aligot ripounsous

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Posts by aligot ripounsous

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  18

  Do GB members have Holy Spirit when editing WT pictures ?

  by aligot ripounsous in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  pictures in the latest two wt study articles left me with an uncomfortable feeling, which leads me to wonder if hs is ever inspiring the gb members in charge (i suppose there are such ones) of editing wt study articles before them being printed.. first, there was that picture last week where a jw man is meant to give his work colleagues a fine witness as, during break time, he is reading his bible, and it is implied that, in doing so, he is triggering the interest of one of his work mates who, at first, looks rather suspicious.

  in fact, that jw man is sitting ten steps away from his colleagues and reads his bible quite ostentatiously.

  at watching that picture, instead of thinking of a fine witness being given, any onlooker will say that this mans attitude is pharisaic and delivers the message that he his holier than all those around who belong to the sinful world and he doesnt want to mingle with them.

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  aligot ripounsous

  Oompa and caliber,

  The sentence could have been constructed more clearly, I'll try to do better next time, sorry for the risk of misunderstanding, I'm sure readers have rectified for themselves already.
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  18

  Do GB members have Holy Spirit when editing WT pictures ?

  by aligot ripounsous in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  pictures in the latest two wt study articles left me with an uncomfortable feeling, which leads me to wonder if hs is ever inspiring the gb members in charge (i suppose there are such ones) of editing wt study articles before them being printed.. first, there was that picture last week where a jw man is meant to give his work colleagues a fine witness as, during break time, he is reading his bible, and it is implied that, in doing so, he is triggering the interest of one of his work mates who, at first, looks rather suspicious.

  in fact, that jw man is sitting ten steps away from his colleagues and reads his bible quite ostentatiously.

  at watching that picture, instead of thinking of a fine witness being given, any onlooker will say that this mans attitude is pharisaic and delivers the message that he his holier than all those around who belong to the sinful world and he doesnt want to mingle with them.

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  aligot ripounsous

  Governing Body members rarely review the material going out to be published

  HSS,

  Wasn't Karl KLEIN assigned to that job ? I'm not privy to GB functioning but I would be surprised that no one (even not belonging formally to the GB) has taken over after he died.
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  18

  Do GB members have Holy Spirit when editing WT pictures ?

  by aligot ripounsous in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  pictures in the latest two wt study articles left me with an uncomfortable feeling, which leads me to wonder if hs is ever inspiring the gb members in charge (i suppose there are such ones) of editing wt study articles before them being printed.. first, there was that picture last week where a jw man is meant to give his work colleagues a fine witness as, during break time, he is reading his bible, and it is implied that, in doing so, he is triggering the interest of one of his work mates who, at first, looks rather suspicious.

  in fact, that jw man is sitting ten steps away from his colleagues and reads his bible quite ostentatiously.

  at watching that picture, instead of thinking of a fine witness being given, any onlooker will say that this mans attitude is pharisaic and delivers the message that he his holier than all those around who belong to the sinful world and he doesnt want to mingle with them.

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• 

  aligot ripounsous

  Pictures in the latest two WT study articles left me with an uncomfortable feeling, which leads me to wonder if HS is ever inspiring the GB members in charge (I suppose there are such ones) of editing WT study articles before them being printed.

  First, there was that picture last week where a JW man is meant to give his work colleagues a « fine witness » as, during break time, he is reading his Bible, and it is implied that, in doing so, he is triggering the interest of one of his work mates who, at first, looks rather suspicious.

  In fact, that JW man is sitting ten steps away from his colleagues and reads his Bible quite ostentatiously. At watching that picture, Instead of thinking of a « fine witness » being given, any onlooker will say that this man’s attitude is pharisaïc and delivers the message that he his holier than all those around who belong to the sinful world and he doesn’t want to mingle with them.

  So, one can ask the question : When seeing the picture, wasn’t the GB member in charge inspired by HS to remember Mt. 6 : 1 where Jesus warns his disciples : « Take care not to practice your righteousness in front of men in order to be observed by them » and, farther at Mat 6 : 6 « you, however, when you pray, go into your private room and, after shutting the door, pray to your father who is in the secret » ?

  The second picture was in today’s study article. In the spirit of that article, it shows a JW man, in jail, praying hard, probably in behalf of his persecutors. Now, it doesn’t seem that that man has been so ill treated because his shirt is impeccable, he is neatly shaved and his hair nicely cut, combed and sprayed.

  I wonder what the poor JWs who are currently rotting in Erythrean jails think of how the GB sees their real plight and if they don’t start suspecting that to these pampered old men the outer world doesn’t go much beyond Manhattan.
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  3

  France: Congresses in summer 2008

  by vril in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hello, i will be in france in july

  does anybody know where they have assemblies?

  thanks you for feedback

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  aligot ripounsous

  I heard that Villepinte exhibition site in northern Paris, near CDG airport, is now too expensive to hire. You may find something in Chartres, about 80 kms SW of Paris, last WE of july. A JW hall has been built there for small assemblies.
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  53

  EMPTY KINGDOM HALL

  by thebigdebate in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have heard from my father (who is an elder about 50 years old) that there is a great seperating work going on within the org.

  he said that almost all of the people my age 25 to 35 have quit going to our hall (about 20 people).

  i have not been to a meeting in about 1 year.

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  aligot ripounsous

  Ten years ago, our small 50 publishers congregation (had dwindled from about 75 since mid eighties), in Paris area, merged with the neighbouring 70 or so cong. So, during the first few months we could hardly find seats at meetings, everybody was so eager to meet new members, and maybe new potential mates. Now we are back to about 60 attendants on WE meetings, must be even less midweek. The society has replenished attendance by means of a foreign speaking group, nice folks btw. In addition to regular attrition (death, DFing, DAing), one reason for this shrinking evolution is the cost of accommodation near the center of big cities and, as soon as couples have children they look for larger and cheaper flats or houses on the outskirts of the agglomeration, possibly evaporating in the process.
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  63

  You know, I've yet to meet a JW who can explain this

  by Lady Zombie in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i know that has probably been covered ad infinitum on jwd.

  so...... if jehovah is omnipotent, then there is nothing he can't do and nothing he doesn't know.. and, according to jws (as well as most other religions), god is love.

  therefore he had to have known, even before creating all of creation, what would happen.

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  aligot ripounsous

  What nobody knows is how the two ends of each one of these ropes meet in the middle :

  the first one : omniscient god on one side, man's freedom on the other

  the second one : loving god on one side, man's misery on the other

  And still the believer (I for one) wants to believe in the validity of each single end. No real alternative choice apart from absurd life
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  35

  I'm leaving on a jet plane!

  by purplesofa in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in a few hours.. to a new life, a new adventure.. thanks to the board for helping me to get to the place i am now in life.. it feels great...it's taken alot of time, thinking, pain, overcoming fears, communication and a good dose of reality.. believe me, .

  it's been worth all of it.. hope everyone has a great life.. purps.

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  aligot ripounsous

  Enjoy life, Purps, and may the desires of your heart be fulfilled.
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  16

  well, children are mature enough to take a stand in behalf of the kingdom

  by aligot ripounsous in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i heard this morning the "who will be saved (n 126) " public talk.

  the speaker raised the point of age baptism and he confirmed what has been pointed out a couple of times on this board, namely that, according to a trend which seems to be fairly recent within the wts, people don't have to be adults to decide they want to become jws and get baptism.

  the only two examples which the speaker selected were 2 children : manaseh who, at age 12, promoted idolatry, and king yoshia who restored jehovah's worship as soon as he came to power at age 8 !

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  aligot ripounsous

  Blondie's archives show that the WTS's stand about getting baptized at a tender age isn't that new and, true, we heard it in the past. Still, what was really chocking in that talk was the fact that no examples other than children were offered. I'll ask the speaker whether it was his own choice or if those examples were the only ones set out in the outlines, which in the latter case would make it a much more serious case of children indoctrination.

  Heathen's argument is a potent one : what gives meaning to baptism is repentance from past sins. Now what serious sins is a child expected to repent from ? Reminds me of the episode where Barbara Grizzuti (who reports that she was baptized at age 9) felt that she had to repent from some serious sin and she indeed confessed one to an inquiring elder . Here is the hilarious passage which will no doubt drive those who don't know Visions of Glory into reading it.

  One night shortly after my conversion, a visiting elder of the congregation, as he was avuncularly tucking me into bed, asked me if I was guilty of performing evil practices with my hands under the covers at night. I was puzzled. He was persistent. Finally, I thought I understood. And I burst into wild tears of self-recrimination. Under the covers at night, I bit my cuticles-a practice which, in fact, did afford me a kind of sensual pleasure. (I didn't learn about masturbation-which the Witnesses call "idolatry, "because "the masturbator's affection is diverted away from the Creator and is bestowed upon a coveted object" [TW, Sept. 15, 1973, p. 568], until much later.)

  So, having confessed to a sin I hadn't known existed, I was advised of the necessity for keeping one's body pure from sin; cold baths were recommended. I couldn't see the connection, but one never questioned the imperatives of an elder, so I subjected my impure body to so many icy baths in midwinter that I began to look like a bleached prune. My mother thought I was demented. But I couldn't tell her that I'd been biting my cuticles, because to have incurred God's wrath-and to see the beady eye of the elder steadfastly upon me at every religious meeting I went to-was torment enough.

  Alas, poor kid, but I'm sure Barbara must still be laughing about the event in her grave.
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  16

  well, children are mature enough to take a stand in behalf of the kingdom

  by aligot ripounsous in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i heard this morning the "who will be saved (n 126) " public talk.

  the speaker raised the point of age baptism and he confirmed what has been pointed out a couple of times on this board, namely that, according to a trend which seems to be fairly recent within the wts, people don't have to be adults to decide they want to become jws and get baptism.

  the only two examples which the speaker selected were 2 children : manaseh who, at age 12, promoted idolatry, and king yoshia who restored jehovah's worship as soon as he came to power at age 8 !

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  aligot ripounsous

  I heard this morning the "Who will be saved (n° 126) " public talk. The speaker raised the point of age baptism and he confirmed what has been pointed out a couple of times on this board, namely that, according to a trend which seems to be fairly recent within the WTS, people don't have to be adults to decide they want to become JWs and get baptism. The only two examples which the speaker selected were 2 children : Manaseh who, at age 12, promoted idolatry, and king Yoshia who restored Jehovah's worship as soon as he came to power at age 8 !

  I must grow old, can't keep up with new lights and understanding. Last time I conducted a Bible study with someone, I emphasized that Jesus was baptized at age 30 and I thought that it was the standard JW line. This morning, Jesus example wasn't even mentioned, now I understand that with these new 30 min talks the speaker clings closely to the outlines provided by the WTS. The conclusion is, Jesus is an outdated model to young christians, the future belongs to kids !
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  31

  Gone full circle...time to say bye

  by digderidoo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i feel at the moment to keep posting on this site is doing me no good.

  i used to post here many years ago and came across many things jw related that made me feel angry towards the way i was brought up.

  in particular the 607 issue and the generation change.

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  aligot ripounsous

  Digderidoo,

  My first thoughts are to wish you the best in your endeavour to overcome your drinking problem. As I can see it from various testimonies, it's not an easy task and a little encouragement, even from a stranger, won't harm. Good success to you and if some relationship to Jehovah remains with you, approach Him, He knows what we are made of.