Posts by dozy

7

question for those who had been elders on judicial committee

by enoughisenough in

i was wondering if some who may have been in the judgement seat ( so to speak ) had a wake-up call while judging someone who was defending leaving jw.

( or maybe it was from reading a letter of disassociation.

) .

dozy

Same as Blues Brother - nothing I saw in JCs raised any flags whatsoever.

The JCs I was involved in were the usual run of the mill - adultery cases, courting couples having pre-marital sex , smokers ( cigarettes , pot ) , boozers etc. Often repeat cases and most involving marginal JWs that basically believed but couldn't live up to the rules. Generally just private / public reproof - I think only two or three got DFd and they were pretty much open and shut cases. Apostasy cases were rather rare back then pre-internet - I never dealt with one.

19

Watchtower November 2022... Adapt to new adjustments and new changes

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

the watchtower—study edition | november 2022. study article 48. keep your senses when your loyalty is tested.

14 vlado, a 73-year-old elder in slovenia, struggled when his congregation merged with another congregation and the kingdom hall that he attended was closed.

he says: “i did not understand why such a beautiful kingdom hall would be closed.

dozy

The trend has got to be a further reduction in Kingdom Halls - if even 25% of JWs are accessing via Zoom (anecdotally , much more than this in some congregations) , inevitably many more KHs are going to be sold. And as much of the easier mergers / sell offs have already occurred , some of these sell-offs are really going to bite - JWs won't like the idea of driving 40 minutes or more to their new congregation.

20

Unmarried couple staying at my house

by suavojr in

jw
friends

i need your help with this topic.

i’m trying to find an elder’s letter or wt article that frown upon a good standing jw allowing an unmarried couple to stay over their house for the night.. my wife claims this is a conscience matter and i say that’s bs, this leadership does not allow it.

would like to find this info..

dozy

This situation is pretty common. Policing it is a challenge - depends on the elders and the nosiness / gossip of the congregation and the person concerned and their standing in the congregation. An elder in my own congregation often had his (non-JW) daughter stay with her long term boyfriend in their house but he basically told anyone who enquired to mind their own business as far as the sleeping arrangements were concerned.

28

JW "new light" immediately reversed/contradicted

by BoogerMan in

september 2022 study watchtower - par.

14 p. 18 - "after all, no one will be allowed to practice vile things in the new world.

the unrighteous must have practiced these vile things before their death.

dozy

I'm assuming (though it is a bit ambiguous) that really bad things (eg murder) will not be permitted in the new order , but general naughtiness / "worldliness" (eg beard growing) will be permitted , at least till the person either dies due to being judged unworthy or gets finally snuffed out at the "Final Test". . But a lot of the Societies ramblings about the "New Order" remind me of the debates about how many angels can dance on the end of a pin and it really underlines that this doctrine has literally been plucked from a couple of random scriptures and spun together.

For a leadership that talks about how we "needn't speculate" on what will happen in the New Order , they sure do like to speculate a lot.

32

Kneel before me, for I am an ... Activist!

by Simon in

i thought it was just me that had a negative view of people who proclaim themselves to be activists.. but no, it seems i'm not alone!.

.

dozy

I sometimes wonder if those that brand themselves "activists" are , consciously or sub-consciously , looking down on those who share their beliefs but aren't as vocal or "active" as the "activist" is. A bit like the self righteous pioneer / elderette etc types in the congregation who always seemed a bit dismissive and sometimes openly critical of those who didn't do as much ministry as they did.

21

2022-07-01--Additional Contribution Box!

by Atlantis in

jw
friends

the watchtower wants more money!.

https://we.tl/t-jyt0susog5.

atlantis!.

dozy

The Society simply didn't need to build all these new premises. It is simply morphing into a real estate building and flipping organisation to generate funds.

With some irony , part of the UK Bethel sold a couple of years ago has been repurposed as (you guessed it) a major film studio. Clearly something the Society could easily , and at a much cheaper cost , have done themselves , had they genuinely required extra filming capacity - but for obvious reasons they simply chose to sell up and new build elsewhere.

https://www.cityam.com/converted-london-jehovahs-witnesses-hq-to-start-new-life-as-film-studio/

https://londonnorthstudios.com/

117

14 kids dead and one teacher at Texas school shooting.

by jojorabbit in

another shooting, this time 14 kids dead more wounded and a teacher dead.

i am all for the second amendment and this does not change my mind.

but i do hate this kind of thing, makes my stomach turn.

dozy

People look for solutions , but really there isn't any in this situation. You have a country that is already saturated with guns and a weird ( from a foreigner's perspective ) sense of entitlement and glorification of guns among a significant majority. Link it with the proliferation of "shooter" computer games ( which desensitises the action) and it is a truly lethal combination.

These kind of incidents are simply going to repeat constantly as there are always madmen / criminals around and the easily availability of guns means they can kill a lot of people in a short time and with the police being armed , they often guarantee their own death in a macabre murder / suicide death wish. Sadly it is something Americans just have to accept , and , in fact , incidents like this just increase the chance of copycat events.

27

Oct 8 1966 Awake! PDF-- pushes 1975 date

by cabasilas in

details about how to download the october 8, 1966 awake!

magazine pdf will appear at the end of this post.

background.

dozy

There has been a degree of revisionism of the 1975 frenzy in recent times , culminating in an astonishingly misleading video on Jw dot org. which condemns "people who were looking to a certain date".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGs300U2FQE

31

Does the WTS have a clergy class

by blondie in

jw
friends

this can be confusing because the wts has adjusted from not having a clergy class to not having a "paid" clergy class.. "a congregation of brothers precludes having a proud clergy class that honors itself with high-sounding titles and elevates itself above a laity" wt 6/1/2001 p. 12, pp 11. still same idea in 2021 wt october, p. 20, pp.

7, but 2022 in the wt publication, frequently asked questions about jehovah’s witnesses, page 13, the wts inserts "paid" in front of "clergy perhaps to shore up their current statement in secular courts they have clergy, just not paid) "following the model of first-century christianity, jehovah’s witnesses have no clergy-laity division.

all baptized witnesses are ordained ministers and share in the preaching and teaching work.

dozy

A Watchtower attorney by the name of Calvin Rouse ( in the Menlo Park case , where the Society were attempting to establish their ownership of a Kingdom Hall ) told a judge: “We are a hierarchical religion just like the Catholic Church.”

The idea that they "aren't paid so we are different" always sounded to me a bit weak even when I was an active JW and I would have struggled to defend it if questioned. The GB are always dressed well and (it would seem) have more than sufficient disposable income if required ( for whisky purchases , for example!) But also - if all your food , accommodation , travel costs , vehicle , laundry , cleaning , vacation costs , healthcare - indeed , every expense is paid for and every service is provided free of charge - what difference in practice does that make from being paid by an organisation? The distinction seems a bit spurious , to me. Indeed - in many ways , it is better than being paid.

28

Watchtower Jul 22 - Jesus directed the GB on how to deal with Covid

by Listener in

14 jesus provides wise direction in times of crisis.

the benefits of that direction were evident when the covid-19 pandemic broke out.

while many in the world were uncertain about what course to take, jesus made sure that we received clear guidance to keep us safe.

dozy

Just for comparison , below is a link to the Church of England's guidelines. ( They are , according to the Society , directed by Satan the Devil. ) I honestly don't see anything different in the way that the Watchtower Society has directed matters that shows any specific direction from Jesus. If anything , the Church of England seems a lot more organised in terms of available material - I see nothing similar on the JW dot Org website.

https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance#na