sir82

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Posts by sir82

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  9

  Theodore Jaracz

  by TheListener in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if as many here suggest tj is the boss and with schroeder's death has the capability of getting a 2/3 vote on key issues that come before the gb then....... what issues is he likely to press?.

  perhaps someone here who is friends with ray franz could find out what issues or changes tj was particularly interested in that haven't occurred.. for example, was tj in favor of adding or taking away one meeting a week?

  is he happy with the current theocratic ministry school arrangement?

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  sir82

  Wasn't Schroeder pretty much in a semi-vegetative state for the past few years? I seem to recall posters saying that he wasn't even able to carry on a conversation.

  So I would imagine that he was incapable of voting on anything, and it went into the record as "abstained" or something like that. I imagine the same is done for Barber, who at 100+ years old is probably not capable of sitting in a meeting and paying attention for more than 30 seconds.

  Being appointed to the GB is a lifetime tenured position, unless you commit the unforgivable sin of getting caught indulging in your private sexual fantasies or growing a backbone and standing up for what is right.

  So, unless there are new additions to replace Schroeder and Barber (when the time comes), my guess is that the balance of power won't shift just yet.
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  26

  Implied Consent: The end isn't coming let's live for today

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i can't find the link to this page, but recently snippets of a co meeting with the elders and ms's revealed the following:.

  here are my notes from the biannual co visit.

  the notes are from the co meeting with elders & ms 2006 service year outline.

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  sir82

  The 30 / 40 year old generation have seen the sacrifices their parents have made & concluded (righly or wrongly) that they just aren't prepared to be a window cleaner in their sixties or live on a meagre state pension in a crummy council flat. I guess when you are told that Armageddon will come before you go to school / leave school / get married / have children etc etc that the message starts to weaken after some time.

  Exactly!

  And the children of those 30-40 year olds will be adults in 10-15 years. If you think the "sense of urgency" is waning now, just wait a decade or so. That, combined with the huge psychological impact of 2014 coming and going (did Jesus prophesy about the "the last days" or "the last centuries"?), and there isn't much upside to this organization.
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  3

  Man Hits His Own Car Then Sues Himself

  by Elsewhere in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/03/16/d8gclen02.html

  man hits his own car then sues himself .

  mar 16 7:17 am us/eastern

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  sir82

  How stupid!

  Can you imagine, say, a publishing company that claims that its pronouncements are the sole means for the teeming mass of mankind alienated from God to find salvation, then commands people to spread that message, then sues website operators who try to do just that!

  Oh, er, never mind...
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  9

  The Powerful Resurrection Hope

  by NYCkid in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  im in the midst of visiting my parents, having only been allowed since my father is very ill. during the past few days, ive come to realize that one of the cornerstones of their faith is the hope of an earthly resurrection.

  both of my parents lost siblings and parents tragically when they were very young.

  the hope, of seeing them alive here on earth and the idea that upon their death they will only sleep until the time of the resurrection, is very powerful and is a driving force that maintains their devotion to their faith.

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  sir82

  25% of our genes are said to be the same as a banana, for God's sake!

  Ye gods! I just ate a banana!

  Was that you, Cousin Ernie?

  I feel so...so...cannibalistic!
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  18

  Elder Conversation: Why Reform Won't Happen

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i had a nice conversation with an elder recently and it illustrates why reform of the organization is nearly impossible.

  this elder.

  is very aware of how bad things are becoming in congregations and he worries about his retirement.

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  sir82

  If they start to make reforms, by becoming more mainstream, it means the organization itself realizes that it will be around for the long haul.

  More significantly, it would signal to the R&F that the organization is thinking that way. Field service time, meeting attendance, and most importantly from the society's point of view, contributions, would accelerate from the current gradual decline into a likely irreversible death spiral.

  Just look at how things have slowed down since 1995's "generation" change, despite near-constant thrumming of the "we're still in the last days, the end is really close now" message. Imagine the reaction if it became apparent the Society was planning for the "system of things" to continue another few decades or (gasp!) centuries!
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  11

  WATCHTOWER and AWAKE magazines

  by Honesty in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  watchtower and awake!

  magazines:.

  spiritual food or spiritual poison?

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  sir82

  I skim through the mags even to this day. The strategy that I use for the WT is to look at the two study articles. The first study article is usually the set-up article. The second article contains the WT counsel for th R&F. I get a general ideal of the articles and then look at the paragraph about two-thirds into the second article. That paragraph contains the "zinger," or the reason why the articles were written. I then know what the R&F can and can't do.

  Zing! Exactly. This is my method to a tee. In 30 seconds, you know exactly what message the GB wants to send.

  2 hours of Watchtower study fluff, to get to a point which could be made in about 10 seconds. "Intellectual novacaine" is right!
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  3

  misquoting jesus

  by freefly in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am looking for comment from anyone that has read "misquoting jesus", as was going to purchase it to read.

  would it be helpful to my understanding of the bible, which is so far extremely different from my partner's who is studying to be baptised jw?

  in the bestseller 'misquoting jesus,' agnostic author bart ehrman picks apart the gospels that made a disbeliever out of him

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  sir82

  And here's another discussion from a month back or so:

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/105386/1.ashx
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  43

  "Deliverance at Hand" District Convention Invitation

  by Elsewhere in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  truthsetsonefree has provided spiritual food at the proper time by emailing me these scans.... this is the little hand-bill invitation for the next district convention that we've been hearing about.

  considering the fact that most jws never actually read such things before handing them out, i suspect that many people will be given these things but never actually told when and where the convention will be held!

  on the back it says: "the local congregation of jehovahs witnesses invites you to attend the convention that will be held at the time and location shown here.

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  sir82

  Cars, roads, electronics of any kind, and anything to do other than build a WTS barracks, pick fruit, or smell flowers.

  Well, they've got to be there somewhere!

  There's all that metal used for wheelbarrows, nails, belt buckles, rakes, etc. Which implies some sort of mass production.

  Then there's the factories that must be used to manufacture the billions of sets (all them resurrected folks) of clothing, shoes, farm implements, etc.

  Then you've got to have energy to produce to produce them, transport, them, distribute them, etc.

  And so son.

  It never ceases to amze me, in the pictures of "paradise", how much stuff they draw that requires 21st century "evil old world" levels of power, raw materials, technology, etc.
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  43

  "Deliverance at Hand" District Convention Invitation

  by Elsewhere in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  truthsetsonefree has provided spiritual food at the proper time by emailing me these scans.... this is the little hand-bill invitation for the next district convention that we've been hearing about.

  considering the fact that most jws never actually read such things before handing them out, i suspect that many people will be given these things but never actually told when and where the convention will be held!

  on the back it says: "the local congregation of jehovahs witnesses invites you to attend the convention that will be held at the time and location shown here.

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  sir82

  I've got $20 that says quite a few JWs will fail to write in the convention date and location!

  Ho ho! You underestimate the ability of the Society to micro-manage!

  There is a BOE letter from last month, epxressly directing the elders to inform the publishers that nothing is to be handwritten on these invititations. It would "detract from the dignity of the message" or some such nonsense.

  Elders are to prepare either pre-printed labels with the convention dates and address, or have them printed on the invitations themselves.

  You'll really love this: OfficeMax has a corporate discount program with the Society, and they have decided, per another BOE letter, to extend this discount to the congregations as well. The BOE letter itself is primarily a compendium of OfficeMax prices for labels, with details on size, quantity, and price (bigger discounts if you order more!)

  I'll see if I can get a scan of the letters.

  What's that common refrain - "follow the money"?
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  17

  607 vs 586 - Why should WTS care?

  by james_woods in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  of course, there must have been a thousand threads on this debate.. having read a few of them, i say who cares?

  particularly, the society?

  ok, so lets say it really was 21 years later than they thought...but using their same (flawed) chronology theory:.

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  sir82

  Hmm, I never thought of this before...

  It might actually be in the Society's best interest to move the date to 586 BCE, which moves the "End of the Gentile Times" to 1935.

  1919 springs from 1918, which is "3 and a half times" after 1914. I forget the exact 1918 --> 1919 details.

  Using the same twisted logic, 1935 leads to 1939 and then 1940.

  One could argue that Christ "selected" the F&DS in 1940 rather than 1919, because most of the core doctrines that JWs still hold to were in place by then. The theology of Fred Franz was more firmly in place by then.

  Things that were "wrong" or different in 1919, that had been changed by 1940:

  -- Name "Jehovah's Witnesses" selected

  -- doctrine of the "Great Crowd" finalized, "heavenly calling" essentially shut off

  -- celebration of Christmas, birthdays, other holidays proscribed

  -- Firmer stance on neutrality re: politics, warfare

  -- "Theocratic" rather than democratic organization of congregations

  -- Emphasis on door to door preaching

  Some creative type on the GB could have all kinds of fun working out a new theology.

  Wait a minute, what am I saying? "GB" and "creative" don't belong in the sme sentence.