Welcome to the board say_what.
It appears from information available that the first president of the WTBTS, Charles Taze Russell, was somehow associated with Freemasons. They used to use masonic symbols on Watchtower literature and stuff back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. You might want to do a search on Google. Just enter: watchtower and masons
Over 32,000 hits came up.
I don't believe anyone has been able to find any creditable link between Masons and JWs in many decades.
MeneMene
JoinedPosts by MeneMene
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7
Mason/JWs
by say_what infirst off hello to all this being my first post i probably should have talk about some other subject but then again not being very smart i just don't know any better.
first off myself my wife and my daughter where bible studies for two years my son said no way would he be involved any how after about five years of pounding the door we decided to give it a go.
i was one that just have a hard time believing that the bible is the word of god i mean it was written by man and today we put these type in a padded room you know the voices in my head type.. any way after these two years we had a change in who we studied with this was good i think as it was the knife that severed the lead we had seen many different things that where said one way then the other a few things that where in the wt that where bull and what really got to me and the wife was the judging of others for crying out loud they made a issue about my daughter dieing her hair and always seemed to judge all other religions then in their next word would say not to judge others.. we had been avoiding letting them come to study was always busy even if it was watching nascar lol my girl has been going through some what we see as normal teenage things trying to figure out who and what she is we have never in are life said do not be friends with this or that type are kids have friends that are nice to strange to gay but why should that matter hell they are not going to cause you to become gay as the jws seem to think.
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MeneMene
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Need information on EDUCATIONALbackground of New World Translation commitee
by LexWatson incan any of you give me information regarding the exact educational background of those members of the.
new world translation commitee??
?
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MeneMene
Lex, as a side note, remember that the NWT committee used "experts" such as Johannes Greber to assist them in the translation.
One website on him is www.premier1.net/~raines/wtgreber.html
You can do a Google search on his name for more info if you are interested. -
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Building paradise
by Paralipomenon inokay we're all familiar with the watchtower's hope of a eternal life on a paradise earth.
i know as a witness i never gave it too much thought.
i thought of a park with a nice house and a large yard of nicely groomed grass.
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MeneMene
Very interesting thoughts Parali.
The Left Behind series of books, while fiction, was a very interesting interpretation. They took you from the rapture all the way to Armageddon.
Unless I missed the last book, they never finished the story. I was waiting for their theory about what happened after the great battle = the Big A.
Someone also wrote an excellent short story here on JWD a few months back about JWs & KHs after the Big A. -
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I've got a scan of that letter!
by SirNose586 ini just scanned the boe letter about the wt format change.
it's in .tif format.. enjoy!.
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MeneMene
While the private issue WT printing logically would go down, it looks to me like the public WT printing may go up to make up for only having the one to place.
Did the printing numbers go up on the Awake when they went to just one copy per month? Looks to me like the public WT and the Awake numbers should be about the same. -
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to join or not
by dontknow ini've had in the past studied a little about the bible with jws but have yet decided to be baptised.. i've just read lavenders' moving letter to her son and her love and well being for him is very obvious.
i do like the bible teachings very much and to this day i'm very interested in the end of the system of things which will very soon come to fruition; i'm a very strong believer, however i must stipulate to all, in retrospect i'm not sinless.
one of the posters says that jw's ask you to do a liitle bible study with them, attend one of their meetings and when you get baptised you have to do exactly what you are instructed or else.
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MeneMene
Here is just one example of abuse that I found on the internet - it is typical of experiences I have read here on JWD.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/2124671.stm)
"Sara Poisson was a member of a Jehovah's Witnesses congregation in New Hampshire in the USA.
She went to the elders because her husband was violent.
She also suspected - rightly, it transpired - that he was sexually abusing her daughter.
The elders told her she needed to pray more and be a better wife.
She believed them and the abuse continued."
The silentlambs website I gave you earlier deals with child sexual abuse that is covered up. -
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My Story: They called the cops on me!
by EnlightenedMind ini found this website a few days ago, and ive stayed up until 3 and 4 a.m. every night since reading the all-too-familiar stories.
i applaud you for sharing your stories and being so open and caring to others who venture onto this site.
i wish id had you 9 years ago when i was dfd.
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MeneMene
Welcome to the board & thank you for your story.
I am happy you were strong enough to get out and make your own way.
So many of us have been through similar things. I do think it makes us stronger and at least our children will not suffer the same as we did. -
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to join or not
by dontknow ini've had in the past studied a little about the bible with jws but have yet decided to be baptised.. i've just read lavenders' moving letter to her son and her love and well being for him is very obvious.
i do like the bible teachings very much and to this day i'm very interested in the end of the system of things which will very soon come to fruition; i'm a very strong believer, however i must stipulate to all, in retrospect i'm not sinless.
one of the posters says that jw's ask you to do a liitle bible study with them, attend one of their meetings and when you get baptised you have to do exactly what you are instructed or else.
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MeneMene
You ask, "Will JWs allow their family members be abused and turn the other cheek?" The short answer is YES!
I don't believe anyone yet has mentioned the pedofile problem within the Watchtower Society. Many experiences of abuse that has been covered up is on the website www.silentlambs.org.
Also on www.freeminds.org is Barbara Anderson's story. She was working at Bethel in NY when she found the almost 24,000 case files. Barbara's story is in the list in the center of the main page. Click on the blue pointer to open the story. -
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Cruising for chicks/guys @ assemblies.
by avishai inyup, the one thing i miss about assemblies.
the chase.
sneaking off at lunch and/or half the afternoon session to make out w/ someone you just met.
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MeneMene
Oh what memories - if I didn't meet a new guy at an assembly it was considered a complete waste of time.
Working at the assemblies was definitely a good way to meet guys.
12 years old is the first I remember meeting a guy at an assembly. We exchanged addresses and wrote letters for a while.
When I was 15 at an assembly in Florida I met a 30 yr old man that worked at Cape Canaveral. We sat together Sunday and by the time we got home I had a letter from him in the mail.
One assembly I met the most gorgeous guy - beautiful eyes that made me melt! I dated his roommate for a while but never got to date him. I always asked about him though. He ended up married to my cousin's SIL. Broke my heart. -
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I just got this email from a girl in Russia - can any guys help her out?
by Crumpet inseriously this just got into my intray at work - bizarre:.
hello dear friend!.
my name is natalia.
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MeneMene
I suspect if anyone answers she will suddenly find 'herself' short of funds and will need you to send her a few thousand to pay for her trip, etc. (There is no guarantee it is even a female sending the email.)
Just like the Nigerian scam artists - they say whatever they need to separate you from your money.
A relative had a vehicle for sale and they responded wanting to send him a few thousand more than the price of the vehicle and he was to return the excess via Western Union. They asked him for his phone number and address. He gave them the phone and address of the local FBI office. :) -
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Millions Now Living Will Never Die
by LexWatson inmillions now living will never die!
hmmm...can the historians out there please tell me what year this was first publicised?
it seems like it's old enough that the man who wrote it is surely dead!
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MeneMene
www.topix.net/forum/who/jehovahs-witnesses/TBCIH889B8SGD2ONN - Auld Soul provides info on the 1918 talk where it was first presented.
www.dianedew.com/jwmillns.htm refers to p 88 of the 1921 book Millions Now Living Will Never Die