today's sunday, claremont, nh eagle times has an interesting article on jws - inspired in part by a quick build kingdom hall going up this weekend in rockingham, vt.. here's the link: eagle times article october 23, 2005. i thought the article was good, but may have gone a bit easy on the witnesses.
no mention of witness shunning, the dateline expose, silentlambs, the blood issue, witness beliefs, etc.
also a bit confusing is the assertion of the tremendous growth rate at the same time that the article states that baptisms have dropped off 33% in the us since the mid-90s (holy shit!
Seeker4, not everyone who writes the newspaper is going to announce that they did that. Also, not everyone who posts here has a life situation that lends to making themselves public. I happen to know a couple of news editors who are Jehovah's Witnesses. I am not DFd or DAd and I do not intend to get that way by writing anything more than anonymous replies to the news media for right now.
AuldSoul
im brand new here, just signed up today.
i have more questions than i can remember.
i was very excited to see that other witnesses have so many questions just as i do.
had2bhime, I am familiar with and respect most of the teachings of the Quran, however I don't derive my beliefs from them. My beliefs are shaped by what I know of God personally and what I read of God in history, legend, and myth. Eternity is a very long time. I do not believe there is an individual so vile within their tiny short little lives that they could possibly merit an eternity of damnation for their iniquities. But I have met a few who should roast nicely for a while.
Again, welcome. Please share your (tentative) answers to your questions. What are you thinking the answers are (or probably are)?
AuldSoul
today's sunday, claremont, nh eagle times has an interesting article on jws - inspired in part by a quick build kingdom hall going up this weekend in rockingham, vt.. here's the link: eagle times article october 23, 2005. i thought the article was good, but may have gone a bit easy on the witnesses.
no mention of witness shunning, the dateline expose, silentlambs, the blood issue, witness beliefs, etc.
also a bit confusing is the assertion of the tremendous growth rate at the same time that the article states that baptisms have dropped off 33% in the us since the mid-90s (holy shit!
Did you guys catch this in the side bar:
In 1888, Russell began writing what is now known as the Studies in the Scriptures, a sacred text. Russell died in October of 1916, leaving Joseph Franklin Rutherford with a solid foundation for the group we now call the Jehovah’s Witnesses. It was under Rutherford, in 1931, that the name “Jehovah's Witnesses” was adopted.
LOL! Where to start? Studies in the Scriptures are sacred to JWs? Since when? The foundation was left to Rutherford, or stolen for him?
AuldSoul
im brand new here, just signed up today.
i have more questions than i can remember.
i was very excited to see that other witnesses have so many questions just as i do.
Welcome!
— Is the Quran the truth or is it just stolen ideas from other religions put together by a mad man or a man who was quite possibly visited by a demon rather than an angel?
Another alternative is that the writings are the work of his disciples and they got as close as they could to expressing what they understood his teachings to be. That is what happened to Buddha and to Jesus.
— Are the JW the only ones who acknowledge the name of god and use it in their religion?
Absolutely not. The Authorized Version of the Bible included the name in four places, if it wasn't acknowledged or used by other religions it would be anywhere besides in JW literature. But the name of God is YHWH, not Jehovah. The closest we can come to the divine name is the consonants.
— Why are the "elders" allowed to kick out or as i feel "judge" another witness?
Because the Governing Body said they can. Why can the Governing Body grant that authority? Because the Governing Body says it can.
— Is it really logic to think that a loving and caring god would condemn his creation to hell?
In my opinion? Not for an unending time. But for an unspecified time, sure. Not very different from the way those in Sodom and Gomorrah died, actually.
— What is the closest religion to the truth other than JW?
Christianity. The same would be my answer if you had asked about LDS, Catholicism, Lutheranism, Baptist or any other organized religion that claims to be Christian. Christ didn't have a structured organization. C.T. Russell actively preached against developing any organization and in favor of an open and interacting association of Christians.
But, these are only my answers. What are your answers?
AuldSoul
i've been asked that question, and since i've been out of it for years (and away from this forum for some time) i have no idea.
can someone give me the latest figures?
stan
As the Internet becomes more widely available this organization will die. There are active pushes to get access to the Internet widespread. Especially by the porn industry.
AuldSoul
a while back i did some online research on the mormons.
i came across some ex-mormons sites.
i was shocked to see that their exit stories and problems were almost the same!
I personally have no qualms with a doctrine that does not impose shunning but leaves such a decision to the individual. I have stomach enough for all sorts of people, but I recognize that even I would shun certain people and do so of my own free will.
I have no desire to become a friend to pedophiles, and if I found one starving who had a crust of bread in his hand I might just kick the bread away. My point is, I know people I would choose to have no dealings with. I would shun them, actively. But I will never let someone else decide who I must shun.
Not speaking in favor of LDS because I believe many of their bases for belief evidence too much trust in the sons of earthling men, but if there is no active doctrine of shunning that is enforced by threat of expulsion and shunning it isn't really the same. In the interests of fair-mindedness.
AuldSoul
a while back i did some online research on the mormons.
i came across some ex-mormons sites.
i was shocked to see that their exit stories and problems were almost the same!
dezpbem, I didn't realize they had rules on shunning, just excommunication. As far as I knew, it is fine for them to continue associating with those put out of the church.
AuldSoul
so then, as we examine the context of these verses we ask the question "when?".
42 "...you do not know on what day your lord is coming.
44 ...at an hour that you do not think to be it, the son of man is coming.
apoc, great work!
You might like to add a note that in their most recent publication "What Does the Bible Really Teach?" there is no mention of the Faithful and Discreet Slave at all. It may be that preparations are underway to separate from that doctrine except in a purely historical context. It is sensible on their part to do so, since obviously all who claim to be anointed will be dead long before their looked for "end of this old wicked system."
AuldSoul
hey everyone,.
as you can see im new here, and like every new person im trying to sort alll this jw stuff out.
i have no idea where to start, but here goes.. i first started questioning all this when 'a brother' in the congregation sexually abused one of my best friends family members, he did not get disfellowshipped, but he got publicly reproved?!
Welcome!
I have bad news for you, lonelysam. Unless the molestation was witnessed by someone else, i.e. unless he was caught in the act, there is already at least one other person that reported this man molested them. For an accusation to be admitted aginst an elder there must be at least two witnesses. Sometimes, even that is deemed insufficient.
But, children who are molested rarely come forward with the charges. So how many more are there? It is criminal conduct. Did the elder body aid and abet the evasion of criminal prosecution?
But I am glad you are questioning deeply. Anyone who does, leaves eventually. The quicker they leave, the more of the rest of their life they win.
AuldSoul
source editor vandalizes church
new york, oct. 21 (upi) -- the editor of the source magazine admitted to vandalizing a jehovah's witness assembly hall in new york's harlem neighborhood.
dasun allah, editor of the hip-hop magazine, told the new york post he "tagged" the building to expose the religion's "hypocrisy.
Probably, "607 BC ?"
and
"UN/DPI and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society"
