Remember it's just a rumor and it's fun to pass along rumors without being threatened with disfellowshipping. I heard the rumor from someone who posts on this board who heard it from someone who called him, who heard it from someone inside Bethel. Does that answer your question?
AndersonsInfo
JoinedPosts by AndersonsInfo
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2014 AGM announcement rumour
by yadda yadda 2 infrom barbara anderson, former watchtower headquarters researcher and writer, on another recent thread:.
it is expected that at the 2014 annual meeting, usually held the first saturday in october, will serve watchtower leaders well to cover-up all the 100-years of prophetic nonsense.
rumor has it they are going to celebrate their 100-years of announcing the kingdom in an adroit way by featuring a move of "great" significance to do with the expansion of the governing body to an "apostolic" 12 or some other fantasy idea.. .
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AD1914.com Coming Soon!!
by ABibleStudent ini visited the jehovah's witness report website today.
i read the following article:.
on october 1st 2014, barbara anderson will join in and participate in the launch of a new website ad1914.com.
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AndersonsInfo
Enzo, the new website is not about me and there aren't any articles there that I wrote at this point, but who knows...
I can appreciate that you might question my testimony because, as you pointed out, there's alway another side to a story. However, no one has come forward to disprove anything I've written about because they can't. I only speak the truth, just like it happened. Just because I'm no longer a JW doesn't mean I have an agenda to discredit the organization. I tell my tales like they happened because it gives insight into a non-transparent religious organization and that's what helps JWs make an informed decision about leaving or staying. There's good in the JW organization. If there wasn't, I wouldn't have stayed with it for 43 years. But when I discovered the "dirty little secrets," I was determined to reveal what I learned to others "no matter where the buck stopped."
Barbara :-)
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AD1914.com Coming Soon!!
by ABibleStudent ini visited the jehovah's witness report website today.
i read the following article:.
on october 1st 2014, barbara anderson will join in and participate in the launch of a new website ad1914.com.
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AndersonsInfo
In the January 2014 study issue of the Watchtower, there is an article that states, "In 1914, Jesus Christ—pictured as riding a white horse—was given his heavenly crown. He immediately went forth to complete the conquest of Satan’s wicked system." The article ends with these words: "Christ will soon complete his conquest of this ungodly society by waging the final war in righteousness." (Bolding done by me)
During the 100-years between 1914-2014 Bible Students/JWs did not let up using the "soon" word about Jesus "conquest" at Armageddon. Of course "calling wolf" over and over again with nothing happening proves that Jehovah's Witnesses are false prophets but Watchtower leaders don't want to call attention to this in October during their Annual Meeting. How will they disprove that charge? By celebrating that they spent 100-years announcing God's Kingdom, but of course neglecting to mention what everyone knows – that their date-pointing prophecies failed.
It is expected that at the 2014 Annual Meeting, usually held the first Saturday in October, will serve Watchtower leaders well to cover-up all the 100-years of prophetic nonsense. Rumor has it they are going to celebrate their 100-years of announcing the kingdom in an adroit way by featuring a move of "GREAT" significance to do with the expansion of the Governing Body to an "apostolic" 12 or some other fantasy idea.
Former JWs have wondered how they could call attention to the 1914 lie. Beginning late in 2013, a number of them put their heads together and decided to create a new website dedicated to exposing that lie. The purpose of it is to rub Watchtower's nose in their lies. Of course, there are many wonderful XJW websites exposing the harmful doctrines of the Watchtower, but this website is different in that it not only exposes the 1914 error, but celebrates the lives of people who exposed the Watchtower by telling the truth during that century of lies no matter what the cost was to them personally and to their family.
The website creators want to preserve the names and history of these truth-tellers for posterity. Most of these truth-tellers are old and many are gone, but their names should live on. Many JWs are exiting the organization due to the work of XJWs in this young 21st century and have no idea about our forerunners in this work.
Barbara
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Article: If God saved an American doctor with Ebola, why did he let 1,200 Africans die?
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/aug/25/ebola-africans-die-god-american-doctorif god saved an american doctor with ebola, why did he let 1,200 africans die?it must be lovely for people such as dr kent brantly to be so sure of god's existence.
for the rest of us, it's not so easy.
ebola survivor dr kent brantly.
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AndersonsInfo
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/aug/25/ebola-africans-die-god-american-doctor
If God saved an American doctor with Ebola, why did he let 1,200 Africans die?
Michele Hanson
The Guardian, Monday 25 August 2014 06.59 EDT
It must be lovely for people such as Dr Kent Brantly to be so sure of God's existence. For the rest of us, it's not so easy
Ebola survivor Dr Kent Brantly. Photograph: Tami Chappell/ReutersLucky Dr Kent Brantly, the American doctor who has recovered from Ebola, having been given a dose of the experimental antibody serum Zmapp, whizzed home to the US, and given another dose. He is now thanking God for saving his life. Through the medical team and drugs, he admits, but ultimately, it seems, God was in charge. And he chose Brantly, not the other 1,200 mainly west African people who have died horribly, which seems a bit picky.
It must be lovely for Brantly to be so sure of things. I tried, aged 10, to work out whether God was around or not, but couldn't. "What was his actual shape?" I wondered. And how could he be everywhere, all at once? How big, for example, was his toenail? Did it cover Ruislip, where I lived? I imagined him constantly on the go, distant enough for an effective overview and able to home in on catastrophes and act. But it was very hit and miss. Would he be on the spot when you needed him, like Brantly did? On and on I went for years, trying to believe in him. I even went camping with a tremendously religious youth organisation, but despite the prayers and observances, even the devout did some frightfully rude things in their tents. And there was no divine retribution. I gave up on God, for ever.
Millions didn't. They seem to be obeying his instructions to the letter, which isn't doing the world any favours. But at last, a bit of good news. The Jehovah's Witnesses are mellowing. They have a new tactic. Instead of just knocking on doors, they're also allowed to stand beside their literature, smiling, near shops and stations, letting us approach voluntarily. Marvellous. It's a shame they didn't do this years ago, when my old friend was a Jehovah's Witness. She was terrified sick of being sent to knock on our door. Luckily it never happened.
If only all religions would take this hands-off approach and let us all believe whatever we like. No pressure. I hope that one day, that will happen. I would say "Please, God," but I can't.
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I need contact information for Ron Frye
by AndersonsInfo induring the 1980's and 90's, ron frye - former pioneer, special pioneer, circuit servant - was a leading xjw exposing the wt.
he had excellent newsletters that went out to hundereds of former jws.
ron frye has been ill and many of us would like to check up on him and give him lots of support.
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AndersonsInfo
During the 1980's and 90's, Ron Frye - former pioneer, special pioneer, circuit servant - was a leading XJW exposing the WT. He had excellent newsletters that went out to hundereds of former JWs. Ron Frye has been ill and many of us would like to check up on him and give him lots of support. We want him to know he's not forgotten and is a hero to many of us who, no matter what the personal cost has been, have taken up the gauntlet because of his courage and fortitude to press on to expose the lies of the Watchtower.
If anybody has contact information for Ron, please send it to me through my website, www.watchtowerdocuments.org or send me a PM. I have Ron's address which I found in an older post here on JWN, but, if possible, would like to have his email or phone number.
In addition, is there anybody out there that has a copy of Ron's book, My Christian Quest, From Jehovah's Witness to Son of God, who would let me borrow it for awhile?
Thank you,
Barbara
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Breaking News :Charity Commission takes Wathtower to Tribunal in Britain
by raymond frantz inbreaking news :charity commission takes watchtower to charity tribunal in britain.
two weeks ago we run an article about the abuse case in moston manchester congregation .it would seem that the coverage from the main local newspaper manchester evening news and two national newspapers has alarmed the charity commission the official regulator for charities in england and wales and now for the first time !
they opened an official investigation on both charities ,the local one ,moston congragation and the central one jehovah's witnesses of britain indicating that in their eyes these two are connected and liable for any misconduct .this is the time for a concentrated campaign from all of us to inform the charity commission why the watchtower should not be a called a charity .the article above has a link for the charity commission complaint page .follow it!.
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AndersonsInfo
Vidiot: Watchtower behaved magnanimously about Vicki paying their legal costs and forgave them. It was a nice gesture, but not enough to make up for all that Vickie suffered, especially the top brass from the Canadian Bethel not exactly telling the truth when they were being cross-examined. We know that for sure because we (Joe, me and Jim Penton) were in the court room and heard their testimony and couldn't quite believe what we heard.
Vicki won only part of her lawsuit against the Watchtower and that's why she was ordered to pay court costs. She was able to prove that the elders made her confront her abuser (Matthew 18) and that this was a Watchtower policy which victims of molestation had to do when bringing forth an accusation. For what it's worth, the elders ivolved in the case denied that this was a Watchtower policy, but Vicki's attorney provided the evidence that showed it was.
Barbara
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Excellent article: Inherited Religiosity: What it means for how nost 'Believers' believe
by AndersonsInfo ininherited religiosity: what it means for how most believers believe.
by yoginder sikand.
03 april, 2012countercurrents.org.
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AndersonsInfo
Inherited Religiosity: What It Means For How Most ‘Believers’ Believe
By Yoginder Sikand
03 April, 2012
Countercurrents.orgT hroughout the world, the overwhelming majority of people who believe in, or otherwise feel emotionally linked to, a particular religion are those who have been born into it. This fact has crucial implications for how most ‘believers’ come to develop notions of what they regard as ‘true’ and, conversely, ‘false’, religion.
For almost all people, their religious faith is something they inherit from their immediate families. From infancy itself, they are carefully socialized by their parents and other close relatives into accepting the religious doctrines, beliefs and rituals of their families. At this stage in their lives, children are most susceptible to the influence of their parents. Unable to think for themselves about matters such as religion, they naturally accept whatever is taught to them by their parents, whom they implicitly trust. Being wholly dependent—psychologically, emotionally and materially—on their parents, they automatically imbibe the religious beliefs and prejudices of the latter. This is how blind, unquestioning belief in the religion that they inherit at birth becomes so deeply-rooted in most people as to make it almost impossible for to shake off at a later stage in life. Along with this, in many cases children are also socialized by their parents into believing that their religion alone is true and that all others are false, impure or deviant. Naturally, all these religious prejudices—about the supposed superiority of their own religion and the putative falsity of all other religions—that they inherit at this impressionable age remain with many people deep into adulthood and last till they die.
The fact of the matter, then, is that what almost all ‘believers’ —irrespective of religion—passionately regard as ultimate religious truth is simply the collection of religious beliefs, rituals and prejudices that they unthinkingly inherit from their parents, and which, through very effective indoctrination, they are trained into blindly believing as Absolute Truth. This means that the vast majority of the world’s Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Sikhs, ‘pagans’ and so on are such only because they happened to have been born into families linked to the particular religion that they grew up to believe in. If almost all ‘believers’ regard their respective religions as the best among all or as the truest or as most fully manifesting the Ultimate Truth, it is almost inevitably only because this is what they have been reared into believing by their parents from a very young age itself. Such faith in the superiority of their inherited religion is rarely, if ever, based on a careful, objective, unbiased and neutral examination of all religious, including their own.
There is more to the reality of the inherited nature of notions of religious truth that most ‘believers’ adhere than this. Every religion is susceptible to multiple interpretations, and this explains the existence of fierce sectarian divisions within each of them. Each sect within a larger religious tradition claims to monopolise religious truth in quite the same way as most religious traditions themselves do. Here, too, membership in a particular religious sect is almost always based on one’s birth in it and consequent socialization into its doctrines from a young age. Almost inevitably, a person is a Sunni or a Shia Muslim, and, then, a Deobandi Sunni or a Barelvi Sunni or an Ithna Ashari Shia or an Ismaili Shia, not on the basis of conscious, informed choice made in adulthood, when alone such a choice can be made, or as a result of a careful comparative study of the competing doctrines of these rival Islamic sects, but simply because he or she was born into a particular sect whose beliefs he or she is then socialized into believing represents the ‘true Islam’—which, in his or her mind, is equated with Absolute Truth. The same principle holds in the case of sectarian divisions in other religious communities, too.
What does all this mean for our understanding of religious truth? Quite simply, it indicates that for the vast majority of us, what we fervently regard as ‘true religion’ (which a very great many of us spend our entire lives ardently believing in, defending, and passionately seeking to convert ‘non-believers’ into accepting, through persuasion or even, sometimes, coercion) is simply the bundle of religious beliefs, rituals, traditions and prejudices of the families we happen to have been born into and which, through no fault of our own, we have been made to believe represents Absolute Truth—even if it really doesn’t!
That most people simply inherit from their families their understandings of what they regard as Ultimate Truth indicates another key aspect of their religiosity: a fundamental inability or unwillingness to search, think and experience the Truth for themselves. Being effectively drilled into accepting the religious beliefs of their families as representing the Ultimate Truth, they see no reason to search for such Truth, for, so they think, they already possess it! So effective is this indoctrination in most cases that to even contemplate such a search and to think of going beyond their inherited religion comes to be regarded as a dangerous lack of faith that supposedly merits Divine wrath. Little wonder, then, that relatively few people are able to escape the totalitarian religious brainwashing that they are subjected to as children, and relatively fewer are courageous enough to even question if their inherited religion is truly the perfect embodiment of Ultimate Truth or the Divine Will that its unthinking votaries insist it is.
Yoginder Sikand is a regular contributor to Countercurrents and the author of several books on Islam-related issues in India. -
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'Big Eyes' Movie is the story of art couple Margaret (an XJW) and Walter Keane
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/04/tim-burton-big-eyes-new-movie-margaret-walter-keane-amy-adams-christoph-waltz_n_3013705.html.
tim burton 'big eyes' movie tells the story of art couple margaret and walter keane.
tim burton, a filmmaker known for his own brand of ghoulish cartoon characters, is taking on the world of wide-eyed artist, margaret keane, in a new movie aptly titled "big eyes.".
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AndersonsInfo
Tim Burton 'Big Eyes' Movie Tells The Story Of Art Couple Margaret and Walter Keane
Tim Burton, a filmmaker known for his own brand of ghoulish cartoon characters, is taking on the world of wide-eyed artist, Margaret Keane, in a new movie aptly titled "Big Eyes."
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the project centers on the life of Mrs. Keane and her wildly ambitious husband, Walter. The two art world hot shots rose to fame in the 1950s and '60s as a result of Margaret's kitschy paintings of doe-eyed children. But the power duo eventually divorced, resulting in a decades-long battle over the artwork created while they were married. Walter, who once likened himself to Rembrandt, claimed he was the mastermind behind the fictional characters, prompting Margaret to challenge her ex to a "paint-off" in court to prove who was the rightful artist. A paint-off did eventually happen and Margaret won, causing Walter to pay out millions in damages (though he never stopped claiming rights to their big-eyed kid paintings).
Burton has been a longtime collector of Margaret's work, and her influence can be seen in a number of his films, including "Beetlejuice" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas." So who will join Burton in his sure-to-be-insane Keane vs. Keane project? According to ARTINFO, Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Reynolds were on board at the beginning but both jumped ship before the movie took off. According to NME, Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz are now both up for playing the odd art couple.
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My Life as a Famous Artist
July 8, 1975 Awake! article, pp. 12-16:
YOU may have seen a painting of a wistful child with unusually large and sad-looking eyes. Quite likely, it was one I painted. Sad to say, I was as unhappy as the children I painted.
As a sickly child, often alone and very shy, I developed an early talent for drawing. An inquisitive nature led me to wonder about the purpose of life, why we are here, why there are pain, sorrow and death, and if God is good. Always “Why?”These questions, I believe, were later reflected in the eyes of my paintings of children and, in part, account for their worldwide appeal. The eyes, always the focal point, were often described as “soulful.” They seemed to reflect the spiritual alienation of most people today—their longing for something beyond what this system offers.
My road to popularity in the art world was a rocky one. There were two wrecked marriages and much mental anguish along the way. Controversies surrounding my private life and the authorship of my paintings resulted in international wire stories, lawsuits, front-page pictures and even headlines. For many years I had allowed my second husband to take credit for my paintings. But one day, unable to continue the deception any longer, I left him and my home in California and moved to Hawaii. After a period of depression and very little painting, I began trying to rebuild my life and later married again.
One turning point came in 1970 when a newspaper reporter arranged a televised “paint-out” between me and my former husband, to be held in San Francisco’s Union Square to establish the authorship of the paintings. I was the only one to show up and accept the challenge. Life magazine covered this event in an article that corrected a previous erroneous story that attributed the paintings to my former husband.My part in the deception had lasted for twelve years and is one that I will always regret. However, it taught me the value of being truthful and that neither fame, love, money nor anything else is worth a bad conscience.
The Unexpected ChangeJehovah’s witnesses came often, every couple of weeks, to my door, but I rarely took their literature or paid much attention to them. Little did I realize that in due time one knock on my door would drastically change my life. That particular morning two Oriental women, one Chinese and the other Japanese, appeared on my doorstep. Sometime prior to their coming, my daughter had shown me an article about the sabbath being Saturday, not Sunday, and about the importance of observing it. It had made such an impression on both of us that we started attending the Seventh-day Adventist Church. I had even stopped painting on Saturday, thinking it was a sin to do so. So when I asked one of these women at my door which day was the sabbath, I was surprised that she answered “Saturday.” So I asked, “Why don’t you observe it?”
Holding BackGradually I was convinced from the Bible that the Almighty God is Jehovah, the Father (not the Son), and as I studied I began to rebuild my shattered faith, this time on the true foundation.
Instead, the falsity of the Trinity doctrine, as well as the fact that the Witnesses know and make known the name of the Father, the true God, also their love for one another and their strict adherence to the Scriptures, convinced me that I had found the true religion. I could not help but be deeply impressed by the contrast between Jehovah’s witnesses and the other religions on the matter of finances.In time, my daughter and I were baptized, together with about forty others, on August 5, 1972, in the beautiful blue Pacific Ocean—a day I will never forget. ...
From Sad Eyes to Bright Eyes
Another change has been that I spend only about a fourth of the time I formerly spent painting, and yet, amazingly, I accomplish almost the same amount of work. Too, sales and comments indicate that the paintings are getting even better. Painting used to be almost an obsession with me. I was driven to paint because it was my therapy, escape and relaxation—my life completely revolved around it. I still enjoy it immensely, but the addiction to it and dependency on it are gone. Since my growing in knowledge of Jehovah, the Source of all creativity, it is no wonder that the quality of my paintings has increased as the time of execution has decreased.
As I look back on my life, my first oil painting, done when I was about eleven years old, now seems quite significant. It was two versions of the same little girl—the one in the background was sad, with tears in her eyes; the one in the foreground had bright smiling eyes. In the past, the symbolic large, sad eyes I painted mirrored the puzzling contradictions I saw in the world around me, and which raised in me so many questions. Now I have found in the Bible the reasons for the contradictions about life that once tormented me, as well as the answers to my questions.After my gaining accurate knowledge of God and his purpose for mankind, it led me to the real security of having God’s approval and the inner peace and happiness that go with it. This is being reflected in my paintings to a degree that others even detect it. The sad, lost look of the large eyes is giving way now to a happier look. My husband even named one of my recent happy big-eyed children “The Eye Witness”!—Contributed.
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Last Reminder for TV Program Witness To Murder, Wed., Aug. 20th @ 9PM ET/8CT
by AndersonsInfo inlast notice for a new documentary produced for television on id discovery channel, based on jim kostelniuk's book, wolves among sheep: the true story of murder in a jehovahs witness community.. .
deadly devotion season 2:.
witness to murder.
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AndersonsInfo
I just received an email asking if we can get the download in MP3 or MP4 as the format Watchtower-Free suggested doesn't work on a lot of computers.
Barbara
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2014 SNAP Conference in Chicago; Report by Barbara Anderson & Kerry Louderback Wood
by AndersonsInfo in2014 snap conference report.
posted on august 20, 2014 by barbara.
from august 1 3, kerry louderback wood* and i attended the 2014 annual snap** conference, which was also its twenty-fifth anniversary celebration, in chicago, illinois.. .
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AndersonsInfo
Wow, I guess I'm a year younger today because I wrote in the subject line that it was the 2013 SNAP Conference I attended. Correction Attention: 2014!
Ebola survivor Dr Kent Brantly. Photograph: Tami Chappell/Reuters