Posts by besty

let us join in giving heart-felt thanks to the loyal worshiper of jehovah who took the time to post this year's dc drama on youtube.. i'm sure the wt is cool with this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6vfmgkwfp4&feature=related.

besty

yep couldn't watch it - made me a bit unsteady on my feet - had to close my browser.

283

News from Mother ship

by jefferywhat in

1. bethel in ny suspect high level apostate, cant identify it but know its there.

2. major organizational changes about to start rolling out, one is changes to the "service committee" and titles, po to be done away with, thats all i know for now.

was told that if you are the sort of person that cant handle changes, you wont stay in the org for long.

besty

As I have speculated before my money is on January 2009 tying in with the change to the Book Study. In fact I think there are other changes still to be announced that will also be starting 2009.

One source of this CO story was a DO who told this to a rank & file.

I can't imagine DO's would be privy to this sort of change if it was many years in the future, and if they did know I can't imagine them talking to the R&F about it if it was many years out. So for those two reasons I go with Jan 09. Complete guesswork of course.

24

Recent WTS changes - why NOT significant...

by besty in

in light of recent changes i thought to propose a counterview might open up the debate a little.

i'm just throwng this out there for coments.

i have plagiarized the following from another poster here:.

besty

"What you did is between you and God. I'm only here to arrange the meeting"

LOL

36

Cigars

by besty in

jw
friends

...and so to the end of a great evening with new friends and a familiar lover.. my feet are up and the sounds of socal stillness punctuated by occasional dreams departing from lax.. is there more to life than friends, lovers, brandy and hand rolled cuban companions?.

besty

Lots of good advice here - wouldn't expect anything else..:-)

Tonight was Sam's birthday and we had a lovely meal at Boa on Sunset Blvd - our fellow diners deserve their own thread LOL

Anyway on topic ...I have just enjoyed a Churchills Romeo y Julieta and a fat glass of Christians <yes really> Brandy

Happy Birthday SweetPea!!!

24

Recent WTS changes - why NOT significant...

by besty in

in light of recent changes i thought to propose a counterview might open up the debate a little.

i'm just throwng this out there for coments.

i have plagiarized the following from another poster here:.

besty

According to friends still in the JW's, a recent DC talk highlighted the two things most neccessary to keep your faith intact:

1 - avoid asking questions

2 - avoid immorality

It seems that apostasy is more of a concern to the GB than the big F....yaaay - this is the best news I have heard today.

8

A real rush..standing 10 feet from the edge of the Marianas Trench

by Gregor in

a few years ago i was in guam and could walk out on the reef on the eastern side about 200 yards in water up to my waist.

the water is a beautiful turquoise until one gets to the edge of the reef where there is a distinct color change to a dark, almost black, blue.

i stopped about 10 feet from this dark line, knowing it was the edge of the 35,000 foot deep marianas trench.

besty

wow - takes a pair of brass ones to wade towards the Trench not being a swimer :-) maybe they're the reason you can't swim...

24

Recent WTS changes - why NOT significant...

by besty in

in light of recent changes i thought to propose a counterview might open up the debate a little.

i'm just throwng this out there for coments.

i have plagiarized the following from another poster here:.

besty

Hey b the x - nice double meaning there...."Be the ex"

I'd give you a W for illustrations LOL but your point is clear. I think meaningful reform and WTS are mutually exclusive concepts. Unless they actually did a Church of Christ...wow that would be something..

Only thing I would take issue with from all that you said is minor. I dont agree that Chuck Rustles Bible Students were a cult from the start - he eschewed organisation. Ratherflawed on the other hand was a cultist and Nor developed the theme.

Hi JeremyC

The Watchtower could loose 80% of its membership, and the remaining 20% would become even more entrenched and committed to the organization.

Never a truer word spoken - from Ray Franz and then Don Cameron - Dons' book was a huge help to me understanding where I had been, and where hardcore true believers still are. I even heard one JW say he wouldn't care supposing everybody left - he would be the last JW on earth - talk about idolatry.

24

Recent WTS changes - why NOT significant...

by besty in

in light of recent changes i thought to propose a counterview might open up the debate a little.

i'm just throwng this out there for coments.

i have plagiarized the following from another poster here:.

besty

In light of recent changes I thought to propose a counterview might open up the debate a little. I'm just throwng this out there for coments. I have plagiarized the following from another poster here:

There are so many who feel that reform is possible; some even feel that most of the GB are going to be carted off to jail because of the child abuse scandal (rather like Judge Rutherford and the WT directors in 1918), and that will leave a group of senior brothers ready to pick up the reins and reform the Society.

I realised it was impossible, because:

1. Even though they were sentenced to 99 years in prison, Judge Rutherford and the other directors remained as president and directors of the Society; there is no reason to believe that the Governing Body would be replaced today, if they were sentenced to time in prison. After all, JWs believe they are 'anointed by Jehovah,' and that anointing could never be taken away by worldly authorities. The Society would explain away any prison sentences as simply 'persecution' that should be expected in these 'last days.' They would no doubt claim this persecution was prompted by apostates and the clergy of Christendom, and was further proof they were Christ's only true disciples!

2. The Governing Body is self-perpetuating: i.e. if they are anointed by God, and are his 'only channel of communication with mankind,' then they are the only ones who can appoint new members to the Governing Body. Thus, they will only appoint as new members any whom they are confident will think the same way as they do. If they were convinced reform was needed, they would be doing it already. The fact that they are not, and that the latest appointments were all Jarracz 'clones,' proves that they do not accept a need for future reform.

3. Whatever changes have been made in the past have been merely tinkering with the machinery of the organisation rather than any radical reform. Even when the Governing Body took control of the organisation from President Knorr (which, at the time, was as radical as anything that had ever happened within the history of the organisation), the basic structure remained the same: control by an elite group, claiming authority from God, imposing Pharisaical rules and regulations on--and then loading guilt on--their members and berating them for not doing more and more and more for the organisation. In the end, however, those changes were no more than rearranging the furniture, the basic house remained the same. There is no reason to believe that any future changes, however radical in appearance, will be any more significant.

4. As the current policies and doctrines of the Society give the GB an enormous amount of power, there is no incentive for them to make any significant changes: any pressure to amend the traditional teachings and policies now in force will be strongly resisted. Any new members will very quickly get used to, and will consequently become unwilling to yield, any of this power.

5. There is a further, fundamental, reason for not expecting any radical change in direction, no matter what the change in personnel at the top. And that is the concept on which the whole organisation is founded. This concept is not their 'unique' doctrines (which are not unique at all), as even their wackiest beliefs can be found in other religions. This concept is the organisation's belief that Jesus Christ selected THEM as his 'faithful and discreet slave,' giving them ultimate authority over all 'his belongings' on earth. This concept dominates the thinking, the writing and every action of the organisation, that God MUST deal with humans through an organisation, the WT organisation, of course! No matter how many problems a 'loyal' JW may see with the organisation, or whatever doubts he may experience about their teachings, so long as he accepts this concept, no significant change will ever be made. I expect most of the present GB believe in this concept, doubtless their subsequent replacements will do also.