I think this is part of The Quiet Rebellion you're seeing in American congregations, they try to tighten the leash by explicitly saying no casual clothes outside the convention. But I see very few that weren't predisposed to following this doing so. Especially wearing badges outside. As said it was a relief to step into a cool hotel room and change clothes. There is no way a family with a fussy group of kids is going, "okay you have to stay in clothes you've been in all day, and keep the badges on so we get looks at Chilis, whose with me?"
RubyStevens
JoinedPosts by RubyStevens
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34
Watchtower increases pace of accelerated change
by truthseeker init's not even april yet, and the watchtower society is revving up it's change at an alarming pace.. this year, the changes have all been big.. first, they announce that there will be two editions of the watchtower - a private edition for members only with only the study articles in and a public edition with no articles.
the 24 elders may be involved in communicating divine truths to the governing body.
the long held teaching that 1935 is the cutoff date for selection and gathering of the anointed has gone the way of the 1914 generation change in a convenient "questions from readers" article.. you cannot wear casual clothes after the convention, even if going out to eat.. .
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Photographs and Illustrations in WT Publications
by RubyStevens inthis is i guess geared more toward bethelites or those in the know.
in the endless sunday meetings i was always facinated by the photographs and pictures in the books and magazines.
is there a large photo studio at bethel were the pictures are taken?
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RubyStevens
Thank you!, that was really helpful.
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Thoughts on the public prayer of Witnesses
by SirNose586 inmany years ago, a brother gave a public talk on prayer wherein he stated that "each prayer should be like a snowflake--no two should be exactly the same.
" i agreed with his sentiments, and as a good little jw boy, i resolved that each prayer i said to god would be unique.
however, there was a problem with my resolution: i could never see examples of older people making sure that each prayer was unique.
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RubyStevens
Oh man, the final prayer at the DC, kind of like how in a slasher movie you think the killer is dead only to be suprised in the last five minutes. You were drained from an entire boring day with no drama, about to walk into the cool cement hallways of the convention center in your itchy dress, then boom, shifting uncomfortably for five or six minutes while blah blah blah, more service hours, blah blah more pioneers, blah blah, Jehovah is coming annnnnnny minute, blah blah amen. As for the types I've known my mother is no longer a JW but she goes to church, and the only bad thing about going to her house for a meal is that she is the most depression inducing prayer giver ever. It makes me angry at a God I don't believe in seeing her begging for him not to have forgotten this earth, his promise, and she doesn't understand why he's waiting so long. She's better than that. Fuck him.
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Photographs and Illustrations in WT Publications
by RubyStevens inthis is i guess geared more toward bethelites or those in the know.
in the endless sunday meetings i was always facinated by the photographs and pictures in the books and magazines.
is there a large photo studio at bethel were the pictures are taken?
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RubyStevens
I watched it ages ago, but I guess I'm looking for less "official" info. Was there a lot of infighting to be a photographer, an illustrator a model for that week's photo? Or in fighting or favor pulling just to work in that department.
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Photographs and Illustrations in WT Publications
by RubyStevens inthis is i guess geared more toward bethelites or those in the know.
in the endless sunday meetings i was always facinated by the photographs and pictures in the books and magazines.
is there a large photo studio at bethel were the pictures are taken?
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RubyStevens
This is I guess geared more toward Bethelites or those in the know. In the endless Sunday meetings I was always facinated by the photographs and pictures in the books and magazines. Is there a large photo studio at Bethel were the pictures are taken? Do they have a prop closet, is there a sister (I would assume there would be no way they'd let it be a man) who does hair and makeup? When they have children in pictures, are they rounded up from local congregations? Was there a lot of in fighting and string pulling to be picked to model for pictures? Was it the same deal for the illustration department? Was there a creative director in charge in coming up with what the photographs would look like, and storyboarding a series of photos to fit the article?
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Do you still believe that you have a chance of living eternally?
by JH inor, is it completely out of the question, and you know for sure that this life is it, and there is nothing else after.. maybe you believe that there is a possibility of eternal life, but you don't qualify..
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RubyStevens
So much of organized religion, worship, and seeking god can be catagorized by a fear of death. We're scared to die, and we're even more scared that there might be nothing more after that. As for me, I believe this is all I've got so it's my responsibility to make the most of it, to help others, and to happy not in selfishness or at the expense of others. I am scared to die, but now I fee joing a church or professing a belief in god would be dishonest, because I would only be doing so out of fear of dying, or going to hell for not believing in God.
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Major Clean Up After The Big A?
by RubyStevens inone of the more shocking things i've come across on this forum is that supposedly it'll be our responsibility to clean up the mess armagedon made and make the world a paradise during the 1000 year reign (jw's belive in the 1000 year reign, then the final judgement and destruction of satan right?
my doctrine is a little fuzzy).
this is new to me, has it appeared anywhere in the literature, talks, or the bible?
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RubyStevens
Plus isn't there a scripture about the earth opening up and swallowing up the unrightous ones?
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There are JWs happy to be in that org
by greendawn inwe on this forum were all more or less unhappy with the wts for one reason or other and inevitably we left that religion which we consider to be in fact a cult.
we can't understand or imagine how anyone could be happy living in that negative environment yet there seem to be quite a few dubs that are happy and content being jws.
apart from the obvious ones eg those that have some status which gives them a sense of importance why do others feel happy being there?
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RubyStevens
I think the ones who are genuinely the happiest are the ones who treat it as a load of baloney. They go to meetings every sunday, because they like going to church on sunday, and they like the connections and networking you can get done. They usually make the book study, and they hit or miss the thursday meeting, they make sure to do an odd Saturday or Sunday in service, walking up to a house with no cars in the garage and papers piled on the steps, carefully tuck in the WT in the door and leave. And they keep their JW life completely seperate from their secular life, they eat lunch and socialize with coworkers and their kids take part in afterschool activities, and they don't mention their religion to anyone who doesn't ask. That's not how you should treat religion and worship and it's hardly confined to JWs but it's what I've observed among those who seemed genuinely relaxed and happy, and not always coincidentaly the most successful in the real world.
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Major Clean Up After The Big A?
by RubyStevens inone of the more shocking things i've come across on this forum is that supposedly it'll be our responsibility to clean up the mess armagedon made and make the world a paradise during the 1000 year reign (jw's belive in the 1000 year reign, then the final judgement and destruction of satan right?
my doctrine is a little fuzzy).
this is new to me, has it appeared anywhere in the literature, talks, or the bible?
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RubyStevens
Schism those at the top likely or want to think so, and again how is the earthly class going to deal with 6 billion fetid rotting corpses. Faith is one thing, insanity is another. I could have more faith in a magical fairy godfather who would wisk the debris away with his magic wand than the idea,that we have earned the glorious reward to live hopelessly in filth and death, trying in vain to turn the world into a paradise without some considerable heavy lifting from Jehovah.
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Major Clean Up After The Big A?
by RubyStevens inone of the more shocking things i've come across on this forum is that supposedly it'll be our responsibility to clean up the mess armagedon made and make the world a paradise during the 1000 year reign (jw's belive in the 1000 year reign, then the final judgement and destruction of satan right?
my doctrine is a little fuzzy).
this is new to me, has it appeared anywhere in the literature, talks, or the bible?
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RubyStevens
It's odd but for this to make some kind of twisted sense you would have to let yourself believe completely in magic, in an example of God's awesome power. Poof! Armagedon, a moment for JW's to laugh and go neener neener at the charred remains of the unbelievers then Poof! a paradise. Where we probably wouldn't having running water, indoor plumbing, central heating, air conditioning, electricity, or anything above primitive tools. Unless, and not unreasonably, you can convince yourself that being a paradise, we'll have all those things, and water comes sparkling clean out of the tap without being through a treatment plant, spectic systems never need to be pumped, and electricity comes from a plant run on a water engine. Or else these things just are, without explanation, it's a magic paradise, free of logic. It's when you start to think about it you realize how codified and how it belongs on a Candyland board it is. The "best case" scenairo if we do have have to clean up the bodies is that it will be like those standing ground zero at an atomic explosion ash and bone. And again, what to do about the chemical plants in flames, all the nuclear plants going into meltdown, cars clogging every roadway. The Society would be better served to just shrug and say "It's Jehovah, he'll take care of it with a wave of his hand."