careful

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Posts by careful

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  14

  Question on the Special Order... document and its implications

  by careful in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  several times on this forum posts have been made about the "order of special full-time servants" in the wts and the document that must be signed by those entering it, bethelites, cos, and so on.

  the reason given for the whole thing has usually been for tax purposes, that by signing this document full-timers become exempt from taxation by belonging to this special group.

  basically then, end of story.. however, there is a clause in said document stating that any money made by the full-time worker beyond the allowance given by the society has to be turned over to the society.

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  careful

  Several times on this forum posts have been made about the "Order of Special Full-time Servants" in the WTS and the document that must be signed by those entering it, Bethelites, COs, and so on. The reason given for the whole thing has usually been for tax purposes, that by signing this document full-timers become exempt from taxation by belonging to this special group. Basically then, end of story.
  

  However, there is a clause in said document stating that any money made by the full-time worker beyond the allowance given by the Society has to be turned over to the Society. One post here (sorry, can't find the thread now) told about some missionaries or special pioneers who made some money by teaching English in countries where the preaching work is banned. All profits made in this way then had to be turned over to the Society per the terms of the Special Order document.

  What about those full-timers who receive independent income while in the circuit work or at Bethels? Are those who collect retirement income or social security, or have some investment or other income required to turn that money over? Not all Bethelites are dirt-poor, especially among the older ones. Some brothers with families work full-time at a job for years, and when their kids grow up, they become pioneers and then enter the circuit work, living off the retirement program they paid into while working at their secular jobs. Others wind up "being called to Bethel." Does anyone have any reliable info on this matter of having to sacrifice their independent income? Has the GB become so money hungry that even this source has wound up being "collected"?
  
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  5

  $345 million - Kushner purchases 85 Jay St

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  jared kushner closes on another dumbo heights property.

  jared kushner has another jehovah’s witnesses site in his company’s development pocket.on tuesday, the former kushner companies (now called simply “kushner”), along with asher abehsera’s livwrk and the cim group, closed on a $345 million purchase of 85 jay st. in the same dumbo neighborhood as the jehovah’s witnesses’ watchtower real estate.bob knakal acted as a consultant to watchtower’s in-house group.now a parking lot, the full block can host an as-of-right 1.1-million- square-foot mixed-use development.“this site has tremendous upside, and we’re looking forward to developing a project that will further enhance the area and help strengthen connections between the dumbo heights campus and the waterfront,” said laurent morali, president of kushner..

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  careful

  Thanks.
  
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  12

  Why was corruption of scriptures not prevented?

  by anointed1 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  many bracketed portions in the scriptures, influence of foreign myths and unscientific teachings … etc show that scriptures have been corrupted.

  even when they are not corrupted, religious teachings have often no effect even on direct disciples (when jesus was teaching, his immediate disciples were thinking about who was going to be first in the organization—something that happened in all religions which led into their infighting and divisions).

  at the same time there are many good people among materialists, why?

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  careful

  For a theist, I do not see how meteors crashing into planets belittle anything about the Creator. Phenomena like meteors, black holes in space, erupting volcanoes, vicious and/or poisonous animals, destructive storms/tornadoes, and so on, are all part of the Creator's handiwork, correct? Ignoring such common phenomena or downplaying them is precisely the sort of thing that has historically turned off thinking people to belief in God. Before using such reasoning as the order in the natural world to argue for the existence (or even the benevolence) of God, should you not prepare an answer for the contrary data as well?

  At least one person above has assumed you were once a Witness who left, like so many (though not all) here. I do not know your personal history, but if that assumption is so, and if you found out how corrupt the WT organization is, then why would you want to imitate the shallow reasoning that they display in arguing for divinity by some supposedly positive facets of creation while ignoring other facets of nature that do not fit in their/your model?
  
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  12

  Why was corruption of scriptures not prevented?

  by anointed1 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  many bracketed portions in the scriptures, influence of foreign myths and unscientific teachings … etc show that scriptures have been corrupted.

  even when they are not corrupted, religious teachings have often no effect even on direct disciples (when jesus was teaching, his immediate disciples were thinking about who was going to be first in the organization—something that happened in all religions which led into their infighting and divisions).

  at the same time there are many good people among materialists, why?

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  careful

  I'm not sure how your post stays on the topic of your title—you seem to wander off quite a bit as the post goes along(?)—but as for your title, it is important that believers recognize the human element in the writing of scripture, something the WTS and other religious conservatives do not really do. Even if one wishes to view the content of the Bible as divine, the books themselves were written and preserved down through time by very fallible human beings. That is a weighty factor in the corruption you bring up in your title.

  Your other points seem a bit "corrupt" themselves: when the meteor that crashed into what is now rural Arizona many years ago and destroyed the lives of countless pretty, fragrant plants, innocent "nice" animals, and perhaps humans, was that an example of that object of space "keeping to their orbits just like vehicles follow lane-discipline on a busy express highway (as though submitting themselves to some unseen authority)"? Examples of other natural phenomena behaving in unpleasant ways (lions brutally tearing apart deer or other "nice" prey, poisons of certain reptiles and insects slowly tormenting those infected with their toxins to death, erupting volcanos scorching all beings in their paths, naturally occurring toxic gases choking animals and humans, and so on) can also be cited. The natural world is full of such things. What sort of "unseen authority" do these things demonstrate?

  BTW, I am a theist/believer, a deeply thinking one.
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  17

  Is the watchtower preparing the rank and file here?

  by Thisismein1972 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://jwtalk.net/forums/topic/28736-that-most-beautiful-of-2015-videos-is-now-live/.

  above is a link (if you can stomach it) from jwtalk.

  have a look at the comments.

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  careful

  A few thoughts:

  1. Perhaps this phrase "The Storm" for Armageddon is based on Prov. 3:25 and the thought in Job 38:22-23?

  2. One thing these WT videos have done is depict more graphically than ever before what the official line is on how Armageddon will come, and what the new order will look like. For example, the much discussed Bunker video shows what they think the end of this world will be like, even if just partially. Then the vid linked here helps us see how they think the world will be like afterward—a diet almost exclusively of fruit (VERY heavily doted on in the vid). Not only was merely one loaf of bread shown, but no veggies at all, and, of course, no meat. A friendly elephant and giraffe are there but no playful hyenas, Gila monsters, or wolverines! Black mambas, crocs, polar bears, bull sharks—are they all supposed to eat hay?
  
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  11

  How long until some of the Biblical apocrypha will be inserted into the WT teachings?

  by nonjwspouse in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have read through some of these, though not in complete, but enough to see some of these writings could fit into the wt views, such as arian beliefs of jesus.

  it would also help separate themselves quite a bit from "christiandom" and their bible.

  the "new light" of books not accepted in the canon.

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  careful

  Not quite sure what you mean by Apocrypha. Do you mean the books of the Septuagint that are not accepted in the canon by traditional Jews and Protestants, but are by Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox churches?

  I remember a WT QFR back in the 50s or 60s that asked whether Jehovah had a hand in restoring the temple during the Maccabean revolt in the 160s BC (recorded in 1 and 2 Maccabees). Freddie Franz wrote the reply, clear from his strange writing style. What he said was that the temple had to be standing in order for the prophecies about Jesus to be fulfilled. I don't recall him citing or quoting any specific passages from 1 or 2 Macc., but it may be the closest the WT publications have come to utilizing the Apocrypha in any sort of "positive" way. I also remember reading in the WT publications, much later than the above QFR, some author putting down some of the elements in the book of Tobit as superstition. The context was a general condemnation of the Apocrypha as a whole.
  

  You seem to think that there are some passages in the Apocrypha that the GB could use "to keep up the Organization and the $ flowing in." What part of the Apocrypha do you have in mind that would help them do this???
  
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  15

  So when will the Society produce a comedy video on JWorg?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so according to 1 tim 1:11 jehovah is supposed to be a "happy god".. so when will we see "his people" produce a comedy video of some sort for the website?.

  if you could propose an idea or storyline, what would it be?.

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  careful

  Stuck, what have you been smoking?
  
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  32

  Have any ex-jws considered joining the Bible Students?

  by Rainbow_Troll in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  their fundamental beliefs are much like jehovah's witnesses sans the paranoia, authoritarianism, stifling rules, and end-times enthusiasm.

  you don't even have to become a bible student to be saved, you could be an idol worshipping heathen and still get resurrected in the milenium.

  if i still believed in the divine inspiration of the scriptures, i would be a bible student.

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  careful

  Thanks, Vdh7, for the info. So is Jim Penton in Illinois? I had heard that he had moved to Mexico and then back to Canada.
  
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  12

  Article: A Look at Canada's 12 Most Wanted Fugitives (Look who is #2)

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/a-look-at-canadas-12-most-wanted-fugitives.

  december 6, 2016. by sam cooley.

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  careful

  Might the guy be dead, having been killed by someone who had personal vendetta against him for hurting some kid who was dear to the killer? Or perhaps McLean just pissed off the wrong criminal in the shadowy world of fugitives?
  
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  32

  Have any ex-jws considered joining the Bible Students?

  by Rainbow_Troll in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  their fundamental beliefs are much like jehovah's witnesses sans the paranoia, authoritarianism, stifling rules, and end-times enthusiasm.

  you don't even have to become a bible student to be saved, you could be an idol worshipping heathen and still get resurrected in the milenium.

  if i still believed in the divine inspiration of the scriptures, i would be a bible student.

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  careful

  SBF, if you look at this link from four years ago and scroll through it, you'll see multiple announcements of local and national meetings here in the USA:

  http://www.bbschurch.org/news/2012/Mar_2012.pdf
  

  It looks like they are doing at least moderately well. They are definitely Bible Student types, even with Russell's cross and crown logo.