Can't give you any info about the current meeting set-up ( as I have been out for quite a few years ) , but the structure of the school went through various changes - the presumption was that the title "School" was dropped because of potential liability etc issues.
Posts by dozy
-
17Questions I have about the "Ministry School".
by Pallbearer ini remember that jehovah's witnesses used to have a 2-hour, 2-part mid-week meeting which included a 1-hour "ministry school" followed by a 1-hour "service meeting".
please correct me if i am wrong in any respect but to the best of my memory the ministry school was composed of 4 parts, as follows:.
part 1: an "instruction talk".
-
-
-
8
It is amazing how old JW books are selling and for a lot
by mickbobcat in1934 years books 150 to 700, the finished mystery 100 to 300, other books run around 20 to 50 bucks if they are older.
i dumped a ton in the dumpster and wish i had kept them.
i have a small collection of some of the rare ones like millions now living will never die, and can the living talk to the dead, the finished mystery, and the paradise book.
-
-
dozy
Back about 12 years ago I was the congregation secretary and decided to have a clear out of some of the old books in our congregation library and some we had inherited from the death of an elderly long time JW in our congregation - I just sold them on Ebay & donated the funds to the congregation. We made about £400 GBP , mainly because the books were in absolutely pristine condition in the most part.
When you actually sit down & read these books - you realise that they are total and utter drivel - the rantings of a delusional man , such as Rutherford or Fred Franz. The Society quotes them very , very selectively ( as ever , look for the .... in their quotations ) - no wonder they aren't available on JW Org.
Really old stuff going back to Russell's time ( like Studies in the Scriptures ) in good condition sells for big bucks. There are some avid collectors , especially in the USA - mostly with Bible Student connections.
-
29
Newly discovered Dead Sea Scrolls with the tetragrammaton within the Greek text
by dropoffyourkeylee inbig news from israel, some previously undiscovered dead sea scrolls have been found with portions of the ot in greek.
it says the name of god is included in hebrew letters within the greek text.. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/world/middleeast/dead-sea-scrolls.html.
"the new fragments contain verses from zechariah 8:16-17, including part of the name of god written in ancient hebrew, and verses from nahum 1:5-6, both from the biblical book of the twelve minor prophets.".
-
-
dozy
This doesn't sound especially encouraging , bearing in mind the Society claims that there is very little change in the bible texts over the centuries.
“We found a textual difference that has no parallel with any other manuscript, either in Hebrew or in Greek,” said Oren Ableman, a Dead Sea Scroll researcher with the Israel Antiquities Authority. He referred to slight variations in the Greek rendering of the Hebrew original compared to the Septuagint — a translation of the Hebrew Bible to Greek made in Egypt in the third and second centuries B.C.
“When we think about the biblical text, we think about something very static. It wasn’t static. There are slight differences and some of those differences are important,” said Joe Uziel, head of the antiquities authority's Dead Sea Scrolls unit.
-
21
Where do JWs stand on sex toys?
by mickbobcat ini think we all know that if they are used alone it would be a no no, but what about in a marriage?
are there limits such as vibrators ok but torso with dildo not ok?.
-
-
dozy
Pillows aren't approved for singles ( as per "pillowgate" ) , but I think for married couples a kind of "don't ask , don't tell" policy is basically in place as to what they do in the bedroom ( or indeed , any room in the house! ) If it became widely known in the congregation then I'm guessing the elders might take an interest - in my experience , there are usually a couple of elders in most congregations who have a bit of an uncomfortable interest in the sexual activity of congregation members.
-
11
Strange midweek meeting '' initial call '' demonstration
by RULES & REGULATIONS incan it get any weirder?
here is a demonstration of a midweek meeting demonstration, showing a sister out in field service talking to a householder.
they are both wearing masks due to covid.
-
-
dozy
How are these two women from different households even in the same room?
Hmm - maybe they are in the same household. Haven't you seen the Societies Jade & Neeta videos? Maybe they have moved in as room mates. Platonically , of course!
-
38
Watchtower Change On Origins from 42,000 Years to the "Day Age" Theory
by Sea Breeze indoes anyone know when and how the change took place?
is the "day age" theory still the current position of watchtower?.
-
-
dozy
Not sure they officially abandoned the 49,000 years of creation idea, they just stopped talking about it.
That's a common WT Society tactic - Franz mentions it in one of his books that a GB member ( Schroeder , I think ) if the Society just stop talking about something then the "brothers" soon forget about it. It must be even easier nowadays that the religion is so dumbed down.
Even the 7,000 year long last creative day , which we assume is still a Society teaching , is looking a bit shaky now and getting even more farcical by the minute. According to "WT bible chronology" (lol) , the first 6,000 years ended in 1975 ( hence the famous" Armageddon is nigh , sell your house" etc nonsense of the late 60's / early 70's ) so already over 45 years of the last 1000 "millennial" reign has gone. This also means Adam was alone for at least 45 years. No wonder he was pleased to see Eve!
-
18
Accepting the reason why the Watchtower Corporation and its top leaders are endeavored to brainwash people
by Rocketman123 intaking a close look at the operation of the jws religion you can observe technics of brainwashing orchestrated through the literature the wts publishes for its members such as the watchtower .. everything these men have done had calculating agendas, which were to firstly attract attention to the literature they published, to cultivate power toward themselves, to intentionally take control over people's lives and of course draw in money.. brainwashing (also known as mind control, menticide, coercive persuasion, thought control, thought reform, and re-education) is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques.
brainwashing is said to reduce its subjects' ability to think critically or independently,[1] to allow the introduction of new, unwanted thoughts and ideas into their minds,[2] as well as to change their attitudes, values and beliefs.
-
-
dozy
There does seem to be something of a step change in recent years - even recent months during Covid.
Even I was surprised at the latest broadcasts. They have a woman (the wife of a "helper to the GB" ) talking about how she "donated her last $50 and received "blessings". Another talked about going through a hard time and suddenly getting an envelope with "exactly to the cent the money she needed" . And a host of other similar interviews. That's straight out of the playbook of the "TV Evangelist" preachers whom the Society were so critical of in the 1980s & 90s. I've honestly never seen or heard anything quite as explicit in 40 odd years observing the Borg as a JW & ex-JW.
It seems almost every interviewee , from Grunt "Rank & File" publisher level to high ups in the Society has to break down almost into tears about "how loving the GB / FADS are , "how marvelous Jehovah's organisation has been to me" or "how obviously Jehovah's spirit is operative". And always produced with an accompanying over the top emotional music in the background , like some novice Youtube video creator who has just discovered how to dub a background track.
There seems to be a desperate lack of corporate self awareness , accountability or objectivity. It reminds me of the MLM / pyramid conference and promotional video presentations you can see online.
Its very , very manipulative - custom-designed to condition people. And its getting worse.
-
24
Harry, Meghan the Royal Apostates
by Slidin Fast ini just watched the oprah interview.
i know that many view them with little interest as just entitled wastes of space and i get that.. however, the description of how they were "trapped" and silenced and forced into perpetuating the system with little or no personal freedom rang bells for me.
they are effectively shunned, estranged and disparaged by their family and cut off from support.
-
-
dozy
I'm from the UK and not really a royalist per se , but I found it rather nauseating. As soon as the interview began , with Oprah talking about Meghan discussing "her truths" , it was clear that any degree of objectivity or any challenging , even mildly , some of her statements were not on the menu. Some of the things she said ( for example , despite what she implied - there never was any possibility that Archie was going to be a Prince ) were definite lies - I think she was relying on the US audience to take things first hand without really knowing the facts.
Another guy lost / resigned his job as well here , as well as Piers Morgan. Its interesting to watch his interview that led to a "revenge of the wokes" type backlash that cost him his job. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9348267/Society-Editors-chief-resigns-criticism-defending-UK-press-against-racism-claims.html
It has exposed a bit gulf in attitudes in the UK which somewhat mirrors that in the USA and peoples' attitudes largely depends on their age.
-
55
Ban on Independent Meetings
by lssjr insource - march 2021 announcements - - https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5085868283920384/2021-march-147-english-german-announcements-reminders.
this is a sobering reminder of what happened some 40 years ago when raymond franz and others were literally kicked out from the jehovah's witnesses for having pre-arranged private spiritual discussions.lesson: paragraph 7 is another example of the i and t in dr. steven hassan's bite model of the 21st century cult - information and thought control at its best!!!!
"my gosh, there must be a lot of independent meetings these days.
-
-
dozy
When I was growing up it was common, and thought well of, for some to gather together to talk about scriptural things they were interested in. My dad often cited such a group meeting for bringing him in. I think they went through parts of one of the old prophecy books from the '60's, honestly I forget the name of it, but he found it fascinating, I guess.
I've not heard of people doing that for a long time.
I remember that going on as well. But nowadays - the average joe publisher is so dumbed down , he would think a Caleb & Sophia cartoon to be "deep spiritual food"!
-
55
Ban on Independent Meetings
by lssjr insource - march 2021 announcements - - https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5085868283920384/2021-march-147-english-german-announcements-reminders.
this is a sobering reminder of what happened some 40 years ago when raymond franz and others were literally kicked out from the jehovah's witnesses for having pre-arranged private spiritual discussions.lesson: paragraph 7 is another example of the i and t in dr. steven hassan's bite model of the 21st century cult - information and thought control at its best!!!!
"my gosh, there must be a lot of independent meetings these days.
-
-
dozy
The Question Box ( in 2007 ) was the final straw for me as well. I virtually stomped out of the meeting and was out by the end of the year.
The Society has always clamped down on this sort of thing , especially since the late 70's purge. The Covid / Zoom thing is just another angle to it really that they are keen to suppress.
Back in the late 1990's , one of the elders in our congregation started a meeting in his home once a week ( he had a large open plan conservatory plus dining area ) on a Monday evening to group prep study the weeks Watchtower ( at the same time - puke alert - that the "Bethel family" had their weekly Watchtower prep study as well ) and he would invite some of the elderly ones , single middle aged sisters etc - the usual neglected members of the congregation there. Some would bring buffet stuff like sausage rolls and cakes and they all had tea & coffee etc , so it was as much a social gathering as anything else , albeit with a "spiritual" basis.
It carried on for a few months - absolutely nothing "apostate" about it and it was really appreciated by those who attended ( I think latterly it grew to about 20 or so ) but one of the more uber self righteous elders complained to the CO and he immediately put a stop to it at his visit. This all really shook the elder up and he resigned his position later ( though as far as I know , he is still a JW. )