My condolences to Bill and family, what a hard time it is when you lose someone so close.
My thanks to Bill too, for his tireless work on Silentlambs.org the site has helped to wake up so many people.
please support bill, if anyone is within driving distance.
afterall, he has been supportive of too many people to count, when they needed someone to be there for support and understanding.
bill bowen made a huge difference in the lifes of others.
My condolences to Bill and family, what a hard time it is when you lose someone so close.
My thanks to Bill too, for his tireless work on Silentlambs.org the site has helped to wake up so many people.
as the claim is that jesus chose the bible students as his fds in 1919, surely he did not choose a corporation, the wbts,nor did he choose just the directors, but the claim is he chose this whole group of faithful ones, the bible students.. as over the next few months and years over two thirds of those bible students left rutherford and gang, surely it is logical that they are the ones chosen by jesus, they remained bible students, and exist to this day, but surely rutherford and co did not "follow the slave's leading" ?
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Thanks Ann, so do they still claim that Jesus chose a corporation, "The Society", the WBTS in 1919 ?
If so, I know they have said in print that the Corporation, the "Society" only exists for legal reasons, so did Jesus give proof positive that He had now finished with the "Society" and the mantle had fallen on JW's, and when did all this happen ?
i'm sure by now you are all aware of the feb 15th, 2012 study edition of the watchtower, and its outrageous experience depicting domestic violence.. as you may know, i have been looking into the matter in some detail.
i decided to contact the uk domestic abuse charity "refuge".
they indicated their concern towards the article and offered to help in any way they could.
Great work Cedars, the responses telling of abuse brought tears to my eyes, no wife or children should have to endure such evil treatment.
Thanks for all you do, keep up the good work, or should I say, the "fine fight" ?
as the claim is that jesus chose the bible students as his fds in 1919, surely he did not choose a corporation, the wbts,nor did he choose just the directors, but the claim is he chose this whole group of faithful ones, the bible students.. as over the next few months and years over two thirds of those bible students left rutherford and gang, surely it is logical that they are the ones chosen by jesus, they remained bible students, and exist to this day, but surely rutherford and co did not "follow the slave's leading" ?
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As the claim is that Jesus chose The Bible Students as his FDS in 1919, surely he did not choose a Corporation, the WBTS,nor did He choose just the directors, but the claim is He chose this whole group of faithful ones, The Bible Students.
As over the next few months and years over two thirds of those Bible Students left Rutherford and gang, surely it is logical that they are the ones chosen by Jesus, they remained Bible Students, and exist to this day, but surely Rutherford and Co did not "follow the slave's leading" ??
i mean, this is the pivotal doctrine that will prove beyond all shadow of a doubt that this religion really is the one true religion.. why is this so?.
why not just read and study the bible and see that the witnesses adhere to it and therefore must be the one true religion?.
because a lot of what the witnesses say that bible says is merely their interpretation of the bible from my point of view.
I think you are in danger of being sidetracked from your title question Gary.
If I claimed that God chose me for a particular role in say , 1962, I could not play you a recording of his voice telling me, so I would have to offer different evidence, if I wanted you to follow me, trust me, believe my interpretation of scripture, and remain loyal to me etc etc
If I claimed to be "God's channel of communication" I would point to all the correct directives on matters I had given you since 1962, all the correct biblical interpretations of prophecy since 1962, all the good works I had done in looking after things that would be expected of me in the God appointed role.
In particular, I would point to one unique doctrine that I was teaching, in 1962, that proved my claim for that year, nothing less would do, later teachings and works have no bearing on that year.
This evidence would be good enough to convince a Court of Law and would withstand any scrutiny.
I am sure Bro Hero will be able to do this for his claim of the 1919 choosing of the Bible Students.
Let us know his evidence so we can put trust in that claim too !
i miss some of my old watchtower friendships.
usually i can just put the people out of my mind but when a big event comes up like me expecting my first child, i did reach out a bit.
this one friend in particular was kind of like an older brother to me.
Whoa boy, just make sure you do not go down to his level and start an Ad Hominem attack. Be kind, respectful, but concise, let him know your friendship and regard for him are not dependant on his beliefs.
But still let him have the truth. It will do no good, I would wager, but you never can tell, sometimes the paerson is ready.
ok who can definitively answer how long the society keeps records before having to "chuck 'em out"?.
i know the law in europe makes it clear that they can not be kept any "longer than necessary", but gives no time frame to use.. any elders in the uk have a clue?
in the us they have no such law so i know they can hold on as long as they like, case in point.
Here in the U.K we can ask for a copy of all that is held on us, we have little way of proving if more is held, I don't recall anyone being told that S77 and similar forms are held, but they are, they might, might note, remove them after your death has been confirmed, but who knows.
we've all see the disgusting statements the gb are unleashing on the jdubs by way of their rags.
usually the 'in house' watchtower where we've seen 'mentally diseased apostates' and 'jehu' slaughtering 'apostates'.. .
then we see a battered wife staying with her husband (if the story can be believed), for 17 years before 'steve' gets assimilated into the borg.. .
Big J to J.C "That city I blitzed with fire and sulpur, should I resurrect them?....... I can't remember its name....."
"Sodom"
"Oh O.K then J.C, I'll not bother with the bring 'em back to life thing"
although i'm a member of both the nasuwt & atl unions, i technically can't strike as i don't have a job at present, and although i have been invited by both unions to join in the demonstrations, i won't be rallying/protesting either as i have my 2 small children to look after.
however i am fully behind the strikes.. here's some info for those of you who aren't uk based and would like an overview of the situation.... .
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/nov/29/why-are-teachers-striking.
I do admit to a little sympathy with Cantleave's opinion, but I would point out that P.S workers contribute a large percentage of their wage toward their pension.
(lets not get in to an argument about the details).
What the strike is mainly about is the injustice of the Government changing the goal posts for those already in the scheme, for which they may have signed up years ago, now to be told they must pay more in , work more years before receiving it, and when they do get it, it will be less than it should be.
I have no axe to grind on this, I worked in the private sector, and as a JW was not encouraged to think about providing for retirement, hence I now have trouble scraping together my beer money !
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is it still common for jws to go right up to a church to share their message?
one of my fb friends who's a pastor posted today about receiving a visit while he was in his office at his church.. can protestants likewise go up to kingdom halls to call on jws?
In my experience the JW's walked right by churches, and even the Vicarage or residence of a Pastor, they used to leave those for me to do for some reason.
Any Catholic priest or protestant pastor could give JW's a run for their money, if he could only get them to listen and to reason, in the case of 99.99999% of JW's getting them to do either one is impossible, to do both, never.