Posts by oppostate

11

Is this going to be the undoing of the WTS?

by tootired2care in

jw
friends

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oppostate

It's hard to say... I think it may put more stress on those with a Christian conscience to help needy ones.

But I can also see the uber-pioneers and better-than-thou's pulling a Korban phrase and excusing themselves from helping those in need because they are too busy in service to be able to lend their time and effort.

The folks who won't help are those who'd probably end up as elders and their wives. Those who are just too meek and too submissive are those who'll most likely end up taking care of the elderly's needs out of Christian love and kindness, with the added hounding reminders of the "elder" class.

82

Are you attending the Memorial this year?

by XPeterX in

jw
friends

dunno about you but i'm going..

oppostate

Yup, I'll be attending, God willing.

And I will partake of the emblems.

And I will have my Kingdom Interlinear

to follow along with some of the Scriptures.

Oh, and I think I'll have to do something to

protect my injured pinky, the one I use to lift

while sipping.

And will talk to anyone about the freakish

weather we've been having in New England...

Is global warming one of the Signs of the

Last Days?

35

"Do you still feel Jehovah is directing the Organization?"

by outsmartthesystem in

jw
friends

for those of you with experience being asked this question.....or those of you that are/were elders........ what would happen if you responded to that question by saying "i don't know"?.

what would happen if you responded with "i choose not to answer that question."?

and then when they ask why, you say "because i wish to invoke my 5th amendment rights".

oppostate

Say? What the hey is mP's problem?

But anyway, I'd have them define the terms "directing" and "organization" for me and go around at nauseam as to how these can be identified in Scripture... Then all of a sudden quote them the one that deals with arguing about words, and how that's a mental disease, and I don't want to be arguing about words that way, so next question please... and it better not have any hard to define terms not literally found in Scripture otherwise I would have to think they were sadly mentally diseased about words.

14

Has anyone heard of JJ Luna?

by biometrics in

when i was younger (20s) i remember hearing an experience at a district assembly about a best-selling author who, in his book, wholeheartedly recommended employing jehovah's witnesses because they were honest, good workers ... etc.

it seems like he couldn't recommend jw's enough.

the speaker went on to read a page or two from the book, and stated it was a glowing recommendation from a 'worldly' author who regarded jw's very highly.

oppostate

I would have never, ever guessed he was one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

I've got his book on my Kindle, and it sure didn't sound like a bro to me.

More like a savvy, anti-gov't-snooping-on-you, kind of person than a JW.

But, hey, there's also Prince, and Serena & Venus, and the Jacksons, and

I would have never thought any of them to be JWs either.

29

The Great Watchtower Internet Retreat

by DT in

jw
friends

there has been a lot of talk about the new watchtower internet strategy.

it appears that the watchtower is trying to improve their internet presence.

this could be true, but i think there are good reasons to think that the opposite might be the case.. i suspect that this new internet announcement was primarily designed to draw attention away from the announcement that they are cutting down on the printing of the magazines again.. they are basically dropping two of their websites and redesigning a website on a url that has the lowest rating of the three.

oppostate

For a possible hint at how the new JW portal

might look take a gander at the German site.

http://www.jehovaszeugen.de/

It's reminiscent of the jw-media.org web site.

But it uses the word "portal".

Quite a long time ago on the Spanish exjw forum

at ExTJ.com one of our "opposed" brothers from

Ajalvir let it be known that the Euro-Witnesses

were contracted with a German public relations

firm that was giving advice on developing and

re-branding the public image of the WTS.

Some things that came out of that experiment

were the Public vs. Study versions, and the look

of the Witness only publications, KM's and Study

versions of the WT.

Time will tell, but there has to be some trial

web address that is now being tested. If it is

internal only we'll have to wait a few months.

But if "Johnny the Closeted Bethelite" does

work in the IT Dept. maybe he can spill the

address of the trial/beta web portal.

Heck, even a screen cap would be nice!

29

The Great Watchtower Internet Retreat

by DT in

jw
friends

there has been a lot of talk about the new watchtower internet strategy.

it appears that the watchtower is trying to improve their internet presence.

this could be true, but i think there are good reasons to think that the opposite might be the case.. i suspect that this new internet announcement was primarily designed to draw attention away from the announcement that they are cutting down on the printing of the magazines again.. they are basically dropping two of their websites and redesigning a website on a url that has the lowest rating of the three.

oppostate

The lack of emphasis on watchtower.org and

the elevation of jw.org to an all inclusive portal

serves the WTS's purpose of distinguising the

corporation from the JW religion.

This is something similar to having the name

"Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses"

for most all congregation directives. And having

the WTB&TS name brand used for corporate

holdings.

The old domains will be kept, have no doubt

about that, they may bounce a visitor to the

soon to be official web site, but they would

never dream of letting Watchtower.org and

several other Watchtower branded domains

go back to public registration.

Try these and see how they bounce:

http://www.watchtower.com

http://www.watchtower.net

they lead to the official site:

http://www.watchtower.org

The also have domains in other

languages: French, Spanish, etc.

http://www.temoinsdejehovah.org/

http://www.testigosdejehova.es

http://www.jehovaszeugen.de/

What I think is hilarious is the

JW.com goofy web site for a lawyer's

firm, especially Vytas Petrulis photo.

What a happy risk management barrister!

45

how exactly does god communicate w/ the gb?

by mP in

jw
friends

just wondering has there ever been a definitive article responding to this or a similar q ?.

oppostate

Well, as a matter of fact...

Yesterday I posted a conversation with the writing department about that and other subjects like the identity of the FDS.

If you care to take a listen the link is posted at this thread:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/members/private/223754/1/Wheres-the-Beef-Wheres-the-meat-in-due-season-Wheres-the-food-at-the-proper-time

In nine plus hours nobody has cared to comment. Which is quite disappointing.

Maybe I should just send the audio to Kool-aid Man ;-)

51

How can I be "COOL" on JWN?

by Silent_Scream in

jw
friends

what are the unwritten rules and standards that make some people here cool, others not.. saying "just be yourself" is a lie!

i see many people being themselves who start an interesting thread and have 6 comments (5 being their own), while others post "cheeseburgers" and the thread last for days.

lol.. .

oppostate

and call everyone haters

Perhaps the key is to be the biggest hater of all haters on JWN.

Sort of like Minimus and Outlaw combined :-)))

But whatever you do... DO NOT start a creepy web site like Six Screens and then use JWN to get traffic. Totally UNCOOL!

33

And down comes the house of cards

by Blind_Of_Lies in

jw
friends

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oppostate

Billy, you're soooo right!

JW's are kept too busy to read the mags.

You hardly ever hear anyone asking, "did you read that interesting article on ..."

No, the articles aren't very interesting to the majority of JW's. They are repetitive, they contain filler rather than spiritual "meat" in due season.

How can they be interesting to the public? If not even JW's find them so???

Cutting down on the number of pages is a benefit for the religious publishing corporation. A big money saver of a decision.

However, it does little to alleviate the pressure on publishers to make magazine placements.

Since JW's aren't really reading every article, especially in the "public" editions, their load remains a burden that too many just can't carry.

Therefore, the change does nothing more than save the WTS more money.

13

Armageddon is coming ... for the WTS

by mP in

jw
friends

is it just me or are we seeing the armageddon or the end of the wts ?

they seem to be reducing the size and publising of the a!

mags something that must shock many believers.

oppostate

Organizations that survive know how to adapt.

The WTS has been around for a century + and has shown they can rework interpretations to keep the religion going.

It would be so easy for the current GB to change doctrine, procedures, and even other major changes, like the deletion of the bookstudy or the moving out of Brooklyn and not be afraid of major repercussions.

Even with minimal progress, or even sustained decreases, the WTS could find a sense of stability and sustainability given a few die-hard congregations filled with "true" and "loyal" believers of the Tower.

Examples abound of minor religious groups surviving and keeping their quaint traditions despite whatever changes take place in the world around them. (e.g. Amish, Hasidim, etc.)

I believe that unless there's a change from on top, from the top of the WTS hierarchy, in fashion to what the Worldwide Church of God underwent to become Grace Churches, the WTS's religion could continue and sustain it's uniqueness for quite a few decades if not centuries, given additional overlapping generational doctrinal corrections.