Posts by Doubting Bro

41

April "Pioneers" - a large army

by dozy in

anecdotally , from my ( rapidly diminishing number of ) jw contacts , it does seem that the april 30 hour pioneer campaign is going well.

some congregations have over 1/2 the publishers on the pioneer list for april , including all the elders & ms. .

Doubting Bro

CTRU or maybe Rutherford U? Sort of like BYU east? I doubt they're ambitious enough to do that but I've always wondered why they haven't.

On the pioneering, I totally agree with Sir82's take but with a slight twist. They will study the numbers of aux pioneers doing the 50 in the coming months. If that number drops below the running 3-5 year average, I imagine they'd consider moving it to 30 going forward (maybe in the 2012 service year or maybe starting with next April). I believe that the average JW will say, "no sense in aux in other months since I can do it in April at 30". I've actually heard many say they hope this becomes a permanent fixture and several speculate that this is a trial balloon.

189

AndersonsInfo

by minimus in

jw
friends

i am sick and tired of people putting down posters like the andersons!

they work hard to expose some things we might never have known about.

why some find fault with them, or ray franz before them, or maximus when he was here is beyond me.. be thankful for those that decide to come here and share what they know about this organization.. we get elders who are still in their positions and they share with us a lot of interesting news and perspectives.

Doubting Bro

cosign.

She was merely informing everyone about what an individual in Australia was pursing against the WTS. I think it's good to know what the WTS is wrestling with on a global basis. It's not like she was saying WTS was going to go belly up as a result.

147

Watch Tower Society Facing Criminal Charges and Indictment in Australia

by AndersonsInfo in

andersonsinfo is reporting the following news about the "criminal charges and indictment of the watch tower society in australia" by taking some extracts from different parts of jehovah's witness, steven unthank's blog site, http://www.jwnews.net.

please go to the blog to understand the "indictment" and for detailed reading there is much more information found in a:.

pdf version of the 664 page document "the submission 2011" being the:.

Doubting Bro

Thanks for your post Barb! We do appreciate all you do and keeping us updated on information you find. I believe the vast majority of the folks that visit this board belive you to be credible and quite sane.

11

house to house vs. in private homes

by DesirousOfChange in

does not matt 10 suggest that the household would not be those already in the faith?

"not deserving" or "does not take you in or listen".

matt 10:12-14 -- 12 when you are entering into the house, greet the household; 13 and if the house is deserving, let the peace you wish it come upon it; but if it is not deserving, let the peace from you return upon you.

Doubting Bro

Exactly Anoy Mous! Yet, there's a picture in a recent WT (or maybe it's the book on Acts that is currently being reviewed at the CBS) that shows 1st century Christians reading from a scroll at a householders door step. The drama last year showed an elder in the late 1st century reviewing the congregations records. Anyone that knows anything about what life was like in the 1st century realizes those scenes are complete fiction. Yet, JWs continue to eat it up.

147

Watch Tower Society Facing Criminal Charges and Indictment in Australia

by AndersonsInfo in

andersonsinfo is reporting the following news about the "criminal charges and indictment of the watch tower society in australia" by taking some extracts from different parts of jehovah's witness, steven unthank's blog site, http://www.jwnews.net.

please go to the blog to understand the "indictment" and for detailed reading there is much more information found in a:.

pdf version of the 664 page document "the submission 2011" being the:.

Doubting Bro

This is very interesting. On the one hand, it appears Steven coming off looking a bit crazy but on the other hand, his point about non-compliance seems to be valid. Clearly, JWs are not exempt from the background check law. As others have stated, it would be better if he came across as a citizen concerned that JWs are going door to door where they can encounter childern without complying with the background check as opposed to what seems to me to be a disgruntled ex-JW who seems to still believe but thinks he needs to reform.

Still, the law is the law right? It seems pretty cut and dry so why has it taken so long? Perhaps he needs to partner with someone who has a bit less emotion and can present a less JW centric argument.

11

house to house vs. in private homes

by DesirousOfChange in

does not matt 10 suggest that the household would not be those already in the faith?

"not deserving" or "does not take you in or listen".

matt 10:12-14 -- 12 when you are entering into the house, greet the household; 13 and if the house is deserving, let the peace you wish it come upon it; but if it is not deserving, let the peace from you return upon you.

Doubting Bro

WHAT, they didn't drag around scrolls offering the latest issues of the 1st century Watchtower and Awakes for a denarius? And turn in time cards to the secretary for his records (as shown in the drama last year)?

26

Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 04-03-2011 WT Study (TRIAL)

by blondie in

jw
friends

face persecution?.

helped to resist peer pressure.

(a) why can we expect to face trials and.

Doubting Bro

Mr. Falcon - exactly! If you really believed and had to go through an extended period of unemployment because you got fired for taking time off when your employer said no, how else could you take the fact you didn't get a new job making twice as much other than to conclude that you've somehow displeased Jehovah and he's withholding his blessing? These experiences may "encourage" those who aren't facing problems but to those who are in the same situation as the person in the "experience" its got to be demoralizing.

Given what I know about the individual who commented (an ex-elder who rarely comments, is sort of invisible at the meetings and was previously known as a liberal), I really think he was highlighting the unbelievableness of the story. I could be wrong and wish we had a secret handshake or something to identify ones who are "awake". If he was trying to highlight the insanity of the "experience", he did a great job.

26

Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 04-03-2011 WT Study (TRIAL)

by blondie in

jw
friends

face persecution?.

helped to resist peer pressure.

(a) why can we expect to face trials and.

Doubting Bro

I think someone from the congo I attend is on here because his comment on paragraph 16 was fantastic!

He said that he has worked with a company that did this type of sewing. He said the typical operator 1) had a lot of experience because most comapnies couldn't take the chance of putting an inexperienced person on the front line and 2) usually paid near minimum wage (in the US). So, he said, for someone with NO experience to even be offered a job was very rare but then to pay that person double the min wage (assuming her old job was the lowest paying one could have) was unbelievable! Then he added, it would have had to been Jehovah because there's no logical explaination for it.

It was classic. I could see the confused look of some. I immediately looked at my wife with a "that's really unbelievable" expression and she just averted her eyes. She knew that story couldn't have been true.

I can't wait for the one coming up in a few months talking about a person in Ethiopia turning down a scholarship that appears out of nowhere and then being offered a job making 3000 euros a month. That one is even more far fetched than this one.

23

What % of your Congregation is Pioneering in April?

by Open mind in

our family is part of the 32% unappreciative spiritual loser class.

not regular or auxiliary.. .

our congo has 51% aux pioneering in april.. .

Doubting Bro

YNOT!!! - missed you but glad you're still checking in.

Yeah, ours is around 50% (including the regulars). They've posted a list with the elders and MS names in a different colored font. They actually got 100% participation from the 7 elders and 7 ms which I was shocked to see. Some of those elders have not aux pioneered in at least the 10+ years that I've known them and I think there are one or two that maybe never did. The CO is coming this month which I'm sure put extra pressure on them to do so.

Like OM, I'm in the spiritual loser class (and proud of it).

Sir82 makes a great point about the Memorial invite "work". Those tract campaigns are the easiest FS (other than driving around doing RVs) that your average dub will get.

I think the response was enough to make it an annual event. However, I'll bet the ratios are slightly lower next year as the novelty wears off.

9

Did anyone watch the series finale of Big Love?

by jamiebowers in

omg, i watched it twice in a row and then watched the wrap-up on hbo.com .

i'm devastated!.

Doubting Bro

I thought it was a pretty good ending. I also thought that maybe Bill would take over Juniper Creek while Albert was in jail or maybe start his own compound. The scene when he was giving the Easter sermon was a bit weird especially with another flash of Joseph Smith's wife. I guess the whole "women are just around to serve men" thinking finally was turning around. I thought it was interesting that Barb couldn't get baptized in the Reformed LDS church and I even said as she was stepping into the baptismal pool that she wouldn't do it. What I really thought was interesting is that her rejection of his church hurt him more than anything else. After all they've been through, it was a stupid religion that was going to tear them apart. Sound familiar?

At the end of the day, Barb still loved Bill and she had actually grown to love her sister wives as well. Her holding Nikki in the shelter was a moving scene.

Bill had so many people gunning for him that it was a matter of time before he would actually get hurt. The ending was probably best for everyone. The fact that he accepted Barb's priesthood I thought was significant.

The last scene tied up everything pretty well. Ben & Heather get married. Sarah and her family are again part of the clan. Barb has emerged as the spiritual leader and quite frankly she's much better at it than Bill was. Margie cut her hair which seems like a real statement (like a JW growing a beard).

It was a really good series and I'm glad it ended when it did. It was starting to get too crazy.

Interestingly I learned a lot more about the regular LDS and realize how close their structure and cult like ways are similar to JWs. Plus it allowed me to discuss cult tendancies with my wife without the emotion of talking about JWs. Crap, now I need another cult show to watch!!!!