i've always wondered about this.
i've always felt the main reason the borg made publishers do time slips/field service reports was to show that they are doing a community service to justify their tax exempt status.
we all know about their money grabs with the kh build scams, their selling off millions of dollars in real estate, etc.
I think it needs to come when all religion have tax exempt status revoked.
Tax is only on the profits that an organisation makes, not their revenue. If a religion is making large profits, it is an indication it is hoarding its donations, therefore I can see no reason it should not be taxed. Any legitimate group that is putting money back into the community through charitable works does not need to be concerned with paying excessive taxes.
jws feel that their strength lies in the power of bible to foretell.
however, an impartial analysis would show that bibles prophecies are too general, and yet some of the major developments in the world scene were not figured in its propheciesespecially those that are very much needed for what it calls last days.
to mention a few:.
Yes the Bible only mentions things common in local area and were already common, such as famine and war.
It fails completely to discuss the dangers happening in other parts of the world, such as cyclones and floods. Or future events such as nuclear or chemical warfare, terrorism, and global warming.
one of the things that gave me confidence in life was that i believed i had the almighty creator/god watching over me, directing me, guiding my every step, protecting me from harm, and answering my prayers.
i now know that is not the case anymore.
i finally stopped praying.
let's pretend this might happen.
im not asking what it will mean for the jdubs or for the organization, but what will it mean for you---- if one day you wake up and the watchtower drops the 1914 doctrine.. (you know at some point they have to, but probably not our lifetime).
if you are disfellowshipped or disassociated and have been shunned by your parents, by your children, by you spouse or ex-husband/wife, for years or even less, will you call your relatives and ask/tell them;.
I had discussions with my family before I was d/f and it was not logic that held them in, but rather their own insecurities.
I would not bother talking to them about it. They would be annoyed that I was gloating at them, but will have found a way to reconcile the changes.
It won't make a difference to most, unless there are some other emotional or doctrinal issues already disturbing them.
as i am newly awoken, i am daily having epiphanies & revelations now.
i've been casually wondering to myself since the propagandist broadcast about the name "jehovah" if it would be more proper to call him "yahweh" to myself.
well tonight the answer suddenly came to me: it doesn't matter.
Spot on. I would never have called my father by his first name, that would have been very disrespectful. Neither is Jesus ever recorded as using God's name, but rather terms like father.
check his signature... it looks kind of childish/feminine (at least in my part of the world)... is this a grown man's signature for you?.
http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/downloadfile.ashx?guid=9d0ca1dc-1bd6-41c4-9cfc-b1d616d1cc65&type=exhibit&filename=stat.0670.001.0001&fileextension=pdf.
Conveniently omitting the OT passages that mention female judges like Deborah...
Very important point.
Also with the discussion on Deuteronomy 22, typical Watchtower reasoning. This reasoning follows normal Watchtower process of introducing doctrine with a "clearly, no doubt, we will assume, a true christian would realise ...." They basically say let us assume the two witness rule was to be followed, such as he confessed.
ok, i was reading a story about fords new ford gt, one hot extreme muscle car.
the story tells about how a car like this normally takes 6 or more years from, first scratches on paper to finished project.
their small handful of specialist, pulled it off in 2. and right until it was finished, no one out side of the small circle of people (about 25 people ) really knew anything, except something special was in the works!.
i do - actually, it's become close to unbearable.. and herein lies the paradox: i tried to fade in the illusion that i might keep contact with family and friends still "in".
was it worth it?
because not only most of them shun me anyways, but i find it almost unbearable to be around them, especially when the cult chit chat kicks in: every cute animal video clip triggers endless comments about glimpses of the future paradise and how "god did it"; those greasy praises to the organization and the governing body; the dumb awe about every jw broadcast and those cheesy music videos; the endless drivel against other religions when one knows perfectly well that we're no better than them; the endless flow of "experiences" of field service or spectacular conversions into "the truth"; the relentless congregation gossip; and so on .... i ask myself: is this why i am fading for ...?
this letter was sent to all congregations in ecuador (south america).. the translation into english of the letter:.
to body ofelders.
subject: publisher who did not report field service time in the second semester of service year.. dear brothers:.
so i had a discussion with my mother about this, and she claims that because of this that: "we are surely living in the last days right now" while i must admit myself that the situation seem chaotic, i don't want to believe that it is the last days.
so question is, how do i face an opinion like that?
