Posts by freddo

29

Watchtower Annulled My Baptism

by RICHT in

contrary to popular belief you can have your baptism annulled as i did by my local elders after my judicial hearing.. the watchtower of 1964 page 126 first paragraph clearly states that anyone that was committing a gross sin before, during and after their baptism is void.

in order to get right with the lord you would need to be re-baptised.

err no thanks, i'm not a believer!!!!.

freddo

RICHT - thank you. When was this in your case?

I remember having this highlighted at a CO visit when I was an elder in the UK - I would say about 2003/4? It was used to remind us of the "very rare" possibility. BUT we were told not to "offer it" but contact the branch if someone "claimed their baptism was invalid". Also that if anyone had "progressed" to being a pioneer (even AUX) MS or Elder that it could not be "undone" for any reason as that showed that the holy spirit had obviously approved them for further service. (BARF!)

It COULD certainly be used if someone was baptised before the age of maturity (18 in UK) AND that they confess or it was proven they were sinning (DF level of sinning) all the way from before to after baptism.

But the 2017 WT article above may have changed that - perhaps it's in the 2015? (not sure of the year) Branch manual on the ARC website?

I could envisage the Borg using it to their advantage - you know Brother "Molester" has his sins come out and it transpires he was doing it at time of baptism so the Borg nullify it to claim he was "never really a jw" especially if he was inactive and a jw in name only - but that could be me being cynical!

23

Clearly, they're hunting down irregular publishers

by ILoveTTATT2 in

jw
friends

look at this graph:.

it has the % difference between the peak number of publishers and the average number of publishers for that year.

this number can only be positive.. what the graph tells us is that there is a clear trend towards hunting down inactive and/or irregular publishers.

freddo

@stan

Yes he does because it is a "public" talk. That is in writing in the "Organized" book somewhere.

edited to add: Page 76 of the revised 2015 version.

7

Hypothetical Memo to the G.B. From the Writing Committee

by The Searcher in

jw
friends

dear glorious ones, we feel certain that our statement in the february 2017 watchtower - "the governing body is neither inspired nor infallible.

therefore, it can err in doctrinal matters or in organizational direction" - will assuredly save each one of you from taking a bullet this year when the australian royal commission and the u.k. charities commission's findings are made public and inflict punitive measures on the organization for its historical failure to weed out pedophile and to protect children.

if the minions are challenged, they now have a ready-made conversation stopper and can show it to dissenters on their electronic devices.

freddo

And in the ~~dumbed down~~ Simplified version of the same magazine article I quote:

para 12. "The Governing Body is neither inspired nor perfect. It can make mistakes when explaining the Bible or directing the organization."

14

elders are leaving me alone. what to make of this?

by nowwhat? in

i am a born in that goes back to the 1960's i am in a very zealous congregation with super dub elders.

i have been inactive for 3 years and only go to about 2 meetings a month.

i made my displeasure known about the overlapping generation b.s.

freddo

You probably are lucky but the fact that you said your piece about "the overlapping generation b.s." and they haven't come back to you shows they have no reasonable answer to what you said.

You may have made your own luck by not spreading your views further and wakening up their "need to protect the flock" from you.

Also, you probably said exactly what they think but they are too afraid to face because if they do then their little world will turn upside down.

So they have no scriptural (or more importantly for them - organisational) mandate to deal with you so they leave well alone.

You are probably the "Elephant in the room" at their elders' meetings!

32

Britain in the doldrums!

by Nicholaus Kopernicus in

the 2014 - 2015 jw statistics showed a peak publisher decline of 884 with the average publisher tally showing a gain of 183. .

the 2017 yearbook is now available via jw.org and the statistics for britain show a 2016 peak publisher increase of 630 and an average publisher increase of a paltry 26!.

nothing to shout about on the part of the followers of caiaphas in the britain branch.

freddo

Of course a large proportion of them came here not as jw's and with little spoken English and few friends and who should smile widely at them but pretty pioneer sisters with literature in their own language and "instant (conditional) friends"?

Hence the "Britain" figures being propped up in jwland.

39

Is the year 2020 the new prediction for Armageddon?

by Disassociated Lady 2 in

i have had a conversation this evening with a jw friend i have known since childhood.

he is of the opinion that armageddon will have come and gone within the next 5 years.

are the jws now pinpointing 2020 as the supposed year?

freddo

And after you've used the scriptures in The Searcher's excellent post add Luke 21 v 8

He (Jesus) said: "Look out that you are not misled, for many will come on the basis of my name, saying 'I am he,' and, 'The due time is near.' Do not go after them."

32

Britain in the doldrums!

by Nicholaus Kopernicus in

the 2014 - 2015 jw statistics showed a peak publisher decline of 884 with the average publisher tally showing a gain of 183. .

the 2017 yearbook is now available via jw.org and the statistics for britain show a 2016 peak publisher increase of 630 and an average publisher increase of a paltry 26!.

nothing to shout about on the part of the followers of caiaphas in the britain branch.

freddo

@Stan

I don't think IoW has many immigrants compared to the UK average. Just across the water in Southampton you have an immigration population of 20,000 largely of Poles.

On jayborg it show 9 congregations - one of which is a full Polish congregation - and the following language groups:

Punjabi/Tagalog/Romanian

Portsmouth has the following groups:

Polish/Chinese/Portuguese

So as a guesstimate let's assume that those 9 Southampton congs at 75 each equal 675 publishers - let's further guess that the Polish congregation has 40 and each language group has 10 - that means at least 10% of Southampton's jw population is immigrant and if the Polish congregation is 60 plus then more like 15%.

Now think of London, Birmingham and the Midlands ...

32

Britain in the doldrums!

by Nicholaus Kopernicus in

the 2014 - 2015 jw statistics showed a peak publisher decline of 884 with the average publisher tally showing a gain of 183. .

the 2017 yearbook is now available via jw.org and the statistics for britain show a 2016 peak publisher increase of 630 and an average publisher increase of a paltry 26!.

nothing to shout about on the part of the followers of caiaphas in the britain branch.

freddo

Also the oldies that came in in the 1960's are dying off. In the cong. that I sometimes attend (about 75 pubs) 3 older ones in their 80's/90's have died in 2016. No replacements getting baptised or even becoming publishers.

32

Britain in the doldrums!

by Nicholaus Kopernicus in

the 2014 - 2015 jw statistics showed a peak publisher decline of 884 with the average publisher tally showing a gain of 183. .

the 2017 yearbook is now available via jw.org and the statistics for britain show a 2016 peak publisher increase of 630 and an average publisher increase of a paltry 26!.

nothing to shout about on the part of the followers of caiaphas in the britain branch.

freddo

@Landy

96 to 06 there was no UK growth at all (probably due to the generational change). There has been more steady growth between 06 and now.

But notice how the population rises from 1996 to 2006 - very roughly 1.6 million but from 2006 to 2016 - a whopping - 6.4 million. I believe this reflects the great influx of folk from eastern Europe having joined the EU and been granted free movement - especially from Poland - who make up a sizeable portion of recent jw's today in the UK.

Growth? It's as flat as a pancake really.

117

2017 Yearbook released

by bohm in

jw
friends

i saw this on reddit:.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/5mlgsm/2017_yearbook_of_jehovahs_witnesses/.

overall the numbers are better than last year (1.8% growth compared to 1.5% last year -- as i predicted ;-) ) with an increase in all major figures including 1300 more congregations (i assume this is not physical kingdom halls?).

freddo

That bit which I have changed to italics and bold - how does that compare with Acts 12 v 22,23 do you think?

“I feel as if Jehovah were talking to me right in my room when I listen to members of the Governing Body and their helpers,” says Agatha, a circuit overseer’s wife in Ghana. “Without this tool, how could a poor girl like me in a small corner of the earth have such a great privilege? It has really brought us much closer to our dear brothers and sisters around the world.” p.24-25 YB2017

Acts 12 v 22,23 (NWT) says -

Then the people who were assembled began shouting: "A god's voice and not a man's!" Instantly the angel of Jehovah* struck him, because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten up with worms and died.

See also Revelation 19 v 10 and Acts 10 v 25.