Earnest

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Posts by Earnest

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  16

  What did Russell and the Bible students say about racism?

  by Fadeaway1962 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  featured on jworg , what does the bible say about racism?

  .

  and a video , johny and gideon: once enemies, now brothers , two men from south africa.. what did russell and rutherford have to say about racism in the congregations ?.

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  Earnest

  The situation in South Africa ever since the Group Areas Act of 1950 was that racial groups were restricted to different residential areas. The result was that if a Kingdom Hall or Assembly was in a white area the only people living in that area would be white. Likewise, in a black area the only people living there would be black. The effect of the Group Areas Act was that the congregations were not mixed. There was an exception to this when an employee (usually a maid or gardener) lived on the property of their employer, in which case they attended the congregation in that area.

  Ever since the Group Areas Act was abolished in 1991 the congregations were mixed. Although I would say that there have been Witnesses who were racist due to their background, as a group they have never practiced apartheid in South Africa.
  
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  9

  Jehovah’s Witnesses Reject Plasma Injections for COVID-19

  by Rattigan350 in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  jehovah’s witnesses reject plasma injections for covid-19.

  https://www.newsintervention.com/jehovahs-witnesses-reject-plasma-injections-covid-19/.

  the jehovah’s witnesses have issues with modern medical information because this is seen as against the tenets of the religious faith.

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  Earnest

  The article suggests that the following in italics is a Watchtower directive:

  The Blood Issue: There’s talk about the FDA allowing doctors to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients with “convalescent plasma therapy.” It would be wise to advise the publishers that it’s understood that this is giving the patient the whole plasma of the person who has developed the antibodies which would be unacceptable for Jehovah’s Witnesses.

  However if the antibodies were extracted from the plasma (fractions/immunoglobulins) and then given to the patient, it would be a conscience matter for Jehovah’s Witnesses. Some doctors may view plasma as a fraction. Therefore the publisher may need to explain their personal decision not to accept any of the blood’s four main components, one of them being plasma.

  I doubt it.
  
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  4

  Will Covid 19 deaths exceed 'flu deaths in the U.K.?

  by BoogerMan in

  1. social
  2. current

  i hope not.

  thankfully, c19 appears to be waning as the summer comes in.. 2017/18 'flu deaths: england & wales = 50,100, scotland - 23,137, & n.i.

  - 1500. total = 74,637.

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  Earnest

  The first reported deaths in 2020 for England and Wales by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate was in the week ending 13 March 2020 in which there were 5 deaths. The most recent report by the ONS is for the week ending 22 May 2020. For purposes of comparison the figures below only cover England and Wales for the same period of eleven weeks in the years 2018, 2019 and 2020.

  In 2018 there were 17,524 deaths from respiratory diseases including influenza. This was 14.9% of all deaths in the same period.

  In 2019 there were 15,334 deaths from respiratory diseases including influenza. This was 13.8% of all deaths in the same period.

  In 2020 there were 16,001 deaths from respiratory diseases including influenza but excluding COVID-19. This was 9.4% of all deaths in the same period.

  In the same period there were 43,694 deaths in which COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. This was 25.8% of all deaths in the same period.
  

  For purposes of comparison, there were 56,194 more deaths from all causes in 2020 than the average number of deaths over the same period in the previous five years. This means that in 2020 there has been an increase of 49.6% over the average number of deaths

  All figures were obtained from the ONS website here.
  
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  9

  Mario Di Maggio critical review of Creation book

  by Darkanyons in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  hello guys,.

  i've trying to search out the critical review of the book life-how did it get here?

  by evolution or creation?

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  Earnest

  Hi Mario, thank you very much for this. Is it possible to obtain a PDF copy of your Critical Analysis of the Creation Book?

  The names Jan Haugland and Alan Feuerbacher bring back to mind a time when there were intellectual giants in this land. I hope you stick around.
  
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  11

  JW imprisonment

  by BourneIdentity in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this is on the jw news site.

  news alert | crimean supreme court sentenced brother artem gerasimov to six years in prison.

  on june 4, 2020, the crimean supreme court sentenced brother artem gerasimov to six years in prison for his peaceful christian worship.

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  Earnest

  Regarding the increase in sentence of Artyom Gerasimov, the article says:
  

  It became known that along with an appeal from a believer, a prosecutor's appeal was filed to the court "for the sentence is lenient". As a result, the panel of judges (Judge-Rapporteur - Aleksei Lastov) denied the appeal of the believer, but partially satisfied the representation of the prosecutor. The prosecutor, Oksana Chuchueva, asked for a 6.5-year sentence in the colony. On June 4, during the appeal hearing the Supreme Court of Crimea took the side of the prosecution and replaced the fine with [six years] imprisonment. The verdict came into force. The defense intends to appeal this decision to the court of cassation.
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  6

  UK: Time to punish the Covid 19 PROFITEERS!

  by BoogerMan in

  1. social
  2. current

  laws have been very quickly created in order to oppress & suppress uk citizens' basic freedoms and rights, while profiteering - thanks to the mantra of "supply & demand" - is allowed to flourish with nothing being done by the government to penalise companies who are more than likely reducing production of ppe in order to inflate their prices.

  (oil companies have done likewise for years) .

  "apart from actually finding the equipment, there are other problems.

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  Earnest

  https://www.coronavirus-business-complaint.service.gov.uk/
  
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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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  2

  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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  7

  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.”