Earnest

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Posts by Earnest

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  3

  Highlights from Watch Tower Britain and IBSA reports

  by Corney in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  here are some highlights from watch tower britain and ibsa annual reports.

  1. no more printing operations in britain.

  it’s already has been reported: .

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  Earnest

  betterdaze : Grants [of £70.7 million] from who or what?

  I cannot immediately establish from whom or what these grants came from, but in the same period Watchtower Britain spent £88.6 million in assisting entities overseas. Of this, £57.8 million were grants paid to such overseas entities.
  

  Of greater interest to me was the information from the Kingdom Hall Trust, that during 2019

  The most significant income of KHT was £3.8 million of donated assets. This was due to congregations joining the Trust merger project. Part of this merge is the transfer of beneficial ownership of Kingdom Halls from the congregations. ... all expenditure relating to the transfer of title to the Trust is the responsibility of local congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses. If congregations choose to merge with the Trust, their own congregation funds and donations are utilised for their expenses.

  At the time of the report the KHT held title to 636 properties as custodian trustee.
  
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  12

  Voting and JWs

  by Davros in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with the upcoming elections, the campaigns and political rhetoric are ramping up.

  (ramping up is an understatement lol) .

  i remember a few years ago, gb member brother herd mentioned during one of his talks that several witnesses were either reproved or disfellowshipped for voting for a certain presidential candidate who won...twice.

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  Earnest

  BluesBrother : Whether today [political voting for governments] is a disfellowshipping matter , I am not sure .The Shepherd the Flock book is not specific.

  The book Shepherd the Flock of God, 2019, p.153 refers to actions that may indicate disassociation. These include :

  (4) Taking a Course that Violates Christian Neutrality: (Isa. 2:4; John 15:17-19; lvs pp. 60-63, 244) If he joins a nonneutral organization, he has disassociated himself. If his employment makes him a clear accomplice in nonneutral activities, he should generally be allowed six months to make an adjustment. If he does not, he has disassociated himself.

  That seems to suggest that it is only joining a nonneutral organization which would be viewed as disassociation. However, How to Remain in God's Love (lvs) chapter 5 para.1-4 says:

  How can we be “no part of the world”? In this chapter, we will discuss several ways: We remain loyal to God’s Kingdom and are neutral, that is, we do not take sides in politics... Ambassadors represent their government in a foreign land, so they do not get involved in the politics of that land...Clearly, no true Christian would get involved in the politics of this world.​

  It doesn't actually use the word "vote" or "voting", and so there might be some discretion allowed, but I think the message is clear enough.
  

  :
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  War is a Racket, by Smedley D Butler, 1935

  by dropoffyourkeylee in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have just become aware of a book, published in the us in 1935, called 'war is a racket', by smedley d butler, a former marine major general who was very critical of the us involvement in ww1.

  since it was apparently a popular book at the time, and butler was a prominent figure, i am wondering if rutherford's adoption of the slogan 'religion is a snare and a racket' may have been borrowed from butler.. if so, it wouldn't be the first time rutherford drew upon familiar terms of the 20's and 30's to create slogans or wt articles..

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  Earnest

  It seems unlikely to me, but not impossible.

  After Butler retired from the US Marine Corps in October 1931, he made a nationwide tour in the early 1930s giving his speech "War is a Racket". The speech was so well received that he wrote a longer version as a short book published in 1935.

  In 1938 when Rutherford came to England he organised a placard campaign preceding his lecture on "Face the Facts" at the Royal Albert Hall. In the biography of Albert Schroeder in The Watchtower, March 1, 1988, pp.10-17 Schroeder says (pp.13,14):

  To advertise the public talk, sandwich-sign parades were organized. Before the first information march was due to take place, Brother Rutherford asked to see me. While we were discussing convention matters, he was doodling with his pen, which at times he did when talking with someone. He peeled from a pad what he had written and handed it to me. “What do you think of that?” he asked.
  "RELIGION IS A SNARE AND A RACKET,” it read.
  “It looks blazing hot,” I replied.
  “I meant it to be strong,” he said. He then instructed that placards with this wording be made in time for our first convention information march Wednesday evening.
  
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  Why does the Borg never use the terms Grace or Ezer

  by HiddenPimo in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  let me start with: this is not a discussion of the validity of the bible or whether it is inspired of god.. my question is why do you think they don't use grace in their teachings when this is such paramount teaching in the rest of the christian world.

  and why do they not reference the hebrew word for helper in genesis 'ezer'.

  this word as applied to a woman seems more dignified as it carries the connotation of strength where the man is weak.

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  Earnest

  There was an article in a 1995 Watchtower - The Dignified Role of Women Among God’s Early Servants - where it said (para 5) :

  Do the words “helper” and “complement” indicate that the woman’s God-assigned role was demeaning? On the contrary. Bible writers often apply to God the Hebrew noun (ʽeʹzer) rendered “helper.” For instance, Jehovah proves to be “our helper and our shield.” (Psalm 33:20; Exodus 18:4; D|euteronomy 33:7) At Hosea 13:9, Jehovah even refers to himself as Israel’s “helper.” As for the Hebrew word (neʹghedh) rendered “complement,” one Bible scholar [Gordon John Wenham] explains: “The help looked for is not just assistance in his daily work or in the procreation of children [though these aspects may be included,] but the mutual support companionship provides.”
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  King David's Three Choices

  by Jehalapeno in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  editor's note: found this on reddit...thought the meat of the post would be a good post for discussion here as well.. consider the three choices god forced upon david for taking a census.

  these three choices were forced on king david, not for murdering people, not for raping women, not for lying, stealing, or any crime we can think of in our modern world that is repugnant, but simply for taking a census or in other words, counting people.. for counting people, jehovah forced a decision on david that involved the lives of thousands upon thousands of innocent people.. the choices all dealt with the “way” jehovah would kill thousands of unsuspecting loyal worshipers.. 1 chronicles 21.

  “these are the choices the lord has given you.

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  Earnest

  It is nothing at all like Alice in Wonderland. In Alice through the Looking-Glass you have the Red Queen shouting "Off with their heads" but it never happens, even in the dream.
  
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  109

  Proportional Representation vs Electoral Collages

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the craziness of first-past-the-post elections .... we'll no doubt have to now live through the scotts demanding another referendum, because we may take their lands, but we will never take their freedom!

  and so they want to be free of the uk, where they have a disproportionate influence in parliament, and be a little dot that's part of the eu.

  yup, freedom.. but anyway, as it stands right now they have 48 seats after getting 1.2m votes.

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  Earnest

  Didn't that work with the United Kingdom? Oh, never mind.
  
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  28

  Corona-virus facts

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  corona-virus facts.

  in china, people generally do not wash their hands.

  there is no soap in restrooms or even in hospitals.

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  Earnest

  Latest Chinese figures are available here.
  
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  12

  Name Thelogy explained by real bible scholar

  by Steel in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuf_6bp-cke&t=205s.

  its only 5 mins and kind of a eureka moment for me.

  its actually pretty funny once you think about it.

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  Earnest

  Jesus had no need to provide the missing vowels of the Tetragrammaton. While the many references to the name of God indicate it was still in use at that time, even if it was not we know that the High Priest would pronounce it every year on the Day of Atonement.

  In addition, later writers of the Hekhalot literature, such as Greater Palaces, Lesser Palaces, Account of the Chariot, and Divine Dimensions show that even after prohibition it continued to be used in some circles.
  
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  Brexit Bill becomes law - a victory for democracy.

  by LoveUniHateExams in

  1. social
  2. current

  excellent, the lords' objection to the brexit bill has been overcome and it will now become law.. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/jan/23/brexit-boris-johnson-labour-leadershiop-eu-official-tells-johnson-to-face-dose-of-realism-as-he-claims-brexit-now-crossing-finish-line--live-news.

  it's a guardian article, so it's well worth looking at a few of the below-the-line comments.

  xd.

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  Earnest

  Interesting times. There is no precedent for a major piece of legislation being passed after all three devolved legislatures have refused consent.

  The Scottish Parliament voted on 8 January 2020 to deny consent to the Withdrawal Agreement Bill by 92 votes to 29.

  The National Assembly for Wales voted on 21 January to deny consent to the Withdrawal Agreement Bill with a majority of 35 votes to 15.

  The Northern Ireland Assembly unanimously agreed a motion to deny consent on 20 January 2020,. This has not yet been ratified.

  Democracy for England, perhaps.
  
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  Where is it written?

  by Ultimate Axiom in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  some time ago i came across this quote claiming to be from a watchtower publication;.

  1953 –“bible chronology also fixes the time for christ's second presence and the assuming of his right to rule as at 1914; this date was published in the watchtower as early as 1879, 35 years before 1914.” (tscp 3).

  this is of course misleading, for while the date was indeed published in watchtowers from the very beginning, christ’s second presence and his becoming king were not assigned to that year until many years after (1933 and 1922 respectively, to be precise)..

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  Earnest

  This quotation is taken from a Watchtower pamphlet - The Sign of Christ's Presence - published in 1953 and available here.