Posts by Juan Viejo2

31

What is up with the influx of electronic readers at the Kingdom Hall

by wannabefree in

jw
friends

crazy!.

the local publishers seem to be jumping on the e-reader bandwagon.. sisters even in their 70's are showing up at the hall with ipads loaded with publications for the meetings for crying out loud!.

a couple of these elderly sisters are having me get theirs ready ... should i add coc and captives of a concept ... perhaps studies vol vii ... to the library for them.

Juan Viejo2

When I attended 2012 summer convention session I saw them everywhere. JWs sitting in front of me and off to the side all had iPads. I notice that, like me, several were looking up scriptures in the NWT from their pad rather than in a Bible. Several gave their pads to their children to look at when they started getting restless.

I finally pulled out my own Droid and started catching up on my emails and sending text messages. No one even gave me a second look (in spite of the fact that I had no badge and wasn't wearing a tie).

I certainly hope that more JWs will spend time, especially while sitting in the cheap seats at stadiums and larger convention halls looking up ex-JW websites and watching JW themed videos on YouTube in order to stay awake...

JV

13

Obtaining publications

by goddidit in

what would be the easiest, cheapest way to obtain jw publications, even hardbacks?.

they don't come to my door so often.

what if i visit the nearest kh?.

Juan Viejo2

Most of the older stuff is available online in PDF form. Most recent material can be downloaded in PDF form direct from JW.org. If you ask nice nice for a particular book or magazine, many here will PM you and offer to send you a link or a copy as an attachment. I personally have about 80% of everything they've published except for WT and AW! mags from about 1945 to 1970.

Really though, most of it is trash. I hate to say that, but it is true.

JV

29

HOW DE JUDGE STOLE CHRISTMAS.....

by Mary in

jw
friends

de judge hated christmas!

"i must find a way to keep christmas from coming!".

i must stop christmas from coming!

Juan Viejo2

"Not fair! De Judge is too drunk to defend himself against these baseless accusations."

No! De Judge is too dead...
JV

63

My DEATH as an Intellectual

by Terry in

i had been a straight a student.

i had a prodigious memory for facts, dates, quotes.

i once recited the entire rime of the ancient mariner in english class.

Juan Viejo2

Terry ===> PM <===

JV

89

1975 - A weak argument?

by Christ Alone in

i posted this on an older thread, but i wanted to get an honest opinion about this from all of you.

i think taking the 1975 approach with a jw is...weak.

was it wrong (and false prophetic) of them?

Juan Viejo2

It was pretty clear that the WT leadership, specifically Fred Franz, was pushing hard that something would happen in 1975. You can tell that was the case about his reaction when nothing significant occurred in October that year - as he had prophecied. What is my evidence?

Because Franz immediately followed up with the excuse that maybe the count should have started when Eve was created - not Adam. He had no idea if Adam had lived days, months, or even years before Eve was popped out of his rib cage.

One other possibility that Franz and other floated was that the time started when Adam and Eve were tossed out of the garden. No way to calculate that either.

What they really missed in all of this is that there is not one single reference in the Bible that supports "creative days" being 7000 years long. That is totally a Watchtower hyper-myth. Many evangelical religions do not tie creative days to any specific time periods, but some suggest that each creative day was 1000 years. (A day unto the Lord is as a 1000 years,etc.) In fact, a candidate for Congress in the recent USA elections actually stated that he believed the earth was less than 9000 years old - which of course is nonsense considering how long human society has existed.

Those of us who were around at the time remember very clearly what was happening at assemblies and in our Kingdom Halls. Not a single meeting went by that some mention of 1975 was made in passing or directly from the podium. My parents called me (I wasn't in during the early 70s) and begged me to repent and return to The Truth for my sake and that of my children "because the brothers at Bethel are saying that we only have a couple of years left."

They loved me and sincerely did not want me or my family to die in 1975. My father was an elder at the time and privy to all the insider talk based on letters and information passed on from Bethel.

Anyone denying that the leaders of the Watchtower at all levels were pushing the belief that Armageddon was coming in 1975 is simply in denial, or worse.

JV

15

Six screens program

by stuckinamovement in

jw
friends

so for the first time i dialed in.

rick fearon....what a joke.

he sounds like a new jersey 3rd grade retard with tourette syndrome trying to play the role of pt barnum.

Juan Viejo2

SixScreens -

If this is the first time listening in, give Rick a break. He lives in Massachusetts and has a very strong New England / Boston accent. The call will have its good moments and a lot of low moments, but the nature of the conference call does not allow Rick to prepare or script it.

With featured guests Kathleen Conti and then later, Jim Penton, Rick gives us access to some of the most interesting ex-JWs and other critics.

Don't be too quick to slam Rick. He has his faults and has gone a bit overboard at times, rightfully earning him a lot of criticism here and from other sources - but he does provide a valuable resource to the rest of us. He means well and we need to give him credit for that.

JV

22

Contributions ,how the Society CONTROLS the funds of a congragation

by raymond frantz in

i'm not sure if anyone has started a post about contributions recently ,but if there is an accounts servant here please free to correct me or shed some more light .what i'm about to say is 100% accurate and applies to congragations in britain (don't ask me how just ...join the dots).

the society controls all the funds that are coming in the kingdom hall all of the time .the way this works out is as follows :you put any money in any of the contribution boxes and in the end all money are added to together and deposited to the congragation's bank account .the worldwide donations leave the account as a direct debit to the society every week and the rest stays in the account .now comes the interesting bit :once the account goes over 5000 we are instructed to send the rest to the society as a cheque and is held in their account for as long as the congragation doesn't needed back .this way all but 5000 are held in the society's account .any other experiences ?.

Juan Viejo2

Watchtower Bible and Tract Society

Dear Brothers in the Truth,

You say you want your money back? You claim to need those excess funds that we are holding in trust for you?

So sorry. Since our money market and mutual funds accounts did not perform to our satisfaction, we are restricting the return of funds to local congregations. In fact, we will be charging Kingdom Halls additional monthly service charges for holding those funds we refuse to give back.

We suggest that you go back to the members of your congregation and ask them to dig a little deeper. Suggest that they stop taking their kids to movies and fast food joints - it's all bad for them. We can provide addresses for local "day old" bakery outlets and community food banks. In fact, taking your kids to eat at the local midnight mission once a week will help them understand the plight of the homeless while providing them an adequate meal.

Bottom line: We need your money more than you need your money. Pipe broken? Get some duct tape. Window cracked? Use some clear packing tape. In other words - be proactive and quit trying to get us to give your money back.

Above all do not fret over small inconveniences. We leave all things to Jehovah. He will provide. Just wait on Jehovah. [We hear that due to so many pending and unanswered requests, Jehovah is a little backed up, so your wait may be rather extended - like the rest of your lives.]

With sincere Brotherly Love,

Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses

22

Richard Rawe

by Outaservice in

jw
friends

it was reported to me in an e-mail that richard rawe of soap lake, washington has died.. many of you might remember him and god rest his soul.. outaservice.

.

Juan Viejo2

Does anyone know of any funeral or memorial services being planned for Mr. Rawe?

JV

5

Dying to find out if you made it to Paradise

by Juan Viejo2 in

i remember as a jw kid listening to a special talk about life after death by lester dugan, a circuit overseer whose mother attended our kingdom hall.

i don't think he was our circuit servant (in fact i'm pretty sure he was not), but he would visit our hall about twice a year when he took time to see his elderly mom.. his talk was about life after death and achieving paradise through good works and staying active in the preaching work.

after nearly 60 years, i remember very little of the bulk of his talk, but i do remember a couple of questions that he answered afterwards:.

Juan Viejo2

Cold Steel - That's good to know. But what about my dog? Will she be transformed in an instant and join me? Life would just not be worth living if I didn't have my dog with me.

All this time I thought every living thing will eventually die and be reabsorbed into the universe of mass and energy from whence we came. But your logical description has cleared up all of my confusion. You are a wise and educated person. I can hardly wait to meet you on the other side.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7E6sihLgdU

JV

22

Contributions ,how the Society CONTROLS the funds of a congragation

by raymond frantz in

i'm not sure if anyone has started a post about contributions recently ,but if there is an accounts servant here please free to correct me or shed some more light .what i'm about to say is 100% accurate and applies to congragations in britain (don't ask me how just ...join the dots).

the society controls all the funds that are coming in the kingdom hall all of the time .the way this works out is as follows :you put any money in any of the contribution boxes and in the end all money are added to together and deposited to the congragation's bank account .the worldwide donations leave the account as a direct debit to the society every week and the rest stays in the account .now comes the interesting bit :once the account goes over 5000 we are instructed to send the rest to the society as a cheque and is held in their account for as long as the congragation doesn't needed back .this way all but 5000 are held in the society's account .any other experiences ?.

Juan Viejo2

Several congregations that have asked for some of their excess funds to be returned to them have been urged by the Society to find other ways to get the funds they need. This should have been expected - once the money is firmly in the Society's accounts, they are loathe to release them back to the local Kingdom Halls.

I recently received an email from one of my contacts who is an elder. He told me that the plumbing in the KH bathrooms was damaged during an earthquake and that some of the porcelain was cracked and pulled away from the wall. They'd gotten an estimate from a local plumbing company that came to about $3000. The accounts servant contacted the Society and asked for $3500 to be returned to their active Kingdom Hall expense account.

The response he got was to refer the problem to the local RBC and have them resolve the issue. The RBC could probably find a JW plumber in the area who would do the work for free and that anything needing to be replaced could be purchased at a local Lowe's or Home Depot. The RBC also had access to otherwise good replacement or leftover plumbing parts removed from KHs that had been remodeled.

Bottom line is that the Society did not want to give the KH their money back. Sounds like a scam to me...

JV