this is not a jw-bashing thing, but it always seemed odd to me that the "excuse" when things go wrong is that "we have to wait and see how the prophesy is fulfilled" or some other wording.. my question has always been, then what is the purpose of the prophesy if you don't understand it until after the fact?
isn't that like having a weather forecast but being told that we don't really know what the weather will be until the next day?.
i'm sure some of the intelligent people here can guide me but in all honesty, i never understood that..
I think some parts of the Bible are there to make us think about the questions, not to provide the answers.
For example:
2 Peter 3:4-- "They will say, 'Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.' "
Would people be saying this if some crazy preacher didn't plant the idea of a specific date (say 1844 or 1997 - JW's aren't the only ones that make nutjob predictions) in their minds.
at what time would you say that the watch tower schema lost the spirit?.
like the ancient nation of israel which struggled maintaining divine blessing due to a long series of grave errors that eventually culminated in definitive loss... how and when did watch tower lose the spirit?.
can we pinpoint a time or event?.
This question rests on a premise that Watch Tower may have, at one time in the past, actually had the spirit, which is one reason that many of us may have initially followed the Watch Tower religion.
Your premise is wrong, therefore the inquiry is not valid.
I converted at age 22, which puts me into the second part of your comment quoted above. I joined the JW's becaus I THOUGHT they taught the truth of the Bible. When I found out it wasn't I left. If you want to, you can think that I was following "a" spirit, I prefer to think I was at a low spot in my life and they got me when I was vulnerable. In my case what changed was something in me, not the Watchtower.
the latest instructions from the kingdom hall trust here in the u.k are very revealing, and current j.w elders need to beware !
i will get to that in a minute.
maybe in the usa and other countries too ?.
I don't know how a trust works in the UK, I have some experience with them in the US. (I'm a retired accountant).
I think this may be a smart move on their part. In the US a Trust is an entirely separate entity from the beneficiaries of the trust. That means it is very difficult to hold the trust financially responible for damages incurred by the beneficiaries (elders). In the event of a lawsuit the KHT's defense will be "they didn't do what we told them to do," And "We only handle funds for the building."
This would shield the WTBS from judgements. They may have the effect of stopping lawsuits, because the lawyers can't get at the Society's money and the elders typically don't have any. Situations like that leave lawyers explaining to their clients that, while they may have a good case, there's nothing to get if they win.
If I was an elder and knew all this I'd quit on the spot, I have no desire to be hung out to dry.
i’ve been here a long time.
i saw this site jwd/jwn.
i thought it was very lively and interesting.
I joined around 2000-2001 I'd been out about 12 years by that time. I may have found it through Randy's website, or a google search, I can't remember.
the point of the letter was how many are feeling disappointed these days.. no circuit assembly, convention, how we can't fellowship at the k.h.
disappointed we might have had a love one die, etc etc.
he then goes on to write about how disappointed jehovah must have felt when his first human creation rebelled.
I remember a circuit assembly part sometime in the late seventies (think). It was one of those dumb little demonstration/dramas they diid from time to time. A group of brothers (I think they were supposed to be locked up or something. One guy heard it must be close to the big A because the D2D work had stopped. Another one pulls out his Bible and reads a bunch of scriptures (I don't remember which ones- unfortunately) that PROVED that the door-to-door would NEVER stop. If you heard it was, that message was not from Jehovah.
I guess that is just one more thing they got wrong.
i just saw this on the link below.. https://youtu.be/tigp4huuigy.
the question that's raised is.
why would wt want to use a 3rd party in order to recieve donations.
I think Landy nailed it. The advantage to using a third party is that if somebody at the third party steals the money, that vendor will have bonds, insurance etc that will pay you what they owe you. (And then they send a guy named Louie with a baseball bat to get from the guy who took it).
Speaking as an accountant, I can tell you this is NOT how you launder money. Kim and Mickey may not be able to find out who ones that website, I can guarantee the courts and IRS can if they want to. Using credit cards leaves a clear audit trail. If they wanted to hide the money, they'd tell everybody to donate in cash and once a week a plane full of money who take it out of the country. This is a move in the opposite direction from laundering money.
it's wrong that thing in seattle where protesters established an ' autonomous zone ' .
police shouldn't have police - free zones.. the left is taking some risks here....russian revolution implemented more than a hundred years ago the so called soviets or "councils of workmen's and soldier's deputies".
what are they gonna do when 'autonomous zones ' pop elsewhere?.
How can the mayor allow this to happen. Are the residents so liberal they don't care!
In a word, yes.
it's wrong that thing in seattle where protesters established an ' autonomous zone ' .
police shouldn't have police - free zones.. the left is taking some risks here....russian revolution implemented more than a hundred years ago the so called soviets or "councils of workmen's and soldier's deputies".
what are they gonna do when 'autonomous zones ' pop elsewhere?.
There was another shooting last night. This one was wounded, and they managed to get him out in a timely fashion. Mayor says she wants it cleared out, but has not given a time frame. She says she wants to allow protests during the day but a nighttime curfew. CHOP responded with call for her to resign and a statement that hey won't do anything she says.
This has the potential to really hurt the protestors as the rest of Seattle may wonder when the shit show is coming to their neighborhood.
i love rhythm and blues and soul music.
i love funk but i also enjoy music of the 60s and 70s.
just not really into classical or country western although some country is pretty good..
Classic Rock: The Doors, Cream, Greatful Dead, Led Zeppelin, The Who, CSN&Y, John Mayhall, It's a Beautiful Day, Crow (so far all groups I've seen live) Pink Floyd ( a band I really wanted to see), the Beatles, Rolling Stones. I grew up on this music (wasn't a JW at the time).
we have to get rid of these racist relics.
i propose that we destroy all these bottles of syrups and burn every pancake box !
we need to get rid of anything that reminds us of anything negative concerning slavery.. in boston they decapitated the head of christopher columbus and got rid of his statue.
Phoenixrising, I think a trip to your place would be better than some museums I've been to.
