Doubting Bro

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Posts by Doubting Bro

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  100

  WTS attends as a NGO to OSCE in July- 4 branches present!

  by yknot in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  so i was just cruising www.extj.com/foro.

  mary received a interesting bit of osce information via a brother (peter) from germany....... http://www.extj.com/foro/showthread.php?t=14643.

  here is the pdf she has uploaded..... http://www.osce.org/documents/odihr/2009/07/38763_en.pdf.

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  Doubting Bro

  The UN is not a government. It has none of the powers of a government and no binding authority. Even when it's members vote to take action, each country can decide whether or not to support the action.

  The OSCE by their own website is really just a political forum in which participants attempt to influence governments on the three areas listed above.

  These organizations are not inherently evil but the UN has been identified in WT theology as the wild beast of Revelation. That's the problem. The WTS has always claimed to be politically neutral yet participating in a political forum is not being neutral.

  If they were called to testify, although neither organization has the authority to compel anyone to do anything, I could see them giving testimony. But to tell the average rank & file JW that they can't join the YMCA under the threat of disfellowshipping, an organization that started out with religious ties but according to their website does not require any sort of religious declaration to join their gyms, while at the same time supporting a political organization such as the OSCE and working with other religions that according to WTS theology will soon (very soon?) be destroyed smacks of hypocrisy.

  You can't possibly compare Paul appealing to Ceasar with this. A good comparision with Paul would be the WTS or any other religion appealing to the Supreme Court. The WTS has made good use of the courts around the world to secure their ability to worship as they wish and there is nothing political about that.

  What would happen to the average JW if they joined a community group with a bunch of local churches that sought to change laws and influence politicians? You know what would happen, they would be dragged in front of a JC. How is this any different?
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  28

  Ordained Ministers of J.W. part 1

  by bobld in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  baptisms are usually performed at assemblies.at the conclusion of the baptism talk,the baptism candidates are asked two q.affirmative answers qualifies the candidates as ordained ministers of j.w..we all have seen some candidates as young as 13 years,some as young as 12 years and even some as young as 9 years old.now in the eyes of the wbts these are qualified ordained ministers.. to my way of thinking these ordained ministers should be qualified to give sound advise or council.example,a 17 year old teenage boy has a problem with masturbation and is seeking advise.do you think he would receive sound advise on his masturbation problem from a 9 year old ordained minister of j.w.

  (girl).in other religions this ordained minister would be qualified but i don't think a j.w.

  is.. bob.

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  Doubting Bro

  Blues Brother is 100% correct. In JW lingo, ordained minister is not the same as clergy in other Christian religions. Elders and higher are legally considered JW clergy (and before someone says anything about there being no JW clergy see every child abuse court case where the WTS sucessfully argued clergy privilege for their elders & COs)

  However, the comments about child baptism being unusual is most certainly not the case in the English speaking congregations in the US. For example, at a DC I recently attended with around 7,000 folks there were around 35 baptized. Of that number, the youngest was 9, the oldest was in her 70s. But, I kept count and of the 35 that were baptized, 25 of them appeared to be 18 or younger. And, no I didn't ask each one for their ID but they were clearly very young. In my opinion and experience with children, there is little difference between an infant getting baptized and a 9 year old. Especially when the penalty of changing your mind at a later date means being cut off from your entire social and support circle.

  As for young kids getting pregnant, it is a huge SOCIETIAL problem. Again, a local example in local congregation here in the past 2 years, 4 different girls (1 - 16, 1-17,1-19 and 1 - 22) ALL unmarried, all pregnant. There are only 10 girls in that age range in the congregation. I'm not saying that 40% of the teenage JW kids are having kids out of wedlock, but to make the statement that it doesn't happen is outrageous. I would venture to say that the instance of JW teenage pregnancy is on par with the rest of society as we know from the Pew report that their divorce rate is about the same as the general population.

  Bottom line, JWs are no different from society in having family problems. However, that flies in the whole "spiritual paradise" claim that JWs are the happiest, most well adjusted group on the planet - comments that I've directly heard from WTS representatives including GB members.
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  48

  DNCall Unmasked - Part 4 of 5

  by DNCall in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  startfragment.

  even though i didnt have the title of elder, i was still active in my work at bethel and the congregation used me as much as possible.

  when the congregation recommended that i once again serve as an elder, one elder raised the objection that that barbara was a low-hour publisher.

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  Doubting Bro

  Looking forward to part 5 and a bttt
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  17

  DNCall Unmasked - Part 3 of 5

  by DNCall in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  startfragment.

  by the 1990s it became necessary for me to seek work outside of music.

  barbara, who had to help support our family in the mid-1980s, was working as a legal secretary and suggested i consider doing the same.

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  Doubting Bro

  Welcome and thanks for sharing.
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  60

  I need a 2009 Drama quote verified please?

  by AllTimeJeff in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is a direct quote from the drama, if my source is correct..... "remember, nobody can really love you unless they know and love jehovah first.".

  it gives me an idea for my next blog, but i want to quote this accurately.

  your input is appreciated!

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  Doubting Bro

  It was quite distrubing but not unexpected.
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  8

  It's funny getting copied on all the elder emails still

  by gubberningbody in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i haven't been going for a while and i'm still getting them.. in a way it was oddly encouraging to see all the crap i used to have to deal with that i don't have to deal with any more..

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  Doubting Bro

  I just broke out in a cold sweat thinking about time as an elder. You guys accurately described the mundane torture! Funny, 2 elders met with me not long ago to attempt to guilt me into coming back on the BOE. Mind you, I miss tons of meetings, rarely in service, no commenting, just a bump on a log who looks like he's in a bad mood all the time because I am at the meetings.

  The meeting lasted for over an hour. I kept them at bay until they finally asked "don't you miss it?" I laughed, reminded them of some of the things you guys listed and said, "not really". They just shook their heads in agreement and ended the meeting. I think they both secretly are jealous that I'm not stuck working so hard for the publishing company.
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  61

  SEC Football - 2009 Version

  by AllTimeJeff in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just watching a few more lane kiffin interviews.

  the dude is going to work wonders for the vols this year.

  (knoxville native here, although i got out before any permanent damage was done... lol).

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  Doubting Bro

  I think the Rebels will win the West and play FL for the SEC championship. Remember, Ole Miss was the only team to beat the Gators last year and they did it in Gainsville. They lost a few linemen but have most of their team coming back.

  The Rebs schedule lines up for them pretty well with the Tide & Tigers both coming to Oxford.

  By the way, I do get annoyed at the superiority complex that SEC fans have but I certainly can't argue with the results.

  And, both Ohio State and Oklahoma should be banned from BCS championship games.
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  49

  Something Big Is Happening To the WT Mag.

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i looked over the aug. 1 public watchtower and noticed the same changes i observed previously.. plainly put, it appears that they have simply run out of things to say and so are just filling up printing space!.

  they devote 4 full pages to a bible reading schedule that could have been easily condensed into a couple sentences.

  they have the same large graphics and typeset that eats up printing area.

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  Doubting Bro

  I agree that they are going to combine the public WT & Awake. It's obviously part of a plan to reduce the amount of literature produced since the profitablility must not be there. They couldn't do it all at once because they must have felt it would be too hard for JWs to deal with. Seems silly, its just a magazine!

  My prediction is that no later than 1-1-11 there will be only 1 mag offered to the public. My guess is that they will make further "adjustments" and end up only offering tracts at the initial calls in the not too distant future.

  Berean, I've also thought that they may push tithing but that could have a backlash effect. They've railed against it so long that it may be a hard sell. It would certainly put those who go but don't make donations in a tough position. I would have a difficult time giving a dime to the WTS.
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  41

  Number of memorial partakers given in July 2009 KM

  by Mickey mouse in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  for the uk it was 275 (that they're willing to declare anyway).

  i don't know how that compares with last year.. how about in your country?.

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  Doubting Bro

  There is no mention of either memorial attenders or partakers in the US version of the July KM. I have it in front of me right now and the "highlights" talk about an increase in bible studies (probably just family studies) and that Turks & Caicos had peaks - no real numbers.

  I do remember they announced the number of memorial attenders for the US and I want to say it was a letter read at the service meeting. It all just runs together.

  Why would they publish UK numbers and not US numbers?? We all know that the only "real" annointed are Americans
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  11

  Watchtower negotiates with Town of Ramapo over taxes

  by lrkr in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://www.lohud.com/article/20090615/news03/906150341/1019.

  enjoy guys!

  front page, above the fold this morning..

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  Doubting Bro

  Here's what I really don't understand about this deal. I'm sure they'll reach some sort of agreement with Ramapo but I think the real question is why on earth do they want that property? We know they're pulling out of Brooklyn but with the reduction in force over the past few years, the rumor that the Canadian branch is going to pick up more printing assignments (BTW - the name badges and most of the forms I've recently seen all say "printed in Canada".) and the large facility at Patterson, why are they buying this land?

  The only thing I can think is that they see it as a good investment. But, if they turn it into Wallkill or Patterson - who would want to buy it?