I have seen the following statement made on this board several times: 'KN #37 ("The End of False Religion is Near") was intended by the WBTS to provoke the great tribulation.'
That's an intriguing thought. I'm just curious where it came from. Did someone up at Bethel say that? Or are we just inferring that based on the "hard-hitting" nature of the tract?
Just curious...thanks.
Olin Moyles Ghost
JoinedPosts by Olin Moyles Ghost
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So, Kingdom News #37 was intended to start the great tribulation?
by Olin Moyles Ghost ini have seen the following statement made on this board several times: 'kn #37 ("the end of false religion is near") was intended by the wbts to provoke the great tribulation.
that's an intriguing thought.
i'm just curious where it came from.
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Olin Moyles Ghost
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Anyone get disfellowshipped for voting?
by Olin Moyles Ghost inaccording to a questions from readers in the 11/1/1999 wt, voting in political elections is technically a matter of conscience.
of course, the article lays out numerous reasons why "mature christians" would choose not to vote.
nonetheless, the article concludes that it is up to an individual's conscience.
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Olin Moyles Ghost
Seeker: Thanks for the info. I guess the elders could reason that joining a party is an act of disassociation like joining a church or the military or--God forbid--the YMCA.
For years, I have had a hard time seeing the scriptural basis for forbidding Christians from voting (probably because it doesn't exist). -
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PSA: Crisis of Conscience Available as PDF on Commentary Press Website
by Olin Moyles Ghost inpardon me if this is already well-known.
crisis of conscience and in search of christian freedom are available as pdfs on the commentary press website.
coc costs $7.95 and in search costs $9.95.
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Olin Moyles Ghost
Finished reading CoC. Now I understand why the Society is so afraid of Witnesses reading it. Simply an incredible book.
A few things I appreciate about the book:
- The documentation: for example, the whole Malawi/Mexico deal would be difficult to believe if the book had not included documentation
- The tone: if anyone has the right to be bitter, it's Bro. Franz, but he doesn't get down to that level
- The anecdotes: for example, the power plays between GB members was interesting to read about...esp. with me being a life-long JW who was raised to believe these guys were God-like
Finally, the book left me feeling sad for the author. He has been slandered and rejected by the organization and its members for 25+ years. That has to take a toll on him. I mean, his own family (uncle Fred) would not even communicate with him.
I will probably write him a letter of appreciation. He seems like the kind of Christian that I hope to some day become. -
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Anyone get disfellowshipped for voting?
by Olin Moyles Ghost inaccording to a questions from readers in the 11/1/1999 wt, voting in political elections is technically a matter of conscience.
of course, the article lays out numerous reasons why "mature christians" would choose not to vote.
nonetheless, the article concludes that it is up to an individual's conscience.
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Olin Moyles Ghost
According to a Questions from Readers in the 11/1/1999 WT, voting in political elections is technically a matter of conscience. Of course, the article lays out numerous reasons why "mature Christians" would choose not to vote. Nonetheless, the article concludes that it is up to an individual's conscience.
But, in some threads on this board, I have seen statements to the effect that if a JW votes in a political election, he is exposing himself to disfellowshipping. Anyone with first- or second-hand experience on this?
Sincerely,
Olin Moyle's Ghost (of the "contemplating voting for Obama in '08" class) -
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PSA: Crisis of Conscience Available as PDF on Commentary Press Website
by Olin Moyles Ghost inpardon me if this is already well-known.
crisis of conscience and in search of christian freedom are available as pdfs on the commentary press website.
coc costs $7.95 and in search costs $9.95.
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Olin Moyles Ghost
Here's where the downloads are (I don't know how to embed links, so copy and paste into browser):
General page: http://www.commentarypress.com/Publication/English.html
Crisis: http://www.commentarypress.com/Detail/eng_crisis_e.html
In Search: http://www.commentarypress.com/Detail/eng_search_e.html -
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PSA: Crisis of Conscience Available as PDF on Commentary Press Website
by Olin Moyles Ghost inpardon me if this is already well-known.
crisis of conscience and in search of christian freedom are available as pdfs on the commentary press website.
coc costs $7.95 and in search costs $9.95.
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Olin Moyles Ghost
Pardon me if this is already well-known. Crisis of Conscience and In Search of Christian Freedom are available as PDFs on the Commentary Press Website.
CoC costs $7.95 and In Search costs $9.95. An excellent deal...also very convenient for those of us still in the organization. -
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So, I opened my big mouth and my sister-in-law called me an apostate . . .
by Olin Moyles Ghost ina few nights ago, mrs. ghost and i joined her family for a nice dinner on the occasion of her parents' anniversary.
they are all witnesses and decent folks--not elders or "big shots," but as far as i can tell they all buy into the jw stuff.
it was a pleasant evening, with a lot of reminiscing on the part of the in-laws.
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Olin Moyles Ghost
Cognac: Keeping up with WTS doctrinal flip-flops is confusing, isn't it? To rank-and-file JWs, the most important part of the 1995 new light on the generation was that it was no longer tied to 1914.
The 11/1/95 Watchtower on page 19, para. 12 defines the generation this way: "Therefore, in the final fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy today, “this generation” apparently refers to the peoples of earth who see the sign of Christ’s presence but fail to mend their ways." So, "this generation" meant wicked people in the last days...at least from 1995-2008. As has been discussed ad nauseum on this board, there is a study article in the February WT that changes the doctrine again. Good times.
P.S., on a personal note, I enjoy reading your posts. Keep up the good work with Mr. Cognac. -
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So, I opened my big mouth and my sister-in-law called me an apostate . . .
by Olin Moyles Ghost ina few nights ago, mrs. ghost and i joined her family for a nice dinner on the occasion of her parents' anniversary.
they are all witnesses and decent folks--not elders or "big shots," but as far as i can tell they all buy into the jw stuff.
it was a pleasant evening, with a lot of reminiscing on the part of the in-laws.
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Olin Moyles Ghost
Loosie: I think she called me a poopy-head, too. Seriously, though, I wish witnesses would just step back and think about what they are saying. Witnesses criticize people in the territory for not critically examining their religious beliefs. Unfortunately, many (most? all?) witnesses are guilty of the same thing. They are blinded; it's 2 Cor. 4:4 in action.
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So, I opened my big mouth and my sister-in-law called me an apostate . . .
by Olin Moyles Ghost ina few nights ago, mrs. ghost and i joined her family for a nice dinner on the occasion of her parents' anniversary.
they are all witnesses and decent folks--not elders or "big shots," but as far as i can tell they all buy into the jw stuff.
it was a pleasant evening, with a lot of reminiscing on the part of the in-laws.
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Olin Moyles Ghost
A few nights ago, Mrs. Ghost and I joined her family for a nice dinner on the occasion of her parents' anniversary. They are all witnesses and decent folks--not elders or "big shots," but as far as I can tell they all buy into the JW stuff.
It was a pleasant evening, with a lot of reminiscing on the part of the in-laws. Father-in-law mentioned some events around 1975 (he was a JW at the time), and that brought on a little discussion re: 1975. I tried not to say anything on this subject, but then the in-laws started spouting the party line that the Society never predicted anything for 1975 and those that were stumbled as a result were not serious about the truth. At this point, I had to mention that I've done some research on the Society's writings re: 1975, and there are some very strong statements, but that they're cleverly worded in order not to be an absolute prediction. I also noted that the Society appeared to have learned its lesson from 1914, 1925, etc. This led to a brief, yet candid, discussion regarding the Society's history of date-setting.
Then someone mentioned the "generation" teaching. There appeared to be some confusion among those at the table over the "current light" regarding this teaching. So, I went into a brief "Generations in a Nutshell" spiel for them. I noted the 3 main stages of the doctrine's evolution: (1) pre-1995: those who saw the events of 1914; (2) 1995-2008: wicked people who see the sign; (3) 2008: the anointed remnant who see the sign.
Then, I felt compelled to add that this means we could all be dead before the end comes. This led to some discussion regarding whether the preaching work would reach certain lands (e.g., China, much of India, the Muslim world) before the end. A sister-in-law brought up Matt. 10:23 ("you will by no means complete the circuit of the cities . . .") as proof that not every person needs to be reached with the kingdom message. So, my response was "so, at Armageddon, will Jehovah destroy all those people who have never heard of JWs?" She said "no, he and Jesus will read their hearts." My response was, "so, why do we need to preach at all, if Jehovah and JC are going to read their hearts at Armageddon anyway?" (I think this is the point at which she called me an apostate.)
Someone mentioned that the real purpose of the preaching work was to see if we would prove faithful by doing it. I said, "so, are you saying that it's just busy-work?" I politely pressed him on that and he basically admitted that it was.
Then my wife wisely directed the conversation elsewhere. -
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Transcript of U.S. v. Rutherford, et al.?
by Olin Moyles Ghost inover the past few months, i have been researching the wt society's doctrines and history.
in doing so, i have tried to use as little so-called "apostate" material as possible.
this is because (as we are all aware) witnesses are taught to fear apostate literature, and if i ever hope to enlighten any of my loved ones, i am not going to be able to do so by waving a copy of coc in their faces.
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Olin Moyles Ghost
Atlantis (and others that provide scanned materials): Thank you so much for the work you do. I know it's boring to scan page after page, but we appreciate it.
"bite me": I'm kind of new at this, so take anything I say with a grain of salt. After I bring up a point I learned from one of the transcripts, sometimes I am asked where the info came from. I tell them the truth: I was researching old cases involving the Society and came across a couple of cases that I had not previously heard about. The organization talks up its legal history, so it should not be odd for a witness to research that history using publicly available resources (such as reporters and court records).
I also enjoy looking at old publications on Google books. Do yourself a favor and check out The Finished Mystery. It includes a verse-by-verse discussion of Revelation--just like the Climax book we're currently studying in the Congregation Book Study. As you read the amazing "truths" contained therein, remember that this is the "food at the proper time" that the Faithful Slave was giving when Jesus supposedly came to inspect them in 1918.
Here's one especially entertaining example from The Finished Mystery. On page 230, we learn that the 1600 furlongs mentioned in Rev. 14:20 refers to the distance from Scranton, Pennsylvania to Brooklyn, NY. I kid you not!