careful

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Posts by careful

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  7

  Commentary To Revelation

  by Kosonen in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hello, i have made a commentary to revelation chapters 1 to 22.. you can find that at my youtube channel in separate videos or by downloading an mp3 file for the whole thing from the link in the description in the video below.

  the mp3 file is 1 hour and 23 minutes long and i have used an ia voice reader to record it all.

  it reads so much better than me.

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  careful

  Have you considered checking out reality? You might find it a refreshing change.
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  8

  What happened to Juan Viejo2?

  by careful in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  he used to make such interesting comments and reports here, but his last post was 3 years ago.

  see the final post in this thread:.

  https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5767560678080512/dubs-going-back-kh-again-covid-19?page=2.

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  careful

  He used to make such interesting comments and reports here, but his last post was 3 years ago. See the final post in this thread:

  https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5767560678080512/dubs-going-back-kh-again-covid-19?page=2

  Is he still alive? Engaged with the community somewhere else? Anyone know?
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  35

  Visited the Russell gravesite yesterday

  by dropoffyourkeylee in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  wife and i visited the russell gravesite in allegheny (pittsburgh) pennsylvania yesterday.

  i’ll post photos if i can get them to upload on the hotel wifi..

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  careful

  Thanks, dropoffyourkeylee, for starting this thread and your recent pics, and truth seeker, for the old pics and updates. I remember visiting there many years ago when the pyramid was there. I don't suppose the local police have investigated the supposed vandalism? Doubtless they have more important matters to investigate.

  The bird turd on the top of the pyramid is funny, eh?

  dropoffyourkeylee & NotFormer, spot on! History is usually quite important—at least for insightful people.
  
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  22

  Article - New Zealand: Jehovah's Witnesses lose last ditch court case over abuse in care report

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/522908/jehovah-s-witnesses-lose-last-ditch-court-case-over-abuse-in-care-report?fbclid=iwzxh0bgnhzw0cmteaar1g3qvzxlojo2szcm6xlsf2tsc_0rehd4dp4i6rda6zxafplc_v2hzvvf4_aem_pztghhvtf5to8qsjtv3m0g.

  july 23, 2024. jehovah's witnesses lose last ditch court case over abuse in care report.

  jehovah's witnesses have failed in an eleventh hour attempt to block part of a lengthy report about abuse in care that is about them.. .

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  careful

  Is it just me and my misperceptions or are the GB so hell bent on keeping all this stuff hidden just to save face among non-Witnesses (like the justice/judge implied), that is, among "worldlings"? A PR concern?

  Or are they really more afraid that R&F faithful Witnesses will find out that the org leadership is not as squeaky clean as they have put forth for decades now? Aren't they more concerned that their "always right, even when non-believers would say wrong" façade will begin to crumble?

  Why else would they be investing a million bucks in futilely trying to stop the report?
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  10

  Apostates are still public enemy number one - WATCHTOWER August 2024

  by raymond frantz in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  https://youtu.be/rqyqibpnuos?si=zayoa2c-zvmj9_br.

  under the theme "help for those who are removed from the congregation" study article 35 in august 2024 wafchtower that deals with the many changes the organization introduced recenly we specifically look into paragraphs 14 and 15 that deal with the way that we now treat disfellowshipped ones, or more accurately removed ones , since this is the new term.

  and see how they still try to micromanage their members down to the finest detail and how still apostates and more accurately active apostates are public enemy number one.

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  careful

  SBF: I'll believe that only when I see it.

  You predicted certain things before on the forum that never came to pass, like the org's complete fall. Are you engaging in wishful thinking again? After all, the Pope might convert to Islam tomorrow at 2:00 PM GMT.
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  13

  JW Ranking System

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it's fairly evident to little old outsider me that the organisation has a class system, perhaps even a caste system.. from what i've read, there seems to not only be an official ranking system (m.s., elder, c.o.

  ) but an unofficial one.

  has anyone ever sat down to figure out what the unofficial ranks are and how they affect the pecking order?

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  careful

  Earnest: "I can only speak of the congregation I attended at the time, but they were all elderly people and were treated with respect but nothing more."

  My experiences were quite different. If someone from outside of the cong. was going to meet one of the professed anointed old timers, there was plenty of pre-discussion of the sort that no one else got. In one cong. one bro. on the BOE was professed anointed and he was regularly deferred to by all, not just at Memorial time. In another cong. I attended for one summer in the 1970s there was an old elder ("other sheep") who told me about a younger bro. who had begun partaking of the emblems. The elder thought it was terrible "since being of the real anointed is such a sacred thing." He felt this young bro. was blaspheming—no joke. He probably would have brought up judicial charges on him if he could have! Naturally he put those he felt were really anointed (pre-1935 baptism criterion at that time) on quite a pedestal.
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  51

  Interesting that the other cult-cousins are going thru nearly identical hemmoraging of members.....

  by WingCommander in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i still read on reddit.

  (though no longer post) occasionally, i'll venture over to the ex-seventh day adventist (sda) sub and catch up a bit.

  it's been a long time.

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  careful

  Some examples from non-Witness land:

  https://currentpub.com/2024/03/05/big-changes-at-trinity-international-university-trinity-evangelical-divinity-school-and-the-evangelical-free-church/

  https://kanahoma.substack.com/p/the-christian-college-crisis
  

  https://www.sdpb.org/education/2023-01-23/longterm-issues-to-close-doors-at-presentation-college

  https://cincyjewfolk.com/2024/04/19/how-to-close-a-campus-huc-jir-bleeds-money-while-cincinnati-pays-the-price/

  The church/synagogue/congregation members are simply not there to financially support the old program anymore. The youth are leaving; older ones are dying off; their worlds are shrinking.
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  26

  What was covered up in your congregation??

  by karter in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  family move to remote pacific island to serve were the need is great get a mention in the year book.. however one of the (married) boys in the large family has sex with his sister while his wife is in hospital giving birth to their child.

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  all hushed up not even a word said and hes now an elder d.fing people for lesser crimes.. young couple dating leave the jws and move in togather doing drugs partying ect.. his family grandfather,uncles, dad ect are all elders.. after a few years they decide to come back to the jws and are married in the k.h a few months latter.. 1 elder questions them getting married in the k.h and is voted down by his family.. to many drunks and c.s.a to mention.. karter..

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  careful

  Well, there were these two really nice, quite large, wall murals, one running the entire right side of the main hall and one running the entire left. One had that pretty bizarre wheel-within-a-wheel image from the Ezekiel vision (all shiny and sparkly from the "glow of burnished copper," "the sparkle of awesome ice," gemstones, "the appearance of fire all around," etc.), the other, a big picture of life in the new order with the typical happy people, in modern dress (of course!), playing with animals. The sister who created both put many hours, many days really, into painting them. Both were quite bright and made the KH stand out. Indeed, the hall was requested by Witnesses from elsewhere for weddings because of the unique decor of these pictures. The publishers loved them. Otherwise the KH was a pretty much a dull hall, like most of them.

  Then when they remodeled the KH, these murals were covered over. I complained to the elder who really ran the show about losing them. When I asked why, I was told, "We wouldn't want anyone being stumbled over them." Guess who was stumbled over "covering up" the pics? The sister who painted them! She dropped out entirely as she was already struggling with little kids and an opposing husband, and a very opposing and powerful-in-the-greater-community mother. I guess it was just too much for her.
• 
  13

  JW Ranking System

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it's fairly evident to little old outsider me that the organisation has a class system, perhaps even a caste system.. from what i've read, there seems to not only be an official ranking system (m.s., elder, c.o.

  ) but an unofficial one.

  has anyone ever sat down to figure out what the unofficial ranks are and how they affect the pecking order?

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  careful

  There are various unofficial rankings. In a recent letter leaked by Atlantis elders who were designated "able to handle complex matters" or some such term were to be listed by the CO. Obviously they would be used for appeal committees, special committees, etc. These often are the same ones chosen for parts on the circuit assemblies and regional meetings too. They have more status than regular elders who cannot "handle complex matters."

  Many large cities have one bro. designated as "city overseer." It's played down officially and he's really there to help out with assemblies and conventions, but I knew one well and he was called upon all the time by HQ when special needs arose. The point is that when he spoke out as just a regular elder, everyone knew he was more than that: "Bro. Smith is the city overseer." "Oh, really!" "Yeah." "Oh, I've got meet him!"

  If you hang out in different congs or travel around visiting them, you see certain ex-missionaries, ex-COs, past Bethelites, and current or past special pioneers, and these ones have more status/stature/standing than regular members do.

  Finally, "the anointed" receive quite exceptional status, with a real aura surrounding them. It used to be more so when there were those who went back to Russell's or Rutherford's time, but they're pretty much gone now. I'm not quite sure today how those who claim to be among the elect are viewed since there's so much doubt cast upon their really having validity as anointed, but among non-claiming cong. members those who buy into their claim, they will be on a huge pedestal.

  Hope this helps.
• 
  19

  Is There Some Sort of Campaign Going on?

  by NotFormer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a pair of young blokes came to my door @ 10am (ish) today (wednesday, if that matters).

  i opened the door a crack to : hi!

  just asking a question: do you think that the world is getting better or worse?*".

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  careful

  notformer,

  Funny observation on the preaching during Covid. I guess the safety of members getting ill trumped possible in-person contact in the ministry.

  In answer to your "Does D2D result in conversions any more? Even twenty years ago it was not looking like a very effective use of time," that's a fascinating question. Traditionally one factor has been the socio-economic area where the preaching takes place. A lower-class area has had a much better rate of "Bible studies"/conversions than a middle- or upper-class neighborhood. But even in those poorer areas, conversions has slowed greatly or even died out since the GB dictators decided to quash the emphasis on getting into conversations, and just tell the "faithful" to direct people to the WTS website. Now it is slowly dawning the GBers that it's time to go back to imitating Jesus and the first Christians in personally speaking to people, acting in a human-to-human manner.

  Again, DUUUHHHHH.