Topics Started by DB
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10Local news article lists jw beliefs
by DB inan article appearing in a local newspaper featured the building of a local kingdom hall.
next to the article, a seperate column liste some beliefs of jehovah's witnesses, after stating briefly who they are and how they originated.. the article then listed their beliefs as follows:.
only jehovah's witnesses can be saved.
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45
What's Your Pet Peeve?
by DB inof course, the wts is pretty much a pet peeve of almost everyone here.
but besides that, what's your pet peeve?
i'm in a playful mood today, so here's mine, with some tongue-in-cheekiness, of course: .
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17
my notes from letter read at service meeting
by DB inat tonight's service meeting, a letter was read concerning child molestation and the society's policy.. to preface, i jotted down notes in the form of a brief outline.
also, the elder reading it said that the letter is primarily directed to jws for the purpose of answering questions that we may encounter.. here's my outline:.
god's people are happy, in stark contrast to this world.. one reason is that we respect bible's view of sexual matters.. we abhor child abuse.. we will not protect abusers, or sheild them from the consequences of their wicked acts.. we expect elders to investigate every case (report) of child abuse.. but, we congregation follows bible stipulation that there must be two or three witnesses to establish a matter.. no congregation privilages extended to known child molesters.. elders are instructed to report abuse when required by state law.. people have the "absolute right" (my quotation marks for emphasis and to underscore that it is a quote from the letter) to report child abuse to the authorities.. since 1981 several articles published dealing with with matter in wt and awake.. when circumstances made the need clear, we have strengthened our policy over the years.. we feel that our bible-based policy is strong.. some additional notes: there were several scriptures cited and read, i did not jot them down.. well, i did note 1 tim 5:19 and 24. these verses were read after the comment abuout the need for two witnesses.
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Could WTS learn from the FBI?
by DB inas many of you know, coleen rowley, fbi counsel in its minneapolis office, wrote a scathing 13 page memo to her boss, fbi director robert mueller, exposing many flaws in the agency's handling of intelligence which may have contributed to its failure to see the terrorist attack of 9-11 coming.. rowley will not be disciplined in any way, as promised by mueller.
she has been commended for her courage in coming forward with important information that could lead to changes within the fbi.. do you think that there's another organization that could learn a lesson here?.
have a great day!
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10
e-mail fw'd by jws discusses pedophile issue
by DB ini recieved a forwarded e-mail from a jw today which discusses the pedophile issue and bill bowen.
unfortunately, i don't know how to post it here.
it quotes bowen and some of his concerns, and contains one statement, presumably by jr brown or another wts representative, saying that jws do not condone such abuse.
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24
WT 4-01-02 article
by DB inin the april 1, 2002 issue of the watchtower, an article appears entitled "keep on serving jehovah with a steadfast heart".
paragraph 14 of this article states: "if jehovah's organization knowingly endorsed false teachings, advice to read the bible would never be given to jehovah's witnesses and those to whom they preach.".
i am withholding comment on this statement, because i'd like to hear from any who would like to post a response.
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12
Should Catholics leave their religion?
by DB inin the light of the recent news about child abuse scandals within the catholic church, would you encourage a catholic to leave his/her religion?.
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thanks!
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46
Wife makes a funny
by DB inon the way to dropping my wife off at work this morning, we stopped at an intersection near a funeral home which is constructed very similarly to many kingdom halls.
the following conversation took place:.
me: "that funeral home always reminds me of a kingdom hall.".
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14
Obessed with sex?
by DB innow that i have your attention....really, this is about sex.. this week's issue of newsweek contains an interesting commentary by anna quinlan, found on the last page, that deals with the catholic church's priestly sex scandal and how, for so many years, repressive teachings by the church in matters realting to human sexuality have been very counter-productive and have missed the mark badly while the church at the same time tried to cover-up cases of pedophilia among priests.
examples given include teachings like no divorce (while people suffer in bad marriages), no birth control (thus teaching that sex is not be engaged in simply for pleasure but with the purpose of procreation), and so on.
and yet in the meantime, they obviously missed the boat on the whole problem of sex abuse within their own priesthood.. while jw teachings are not as repressive, at times i have noticed a seeming obsession, if one might call it that, among some jws in matters of a sexual nature.
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16
KM article "How Will They Hear?"
by DB inperhaps this topic has already been addressed, but at last night's service meeting we discussed an article in the kingdom ministry (jan 2001) called "how will they hear?".
it dealt with the fact that there are perhaps billions worlwide who have not yet been witnessed to.
the articel mentioned that the jws "trust in jehovah" (i guess its always the case when they have no answers) that those people, mostly concentrated in asia (especially china and the sub-continent) will have their hearts read by god and that he will know who are righteous and who are not.
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