respectful_observer

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Posts by respectful_observer

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  73

  SPARLOCK has been banned on YOutube!!!!!

  by usualusername in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  all the videos have been taken down by the watchtower!.

  yikes.

  uun .

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  respectful_observer

  I get that they're trying to protect legal copyrights, but that begs the question: why they don't just post the movie themselves? I mean wouldn't they want their spiritual food available to the bazillions of people who are on Youtube every day? It seems that their message would make it to more people on an average Friday afternoon than it would knocking in the doors of empty houses.

  I know next to nothing (actually nothing) about posting stuff on youtube. If there's not a way for the owner to disable the comments, I'm guessing that's why they don't do it.

  R_O
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  12

  "_____ Is No Longer One Of Jehovah's Witnesses."

  by BroMac in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  im not exactly sure when this change came in, but when i was a kid i remember it either being.

  "____ has been disfellowshipped or dissasociated".

  if someone has been announced to the congregation as no longer a jw then they are the same as any other non-jw.

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  respectful_observer

  I agree with Phizzy...the WTS always says that the name is simple a title for what we do. Therefore someone can still DA or get DF-ed and still witness to others about Jehovah. They SHOULD say "______ is no longer a member of the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses."
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  45

  The Little Aggravations: Things I Don't Miss

  by simon17 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there are some major problems with the jws, doctrinally, socially, and organizationally.

  from shunning to crazy elder bodies to guilt trips, there are many things that were really bad.

  this thread is devoted to the small, insignificant things that just really really irked you.

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  respectful_observer

  - I used to have a book study conductor growing up that, if we happened to finish 10 minutes early, would say "Well, since we have a few extra minutes, let's open our Bible's to this week's Bible reading and see how far we can get." Once the debate over whether to switch readers at paragraph or at column breaks was finished, we'd spend the next 10 minutes going around the room doing the weekly reading. Torture!

  - I hated being a young baptized teenager out in service during a school vacation week and being expected to conduct the service meeting and "take the lead" in the car group. One the one hand all the older sisters were pushing me to take the lead, but challenging me on every little decision on which house to go to, who should work with whom, whether we do "house-over-house", etc., etc....

  - Being an attendant at CAs and DCs next to a section that had been closed/roped off. It was a guaranteed battle every time with people trying to sit there. REALLY??? The auditorium is barely half full, and there isn't a single other place for you to sit???

  - Parking attendants at the CAs and DCs. I am fully capable of parking my car between the lines. I mananged to drive myself all the way here safely after all, didn't I? (On the other hand, given how many people can't seat themselves once they walk inside without screwing everything up, maybe it's NOT such a bad idea!!)

  That's what jumps to mind now, but I'm sure I'll come with a few more throughout the day...
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  6

  Sparlock has reached critical mass...

  by cuckoo in the nest in

  1. social
  2. humour

  ...he's made it onto quickmeme.

  there's no stopping him now!!.

  http://www.quickmeme.com/sparlock/popular/1/?upcoming.

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  respectful_observer

  Just saw this one posted on FB:

  
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  63

  Fistfights for seats at DC?

  by Blind_Of_Lies in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

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  respectful_observer

  As an attendant at the DC who had to be in the auditorium before the doors open for the “running of the bulls”, I’ve had the pleasure to experience:

  - Attendants trying to reserve entire rows before the doors open. It’s pretty funny actually, because as soon as one brother was bold enough to do it, all the other attendants would immediately start throwing their books down. It would get so bad, the Convention Overseer would have to get on stage and tell everyone to un-save all the seats. One year it was so bad, after several scoldings, the overseer made all auditorium attendants bring all their stuff out into the corridor and stand there until the doors opened. (I thought someone might push him off the stage for that decision.) What made it even funnier is that one attendant actually tried to hide behind the seats when everyone else was told to leave.

  - A “brother” pretend to be an attendant. Every time the overseer would tell him to un-save his seats, he’d just re-save them as soon as he walked away. After he was discovered doing this several times, the overseer brought the “captains” over. It turned out he wasn’t even an attendant; he’d just snuck in and pretended to be.

  - Getting reamed out by the adult child of an elderly couple. Another family had taken the seats her parents had wanted. After I told her that the seats were first-come first-served, she stormed off, only to return several times that day to inform me that Jehovah was going to hold ME responsible for ruining the DC for her parents. What made it even more ridiculous is the next day someone else took the same seats. The same daughter sat right in front of them and just turned at GLARED at them non-stop for the morning session. By the first break they moved…they told me later they had no idea what her problem was but she made them so uncomfortable, they decided it’d just be better to move.

  - Watching people run up, only to discover the seats they wanted were already saved. Solution? Just remove the people’s books and hide them or move them. Watching the looks on the faces when they returned was priceless. “Books? No, we didn’t see anything here.”

  Ahhh….truly these are God’s people.
• 
  11

  Some comments from a JW friend...

  by What Now? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

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  these are a couple of comments ive heard recently from some jw friends that have gotten under my skin a little more than usual.... i was talking with a friend of mine and somehow the subject of armageddon came up and how once it starts what youve done youve done.

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  respectful_observer

  Your friend seems to be referring to Matt 24:11-12:

  (11) And many false prophets will arise and mislead many; (12) and because of the increasing of lawlessness the love of the greater number will cool off."

  I BELIEVE the WTS currently teaches that these verse apply to the congregation, not to those in "THE WORLD". (The WTS may have flip flopped on the meaning of those verses before though...Sorry, I'm not able to check sources right now, but maybe another poster can confirm.)

  R_O
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  14

  Really Pushing WTS Lately......

  by mind blown in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've been @ my place for 5 years now and hardly ever see jw's at my door or in my neighborhood, but lately they're all over the place.

  one came to my door a couple weeks ago and had that over glossy newbie look in her eyes .

  the pack that came today looked like they walked straight out of a musty thrift store....

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  respectful_observer

  Any chance you're living in a "seldom worked territory?" I've heard that more and more groups are being sent to help to urban congregations that have poor support and a difficult time covering their territories.
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  49

  The Predictions Thread

  by cedars in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i thought it might be interesting and fun to have a "predictions thread", where we set out our predictions for events to unfold concerning the watch tower society (or jehovah's witnesses in general) over the coming years/decades.. it strikes me that so much has happened in the last ten years, most of which has defied expectations.

  here's just a few of the developments that i can think of:.

  the abolishment of group book studies in favor of a "family worship evening"the creation of a "study edition" watchtowerthe halving of monthly magazine printing commitmentsthe unprecedented closure/merging of branches (16% reduction in branches last year)the menlo park scandal, a body of elders removed for resisting a refurb of their kingdom hallthe lawsuits in victoria, australia - the society taken to court concerning child protection lawscourtroom admissions about the faithful & discreet slave and similarities with the catholic churchincreased hate speech against "mentally diseased" apostatesastonishing lapses of judgment, such as the "selma and steve" study articlethe ditching of gilead as a school for missionariesambitious construction plans for a new world hq (with or without jehovah's blessing!

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  respectful_observer

  Although the average publisher will never see it, I can imagine a scenario (either by letter or CO visit) where local elders will be “encouraged” to look at whether a brother auxiliary pioneers at least 1X a year. (e.g., “Does the brother ‘take the lead’ in the congregation’s ministry assignment, especially when the faithful slave lovingly provides the opportunity to do so at reduced hours.”) Basically code for: if he doesn’t auxiliary pioneer at least 1x/year, is he REALLY taking the lead? “Evidently not.”

  I would agree with others here, that reducing the DC to two days is likely to happen soon.

  I could imagine a scenario when reporting field service activity becomes anonymous. Everyone is “encouraged” to fill out and submit a slip, but there is no name on it (gotta keep track of how much paper and ink to order in Wallkill!) and it’s not recorded on your Publisher Card anymore.

  Given all of the legal risks associated with the blood issue, they’ve already begun to sneak in loopholes in their public statements and letters they direct parents to write. I wouldn’t be surprised if eventually they just go “radio silent” on the topic and stop enforcing the “rules on the books” via letters to elders. (“Due to legal/HIPPA risks to the WTS, your local congregations, and you as elders, use caution when inquiring of the medical care received by JWs or their children. As elders, your primary responsibility is provide loving care and protection to those in the congregation. In that spirit, if the use of blood appears to be a possibility, it may be appropriate to remind the publisher to ensure his PERSONAL health care proxy is current. Since any inquiries into a patient’s health care decisions may present legal challenges, a loving reminder of God’s standards may be given if it seems appropriate to do so. If it later becomes public knowledge that a publisher has voluntarily chosen to accept blood, it would be appropriate for two elders to meet with the individual and determine whether he was forced to make this decision under extraordinary stress or pressure.”)
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  55

  What's your favorite stereotype that is used by the WT?

  by Chemical Emotions in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i like the "sudductive woman with long dark hair", for one.

  very funny pictures..

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  respectful_observer

  Whenever a WT article is discussing putting secular work ahead of theocratic activities the accompanying photo is of a well dressed white collar worker sitting at desk/computer (the kind of job that typically requires a degree) pretty much 100% of the time. (Read: people who choose desk jobs are materialistic.)

  http://www.watchtower.org/e/201001/article_02.htm

  http://www.watchtower.org/e/200903/article_01.htm

  http://www.watchtower.org/e/200706/article_01.htm

  http://www.watchtower.org/e/20070101/article_01.htm

  I don't know about your hall, but in every hall I've ever been in, the white collar workers all have 9-5 salaried jobs and paid vacation; it is the tradesmen that skip service/meetings for work.

  "Oh, Br. Electrician would be here but he needed to get the wiring done before Br. Drywall can start."

  "Br. Plumber can't make it today because he's stuck on a side job this weekend replacing a water heater."
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  27

  Has anyone ever used a non-NWT (New World Translation) bible at meetings / study?

  by biometrics in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  about 1 year ago (before i faded), i purchased an old king james bible from ebay and started using it in the meetings and when a brother came over to study with me.. a common reaction of fellow jws was to stare at the bible, then say "what type of bible is that?

  ", then they'd sometimes ask to look at it, and flip to john 1:1. when they saw what it said, they'd treat it like it was apostate material, even though a few decades earler it was the same bible jws used.. i strongly encourage any lurkers/faders to use another bible at the meetings and see what type of reactions you get.. .

  .

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  respectful_observer

  On occassion I'll use the old school WTS-published Greek Interlinear Translation.

  

  It's fairly amusing to see how people react to it. It's often met with deep suspicion. "Why wouldn't you want to use your NWT?" "What's your goal in using that translation?"

  When I remind them it was published by the WTS, it's written all over their faces how conflicted they are.

  (It's also fun to lean over to the person next to me at the meeting, point and say: "Hey wait a minute, it says 'Jehovah' in this verse, but in this other verse it's translated 'Lord'...and in this verse too...and this one. I'm confused because, see, it's the same Greek word. I wonder why they did that??")