In the days of Rutherford they demanded a pledge to them and to the president of the society. History does repeat ...
donuthole
JoinedPosts by donuthole
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18
Will the FDS start demanding a "pledge"?
by hamsterbait inremember how the bible students had to make a pledge, among other things "never to be alone in a room with a member of the opposite sex, except a sister, mother or daughter?".
do you think they will start to demand a "pledge of alliegance" to the borganisation?.
will those refusing to make it then be summaraily df, since they have shown by their refusal, that they do not believe that the gibbering buddy, is the appointed "fds" of matthew 25.. how likely is this do you think?.
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The reporting of field service time
by lepermessiah inwere any of you really bothered/still bothered by the practice of field service reporting?.
there was an old post on here that got me thinking how the practice got started.. instead of simply being a tool to monitor the progress of the faith, or to see if the work was done "throughout the earth", it appears to me that it was just a tool used to keep the presses rolling and to see how much literature to produce - along with controlling the rank and file.
the average jw gives it no thought, its just another "blessing" from the organization when you hear the monthly reports, etc.. the organization is so statistics-driven that they make jesus out to be a ceo with people who need to meet their sales quotas.i'm sure he really wouldnt care if peter and andrew got 20 hours one month and john got 25. wait, maybe thats why john was "beloved" .
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donuthole
In the days of Rutherford publishers actually had hour and placement quotas they had to maintain. Things are more relaxed otday.
From the corporate standpoint literature placements is meaningless in determining how much literature to print. The determining factor is how much the congregation orders. Think back to being a JW and consider how much literature you got from the counter versus how much literature you placed at the door. Field service reports are used to gauge spiritual health of publishers by elders and congregations by circuit overseers.
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New light on blood?
by Mickey mouse inthis is prompted by barbara's new article at freeminds and a message someone sent to my youtube account a month ago.. there are rumours that there will be "new light" this year about blood transfusions.
if this happens, i for one will be speaking up and asking who is accountable for all the lives lost due to the wt's death dealing policy.
this is an opportunity for all those who still have some connections with jws to make people think..
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donuthole
Here are the reasons why I don't think a change can be dismissed --
Watchtower legal is very influential when it comes to making changes. The blood issue remains a huge legal liability not just in terms of lawsuits but also in allowing the religion to operate legally in different countries. Serious legal or political pressure can make changes.
The blood doctrine has been continually watered down since its inception without serious "blow-back". For instance, hemophiliacs were originally not allowed accept Factor IX, a decision that was later reversed. It is likely that some died in the interim - yet apart from "apostate" sources there hasn't even been a blip on the congregational level. The same could be said for other treatments, therapies, and components.
The Organization routinely changes doctrine and practice and most importantly Jehovah's Witnesses are conditioned to accept these changes without question. In recent times the Org doesn't even attempt to make serious justification for new teachings - more or less just putting it out there. Any who would have grievances with the Society would be summarily disfellowshipped. This has been a successful tool in silencing dissent.
There are ways to make taking blood a matter of conscience without coming out with an article with big red flashing lights saying "ATTENTION: FLIP FLOP NEW LIGHT HERE - YOU CAN TAKE BLOOD!!!" Sometimes simply not enforcing the rule gives de facto permission. Oral sex is still condemned on the books but it is regularly practiced by Witnesses and might as well be a conscience matter as time goes on. The Society could simply state that matters involving blood and medical care are complicated and that they are no position to give advice on every new procedure, treatment, and use of a component. They could say that such decisions are best left to the Witness and his caregiver. They would uphold Acts 15 and say that it should continue to act as a guideline to be followed by Christians. They could tell publishers not to be concerned what others choose as it is a private matter and caution others to keep their medical decisions private. If publishers have questions they could direct them to speak with the elders. The elders would be instructed to take no action against those who take blood transfusions. (This is already in place to a certaine extent as one who takes a transfusion is disassociated by actions and not directly disfellowshipped.) Steps like these would effectively give medical liberty without rocking the boat too much.
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How to do communion?
by matrixx ini was talking to a friend about the importance of doing communion.
that it is not simply the passing of the bread and the wine as an observer but the partaking of the emblems.
she asked, " how often do you do communion?
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donuthole
It is a common view from those in religion that you need a special "Holy Man" to preside over such things as baptisms and communion. In the Catholic Church this was the "priest". The reformation continued this tradition ignoring that all believers are a priesthood according to Scripture. If you want to learn more about unscriptural traditions and how they developed I would recommend George Barna and Frank Viola's book, "Pagan Christianity"
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Anyone seen Precious?
by Snoozy inthey are showing it on the awards tonight and i really want to see it...just wondered what people thought of it.
did you enjoy it?.
snoozy.
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donuthole
Precious is a depressing look at inner-city poverty and physical, verbal, and sexual abuse. It has a positive message but there is no happy ending. In fact the ending is a stark, grim monologue by the mother trying to give reasons as to why she allowed and perpetutated abuse.
Crazy Heart is a movie we have seen several times before -- musician with substance abuse problems makes good. The performances are good, the music even better.
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New light on blood?
by Mickey mouse inthis is prompted by barbara's new article at freeminds and a message someone sent to my youtube account a month ago.. there are rumours that there will be "new light" this year about blood transfusions.
if this happens, i for one will be speaking up and asking who is accountable for all the lives lost due to the wt's death dealing policy.
this is an opportunity for all those who still have some connections with jws to make people think..
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donuthole
I believe this day will come - not sure when exactly. The blood doctrine has been more and more liberal and at the same time a maze of confusing reasonings as to why this fraction is right and this component wrong, why this procedure is a sin and this other acceptable. The confusion means the Society has to always be involved blessing this blood practice and condemning others under penalty of disfellowshipping. Their involvement legally implicates them in ways that certain lawsuits have attempted to prove. Even if the Society has been victorious in the courts there is always a possibility that they could lose which would open the doors wide open for other lawsuits. Even at winning it is with the cost of these high-profile, emotionally charged cases creating bad publicity for the Witnesses.
An answer would to make it all a conscience matter. If they did so I don't think you will see them say it is OK to take blood. As I see it, they likely handle it much like the "oral sex" debacle. Say they can't police it and leave it to the person. If they wanted to keep the blood doctrine and mitigate legal responsibility they could instruct publishers with questions to ask their local body of elders. The elders would have hand written notes in the Elder's books maintaining the ban. Any legal problems would fall to the local body of elders and not the Society proper.
As a side point, my dad having gone through numerous no-blood surgeries professes the Watchtower to be the Truth because of their teachings on blood. I wonder what his reaction might be to such "new light".
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"If anyone LOVES me, he will keep my word..."
by AGuest into the household of god, israel, and all those who go with... may you have peace!.
when i was first directed to this "city" 9 years ago, it was with a very purposeful message.
if a man loves me, he will obey my commandments and my father will love him, and we will come to him... and make our abode with him.
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donuthole
To love Jesus is to love his message and teaching. With Jesus you can't seperate the man from the message. He embodies the WORD OF GOD. He taught us many things, maybe the top 3 being
Love God
Love Neighbor
Love Each Other (fellow Christians) -
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Are Any Of You Afraid of Dying At Armageddon?
by minimus ini'm not but i know some jws that have drifted but when things like 9/11 catastrophes occur, they're right back at the kingdom hall.. do you ever worry that the great tribulation might occur and you will die?.
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donuthole
I think it is a dirty little secret that Jehovah's Witnesses themselves fear of dying at Armageddon. I know that even when I was theocratically on top pioneer/MS I still feared the Big-A. But now there is no fear in love and I worship a loving Father who doesn't want to kill me.
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NWT changes translation to not pray to Jesus
by sacolton injohn 14:14new international version (1984).
the kingdom interlinear translation uses the westcott-hort text, and that's how it reads in the kit.
the kit's interlinear reads as follows: "if ever anything you should ask me in the name of me this i shall do.
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donuthole
The NWT manifests lots of inconsistancies in translation.
If Jesus wanted Christians to direct prayers to him they must not have understood. Apart from Stephen and John's direct appeals to Jesus in vision, the typical prayers of NT and early Christian literature are directed to the God, the Father.
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JWs in Russia deliver tract "Could it happen again?"
by truthseeker inapologies if this has been posted.... .
it looks like back to the future for the dubs in russia.
for immediate release.
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donuthole
JW's in Russia have violated the Russian constitution which permits freedom of religion but does not allow one religion to claim superiority and denigrate other faiths. The JW literature routinely does this. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. In the old days the Watchtower would just accept the ban and go underground. Not sure about the leadership of today. I'm interested to see their willingness to make concessions and bend to political muscle. I do think that that recent Awake! article which hypocritically talked about freedom to choose your own faith without destroying family bonds was a direct counter to some of the charges that Russia is making. In typical Witness style they will be able to fish out that magazine and say, "Hey, see we allow people to choose." nevermind the reality in the Organization.