after some considerable thought i have decided that i will no longer post on this forum because i want to return to jehovah.
thank you for all the kindness and many interesting discussions over the years.
i wish you all well in the future and the decisions you make.
Sorry to keep this going but SBF, if you are reading these comments, I want to wish you the best. I still attend and while I hate it, I've developed the ability to cope somehow. We all have choices some of which are very difficult. It really boils down to what is going to cause the least amount of pain.
I always enjoyed SBFs contributions and he'll be missed. I think he brought a bit of balance to the board that was needed.
i know that this has been discussed in the past but i wanted to get some fresh opinions.
there are many out there that recognize the "rot" that is in watchtower but still feel that there is a "wholesome" side to it and are trying to bring about change or reform from within.. in 2002 when the rose colored glasses came off for me and i truly started to understand ttatt, i still felt that there was some redemable aspects of the organization.. i felt that russell had some doctrinal things right.
i don't feel like that anymore.
Not in my opinion. To reform would require such a drastic change in policies and even in people that it would just implode. Plus, anyone who voices a contrary opinion is quickly squashed. The only ones that have the right to question anything are the GB and it's in their best interest to continue things as they are. It's hard to imagine even a black swan event that would make them drop their most cult-like traits.
still a fair bit to do but i thought it is worth posting.
this is all done with dots no lines at all.. .
Nugget - that's really great. Good luck on your exhibit!!
my jw daughter called me this afternoon!!!!!
!i am just over the moon.
her hubby not a jw has cancer & was operated on today!!!!.
Mouthy, that's fantastic news!
I'm struck by how sad it is that something that would be a normal family communication ends up being a big deal because of the WTS hurtful policy. And they say it doesn't destroy families???
i just thought i'd share this; my mom has dinner with her jw friend on tuesdays and apparently the jw wasn't in a very good mood today... the reason for this as she told my mom is because she wasn't invited to the agm.
she's been a jw for 25 years, doesn't pioneer, but is very dedicated to the cause.
she also explained to my mom that 2 other sisters one of whom is 80 yrs old and has been a jw all her life wasn't invited either.
So, in the US and Canada all publishers and their minor children were invited (except in apparently some cases where there were spaces issues and small children weren't allowed). In the UK, only specific individuals were invited. What about other English speaking countries?
They mentioned something like 99 countries where the program was heard but I assumed most of the non-English countries just had their Bethel staff/missionaries/big wigs going like they normally do.
But in the UK, you have assembly halls and the ability to stream video (or at least replay a video that was downloaded). So why restrict it in one country and not in others? The only thing I can think is they didn't have enough Bibles to distribute.
This is a US religion and while I'm an American and think the world revolves around me () I know that's really not the case. But it has always seemed to me that the WTS treats other countries like second class citizens. It's still very American-centric although only 1 in 7 JWs are in the US and Spanish is about 25% of them which makes the English speaking Americans an even small percentage of the overall number.
so i brought this up in another thread... but i think it needs its own discussion.. having had one of the new grey leatherette and silver edged bibles with the new appendixes in my hand.
i immediately thought of all the custom covered nwt bibles you see some publishers sporting at meetings.
also the fact that the co's and wives who'd been given one had to turn it back in seemed very off-putting.. .
How did I miss this? So, the RNWT wasn't really that well kept of a secret after all!
are they simply trying to make their bible more readable, or do you think there is a more sinister motive?.
I was listening while at the AGM and don't recall hearing any donation suggested. They did mention a few times that there were contribution boxes available.
I think the original NWT was done to match their theology with bible verses and some of the videos they showed especially the Herd "Trip down memory lane" interview session with old timers said how they would read verses that didn't match with their knowledge because the scriptures were inaccurate. Once the NWT was release, those scriptures then matched JW theology.
All bible translations get revised from time to time. Their cheaply produced versions were the source of complaints and they realized they needed to produce something a little better when it came to the Bible. All the hoopla surrounding this was a marketing ploy to increase contributions. They could have announced the release at the district convention (which I'll bet they wanted to have one ready but it must have gotten delayed) and made it available 10-1. But inviting everyone in the English world to the AGM and creating a buzz certainly produced more donations than if it just been made available at the literature counter.
did someone post this already?.
the list of the watchtower farms cementery.... http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&gscid=2403939.
gorby.
Don't they call it the "launching pad" or something like that?
so with everything else being dissected, i want to know why it's important to have a font that can be copyrighted?.
the font used is very similar to a number of others, like tahoma, ms sans serif, and arial etc, so what benefit is there to employing (in the loose sense of the word) a team in japan to create a brand new western set of glyphs?.
will this help with their prosecution of those who copy/paste nnwt verses?.
One of the GB members inferred that in his part. That they needed a new font to copyright it.
...but it struck me as significant anyway.. i attended at a jw assembly hall, and was sitting behind a pretty typical jw family.
2 kids about ages 8 & 5, frazzled hen-pecked husband, and....the mom.
the lady of the house.
Yeah, I thought it was really strange with all the applause. THEY CAN"T HEAR YOU MORON!! My wife commented how the GB seemed more laid back (except for Morris & Losche who are clearly pricks). One person actually cheered when they held the bible up. Really??? Ok, it's nicer than the Bibles they had been producing for the last few years but don't you already have a copy of that book?
I'll tell you what, I'm getting sick of looking at Facebook and Instagram since for the last 24 hours, people have been posting pictures from the event holding up their Bibles. And commenting on how God blessed them with the new revision. Uh, did it fall from the sky? did you see a giant finger writing it out in that lovely grey book? Well, then maybe it wasn't God but the WTS. Oh wait, that's the same thing. My bad.
I will say that depending on the financial take from the weekend, you can guarantee this will be an annual event for all publishers (edited to add all publishers - wait we don't like brackets anymore do we?). Say what you want, the WTS knows how to whip up JWs into a frenzy.
