JeffT

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Posts by JeffT

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  29

  If you think Watchtower is disappearing any time soon…

  by Reservations in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  you are sadly mistaken.. i hear people say it on here all the time, and dare i say his name *cough* lloyd evans *cough* has said it a number of times, that watchtower is running scared and watchtower is in decline….. we need to put in perspective the decrease from the 2020 report.

  if we calculate a yearly -0.6 decrease over a 10 year period from 2020 figures it leaves us the grand total number of witnesses of:.

  by 2030: - 7,933,479. by 2040: - 7,471,357. by 2050: - 7,036,154. i agree that this is a significant decrease, but let’s not kid ourselves, the wt organisation will still be alive and well even with an annual 0.6% loss.

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  JeffT

  I have thought for some time that if the Watchtower disappeared tomorrow, its followers would just go find something else to follow. I imagine there are bus loads of COs, Branch overseas and the like who would be happy to pick up the slack.

  Incidentely , I find it unlikely the child abuse lawsuits will wipe out the WTBS. The lawsuits total up to millions with an "m." The WTBS's assets are in the billions with a "b." Most large businesses regard such things as a cost of doing business, I'm sure the Watchtower is cynical enough to think the same way.
  
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  122

  1995 generation change

  by Gorb in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  now, many years later, i remember the 1995 generation change, very well.. since early youth, hearing my father explaining in field service the 2520 years.

  it was his main theme in the field.. with the change my doubts started.

  with some jw friends we did not trust the organization anymore.

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  JeffT

  I was already out (wife and I left in 1988). When I heard about the change I wondered why everybody didn't just get up and walk out. Just proves that some people can't think.
  
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  24

  “The Right to Shun: Ghent’s Misguided Jehovah’s Witness Decision“ Matthew P. Cavedon

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  https://canopyforum.org/2021/04/19/the-right-to-shun-ghents-misguided-jehovahs-witness-decision/.

  in march, the criminal court of ghent, belgium fined the congregation of jehovah’s witnesses (jw) for “inciting discrimination and hatred or violence against former members.” the case centered on the jw practice of “disfellowshipping.” while the court’s sensitivity to the individual impact of shunning is laudable, its decision regrettably assaults the freedoms of religion and association.. first, some background on jw beliefs and disfellowshipping.

  jw was founded in the united states over a century ago and is headquartered in new york state.

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  JeffT

  you just can’t say that other people are evil.

  I can't say that Nazis are evil? The KKK? The people that flew airplanes into the world trade center? The people on this board can't call the GB evil for shunning us? We make judgements about people all the time. Sometimes somebody makes a judgement we don't like. And we can stop talking to them when they do.
  
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  13

  Is this New Light coming or just some crackpot?

  by pistolpete in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this experience was posted about a year ago.

  it seems like a crackpot co was giving his prediction of what "might possibly happen in the future" .

  now it seems like he wasn't such a crackpot after all.. quote.

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  JeffT

  I remember a talk/demonstration at a circuit assembly circa 1975. Brothers are supposedly in jail for preaching and one says he's heard the preaching work is stopped because the end is here. An elder shows him in the Bible where he's wrong, the preaching will go on right up to the end.

  So they are contradicting what they said then. But what else is new?
  
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  53

  Those members who passed away

  by Gorb in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  who of those passed away jwd/jwn members, do we think of??.

  oompah and the lady from australia, are there more??.

  g..

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  JeffT

  Cofty disappeared a while back. I have it the back of my mind somebody annoyed him, but I may be wrong.
  
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  58

  No more Questions from MINIMUS

  by was a new boy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  minimus former jw, prolific poster on jwn died.. minimus.

  joined 19 years ago.

  started 4,139 topics.

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  JeffT

  I must have joined about the same time he did. I will miss his questions.
  
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  17

  How would you respond?

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you tell a jw that he or she is in a cult and they asked you why do you say that?

  how would you respond?.

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  JeffT

  Telling somebody they're in a cult is like telling some one they're a racist. It may be true, and you may have truck load of evidence, but all you're doing is starting a fight.
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  20

  Homless in Seattle raping and assulting people, the dems don't care.

  by mickbobcat in

  1. social
  2. current

  https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/democrats-seattle-homeless-resident-homicide-attempted-rape-jason-rantz.

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  JeffT

  I live in a suburb of Seattle. I can't say I have personally seen any of this because I haven't been in Seattle itself for months. There are some parts of the city I won't go into. Even here in the 'burbs we're seeing more and more homeless people wondering around. There is an abundance of petty crime. I had no idea there was such a bull market for catalytic converters. Not a week goes by without reports of a bunch of stolen converters.
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  6

  WT Using Symbolic Interpretation to Twist Scriptures

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  does anyone know of examples where the watchtower used symbolic interpretation to twist the plain meaning of scripture?the only one that comes to my mind right now is in rev.

  "then i heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of israel".. .

  here, the wt would have us believe that the number of those sealed are literally 144k; but supposedly "israel" symbolically represents anointed jw's.

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  JeffT

  Proverbs 4:18

  The Watchtower teaches that this means the Bible says that old incorrect teachings can just be changed because "the light got brighter."

  Taken in context:

  "The path of the righteous is like the morning sun,
  shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
  19 But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
  they do not know what makes them stumble."

  It is clear this is talking about the individual gaining wisdom and maturity as he grows in his faith. In my opinion one of their most ill-begotten intrepretations as they use to excuse outright error in their past teachings - nevermind that the new teachings will in due time become old teachings.
  
  
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  34

  STUDY ARTICLE When a Loved One Leaves Jehovah

  by RULES & REGULATIONS in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the watchtower—study edition | september 2021. study article 39. when a loved one leaves jehovah.

  2 think how heartbroken jehovah must have been when members of his own angelic family turned their back on him!

  (jude 6) and imagine how hurt he was at seeing his beloved people, the israelites, rebel against him time and again.

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  JeffT

  I picked up this recycled joke a long time ago. I think it applies to this article:

  Q) What's the difference between Jehovah and the governing body?

  A) Jehovah knows he's not the Governing Body.