Posts by sir82

48

My letter of disassociation, what do you think?

by James Jack in

dear brothers, july 27, 2020. in 1919, the president of the watchtower society made a bold prediction, “millions now living will never die”.

that quotation was constantly repeated by the organization till the year 2000 when they realized that everyone in attendance at that assembly, who listened to j.r. rutherford repeat those words, are dead.. that teaching has guided my life.

statements were repeatedly made at assemblies, conventions and in print that there was no career in “this system of things” so you don’t need a job with benefits or retirement, your fulltime job is to “preach the good news”!

sir82

Yeah, there must be a lot of hub-bub about your letter in WTS legal & service now.

Their primary, well, exclusive, concern is how it will make them (the WTS) look if they announce your name as "no longer a JW" and you end up being elected and might influence some political decisions that affect their work, even if it's just local. They don't give a hoot about you or your lifelong service to them, it's all about "how bad might we look?"

Actually, you wouldn't have even had to write the letter, they would have considered you "disassociated for non-neutral activity" or whatever the official term is. Of course, 99% of the time, that is only used for people who are caught voting or join the military.

17

Zoom meetings, how long ?

by Phizzy in

i was wondering two things, 1: how long in total are the zoom meetings, i presume the sunday one is the longest ?.

and 2: if you use zoom for free, the session only lasts 40 minutes, so do they have an intermission so people can log back in, or are all jw's expected to pay for the "privilege" ?.

sir82

The WTS bought a "package" of professional licenses, they have assigned one or 2 per congregation in the US. Meetings are run on the professional / premium / whatever its called installation.

Some uber-dubs have purchased the upgraded packages for themselves anyway, so they can host extra long shepherding calls or meetings for service or whatnot.

160

Do You Believe Polls Saying Trump Will Lose To Biden?

by minimus in

jw
friends

a new fox poll says biden is up by 12 percentage points.

of course, most other polls say trump will be trounced this time around.. do you think the polls might be right this time?

.

sir82

Ah what the hey, I'll post this too.

Happy weekend everyone!

https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/708658?unlock=XZMW5BGIJVUT6MJF

Republicans are inching closer to a political wipeout, losing complete control of power in Washington. The way things are going, the 2018 midterms may end up looking like a GOP high water mark.

Internal Republican divisions are also beginning to emerge, in ways that suggest the party is already looking ahead to a post-Trump future.

This is the sign of a political death spiral. At this point, Republicans would be content to suffer through another blue-wave election, holding out hope the Senate could remain narrowly in Republican hands. Right now, Republicans are staring at the reality of a historic tsunami, wiping out all their avenues of power in a rebuke against a hapless president.

And, yes, I know....the election is 3+ months away and "anything can happen". But eventually you run out of time from "it's still early".

160

Do You Believe Polls Saying Trump Will Lose To Biden?

by minimus in

jw
friends

a new fox poll says biden is up by 12 percentage points.

of course, most other polls say trump will be trounced this time around.. do you think the polls might be right this time?

.

sir82

And team Trump's miserable ratings continue to drag down Senate races:

https://cookpolitical.com/analysis/senate/senate-overview/almost-100-days-out-democrats-are-favored-take-back-senate

Almost 100 Days Out, Democrats Are Favored to Take Back the Senate

“Something remarkable would have to happen for Republicans to still have control of the Senate after November,” remarked one GOP pollster. “It’s grim. There’s just so many places where Democrats either have the upper hand or are competitive in states that six months ago we wouldn’t have considered at risk.”

July Ratings Changes:
Arizona: Martha McSally (R) — Toss Up → Lean D
Iowa: Joni Ernst (R) — Lean R → Toss Up
Georgia: David Perdue (R) — Lean R → Toss Up
Minnesota: Tina Smith (D) — Likely D → Solid D
New Mexico: OPEN (Udall) — Likely D → Solid D

It is increasingly likely that Democrats will control the executive branch and both houses of Congress next year.

I continue to expect McConnell & co. to begin their retreat from Trump, most likely soon after Labor Day if things continue as they are. I.e., by my reckoning, team Trump has about 6 weeks to turn things around before the "abandon ship!" call is made.

160

Do You Believe Polls Saying Trump Will Lose To Biden?

by minimus in

jw
friends

a new fox poll says biden is up by 12 percentage points.

of course, most other polls say trump will be trounced this time around.. do you think the polls might be right this time?

.

sir82

Are you suggesting that claiming to "ace" a dementia test and being able to successfully tell an elephant from a camel might not reassure undecided voters of your mental acuity?

Who'da thunk it?

160

Do You Believe Polls Saying Trump Will Lose To Biden?

by minimus in

jw
friends

a new fox poll says biden is up by 12 percentage points.

of course, most other polls say trump will be trounced this time around.. do you think the polls might be right this time?

.

sir82

And some more bad news for team Trump at the end of the week, from former favorite Fox:

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-biden-tops-trump-in-battlegrounds-michigan-minnesota-pennsylvania

3 key battleground states:

Biden maintains his lead in Michigan, topping Trump by 9 points, 49-40 percent.

(Minnesota) That puts Biden up by 13 points in the presidential race, 51 percent to Trump’s 38 percent.
(Pennsylvania) Biden is ahead of Trump by 50-39 percent in the Keystone State.

Week after week after week after week after week, the news is unrelentingly horrific for the Trump campaign. "Secret Trump voters" (if such exist) are not enough to overcome such gaping deficits.

For the folks who complain about "biased polling", is even Fox News misrepresenting the results by not selecting a truly random sample?

21

2020 Convention Friday Highlights: Information Control and Hypocrisy

by neat blue dog in

there's yet another talk to add to the list of talks written specifically for damage control against "apostates".

the speaker says, "some who were once part of the christian congregation attempt to mislead us", that they tell "false accusations" & "lies".

to combat this, he says that you should "protect your ears from damaging noise by not listening to it", comparing it to wearing "noise canceling headphones".

sir82

I like how they tell you to "stand and sing song number garbledy-garble" during the "intermission".

I can tell you EX-ACT-LY which uber-dubs, dressed up in suits & dresses, including dress shoes, while watching the convention in their own living room on their own TV, with no one else around, actually (fer the luv-a-gawd) STAND UP to sing.

And who then "remain standing while the announcements are read".

160

Do You Believe Polls Saying Trump Will Lose To Biden?

by minimus in

jw
friends

a new fox poll says biden is up by 12 percentage points.

of course, most other polls say trump will be trounced this time around.. do you think the polls might be right this time?

.

sir82

The first bad news for team Trump this week:

https://americanresearchgroup.com/economy/

Overall, 36% of Americans say that they approve of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president, 60% disapprove, and 4% are undecided.

That's a net -24 (36 - 60). Three months ago it was -14 (41 - 55).

The numbers continue to get worse and worse for him every passing week.

Wonder how today's campaign rally, oops, Coronavirus briefing, will go.

22

Thoughts on Sunning and blood Doctrines.

by Phizzy in

i have a couple of thoughts on the blood and shunning doctrines, both of which have been covered well before.

here, and on j.w facts.com and elsewhere.. but i would like to point out the following, the only scriptures they can use in reality for their blood doctrine are the verses from acts chapter 15. o.t verse are really out of the question, and dishonest to use on their part, as they do not follow most of the injunctions in there!.

the context of acts 15 is a council of the apostles and others in the jerusalem congregation, to decide what they should ask of gentile christians in the way of behaviours and practices etc, as jewish christians were demanding they comply with the mosaic law, or were, at the very least offended if they did not.

sir82

I think it was AlanF who came up with this conundrum to pose to JWs who insist that "transfusing blood" is exactly equal to "eating blood":

If a man was brought into a hospital dying of starvation, would a blood transfusion resolve the issue?

31

Just wanting confirmation on an unofficial JW experience

by joe134cd in

just wondering if anyone can confirm or deny this unofficial jw experience that my father received by email.

i’ve told him that it against wt rules to forward unofficial accounts.

but of course he just puts that down to apostate driven lies.

sir82

I've not heard that one, but it perfectly fits the pattern of dozens if not hundreds of other JW urban legends....

"A sister who cleans the house of the president of an African nation.....and a fine witness was given..."

"A brother happened to be sitting next to a famous Hollywood actor in an airport.....and a fine witness was given...."

"A sister sent an email to the CEO of a 'no blood transfusion' surgical hospital.....and a fine witness was given..."

And on and on. Just enough detail so it sounds plausible, but no names, dates, internet links...no verifiable claims at all.