the photographer from the local newspaper.. for years we had been travelling 30 mins each way to attend the meetings and now, after a big effort of donations and hard work we finally had our own kh in our own town.

  in the picture, there were 45 smiling faces of all ages, from the newborn to the old brother that had turned 100 and everyone in between.

  the year was 1978.. the congregation grew and shrank over the years, probably hitting its peak during the 80's and 90's, there was even a renovation in the early 90's that the local brothers donated towards, for the benefit of the local town to hear the good news about the imminent arrival of the end.

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  slimboyfat

  Thanks, very interesting account. Could be replicated many times, I suspect. I wish we had a database of KHs so we could chart the decline.

  When the talk about KH consolidation was delivered a few months ago, a local elder joked at the end of the item that the local KH was going to be closed and we would attend a nearby town. At least the elder and the congregation took it as a joke. But I wonder if it will actually happen. At its peak the congregation had around 90 publishers in the 1980s. Now it’s about 45 and half of those are over 60. Ocassionally two children come, no teenagers, a couple of people in their 20s.
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  22

  The JC won't tell the wife about her husband's adultery

  by purrpurr in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  still reading the shepard the flock book and came across this gem (!)....

  "13. if the husband committed adultery, he.

  judicial committee should promptly inquire of the.

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  slimboyfat

  Holding it over someone’s head would be wrong. But other scenarios are possible.

  In a normal relationship, without JW rules, the wife may continue to sleep with the husband in the hope that their relationship can survive, but discover within a few weeks or months that they cannot remain together. In this scenario no one has held anything over anyone’s head, they have made a genuine attempt to remain together. The only problem is the price the JW now pays for separating is to remain single and wait until they become “free to marry” if that ever happens, through no fault of their own.
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  22

  The JC won't tell the wife about her husband's adultery

  by purrpurr in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  still reading the shepard the flock book and came across this gem (!)....

  "13. if the husband committed adultery, he.

  judicial committee should promptly inquire of the.

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  slimboyfat

  But can you read the writing on the wall, for Watchtower?
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  22

  The JC won't tell the wife about her husband's adultery

  by purrpurr in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  still reading the shepard the flock book and came across this gem (!)....

  "13. if the husband committed adultery, he.

  judicial committee should promptly inquire of the.

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  slimboyfat

  My reading of the comments is that elders should tell the wife about the fact of adultery but not about the details.

  In practice it is not surprising, as was contramundum’s experice, that some elders don’t tell the wife anything at all.

  Why have JWs got to act so furtively in everything they do?
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  28

  The Attack by Gog of Magog: 2018 Convention

  by jwdoctrine in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the attack by gog of magog with commentary watch to the end.

  talk from the 2018 convention .watch till the end.

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  slimboyfat

  Is it Gog of Magog

  Or Gog and Magog?

  I always get confused.
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  20

  Views on the golden ratio??

  by Freedom rocks in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  what are your views on the golden ratio or fibonacci sequence?

  i know jws and some other groups use this as proof of gods existence.

  i'm still looking into the debate but was wondering what others thought.

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  slimboyfat

  How can anyone look at the deep structure of reality
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  48

  Healing & Rebuilding Your Life - Feedback Wanted

  by jp1692 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have been invited to speak at an international cultic studies association workshop this fall.

  i could use your help in focusing on my presentation subject.. these workshops are for former members of any cult or other high-control, authoritarian group, not just jehovah's witnesses.

  last year, i spoke at one of their larger conferences in europe.

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  slimboyfat

  I agree that shunning and isolation are the biggest obstacles. More important than all the other things mentioned. I don’t consider critical thinking a hardship. I think I used it inside and outside JWs and always felt comfortable doing so.

  I also have big problems with the idea of “authentic self”. Basically I don’t think there is any such thing. We have the ability to change due to circumstance or effort or necessity to some extent. But I don’t know that it is helpful to label this or that “authentic”. In fact if I was to pick my most “authentic” self ever, it might be me as a 14 year old boy who loved going on the ministry and was totally convinced this was the truth. That was completely authentic for me at the time. I was happy and comfortable in a way I have never been since. It would not be “authentic” for me now, because I have changed.

  Anyway, I find the idea that JW life is inauthentic and the new existence outside of the religion is authentic to be problematic, in that I find it to be neither true nor helpful.
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  21

  Direction to elders on handling rape

  by purrpurr in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  from the shepard the flock book.

  "discernment is needed in considering claims.

  of rape, taking into consideration such factors as the.

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  slimboyfat

  The wording is ambiguous to the point of being meaningless. Is the disposition of the person to be taken into consideration in order to care for their wellbeing or in order to judge their trustworthiness? I think it might be ambiguous on purpose.