when i was a jw i did and still enjoy visiting old churches and cathedrals because of the history and amazing architecture of these wonderful old buildings.
a sister in my old congregation regaled us with a story of a visit to the tower of london and walking up this crowded narrow staircase only to discover it led to an old chapel.
the way she described her horror at almost entering you would have thought they were doing human sacrifices.
I have always enjoyed visiting old churches and cathedrals. I have done this since school days when we were taken on trips to Southwell Minster, Lincoln Cathedral and Eyam to mention just a few. I also enjoy reading and photographing gravestones and researching the people on them. Weird, probably, but keeps me out of mischief.
George
https://youtu.be/uvdmjpmgxk8?si=qdvgimktegx4fepm.
the watchtower's nightmares have just began in france.
on april the 9th the french senate passed a new "anti-cult" law that will basically strengthen the hands of miviludes, the french agency, the official anti-cult agency that is cracking down on dangerous cults.
Remember the one full page WT declaration against France in the NYT.
I have never heard of that, is there a reference or link anywhere?
George
the governing body are proud to announce... can you finish off the line for them - the more outrageous the better,, .
The GB and all the funds will join Jeffrey Winder at the Argentine Branch as the country has no extradition treaty with the US.
George
i read a comment somewhere that having a beard ( before such was allowed) was never a disfellowshippable offence.
but does that mean that no-one who grew a beard was ever eventually disfellowshipped?.
growing a beard when such was frowned upon would surely attract the attention of those with nothing better to do, and possibly lead to sniffing around to try and find things that the "disobedient" one was up to.
I had a beard back in the 1970's. Nobody ever made any comment on it, I was still used in the congregation and gave talks. Probably a regional thing as well.
George
holy nativity batman!
on jw broadcasting.
final song for this year's convention.
I barely managed the first verse, it is so dire.
Personally, I prefer "Hark the Herald Angels Sing"!
George
just a moment ago irán started to attack israel, guess they're gonna end in ruins because israel has a way better army than other country in the region and the support of the us....hope the gas prices don't increase too much.... wonder how the borg gonna spin it..
58% in Britain want to end arms sales to Israel compared with only 18% who want to continue.
Hardly surprising considering the millions of Muslims that are moving into our country each year. I see outrage at what Israel has supposedly done in Gaza, I don't see much outrage at the at the 1200 + people murdered by Hamas plus the rape and torture and murder of hostages.
Personally I would prefer money to go to Israel rather than Ukraine.
George
probably everyone else thought of this long ago, but i, being an "independent thunker" thunk of it just a coupla weeks ago.. we all know that since the year zero (on the fredfranzian calendar) the wtb&ts has defied archaeology and insisted that jerusalem was destroyed in 607 bce, even though the physical evidence shows that 587 bce is a more likely date.
in fact, the book "the gentile times reconsidered: have jehovah's witnesses been wrong all along about 607 bce?
" by carl olof jonsson and rud persson made this conversation public.. it is a difference of 20 years.
Isn't it the consensus of historians (the people who would know this stuff) that the actual date is either 587BC or 586BC?
These historians and archaeologists don't really care when Jerusalem was destroyed. They just report the facts as they are. They have no axe to grind. The ONLY people who care about the date are JW's because the entire religion is based on this erroneous date. Without 607, there is no 1914. Without 1914 there is no 1919 when the FDS/GB etc were chosen. The fact that JFR and his companions were released from jail in that year is of no significance.
Of course the average "Jonny come lately" JW doesn't understand any of this anyway.
George
we had the meeting with the branch representative this weekend.. the air was different than usual.. bearded ushers at the parking lots welcomed the brothers warmly.. lots of sisters with dress pants or not, nothing scandalous.. the representative of the italian branch made his debut on stage with his full beard.. location: roseto degli abruzzi (italy-europe).
some interesting statistical data can give a little food for thought after the numerous changes that have occurred in recent months (the ten-year or five-year plan, if you prefer, seems to be producing some small results).. attendance has increased since the last meeting.. our constituency includes 1725 publishers and those present in the morning were 1553, a little better than the november 2023 convention.
perhaps the new changes have brought some back to attendance?.
i’d like to start out by saying this is my opinion.. i believe that the organisation is about to make blood transfusions in any form a conscience matter.. they will still ban the eating of blood.. they will gaslight everyone by talking about how it is so much safer now.
and will say something along the lines of how our stance protected us from the aids crisis etc.. and i believe this change is going to happen before the annual meeting 2024.. i think the annual meeting will announce they are scrapping the midweek meeting and instead we get to watch a streamed talk at home through a revamped website similar to the way netflix works.. obviously take my opinion with a hefty pinch of salt..
Probably the first move will be to disband the HLC. Having unqualified persons advising on medical matters is a law suit waiting to happen.
After that it's a simple matter to move to "on your conscience be it".
George
so the wt society is going to contest the recent norway ruling.. jehovah’s witnesses to appeal unconstitutional ruling in norway (jw.org).
their true colours are shown in the statement: "the decision to deregister jehovah’s witnesses denies us the financial aid and other benefits that the government provides to over 700 registered religious communities in the country.
additional consequences include losing the right to appoint and authorize ministers of jehovah’s witnesses as officiants for weddings.".
I remember seeing a clip of a GB member whinging about the Norway decision.
That was AM III of course on the 2022 GB update #8.
2022 Governing Body Update #8 (jw.org)
He clearly said they would not change their beliefs because of government pressure.
What happened? Within 3 months AM III had gone and change is taking place.
Money changes everything!
George
