Unless you're a lawyer I don't see that it makes much difference. When speaking or writing in a more informal setting (like this board or a conversation with a non-JW) anything that is clearly understood to mean "the people who write this crap" will do.
Posts by JeffT
-
16Correct usage referring to the organization?
by Vanderhoven7 inwhich sentences are technically correct.
1 the watchtower keeps changing its doctrines.. 2. the watch tower keeps changing its doctrines.. 3. the watchtower society keeps changing its doctrines.. 4. watchtower keeps changing its doctrines.. 5. watch tower keeps changing its doctrines.. 6. the society keeps changing its doctrines.. 7. the watchtower organization keeps changing its doctrines.. 8. the watch tower organization keeps changing its doctrines..
-
-
JeffT
-
61
Elders hounding members to quit their jobs due to missing too many meetings
by RULES & REGULATIONS inhow many times did you see elders hounding congregation members to quit their jobs due to missing meetings?.
my brother worked at a grocery store at 16 years old.
he would miss tuesday's ministry school due to his work schedule.
-
-
JeffT
Good for you. I firmly believe that you can't understand the world today if you don't understand how we got here. I minored in history, if I could do it over that would be my major. As it is, most of my fiction is history-based.
-
61
Elders hounding members to quit their jobs due to missing too many meetings
by RULES & REGULATIONS inhow many times did you see elders hounding congregation members to quit their jobs due to missing meetings?.
my brother worked at a grocery store at 16 years old.
he would miss tuesday's ministry school due to his work schedule.
-
-
JeffT
I graduated from college with a degree in English, and was baptized about six months later. This was in 1973, during the run up to 1975. Unable to find real work I was doing menial labor, with, of course, encouragement from the elders.
In 1982 against the advice of the elders, I went back to school to study something that people would pay me to do (accounting/business management). I turned that into a good career. I'm now retired, and the circle is closed as I'm writing novels, which seems to pay enough to be worth while.
In retrospect returning to school was the start of escape from the WTBS. So, I guess the elders were right about one thing.
In reading through the stories above I wondered how many young witnesses internalize the message that their job is unimportant, no matter what they're doing. The flip side to missing meetings to work is missing work to go to meeting. I've seen JW's fired because they put "kingdom interests first." \barf\
-
17
Ghislaine Maxwell on trial
by LoveUniHateExams inghislaine maxwell is on trial for grooming underage girls for sex and joining in, apparently.. her defence has recently finished, with maxwell declining to take the stand herself because she, in her words, 'doesn't need to as the prosecution haven't proved their case beyond reasonable doubt'.. that's for the jury to decide, ghislaine, lol.
.
doesn't it strike you as arrogant that she can't be arsed to stand up and speak in her own defence?.
-
-
JeffT
Doesn't it strike you as arrogant that she can't be arsed to stand up and speak in her own defence?
In this country you can't be forced to testify.
-
14
Films of the decade - 70s
by LoveUniHateExams inwell, i'm spoilt for choice for the seventies!.
so many good movies.
i own a few more films from this decade - 41 to be exact.. so many great films came out in this decade .... the godfather (1972).
-
-
JeffT
The Andromeda Strain - I thought this was a really good movie, I saw it at least three times the summer it came out.
M*A*S*H - This one has some flaws (that football game is way too long), but it came out at the height of the Vietnam War and this is a good anti-war film. Many people forget it was a movie before it was a TV show. Hardly anybody knows it was a book before it was a movie.
Woodstock!!! - Did a fantastic job capturing the 60's music scene.
Love Story - Yeah its sappy, but it's a great date movie.
Patton - I'm a history buff, George C Scott does a job with the title role.
-
23
TRICKY WORDS and why not to use them
by Terry intricky words .
perfectly good words go unused in writing and speaking.
their meaning isn't clear and the eye is 'tricked' by similarity to other words or sounds.. .
-
-
JeffT
Realtor is three syllables: re-al-tor. From my searching I would say that about one half of the internet gets it wrong.
Consider this: Realator is four syllables.
-
2
Need help marketing my novel
by JeffT ini’m asking people for feedback on a marketing problem for my most recent book.
when covid hit i edited an unsold alternate history trilogy and self-published it on amazon.
i plugged the books on facebook and a couple of online writer’s groups familiar with my work.
-
-
JeffT
I’m asking people for feedback on a marketing problem for my most recent book.
When COVID hit I edited an unsold alternate history trilogy and self-published it on Amazon. I plugged the books on Facebook and a couple of online writer’s groups familiar with my work. I have pleased with the sales of those three books, they’ve covered my car payment for over a year.
My most recent work is “Armageddon’s Disciples” a suspense/thriller inspired by my fifteen year experience with the religion. So, relying on experience I plugged this book on several social media sites, both XJW and non-JW related. Unfortunately, “Armageddon’s Disciples” is not following my previous pattern, I’ve only sold a few copies.
I hope to create some interest with a reduced-price promotion. From now until January I’m taking $2 off the paperback and hardback editions. I want to hear your opinions of my marketing effors. I can handle criticism, but silence is driving me crazy.
Plot summary:
When they arrive at their meetinghouse to discuss routine matters, three local leaders of Word of God Foundation discover sixteen-year-old Alice Lahti dead on the floor. Alice had been under church discipline for sexual misconduct. The condition of her body makes it clear she is the victim of a brutal murder. After a forty-five-minute argument about what to do, the three Servants contact the religion’s headquarters before they call the police. Called to the scene to begin an investigation, Detective Ed Franklin finds this delay is only the start of his inability to understand the Disciples.
In recent years, the Foundation has promoted several prophecies proclaiming the imminent return of Jesus and creation of paradise on Earth. These false messages have left some Disciples, as they call themselves, disheartened. Because the Disciples learned to accept the religion’s leaders as directly appointed by God, the struggle to find order in the world, or they rebel against the religion’s strict and myriad rules. Others take refuge in belief that God still intends to reward their faith.
Ed enlists Keith Thornton, his neighbor, and a former Disciple, to help him understand the Disciple's bizarre world. Keith faces a fight with his wife. Following the religion’s commandments, she is shunning Keith because he left the religion. She is fighting Keith in court get custody of their children, so she can raise them as Disciples. Keith adamantly opposes this, and his teenage son refuses to live with his mother.
With Keith’s help, Ed uncovers a world of lies and evasions, illegal pornography, mental and physical abuse, theft, blackmail, and murder. As more young women turn up dead, fear of a serial killer lends urgency to the investigation.
Link: www.amazon.com/dp/B09HG4W38G
A Christmas themed excerpt:
Note: Ruth and Elizabeth are detective Franklin’s teenage daughters. Karen is his wife. K2 is Keith Thornton’s son (don’t call him junior)
Late Saturday afternoon Keith rode with Ed to the grocery store to pick up a list of items Karen needed. They planned to eat together and watch “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” Elizabeth, Ruth, and K2 had gone snowshoeing for the day. They expected to come home cold, wet and exhausted. Dinner and a movie suited everyone’s plans. “Ed, I feel like I’m freeloading. Let me pick this up.”
“If you were freeloading, I’d push you out the door. I don’t put up with that. Besides, Elizabeth hasn’t complained about anything for three days. I think she likes hanging out with your son.”
“He says they’re friends.”
“That’s what she says.”
Ed’s phone buzzed. He glanced at the caller ID and pushed a button on the dash, picking up on hands-free.
“Hey Steve, be advised I have Keith with me.”
“Good, I got a call about a disturbance at the Crystalview Gathering House. Unfortunately, dispatch could not provide a clear description of the problem; black and whites are almost there. Can you go see what’s happening?”
“We’re in my car, be there in ten minutes.”
“Thanks.”
Ed flipped switches, turning on concealed lights on the unmarked car. Unconsciously Keith tightened his grip on the seat and door.
“Don’t be nervous; I do this all the time.”
“I’m fine. When I was a kid, a car hit one of my friends while riding his bike. The whole way to the hospital, he kept asking the crew if they were going to blow the siren.”
Ed chuckled. Then snapped at a slow-moving car in front of them, “C’mon, buddy, out of the way. He punched a button on the steering wheel twice. The siren emitted a “Whoop, whoop.” The car moved over.
“There, I blew the siren for you.”
Both men laughed. Keith turned suddenly serious. “Please tell me this isn’t another murder.
“Dispatch didn’t think so, or they would have reported it, but they didn’t have a clear idea of the complaint. We hate ‘Unknown trouble’ calls. It can be anything from a cat up a tree to mass murder.”
“Cats up trees?”
“Good dispatchers sort those out, but some slip through the cracks.”
A few minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot at the Crystalview Gathering House. Ed spotted Jose Delrio near the entrance talking to a uniformed officer. A woman Ed presumed was his wife stood next to him, two young children holding her skirt. Two other civilians argued with another uniformed officer on the entrance porch.
“Looks like they already have Gunther and Mr. Dahlgren here.”
“I’ll stay here unless you need me,” Keith said.
“You sure? I don’t care if you come with me.”
“They won’t like me here at all, much less in the House.”
“Got it.” He exited the car. “Gentlemen, how are you tonight?”
“This is a hate crime, I tell you,” Dahlgren yelled. “I want a full investigation!”
The officer talking to the Delrio family waved and approached him. “We have a situation here.”
“I see that. And hear it.”
“These people are nuts; I don’t understand why they’re so worked up.”
“Don’t worry, I brought a translator.”
“Good. These guys, who seem to be in charge here, want us to report a terrorist incident.”
Ed turned and motioned for Keith to join him. As Keith stepped out of the car, Carl Dahlgren saw him. He glared angrily at Keith in the half-light. “We don’t need a Forsaker to explain things. Outsiders hate us because you hate The Lord. This is clearly the work of someone who wants to let us know how much they hate us.”
“I tell you, it is the work of the devil, a demon sent to torment us,” Jose interjected, fear in his voice.
“Jose, please calm down,” Dan said, “Keith, do you mind stepping back. Please?” Keith suppressed a laugh. The Area Servant was pleading with him.
“No problem.”
Behind Carl, a uniformed officer suppressed a smile.
“Well, what’s going on here?” Ed asked.
“See for yourself,” a uniform answered.
“I will not let a Forsaker into The Lord’s house,” Carl shouted.
“I’ve already walked away,” Keith said, nodding toward Ed, “Go ahead, you can tell me about it when you’ve seen it.”
Ed walked up the steps into the House. “It’s the devil,” Delrio yelled again. “You’ll see. A demon.”
Ed walked into the vestibule, thinking of Alice Lahti’s body on the floor. The crime scene people must have finished their work recently. He took another step and saw what had Jose and Carl worked up. The ‘demon,’ cloaked in red, had a mischievous smile, a light in the eyes that suggested hidden intent. It certainly did not belong here. He walked back outside.
“Hey Keith,” he called, “is a plastic Santa Claus a hate symbol?”
Keith could not help it; he laughed.
“You know,” he said loudly, so all could hear, “this wouldn’t be the first time some kids with a little knowledge of Disciples pulled a prank on a House.”
“I want it investigated and prosecuted,” Carl fumed. “and I want that Forsaker off our property.”
“Carl, stop,” Gunther snapped.
“You know,” Ed responded, “I think this is funny and probably a joke. But we’re going to take Santa into evidence, get fingerprints and the like.”
“Officer Franklin,” Dan said, “I suspect you’re right; it’s a joke.”
“Is there any sign of a break-in?”
“Not that I could see,” a uniformed officer said.
Ed looked at the three Disciples. “You guys need to put new locks on this place.”
-
5
Money Spinners
by Lost in the fog ini can remember when i was in that there were numerous articles and assembly talks about not using the congregation as a means of making money from a captive audience of brothers and sisters.. i was looking at the etsy website and stumbled upon a jw themed product.. i wondered if there were any more and discovered that there were lots.
mind you maybe it's people who have left who see an opportunity for making money from gullible jws.. https://www.etsy.com/uk/search?q=jehovah%27s%20witness%20letter%20writing&ref=auto-1.
-
-
JeffT
I don't think the people running this have any connection at all to JW's. I went into the Etsy search box, typed in "LDS" and "Jewish" and got very similar items. I think somebody is trolling the internet and slapping whatever they find onto cheap junk, probably creating it on a "Print on demand."
-
15
Missed opportunity of Jehovah’s Witnesses
by Abraham1 injesus had foretold that people of "last days" would “faint out of fear” because of things such as “sea-level rise’ as part of “signs of last days” in luke 21:25. bible translators—including new world translation of jehovah’s witnesses—missed the real meaning as they translated it as “roaring of the sea and its agitation.” (https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/nwt/books/luke/21/).
more careful translations such as niv put it: “roaring and tossing of the sea.” (https://biblehub.com/luke/21-25.htm) word for “tossing” is σάλου (salou), from saino; i.e., billow,” (swell outwards).
thus underlying thought is like balloon swelling, or water flowing outwards, as though ready to roll over, thus points to the modern terminology “sea-level rise.” biblos interlinear translation (int:) translates it as “of [the] sea and rolling surge.” “rolling sea.” (a greek lexicon to the new testament, edward robinson (d.d., page 416) (a greek lexicon to the new testament on the basis of dr. robinson ... by c. robson).. jesus’ original use of the wording “tossing of the sea” is another way of saying “sea-level would rise” as a result of pollution of air.
-
-
JeffT
Wait a minute, I'm missing something. Wouldn't Jehovah know about climate change and tell the GB to tell the rest of us it was coming?
-
-
-
JeffT
I like Robert Heinlein's advice: "If you don't know what to do, find a well-intentioned idiot (there's always one around), ask him what he would do, then do the exact opposite.