JeffT

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Posts by JeffT

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  8

  Was the Economic Collapse of 2008 and the obvious Money Grab by the Organization a Coincidence?

  by My Name is of No Consequence in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  let me start off by saying that the org has always been trying to get money.

  but is it a coincidence that they have been so in-your-face about it since 2008?

  in 2008, most of the world experienced an economic drop-off that it has not witnessed since the 1930s and is still struggling to recover from..

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  JeffT

  There isn't any way to know for sure, but I suspect not. I think the big factor was the loss of income from magazine sales. Up until 1990 magazine sales were what we business people refer to as a "cash cow." They were selling millions of dollars worth of magazines a month, there was no downside, publishers paid for the mags whether they went to the public or not. With a supreme court decision that year, those sales would be taxable. Rather than pay taxes on the sales the WTBS decided collect a "donation" instead. Income plummeted.

  IMNSHO what we're seeing now is an effort to replace that lost income. Also my opinion - they should have just paid the taxes, they could get some MS to do the paperwork for free, and they would have kept the income stream.
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  21

  New Light on HOLIDAYS and BIRTHDAYS? (September 2015 Watchtower)

  by FusionTheism in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  watchtower-- simplified study edition, september 2015, "is your conscience a reliable guide?":.

  in ancient rome, some christians had different opinions about certain foods and celebrations.

  what advice did paul give them?

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  JeffT

  The title of the article is "Is Your Conscience a Reliable Guide?"

  This is the final paragraph:

  "How fine it is when our goal is to bring our lives ever more into harmony with Jehovah’s" {read Governing Body's -JT} "standards and ways! To that end, the conscience can be an invaluable tool. By regularly immersing ourselves in God’s Word," {read "Watchtower Publications - JT} meditating on what we find, and striving to put it into practice,we train our conscience. It will thus prove to be a valuable asset in our Christian life!"

  As I suspected, the answer to the question posed in the title is "No."
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  12

  Ever been on a "snipe hunt"?

  by kairos in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you are a jw, that is.. "there's the kingdom over there!!

  ""armageddon is near""we're in the last of the last days""we will have three day conventions next year... jehovah willing""the work is speeding up""it's an invisible presence".

  snipe hunt.

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  JeffT

  Where I went to college it was "Side-hill Dodgers" but the idea is all the same. And yes, it always ended with beers and laughing. Upon thinking about it, it usually began with beers, too.
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  30

  June 2015 Watchtower equating Apostates with The Antichrist!

  by nicolaou in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  shit!

  it finally happened.. years ago i speculated on this happening but can't find the posts.

  anyway, this is a tactically aggressive move by wt.

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  JeffT

  Most of that article, including all the scripture references sound to me like a good description of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
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  24

  Great photo...needs your captions!

  by ToesUp in

  1. social
  2. humour

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  JeffT

  The first prototype of the new self-propelled witnessing cart.
• 
  164

  California Supreme Court Case - S226656

  by Gayle in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/maincasescreen.cfm?dist=0&doc_id=2109889&doc_no=s226656&search=party&start=1&query_partylastnameororg=watchtower bible and tract.

  started 5/27/2015.

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  JeffT

  The Supreme Court is asked to hear about seven thousand cases a year. It takes about a hundred of them. Generally, it is looking for cases that have a major impact on Constitutional issues, or major Federal policy. I don't think this case will rise to that level.

  In any event it would have to go through the Ninth Circuit first, and they would have to render a decision that the USSC didn't like. All that gets expensive, at some point the lawyers would cut a deal, which may be what the WTBS is hoping will happen.
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  164

  California Supreme Court Case - S226656

  by Gayle in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/maincasescreen.cfm?dist=0&doc_id=2109889&doc_no=s226656&search=party&start=1&query_partylastnameororg=watchtower bible and tract.

  started 5/27/2015.

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  JeffT

  I imagine the lawyers are hoping to pressure Candace's lawyers into accepting a lower settlement.

  I doubt they could appeal to the US Supreme Court.
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  28

  Could you ever really relax in a self-driving car?

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. current

  i love science and technology and we are living in a golden age right now.

  the world has changed in so many incredible ways just in the time i've been alive.. my first car was a vauxhall viva.

  it was brilliant because it was my first car and represented freedom.

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  JeffT

  Put it this way: do you trust the people that gave us Windows 8 to design computer software that will drive a car?
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  14

  Why I haven't been on here for a while, and why am in the fight of my life right now

  by avishai in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my younger brother, the one who sued the wts, had his girls kidnapped parentally by their mother.

  it took several years to get them back, and they're finally back with him and safe, and recovering from all of the trauma.

  i was working on this case nonstop for a very long time.. now, unfortunately i have a custody case my very own.

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  JeffT

  Wow, tough situation. Given that there's physical abuse, drugs and a sex offender involved I think you might be able to find a lawyer that will at least get you an emergency custody order, pro bono. Call legal aid in Oregon and see what might be available.

  I feel for you, that has to be hard going through that with your child.
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  27

  To My Generation: Jehovah's Witnesses of the Vietnam War Era

  by Hold Me-Thrill Me in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  to my generation: jehovah's witnesses of the vietnam war era .

  if you were a young brother in the late 60's you then remember the burden of the draft and the prospect of going to jail for refusing on religious grounds to be called up.

  in those days we were taught that to do community service was conscientiously the same as joining the military and so we were told to refuse such exemptions.

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  JeffT

  Then in the 1990's all of sudden we are told Jehovah had made a change.

  Interesting. The US draft ended in 1973, and for years the WTBS had allowed young men in some countries (notably Mexico) to dodge the draft by other means.

  I didn't become a dub until after I got out of college, but my four years in school were dominated by the need to keep my II-S deferment going. Just about everybody in the country between 18 and 25 was finding some way to avoid service. Dubs were alone in this craziness, I knew guys that were faking insanity when they took their draft physicals. My brother had a friend (another college student) that tried to pretend he couldn't read. Toward the end of my college days I went on a starvation diet, I was already skinny. When I took my physical I was 5' 11" and weighed 115 lbs. That got me a 4-F, I might have skipped college if I'd known about that dodge three years earlier.