alanv

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Posts by alanv

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  11

  UK Bethel COs New Lock Down

  by Slidin Fast in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i hear that all wt payroll personal in the uk are now in full lockdown/sheilding mode until november..

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  alanv

  November is the month when JWs get reminded in the magazines of all the wonderful ways they can support the org financially.
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  17

  Zoom meetings, how long ?

  by Phizzy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was wondering two things, 1: how long in total are the zoom meetings, i presume the sunday one is the longest ?.

  and 2: if you use zoom for free, the session only lasts 40 minutes, so do they have an intermission so people can log back in, or are all jw's expected to pay for the "privilege" ?.

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  alanv

  I really cant see them getting rid of kingdom halls. They are the one way they can get guarranteed income worldwide. They build new halls with free labour then years lster sell them at a big profit, then it starts over again, after a short time
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  15

  Watchtower Sues to Keep Convention Videos Off Internet

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/07/20/mormonleaks-founders-pay/?fbclid=iwar31g8tcjkq3dtzxjx6mhinhqnk6fequaiwu_278zkhia6vmbyb6ha_jz28.

  so i guess the wt holds free public gatherings, but will sue anyone who publishes a video of the free speeches?

  what happened to advertise, advertise advertise the king and his kingdom?

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  alanv

  They dont want anybody checking and going over the material who is not a JW. When a JW watches the videos, they are not normally using any critical thinking, they just get emotionally attached to whatever is being said or shown. Nothing new here, but be interesting to see what actually happens.
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  21

  2020 Convention Friday Highlights: Information Control and Hypocrisy

  by neat blue dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  there's yet another talk to add to the list of talks written specifically for damage control against "apostates".

  the speaker says, "some who were once part of the christian congregation attempt to mislead us", that they tell "false accusations" & "lies".

  to combat this, he says that you should "protect your ears from damaging noise by not listening to it", comparing it to wearing "noise canceling headphones".

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  alanv

  Its so true, that we ex JWs dont need to speak our own opinions about things. All we have to do is quote what JWs own publications or talks say. Good example by Tony Morris. When we point out what Watchtower says, its very difficult for witnesses to use the arguemnent that we are speaking lies, because clearly we are not if it has previously been said by Watchtower.
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  13

  Phone Reverse Witnessing

  by Vanderhoven7 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i think this gal is incredible.

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  https://youtu.be/pbms453asdo.

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  alanv

  Bridget is totally amazing. Its great because she never was a JW, so straight away the JWs she talks to cant think of her as an apostate. She is never stuck for words, whereas the JWs simply have no sensable answers to her. I follow her on youtube and always look forward to her videos.
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  15

  J.W's and " but that is Pagan !".

  by Phizzy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  there have been a number of threads touching on this before, leolaia for one, back in the day when we had many an erudite poster, showed the pagan origins of many things, including the passover , and by extension, the jw " memorial".. what prompted my thought on this was a conversation i had the other day with a young lady, never a jw, who said the jw stance on birthday celebrations, was groundless and cruel.. i thought later that jw's do a " pick and mix " as usual, as they do with so many other things, on what they condemn as "pagan" and what they accept and practice.. the institution of marriage itself is pagan, marriages were performed long before the bible was written, and long before the nation of israel was formed.

  yet jw's perform marriages, use the veil, and the ring, all pagan.

  the names of the days of the week, the months of the year, all pagan.. i guess you guys can think of many more things ?

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  alanv

  • "A main concern is, not what the practice meant hundreds of years ago, but how it is viewed today in your area. (Awake! 2003 Sep 22 p.24)
  • "However, if one’s motive in putting up a wind chime has nothing to do with false religion, superstition or demonism, and there is little possibility of others’ getting the wrong impression regarding its use in the home, it is a simple matter for personal decision." (Watchtower 1981 Jun 1 p.31)
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  36

  They Are Going To Start Clamping Down With Staying At Home - Local Needs + GB Update #4

  by thedepressedsoul in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  many of us have watched the gb #4 update.

  most of us jumped for joy when they basically said that there will be no meeting in person for a long time to come.. one aspect we overlooked was how hard they hit home the "love of neighbor".

  how this "love" is what makes a true christian and as a result our love for our neighbors will motivate us to stay at home.. well now they released a letter that is instructing all kh's to view this video during their local needs part.

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  alanv

  Beth Sarim, why do you say its harder to fade now? I would say its much easier. For most witnesses it means much less invovement in the congregation. Many of the jobs that have to be carried out by individuals in the congregation, are no longer required with no Kingdom Hall to attend. If witnesses enquire about a person, they can say anything they like, as witnesses are being told to be ultra careful at the moment. Certainly would have been easier for me to fade if i had been able to stay at home instead of physically having to attend every meeting.
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  12

  Inconsistencies is the Preachng Work

  by LetTheTruthBeKnown in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with the shutdown of the public preaching work.

  some take it to mean all preaching in all forms.

  other take it to mean it only includes door to door and cart witnessing, but you can do phone witnessing.. what is interesting is that depending which country you live in the direction that was given what to do is different.. two countries (malta and ireland) that i know of were told explicitly not to do phone witnessing.

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  alanv

  I would just say, if the local publishers have to spend money on their witnessing, then that leaves less money to go to USA headquarters. I imagine donations are well down at the moment worldwide because of the pandemic. The org are still pushing for more money whenever they get the chance, mainly at the zoom midweek meetings.
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  21

  JW Response to COVID

  by optimisticskeptic in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i haven't been on here in quite some time so i apologize if i missed a similar thread already (i did look for one :) ) anyways, just to be clear i think the jw response to covid in general has been really positive and proactive and they've done really well trying to educate people on covid, doing zoom meetings, etc to prevent spread within the congregations.

  the part that i find interesting is how compliant and non-apocalyptic the branch has been during all of this.

  even as someone who's a bit of a skeptic i found myself wondering if this might be the beginning of the end between covid, economic upheaval, and blm.

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  alanv

  What I find sickening is how the org try to portray that what they are saying is theocratic direction from the governing body. It is nothing of the sort. They are simply repeating the message of their government and the World Health organisation. What they should be doing is encouraging everyone to follow the advice of the superior authorities, rather than pretending its all food at the proper time from the Faithful and discreet slave.
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  30

  Would Watchtower Ever Risk Setting Another Date

  by Number 6 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  there was a 50 year gap between the failed dates of 1925 and 1975.. memories fade, people die, and who cares what was said 50 years ago.. most jw's now in the religion werent there when 1975 was a thing.

  even my mother who was baptized in 1974 who i do remember speaking about it back in the day, can barely remember what the fuss was about.

  for active jw's who are doing all there studying online now, its practically impossible to find any wt contemporary reference to 1975.. i read recently (sorry i cant source it right now) that at the time, even watchtower may have taken the view that even if they knew 1975 was wrong, the short term gains would far outstrip those who left leading to an overall net gain so it was a risk worth taking.

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  alanv

  I would say it depends how desperate they are. If they find they are declining in the vast majority of lands worldwide, I believe they could certainly indicate a certain time period. They would be very careful what they wrote this time though, so that when nothing happens they could say we never said the end would occurr at such and such a time.