Yea I just read that artcile myself and got pissed off. I think this is the first time they have blatantly said attending college is "dead works."
I'll tell you what a "dead work" is: pioneering.
daniel-p
JoinedPosts by daniel-p
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April 15, WT: Education, personal fulfillment leads to spiritual death
by truthseeker inthe 2nd study article, "let your hands be strong", is very pointed to say the least.
it seems that many dubs are finding personal fulfillment outside the kingdom hall, and this is clearly a sin leading to spiritual death.. i leave blondie to do the full review, just some interesting comments... .
pg 27, paragraph 11 .
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daniel-p
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BETHEL NEWS: Bethel Elder Arrangement to be dissolved as of Aug. 31, 2006
by Elsewhere inhere is some news from a source within one of the wts branches:
hot news from todays morning worship announcement worldwide -- letter from gb being read on 1st of march 2006 to every branch (hopefully we will have a copy of the letter soon.).
as of aug. 31, 2006 the bethel elder arrangement will be dissolved!
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daniel-p
In continuing my comment from above, Bethel Elders are specifically used to oversee the spritual environment within their respective departments. Imagine Bethel not only being made up of individual departments as production units, but those departments also being, in effect, congregations. Each department is run like a congregation, with the overseers always being Bethel Elders, and the Bethel Elders often being overseers or assistant overseers. Long timers are often Bethel Elders, without doing much, sort of like the 'good ol' buddy' system on the outside. Some Bethel Elders are younger men - but no younger than 27 or 28, and even then, it's rare.
When they say they are eliminating the Bethel Elder "arrangement" it means a lot. Imagine if they announced that there were no more elders in the congregations! Simply put, there must be some other system of internal spiritual governance that they will implement. One of the frustrations of living at Bethel is the fact that you have two sets of elders overseeing you: your cong. and your dept., likely this will be seen as another "simplification," involving the Bethelites more with their respective congregations. And realistically speaking, it doesn't make much sense to have "Bethel Elders" if you have regular elders on the outside and overseers on the inside. -
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What's your favourite movie of all time?
by deeskis inwe had a weekend away a couple of weeks ago.
i took a few classic dvd's along in case the weather turned sour.. so i watched ghost with demi moore, that pottery scene has to be one of my favourite ever..........gives me goosebumps!
but it's not my favourite movie of all time/ i'm embarrassed to admit it, but ok i will, cause i'm with friends!
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daniel-p
Here's my top movie list:
Godfather
Godfather Part II
Amadeus
It's a Wonderful Life
Chinatown
Sunset Boulevard
... yea I could go on and on, but I guess that's my top 6. -
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BETHEL NEWS: Bethel Elder Arrangement to be dissolved as of Aug. 31, 2006
by Elsewhere inhere is some news from a source within one of the wts branches:
hot news from todays morning worship announcement worldwide -- letter from gb being read on 1st of march 2006 to every branch (hopefully we will have a copy of the letter soon.).
as of aug. 31, 2006 the bethel elder arrangement will be dissolved!
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daniel-p
I thought I would add some info for those who may still wonder what Bethel elders really do:
We are all familiar with the role of an elder in a congregation - well, a Bethel elder not only serves on the body of elders in his outside congregation, but also serves on an elder committee within the department in which he serves. So if there is some problem in the department and it doesn't have something to do with routine work, (i.e. someone needs counsel or discipline) someone on that committee handles the matter. This committee can also function as the judicial committee in case a Bethelite has done something to warrant disfellowshipping or reproval.
So, the role of a Bethel elder is much more than just a second tier of service. It means much more - if they are eliminating this provision within Bethel, it makes me wonder what may come next. I see it as all very odd. -
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JW says he loves to see bad things happen
by yaddayadda inhere's what a jw said over on the moronic discussion board at www.jehovahsjudgment.co.uk (under a thread entitled 'speculation') .
"not me...i like to live on the edge.
the more the merrier.
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daniel-p
I ashamed to admit this... but a few years ago I felt the same way. When I saw 9/11 I was more excited than sad. Only until I almost had my own life snatched from me the day before my wedding did I really wake up and realize how precious life is.
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What was the nastiest house you got invited into?
by Virgochik inwe actually has a study with a disabled elderly couple living in a trailor.
it was wall to wall filth, rat infested and smelled awful.
i was a child, but mom and dad brought me along anyway.
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daniel-p
^^^ HOLY ****!!!!!
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daniel-p
This debate between wether WalMart is good or bad is a very deep one with a long history. There are MANY issues at stake here, and I have done a lot of research about this issue because of the profession I am going in to. On one hand, it is an issue of "good ol' American values" and the wonders of economies of scale and capitalism and on the other hand, its just a matter of how and where they build. Studies have shown that a WalMart does impact those general "mom and pop" stores nearby, but not if they offer stellar service and have some stock that Wal-Mart doesn't have.
Then there is the issue of employment. Some say that Wal-Mart is a bad employer, while I tend to believe this has more to do with store management rather than corporate management. While the jobs are not "career" jobs (unless you have at least a 4-year college degree), they do offer opportunities to those with little educational background. While Wal-Mart may not pay "living wages," who else does in the retail world? It is uncommon, but not unheard of. For example, Costco pays living wages and has relatively generous benefits. So there is that issue, but to me, it does not prove that Wal-Mart is inherently bad. The fact is they do offer a lot of jobs to those who may have touble getting employment elsewhere.
Third, and the most important issue to me, is land use. Wal-Mart has the potential to greatly impact circulation (traffic), stormwater runoff, and aesthetics, just to name a few. Wal-Mart may not pose the kind of development options a community wants. Most cities generally fight over who gets the big-box retailers because of the enormous sales tax potential they have. But more and more, they are experiencing more resitance to their pattern of development. In more cases recently, they are willing to work with cities and even the community on how their development can fit in with the community in which they want to build a store. in the future, expect Wal-Marts to give up on the "big-box" form they currently have, as they move into more urbanized areas. This will be good for future uses, because if and when a store closes its doors, the building will hopefully not create a big dead-zone with a sea of a vacant parking lots.
As far as where I stand on the issue, I do not dislike all Wal-Mart development. However, I do dislike it when they take advantage of a community and tell half-truths about what to expect and refuse to work with they city in conforming their form to local cultural and historical values. The most important issue to me though, and the only valid one in my opinion, is their current pattern of development. If they could just take more care in how and where they build these places I think they would experience less resistance, certainly from the cities' and counties' side of the matter. -
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What was the nastiest house you got invited into?
by Virgochik inwe actually has a study with a disabled elderly couple living in a trailor.
it was wall to wall filth, rat infested and smelled awful.
i was a child, but mom and dad brought me along anyway.
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daniel-p
"It is amazing that no one ever bothered to help them clean up their homes."
Well, i remember one family that had a horribly dirty and cluttered home and the congregation organized several cleanup days for them. They never went over too well, of course, they didn't really want any help. I had one friend who was one of their children and I would pick him up for work sometimes. Oh my goodness, I couldn't even walk in the house. There were boards, bags of trash, junk of all kinds - you name it - strewn about the house everywhere. THe youngest kid slept in the closet because his bedroom was storage for ceiling-high junk. The older brother slept on the couch in a sitting position because his room was full of junk and the couch was too. The bathroom had more used tissue on the floor than it did in the wastebasket. I guess this is due to some sort of mental illness - but it's weird because they seemed reasonably normal to me. Anyway, my point is, we all tried to help them clean their house but it was no use. -
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"Neutrality" is Nonsense
by metatron ini have observed some people drifting away from the watchtower who will acknowledge that most witness beliefs are false.. however, they may still cling to "neutrality" as a means of assuring themselves that "it's still the truth".
the witness idea of neutrality is naive.
as entire nations now mobilize for wars, the idea that you are somehow 'not part of it'.
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daniel-p
Of course you refer to Hitler - where a counteraction was clearly necessary - but what about all the hundreds of other wars and conflicts that have neither a "good" or "bad" side? In those cases it is a war of philosophies, where both sides rationalize any course of action to defend what they think is right - in your words: "freedom." People like you have relagated the word "freedom" to a meaningless catchphrase designed to elicit an emotional response. But do you understand that a lot of people on the other side of the world think we are the ones enslaved to an economic system that keeps us easily controlled. How many worshipers of Islam do you personally know?
My point is, remove yourself from the clutches of emotion and look at it from an outside point of view. Humans - the most advanced species on planet Earth, still can't get beyond the point of using their resources to destroy each other. In that sense, we are not advanced at all. In ten thousand years there will be no human life as we know it. We have built up entirely non-sustainable systems as our foundation and the laws of nature will soon level us out. And you worry about "freedom." Freedom and religion are not important. -
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Do you still believe?
by Chimene ini have found a lot of people no longer believe in god or jesus since leaving the organization.. im very shocked at this.
if you dont believe, can you tell me what brought to that conclusion?.
i was told to look at the thread that one of the members in this forum has created, they are very interesting, but i wanted to get a some feed back from different individuals.. thanks!
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daniel-p
"So far I have not found any solid proof that the bible is inspired of god. As such I have lost faith entirely in the concept of "God" and "Jesus" in the traditional Christian sense.
However, I do believe in "higher power" who I refer to as the goddess."
So you trade one unsupportable belief for another?