JeffT

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Posts by JeffT

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  32

  Best Life Gifts - New Bethel Giftshop

  by jamesmarsh in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  has anybody heard anything about this new store?

  [link removed].

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  JeffT

  There are ways to do hostile takeovers over private business, but they aren't called hostile takeovers. If somebody loaned the previous owners money, and they used the business as collateral, they could have lost it through bankruptcy or foreclosure. That would still count as "more to the story" in my book.

  I'm pretty sure the WTBS could collect licensing fees on its logo without jeopardizing their tax free status. It's possible they leaned on the owners and forced a sale to the new owners. In fact, I suspect they are called fees or royalties or something from all of these businesses selling JW related stuff. If they aren't, they're even stupider than we think.
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  40

  After leaving the JWs - Has anyone stayed with Christianity?

  by rulehayl in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i recently made the decision to stop studying with my study conductor, due to a situation i found myself in that led to a high possibility of my unbaptized publisher "rights" being taken away from me.

  i have since told my study conductor i have joined a new church (to which she dropped me like a hot rock, of course).... last time i posted on here, i was progressing nicely towards baptism, and was well into it.anyhoo, i like my new church, very hillsong-esqe.

  so just wondering if anyone else has stayed the course of christianity after leaving the jws, and if so - where did you go?

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  JeffT

  My wife and I went to an independent Christian church for a number of years after we left the JW's. My wife worked there for almost twenty years as teacher in, and director of, their preschool. We left that in 2009 after new managment did a bunch of things we didn't like, eventually culminating in my wife losing her job. Neither one of us has been to church since then. I still consider myself a Christian but see no need to belong to, or attend, any church.
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  14

  Jehovah`s Witnesses / Parasites On Christendom ,they need to thank them for the membership they have today.

  by smiddy3 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  jehovah`s witnesses claim that all their beliefs are based on the bible.the bible clearly states early on in deut.4:2 not to add to the word....and rev.22:18 re-iterates much the same thing in not to make additions to the word of god.. i think we could agree on that the organization has raised the bar on that one with their "weasel" words on so many issues that have already been thrashed out on this forum.. so a few other things that come to my mind are : with regards to j.w`s being parasites on christendom.. 1. they claim christendom apostatized itself from true christianity by the 3rd century , yet they accept apostate christendoms determination of what books are to be included in the bible as gods word as if they were governed by holy spirit to do so.?.

  2.jehovah`s witnesses have only ever followed in christendoms missionaries footsteps where they have gone preaching and poaching off of the work these missionaries that have laid the groundwork before them .. 3.jehovah`s witnesses have never opened up virgin territory and gone where no other christian missionary has ever gone before .

  { not to my knowledge anyway i stand to be corrected if i am wrong on this point}.

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  JeffT

  When I was leaving I read a book called "Apostles of Denial" by Edmund Gruss. Is basic theme is that JW's define themselves, not by what they believe, but by what they don't believe. They don't believe in hell, they don't believe in the trinity, they don't vote, they don't celebrate Christmas, etc. He pointed out that absent those things to be against, they can't explain their religion to anybody.
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  39

  If the Watchtower corporation went bust

  by Fred Franztone in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what do you think would happen to jehovah's witnesses as a religion and as a people?.

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  JeffT

  It seems to me, that for some time the GB has emphasized itself as the head of the Jehovah's Witnesses, and the distinction between the religion and the corporation. In times past it spoke of "Jehovah's Witnesses using the WTBS to publish its literature." The Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses is a separate legal entity, responsible for administration of the religion.

  What this means (in my view) is that the Watchtower Society could go bankrupt, and the GB could survive like a snake shedding its skin. The Christian Congregation would need to establish a new legal entity to handle some matters, but it could be done. It happens all the time in the business world.
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  34

  Growing a beard

  by Coded Logic in

  1. social
  2. physical

  i've always been currious as to how i would look with a beard so i've finally committed to doing it.

  over the next 30 days i'm going to grow out a full chin to ear beard.. .

  ps:  any suggestions or advice on how to grow a beard would be much appreciated!.

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  JeffT

  I grew my beard out the summer of 1968 - because, well, it was 1968. That was the summer between my junior and senior years in high school. I shaved it of in 1973 because I became a JW. I grew it back out in 1988 when I left the JW's. I trim it and shampoo it when I shower. It seems to be just fine and the wife likes it.
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  15

  TRUE SCRIPTURE EXISTS, A LIVING ONE

  by venus in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i find three categories of people according to the way they display their human qualities—(1) more than humans, (2) less than humans and (3) mixed in those qualities in varying degrees.. when i observe how they are all faring with their choices, it tells me what i should do and what i should not do.

  hence my scripture is the mankind and letters are living human beings—present and past.

  though it is not possible to see beyond an individual’s birth, i can see the history of nations (collective individuals) beyond their present generation into their past, through many generations which shows how their past deeds contributed to their present reality.

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  JeffT

  I find three categories of people according to the way they display their human qualities—(1) more than humans, (2) less than humans and (3) mixed in those qualities in varying degrees.

  Actually, there are only two kinds of people:

  1) those who can extrapolate from incomplete data
  
  
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  45

  Padron Case Settled. What happens to the fine?

  by Slidin Fast in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  it seems that irwin zalkin has obtained undisclosed settlement in the case.

  the $4000 a day fine then seems to be dead.

  the downside?

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  JeffT

  So may we assume that the undisclosed settlement must have exceeded the by now $1.5 million fine ($4000/day accruing for over a year now)

  I would not assume that. That would be due to the court, not the plaintiff, as mentioned above, they will have nothing to say about what the court decides on this matter. I've been through numerous lawsuits mostly as the accountant for one side or the other. Typically a settlement is reached when one side or the other decides it makes more sense to settle than to keep spending money on lawyers.
  
  
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  40

  Unhappy being asked to give a Disfellowshipped Sister a ride to and from Meetings

  by Isambard Crater in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'm pimo, very much against disfellowshipping, and going to a meeting leaves me feeling confused and angry at the best of times.

  except an elder asked me on thursday night if i can start giving a ride to a disfellowshipped woman because she lives near me and nobody else from the hall lives in my village.

  it seems the elder and his family who have been giving this woman a ride for the past six months can no longer stomach the time it takes them to go out of their way.. i thought all normal publishers weren't to have any contact with disfellowshipped people?

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  JeffT

  Tinfoil hat time. If nobody knows the elder asked you to do that you could get called on the carpet yourself for associating with a DF'd person. If he denies asking you to do this, BAM you're disfellowshipped. I've seen elders pull this kind of stuff, and if you're PIMO they might be looking for a stick to beat you with.
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  96

  Oh Boy! Beards are "stumbling blocks" again ... from Stephen Lett

  by freddo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so this week's midweek meeting video about stumbling others has lett spouting and gurning rubbish again.. if you can't take the whole 9 minutes go from 5:50 to get the context and 6:45 for the "beard" mention.. https://youtu.be/ezv1ici5cwo.

  oh, well - at least they shoot themselves in the foot with this doublespeak.

  single.

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  JeffT

  Yes, I'm stumbled by beards! I refuse to join a religion that would make me shave mine.
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  19

  Has Politics Changed How You View Your Entertainment?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i watch a tv show or movie or even a ball game, i don’t want to be deluged with matters involving politics.

  entertainers and sports heros should stick to doing what people pay them for.

  entertain us and just do your job!.

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  JeffT

  Sometimes politics in entertainment can be...entertaining. Like listening to some actress who is wearing a pile of bling that cost more than my car (or possibly my house) going on about how the elite 1% are taking over the country. You want to see 1% go look in the mirror.

  Or listening to some twit, who a few years ago was giving a standing ovation to a pedophile, going on about sexual harassment.