Posts by Doubting Bro

i grew up a jw but arn't now my mother who is jw and piosneering at the moment told me the society does not charge for use of the kh for weddings funerals ect is this true?.

if they dont why dont they?.

.

Doubting Bro

I've never heard of a charge being made or a gratuity being given to the person conducting the ceremony, unless you count being invited to the reception a gratuity.

You have to qualify which means you and your fiancee as well as all members of your wedding party have to be approved by the elders.

I would imagine that the couple would make a donation to cover the costs of the building use, at least that's what we did when we were married in the KH years ago.

I believe the same applies to furnerals in terms of making a donation.

I actually don't have an issue with that particular policy since there is a cost associated with these activities and they aren't really "congregational" sponsored events.

Mattieu - I've never hear of anyone doing a big cleaning but I could see that happening.

8

Blood Teaching Overt vs. Suggestive

by Marvin Shilmer in

jw
friends

blood teaching overt vs. suggestive is the title of a new blog article based on newly obtained information.

this is in the form of a brief email exchange followed by a letter from watchtower to a private individual.

it took a couple of days to track this information back to its owner, but with permission i share it with everyone at my blog.[1].

Wow Marvin. Thanks for sharing. I always wondered how the WTS came up with the arbitrary line. So they think that if you had a jar of whole blood, that it would separate into the 4 forbidden components? Where do they get this stuff from.?

If this is the rationale they've been using, they could easily parlay this into just saying whole blood is forbidden and the rest is a "conscious" matter. To me that the next step out of this mess for them.

And to think I was once will to die myself and allow loved ones to die because of this crazy policy. It give me shivers just thinking about it.....

22

How many JW's are doing bad things each year worthy of being DF'd?

by dissed in

jw
friends

for a religious group that claims to be above reproach, with a self proclaimed, excellent reputation for godliness, i don't feel that claim is quite true.. in fact, i think its a sham to make those assertions.

they trully should not feel they are different from any organized group, when it comes to its members following righteous standards.

true, the wt would like all to believe they are clean and morally straight, that they are different and not tainted from the world.

Doubting Bro

I recently heard the 100k world wide figure at a public talk. I know him fairly well and asked him afterward where he got his figure. He got it from the CO. I realize its all heresay but he must believe it. This guy is a substitute CO and is trying to get into the circuit work on a full time basis. Not that it matters, but he's generally not the type to pull numbers out of his butt.

I would say a conservative estimate would be 3 non-dfings to every 1 dfing.

My guess is that a large number are involved with things that would get them dfed by their own rules.

21

Evolution Saves The Gulf

by metatron in

jw
friends

oh, my god!

a massive oil spill!

it's the end!

Doubting Bro

But the Obama administration looks terrible in this. His approval ratings took a beating over the summer in large part to the inability of BP and the government to get the well under control. If they were going to manufacture a crisis, you'd think they make one up that they could solve quickly.

I know folks impacted by the oil and they all seem to think it's much worse than what the government will admit.

I agree there are plenty of things to be worried about and I just add this to the list.

128

"High-Control Groups"

by Consfearacy in

http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/similar-religions-to-jehovahs-witnesses.php .

"it is important to understand that in most bible-based cults, although the member is aggressively taught doctrine, it is not the doctrine that holds him in the group.

it is the sense that the group is god's true people, a feeling cultivated by techniques of mind control.

Doubting Bro

Alice - I like your other avatar much better. Is this one Batman? I see the Bat signal above and the person looks like they're wearing a cape. Or it could be a mad wizard walking down the hall of his creepy mansion.

Bring back the hot witch!!

21

Evolution Saves The Gulf

by metatron in

jw
friends

oh, my god!

a massive oil spill!

it's the end!

Doubting Bro

I wish the governments conclusions about the damage were true but I think they're flat out lying. Remember when the gusher first blew, they estimated a much much lower amount of oil was being discharged into the Gulf than was actually the case. I think the administration wants to get this out of the news as fast as possible.

I find it very hard to believe that all the oil has been dispersed and everything is fine again.

11

Roger Clemens being charged with perjury for lying to Congress. One of those GTFOH moments in life.

by miseryloveselders in

jw
friends

i don't vote, i'll never vote.

some of that may be due to a jw upbringing, but i'm convinced a lot more its my upbringing in the city.

i hate politicians with a passion.

Doubting Bro

MLE - I understand what your saying and I generally hold elected officials in the lowest of lights and think they are generally all scum. However, Clemens didn't have to testify against himself. Look at McGwire. He took the 5th and didn't answer those questions.

Of course, I guess Clemens maybe didn't take steriods and therefore had nothing to fear and told the truth. Even then, he should have just envoked this 5th amendment rights. But, for the federal prosecutors to bring up charges and get an inditment for perjury, they must have some proof.

Clemens (in my opinion) is a typical athlete/entertainment star who thinks the rules don't apply to him. If you or I were to lie to Congress or a judge, you'd better believe they'd throw the book at us.

I guess a jury will sort it all out.

16

Have you ever heard JWs say, "our ministry isn't about making converts", or similar? Would you consider that line of thought accurate?

by miseryloveselders in

jw
friends

this past tuesday night, there was a part on the service meeting entitled, "highlight the practicle value of the good news.

" the brother initiated the part by asking, "what do people mistakenly think our reason is for knocking at their door?

" there were several comments given.

Doubting Bro

My wife and I discussed that one time and she said that the purpose was to help share Christian values with people to help them cope with issues they're facing. I said that if that was the case, why not just read a scripture of the day and move on? Why was the goal to establish Bible studies and get the student to the KH ASAP? Why all the stats talking about how many people are baptised?

She eventually admitted that the main purpose was converting as many as possible. Really, isn't that the purpose of any evangelizing religion?

Now, I agree that many publishers don't want to recruit. They want to place mags, maybe have a couple of "coffee clutch" return visits as far apart in the territory as possible. But, it's a lot of work to study with someone and work with them to the point of converting. Most publishers just want to check off their 2 hours on Sat morning and move on to the rest of their day.