forgive me if this has been covered before but i only drop in occasionally.. i seem to remember some months ago that a poster talked about the planned relocation of the british branch to milton keenes.
i think he said that the move had been scrapped because of the lack of growth in britain?
i also believe that this decision had been made before the sept 11th attacks.
The Governing Body has thoroughly considered the matter and weighed various factors that would have a bearing on their decision.
I translated the article and posted it in Germany. An interesting observation has been made: how comes the Governing Body decides on buying or not buying real estate? Should they not focus on spiritual things now after the "secular" business is run by the "Nethinim"?
a friend of mine has been sharing her doubts about the organization with me for the last year.
she read both of ray franz's books and found that they were interesting and dealt with many of the questions she had.
she then wrote to the society anonymously and explained why she could not in good conscience preach regarding 1914 ( she used my p.o.
Ray Franz may also interested in the fact that a domain http://www.raymond-franz.com is running at the moment
my jw wife is teaching my nearly-3yr old to pray before meals.
i'm cool with that... doesn't bother me at all.
the problem is, i'd like to accept my role as father but i don't know how to lead in this area.
I am at a siilar situation. We have stopped praying during the last year with the except when there are JW visitors. So, now my kids watch me eating everyday without praying before and when there are JW present I lead the family in prayer. I'm afraid that I educate them to be hypocrites.
a friend of mine has been sharing her doubts about the organization with me for the last year.
she read both of ray franz's books and found that they were interesting and dealt with many of the questions she had.
she then wrote to the society anonymously and explained why she could not in good conscience preach regarding 1914 ( she used my p.o.
I was ver y quick with my comment. I understand Ray having a very strict policy. I remember his story disappeared on the Beacon Site the time around the ChristianQuest-Website had been launched. The were assumptions he did not want to promote any organized way of worship.
I guess if there is an official website it should not be a problem to link to the chapters.
I understand that while other Sites may comments favorable or not on Ray Franz, CoC and ISoCF, the Commentary Press WebSite is the only authoritative website ;-).
a friend of mine has been sharing her doubts about the organization with me for the last year.
she read both of ray franz's books and found that they were interesting and dealt with many of the questions she had.
she then wrote to the society anonymously and explained why she could not in good conscience preach regarding 1914 ( she used my p.o.
When I get to know of a JW webmaster contacted by the WTS to put off their copyrighted stuff I think: "It's their right but they are idiots."
When I get to know of a anti-JW website contacted by the WTS to put off their copyrighted material (i.e. Pay Attention) I think "It's their right - and I know why they enforce it.
I understand why Kent Steinhaug is mad.
It is also Ray Franz' right - but a bad taste in the mouth stays. He has lost a bit of my admiration today.
the wt in the past stated that "if the time came when we are running short on cash god wants us to pack up shop".
well it looks like when wt is running short on case and who does wt turn to--is it jehovah- o no they turn to the world.
so much for time to pack up shop.
I remember when the donantion arrangement was introduced in Germany (1991?). The first months, the amount that was read to the congragtion was pretty high. But the amount I heard the last times (over a year ago) was at max. half of it. But I don't know how many publishers donate privately to get a receipt for saving taxes.
I don't know which consequences the introduction of the Euro currency will have. In Germany 1 Euro is about 2DM, so when someone gave 50DM before he may now give 50Euro. Or he gives 20Euro because there is a 20 and a 50Euro-Note which would be worth less.
But in other countries there are different exchange rates.
the wt in the past stated that "if the time came when we are running short on cash god wants us to pack up shop".
well it looks like when wt is running short on case and who does wt turn to--is it jehovah- o no they turn to the world.
so much for time to pack up shop.
I think it is not so far fetched that they are short on cash. Okay, they are wealthy owning real estate. But you cannot pay by real estate. We see a decline in publishers in the more wealthy nations and an increase in the poor countries-and the donation arrangement has been introduced worldwide now. More and more JW are just pretenders and don't really believe the stuff, let alone donating money for it. I think one of the remaining sources are inheritances from dying old JW.
So, I guess they are short on donations but don't want to sell any real estate. Think about the shutdown of the British Branch project and the latest beg for money in km Jan/2002.
did you believe that 1975 would see the beginning of the millennium?.
if not, why not?.
m
I was too young to have an opinion on it. But my father told me that he said to a collegue at work: "If the end does not come in 1975 then the Bible is wrong."
The CO that just came to see me had told me before that he had said to a collegue at work "I would be happy to meet you after 1975." He is still searching for the guy to welcome him: "I'm so happy to meet you after 1975." :-)
hi all,.
all my experience is that once a jw begins to question the organization, a irreversible progression sets in that leads inexorably to a total disaffection with the organization that no amount of ``shepherding'' can change.. so my question to you all is: can we document one single case in which a disgruntled ex-jw was successfully reactivated/restored to loyal dubdom?
(my impression is that the efficacy of elders' ``shepherding calls'' is a myth, a total waste of time).
On another thread I told about my latest shepherding experience (passive of course). My wife later told me how it came to be: she attended a Service Meeting in the morning (in Germany we call it Treffpunkt (=Meeting Point) and the CO asked her who she was (funny!). She said that she is my wife and that he intended to come and see me half a year ago but that was not possible. The CO did not remember me (?) but promised to look it up in his paperwork. The next meeting, the PO and CO said to my wife that they will come and see me. And then they came.
I am very frank now: I would have more emotional problems if they had displayed (pretended?) love in the way "We miss you, you were a precious part of the cong. Please come back." I would still see the mistakes but it would be emotionally harder to break away. But now I am even more disappointed. But I am still in (legally), not DA/DF.
I think the JW community is based on four pillars:
I. Family
II. Friends
III. Power
IV. Beliefs
I think the beliefs are the less important. I see it with the PO, I see it with my wife: concering beliefs and tenets (right word?) they just say: so what?
I remember talking to an Elder who did not care about the beliefs. He just said: the GB are old men and we will see some more changes. But this is not important to me. I just want to live a meaningful life.
the internet has been a very expensive medium in germany.
but now the first flat rates have started: pay a fix amount and surf the internet as long as you wish.
now i'm going flat at last and simon's board starts to break into pieces?
German Infolink is IMHO the least polemic German forum since you have to register but since then there are hardly any active JW.
German Alternatives:
http://f25.parsimony.net/forum63052/
http://www.gimpelfang.de
http://www.bechhaus.de
