Posts by careful

I'm sure they'd love overlapping donations! Wait a minute... isn't that what they've been doing? Hmmm... is this a planned subliminal thing? Teach them overlapping generations and hope it will go over into overlapping donations?

19

Funny grammar error in German Watchtower

by processor in

they seem to have laid off their proofreaders.

in the new 03/2016 study watchtower there is a picture description:a mature young person does not act like a friend of god at the kingdom hall but a friend of the world at school.

the german issue saysein reifer junger mensch verhalt sich im konigreichssaal nicht wie ein freund jehovas und in der schule wie ein freund der welt.

careful

You never translated "und" which means "and." That makes a difference here.

42

How Many JWs Really Believe Everything They Are Told?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i think that 80% of jws do not truly believe in what they are taught .

the vast majority stay in because of family, friends, ignorance and a lack of caring about any of the facts regarding the "truth".

many people are lazy.

careful

I don't know about 80%. That means only 20% do believe and I recall that more than 20% really WANT to believe that every utterance coming from the F&DS's mouth was from Jehovah himself. I think there are more than 20% among the many spinsters and widows, more than 20% among the pioneers, and certainly far more than 20% among the elders. I can recall countless times I saw bumbling elders not understanding how to govern locally, going to the CO or Service Department for advice, not understanding the reasons for the advice and so saying, "Well, I don't understand what's going on, but I know Jehovah deals with me thru his organization. I'll do whatever they say." Hmmm...

7

One possibility…?

by careful in

tornintwo's recent topic spurred me finally to post an idea i've been thinking about.

i don't see the gb as being financially greedy.

yes, they enjoy numerous perks like having their physical needs met by servants, jetting around the planet, living in a greater degree of comfort than fellow bethelites, getting frequent and sometimes expensive gifts from the r&f, etc.

careful

Tornintwo's recent topic spurred me finally to post an idea I've been thinking about. I don't see the GB as being financially greedy. Yes, they enjoy numerous perks like having their physical needs met by servants, jetting around the planet, living in a greater degree of comfort than fellow bethelites, getting frequent and sometimes expensive gifts from the R&F, etc. Tornintwo's comment that the GB members each work, likely hard in their own eyes, is real. While they run the religion like a corporate business, very problematic in many people's eyes (including mine), they do not act like the wealthy executives in major corporations with multiple homes, grossly flamboyant lifestyles, contacts with powerful politicians, etc.

I realize, on the other hand, that they are pretty dumb, like Vidquin put it in another post here "seven simpletons that have no clue" when it comes to theology or financial matters. Hence an idea that I've been throwing around. What if the GB made a major blunder in investing the millions they have at their disposal? That is, they lost millions in some bad venture that they thought, in their limited abilities, would yield a big return. Wouldn't their reaction in such a case be what we are witnessing? The desperation, the blundering attempts to hide their own stupid actions, the cover ups that they are so used to using that such maneuvers have become institutionalized practice?

So my request is this: does anyone here, possibly with contacts inside the secretive walls of bethel, have any info regarding this suspicion? If not, would anyone with such contacts make request and see if there's any substance to such a speculation?

Thanks in advance.

63

Why does the Watchtower leadership slap its own defenders in the face?

by slimboyfat in

take the case of rolf furuli.

i don't think there has been a specific thread on the hebrew verbs u-turn in the nwt, and how the society has responded to the work of perhaps their brightest and ablest defender in their history.

so here goes.. rolf furuli has defended jws on multiple fronts in many different settings, on issues ranging from chronology, mental health, doctrines, bible translation and the blood issue.

careful

SBF, I don't know what Furuli would say to your OP. I doubt if he would visit this website, unless he began to have doubts like so many here have. I do not know the man and I've never read his stuff (nor would I wish to). From what little secondhand info I've got on him, he seems like the typical JW apologists who filter all objective data thru their "the GB is God's sole mouthpiece" mindset. That will, of course, leave them unable to ever call the GB wrong about anything. Hence my earlier comment on this thread. I suppose they would have supported Miracle Wheat, the pyramids, Beth Sarim, the superior authorities of Rom. 13:1 being Jehovah and Jesus, organ transplants being cannibalism, blood fractions being unacceptable until they were OKed, etc. And they would have rationalized them all just like I stated Furuli likely did regarding his position on Hebrew verb meanings.

As for Forster and Wörnhard, here's what I've got on them. I learned of the former thru a member of this forum. I was surprised that he existed, but after looking over his website, I realized that, doctrinally speaking, he has stayed away from anything controversial that might get him into trouble with the org. One major question I have with Foster is that he teaches at a clearly religious college---what about Rev. 18:4? The latter is listed as a major elder who gave some sort of special talk that I saw years ago in a list of recorded talks that circulate so much in the Witness world. I think it said he was from the Italian bethel. He's also listed a s a consultant on Patrick Jamois's LinkedIin page, a guy who's clearly a Witness (https://ch.linkedin.com/in/patrick-jamois-74baa349). Then there are those links I put up in the earlier comment, ones which show he has genuine academic credentials. Like Foster, Wörnhard's research is on the church centuries after earliest Christianity, another nice, safe topic from the org's perspective.

If you know of anything of substance regarding Furuli's disagreements with the GB's views, I'd like to hear them. Is he an elder? He can't be too disloyal and be an elder. Do you know of any disagreement with WT theology or practice regarding Wörnhard? Wouldn't he too have had to have obtained his "worldly" education in violation of WTS policy? Or perhaps he was a convert and got his education prior to becoming a Witness?

Have you had dealings with Foster or are you just making your "very intelligent fellow" comment based on his website? I'm curious if he's an elder in his congo or whether his personal pursuits have prevented him from reaching that coveted position in the org.

Vidquin, wow, you are really living in wonderland! You might as well say you imagine how different it would have been if the GB all joined a coven and worshiped the devil directly! Seriously though, your 3 h's comment is thought provoking, as are SBF's notion on the Mormons. I've always had some trouble equating the Witnesses and the Mormons, but I'm not sure exactly why. Perhaps one factor is that the LDS church does not have much problem with educated members disagreeing with their articles of faith, at least not like the WTS. The homosexual doctrine so much in the news lately is a minor exception that will probably not affect them much since the LDS R&F reject homosexuality on a big scale. It violates their marriage worship thing too greatly.

7

1934 Yearbook

by why144000 in

jw
friends

i have a number of old books and am looking at selling a few.

in particular i have all the old yearbooks (from 1927?

) and i was looking at selling the 1934 yearbook.

careful

Look on eBay to see if it's selling and what it's going for.

63

Why does the Watchtower leadership slap its own defenders in the face?

by slimboyfat in

take the case of rolf furuli.

i don't think there has been a specific thread on the hebrew verbs u-turn in the nwt, and how the society has responded to the work of perhaps their brightest and ablest defender in their history.

so here goes.. rolf furuli has defended jws on multiple fronts in many different settings, on issues ranging from chronology, mental health, doctrines, bible translation and the blood issue.

careful

Wow! What a thread, like Blues Brother has put it, this is like SBF's old threads. Thanks SBF for coming back in your old mode and posting insightful and intriguing material. Just curious: do you have a rich wife or are you retired? How do you find the time to do all this research?

Vidquin's observation is also spot-on: "Now their theology is driven by seven simpletons that have no clue." No wonder they are in theological and financial trouble!

While the thread seems to have gone off on several tangents, SBF's original thought is worthwhile. People like Furuli probably see no contradiction in their behavior regarding things like this because their overall theological belief is that the WTS leadership as embodied in the GB trumps everything else. He may not feel any hurt or any sense of lost validity over his defense having been cast aside, but he may indeed view the whole thing as God's direction, as done "at the proper time." Unless Furuli would ever begin to question that overriding key assumption of the F&DS, I doubt that he would feel any betrayal here. In fact, in some way that may seem strange to us, Furuli may feel blessed by having been used by Jehovah because "that was the thinking then, brother"!

Now on this tangent of the revised NWT:
Does anyone know if Edgar Foster and/or Max Wörnhard were/are on the revised NWT committee? They are supposed to have formal training in biblical languages as well as university positions.

http://fosterheologicalreflections.blogspot.com
http://www.kps.unibe.ch/forschung/
https://ch.linkedin.com/in/max-wörnhard-24b48917

22

Recent announcement on literature placements

by dbq407 in

i find it interesting that the other night they announced that literature is not to be left indiscriminately.

they said to only leave literature if the householder engages you in conversation.

it used to be that they would try to get any literature into every hand of every person.

careful

keep their supposed numbers of placement up

Indeed, like those crazy "doorstep Bible studies" and the infant baptism they are working so hard to introduce.