Doubting Bro

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Posts by Doubting Bro

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  26

  Last night in the Jeremiah Book

  by BroMac in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i dont understand when this happened: .

  *** jr chap.

  2 pp.

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  Doubting Bro

  Jeffro,

  Thanks so much for the information. Very helpful!
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  26

  Last night in the Jeremiah Book

  by BroMac in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i dont understand when this happened: .

  *** jr chap.

  2 pp.

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  Doubting Bro

  Does anyone know at what point the WT sneaks the 20 years into the timeline? I was at the meeting last night and started googling some of the events discussed and they were all 20 years off. Is there a point where WT chornology and real history actually are in synch?
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  13

  WatchtowerWatch.com - a new online resource for Jehovah's Witnesses (a brief tribute to the work of John Hoyle)

  by cedars in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as many of you will know, juan viejo2 (john hoyle) is a tireless worker behind the scenes when it comes to launching, running and assisting websites that help to expose the many fallacies of watchtower doctrine.

  not only is he the genius behind ex-jw.com and insidethewatchtower.com, he also gave me a huge helping hand (before he even really knew me) by setting up jwsurvey.org, thus giving me a platform on which to run my survey and write my articles.. recently, john has also been helping randy watters (dogpatch) with a new improved version of freeminds.org (yet to be released) that will help to ensure the longevity and usefulness of that flagship jw website for many years to come.

  if there is an unsung hero of the ex-jw community working behind the scenes to keep everything ticking, quietly tightening the bolts and oiling the joints of the apostate internet juggernaut, in my humble opinion it simply has to be john hoyle.. always looking for the next new project, and not content with already running an impressive portfolio of ex-jw sites, john has now launched watchtowerwatch.com - a website that will hopefully serve as a one-stop resource for some of the best jw-related content and stories on the web.

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  Doubting Bro

  Nice looking site. Bookmarked it

  Thanks to both of you for your hard work.
• 
  9

  Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, Service Dept; Legal team,all Elders MS, are encouraged to watch the Documentary,' Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God'.

  by Sol Reform in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  each and every organization that deals with children should have its president, board, and all employees watch this film, and then read this column so that they can identify the players, the machinations, and the mistakes that institutions make when it comes to children and pedophiles.

  december 3, 2012 marci a. hamilton.

  a review of the documentary mea maxima culpa: silence in the house of god, which reveals the paradigm of institution-based child sex abuse.

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  Doubting Bro

  Looks like it will be on HBO in Feb

  Thanks for the link
• 
  66

  WT Elders school: Look how cute that kindly old elder is! Too bad the Talmud says we have to stone our victim anyway

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  more haphazard thougths on the recently concluded elder school..... a big chunk of time was spent on a video which traced a judicial case, all the way from the confession to the elders through the decision to disfellowship the guy.. here is a very brief synopsis of the video:.

  tearful late-teen or early-20's publisher confesses to 2 elders that he committed fornication with a "worldly girl" who is now preganant and wants to marry him.

  the elders give him some "homework" to do prior to his judcial committee - read psalm 51 and an old wt article.

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  Doubting Bro

  How long before the WTS has a select group of elders in each circuit who handle all JCs? If I were them, that's what I would want to do. Have a group of say 10 guys that are hard core and will follow instructions to the T. Then have them deal with any JCs that come up. Hand picked by the CO.

  You could provide more training, have more control and get the CO more involved since he could be on call.

  I mean, if you're going to go hardcore, then do it all the way.
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  112

  Are They Cynically Shutting Down The Organization?

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've raised this idea before but recent events seem to support it.

  changes in the watchtower may be guided by more than a need for cash flow: they may simply be liquidating/shutting it down as discreetly as possible.. of course, this doesn't mean they stop working on their upstate ny country club - but it could mean that the throrough going exposure and disproof of their beliefs on the internet, when it emerged, took many of them by surprize, as it did many of us!

  after awhile, they generally gave up trying to make any sense of their doctrines - and coupled with cash flow issues - moved towards a quiet retreat.. take a look at a few things:.

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  Doubting Bro

  Flipper,

  While I know they're unethical enough to do anything, I'm not sure they're smart enough. Maybe if someone was using the religion as a front and not really caring what they do with some of the things that will strengthen the religion (stuff like doctrine, improving retention rates especially among born-ins, etc). But, I would find it difficult to believe that a group/person would be involved in the deep details.

  I guess if I were using a religion as a front, the ultimate cover would be to have true believers appear to be in charge. Let them handle everything except the money. Nothing else matters anyway.

  But, wouldn't that detail have come out with Franz? I would think if anyone would know, it would be the GB wouldn't it? Or is the theory that Ray was concerned for his life (if it's a criminal organization that the WTS is a front for) and was afraid to say anything?

  I would think that to operate something this big as a front would be quite difficult. It doesn't seem probable that it could keep going this long and still remain hidden.

  I do find the timing of the Brooklyn sales to be interesting since so many are being sold this year and for prices well below pre-crash prices. It looks like they have a cash crunch but I have a hard time believing that as well.
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  66

  WT Elders school: Look how cute that kindly old elder is! Too bad the Talmud says we have to stone our victim anyway

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  more haphazard thougths on the recently concluded elder school..... a big chunk of time was spent on a video which traced a judicial case, all the way from the confession to the elders through the decision to disfellowship the guy.. here is a very brief synopsis of the video:.

  tearful late-teen or early-20's publisher confesses to 2 elders that he committed fornication with a "worldly girl" who is now preganant and wants to marry him.

  the elders give him some "homework" to do prior to his judcial committee - read psalm 51 and an old wt article.

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  Doubting Bro

  well said UC!

  They've been complaining for years that elders were too soft on "wrongdoers". I was on a BOE that was chewed out by a CO because we gave too many reproofs and reinstated a few people too quickly for his liking.

  No doubt they are becoming more hardline.
• 
  111

  WT Elders school: The WTS has progressed from just plain stupid to dangerously stupid

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  fresh off the recent 1-day elders school.

  to keep things readable i'll post "highlights" over the next several days in different topics.

  point 1: they have progressed from "just plain" stupid to dangerously stupid.. .

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  Doubting Bro

  Alfredjones 100 - welcome to the board. Your advice is spot on.
• 
  111

  WT Elders school: The WTS has progressed from just plain stupid to dangerously stupid

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  fresh off the recent 1-day elders school.

  to keep things readable i'll post "highlights" over the next several days in different topics.

  point 1: they have progressed from "just plain" stupid to dangerously stupid.. .

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  Doubting Bro

  Ethos has obviouslly never been an elder.

  Back to the topic at hand. Again we see a complete lack of understanding when it comes to depression. At least the WTS does realize that many of their elders have no "fellow feeling" and no ability to comfort. Of course, the advice given here is basically the same albeit delivered in a much better way.

  I think one of the big problems is the way individuals are chosen to be elders in the first place. 95% of the qualifications have to do with 1) how much FS time, 2) does he comment, and 3) is he and his family at meetings regularly. If you're a MS that gets in +10hrs a month, comments at nearly every meeting, handles assignments and has a family that is regular at the meeting, you will be made an elder. However, that doesn't mean you're a good "shepherd". It doesn't mean that you know how to comfort people or how to encourage people.

  And, the WTS gives you basically no training on how to comfort people. I have learned more about being a source of comfort since stepping aside as an elder than I ever learned during my time as an elder. An elder's number one job is enforcing the WTS rules. Worrying about peoples feelings is way down on the list. It's not that they're bad guys (some are, many are not), it's just they think that reading a scripture will do the trick. It's only after they have to deal with something personally that they truely understand.
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  53

  WT Elders school: Avoid black and white thinking - now look at this zebra

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  continuing on with my haphazard review of the recent one-day elders school..... in one of the introductory talks, the co was making the point that we can't view things merely from a black and white perspective.

  many issues have "shades of gray" and we need to use discernment in such situations.. and i'm thinking "finally!

  maybe he will continue on to make an actual, reasonable point!".

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  Doubting Bro

  Is it any wonder the WTS is a huge fan of the "Hebrew" scriptures??? I mean, that Jesus dude was ok and all but WAY too soft on people.