respectful_observer

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Posts by respectful_observer

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  10

  Is She Going to College?

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so my wife goes to a high school graduation for a congregation member.

  she spends hours at the party, she has cake, she gives a very decent gift.

  she brings home leftovers from the party for me and her.

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  respectful_observer

  I think she's going to college, otherwise the whole party would have been babbling about her pioneering. LOL.

  Maybe. Although the pattern that I've seen is as follows:

  Graduate and pioneer -- GREAT!

  Graduate and work full time -- Perfectly acceptable.

  Graduate, work part time and attend a 2-year degree program, then work full time -- Perfectly acceptable

  Graduate, obtain a 4-year degree, then work full time -- BAD EXAMPLE/NOT SPIRITUAL...Oh, except for being marriage material. As much as JWs seem to judge people harshly for obtaining 4-year degrees, it suddenly becomes a "plus" when they start dating. I've seen many a JW brag that their daughter is dating a brother who was smart enough to earn his college degree. Hypocrisy at its best.
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  103

  Additional BOE Letter: Please Be Advised that Further Direction Will Soon be Sent to the Bodies of Elders...

  by TTATTelder in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  dear brothers:.

  we are writing as a follow-up to the letters dated january 24, 2014, and march 29, 2014,. to all congregations regarding the adjustments now underway to accelerate construction of king-.

  dom halls and assembly halls.. .

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  respectful_observer

  "This includes the need to present a resolu tion to the congregation by no later than May 31, 2014... Please be advised that further direction will soon be sent to the bodies of elders, which will assist you in finalizing the monthly and one-time amount(s) you will propose to the congregation by way of a resolution."

  Me thinks something unexpected happened. Not only have many congregations already presented resolutions, but the fact that the deadline is only 3 weeks away and this "further direction" has not yet been formulated yet in order to be included in this letter tells me people in WT Finance and Legal departments must be scrambling around like crazy right now trying to get this all sorted out.
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  43

  New Atlanta Assembly Hall Has raised 3.4 million Dollars... GONE

  by James Jackson in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  they announced last week that the new atanta assembly hall has thus far raised 3.4 million dollars.

  my local told that will become the society's come may 1. i wonder how that will go over with the ones who have been contributing to this fund..

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  respectful_observer

  My sister's hall is sitting on well over a half-million dollars in cash they have put away for a long-needed renovation. (It would cover the renovation in its entirety.) After being put off by the RBC over and over again, they were just told that they would have to wait another TWO YEARS.

  How much do you want to bet that half-mill will now go to the WTS, after May 1, and then when the renovation actually happens in 2016, suddenly everyone will forget about that money and be "so grateful" that WTS steps in, writes a check for the entire cost of the renovation and then the congregation is on the hook for a hefty never-ending monthly mortgage payment voluntary donation to the WTS?
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  22

  Letter Read At Special Talk

  by scotoma in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the watchtower arranged to have a letter read announcing that elders would now be apponted by circuit overseers.. any elders on this forum know how this will be different from the current arrangement for appointing elders.. it would be nice to see a schematic with boxes showing how it used to be and how it will be in the future..

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  respectful_observer

  I'm sure that the COs received a different letter that outlines their process of reviewing and approving appointments. I would not be surprised if behind the scenes the process has actually changed very little. I can imagine that the CO would likely still have to send the names to the branch for a Headquarters background check before he then "appoints" someone after getting the "all clear".

  I suspect the only material change in this whole process is that there is no longer a piece of paper documenting the branch (WTS) being the one to appoint, thereby providing legal insulation to the WTS.
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  27

  What if Everyone Demaded Answers About Where the Money is and What it is Used For?

  by TTATTelder in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what if right in the middle of rolling out their latest money-grabbing scheme, there was an uprising demanding financial transparency?.

  i thought jehovah was a god of organization and numbers.

  isn't that why we report time and have all these annual reports?.

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  respectful_observer

  I'd love to start the following conversation in the service group one morning:

  Me: "So I recently was asked to donate to ______ charity. When I asked what they would do with my contribution, they talked a lot about their global charity work. When I asked how much money was donated every year, they replied that they don't release that information. When I asked for a breakdown of how much they donated to which causes, and what percent stays with the charity for administrative costs, they said they don't release that information. Whe I asked where I could find and read their financial disclosures, they said they don't release those. Can you believe it?!"

  Group: "Wow, I hope you didn't donate!"

  Me: "No, of course not. There's really only one reason you don't disclose that information: you don't want the public to know, for one reason or another. Am I right?"

  Group: "Yes!"

  Me: "Although I second thought, maybe I'm over-reacting. Not all non-profits are willing to release that information, afterall. Take the Watchtower Society, for example. It has never released the type of financial disclosures that most big non-profits do-- contributions, administrative expenses, total assets, etc. I guess I shouldn't be so hard on this charity. The WTS must have a good reason for keeping that information secret, so maybe this charity does too."
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  10

  Artificial Blood vs. Artificial Cigarettes (e-cigarettes)

  by RubaDub in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  disclaimer: this is a rub a dub serious comment (i can only do the serious stuff every so often when i haven't had enough fiber in my diet).. i was in a group with several brothers after the sunday meeting and brought up the new information about the artificial blood.

  only one had heard of it but most thought it was a good idea.. i then mentioned that i guess the new e-cigarettes are a good idea too.

  one mentioned that we don't smoke.

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  respectful_observer

  I've had the discussion about e-cigarettes with a few JWs lately, too. Mostly with the same result as you...they quickly change the subject because they know there's absolutely no logic behind prohibiting them.

  As long as JWs are allowed to drink alcohol and injest caffeine, there's no clear logic against e-cigs or eating pot brownies for that matter. As long as it's not causing harm to your physical body, and it's not illegal, what else can they say? Any mention of "addiction" or "mind altering affects" can be easily countered by citing the addictive, and mind-altering, effects of alcohol and caffeine. And we know how much the average JW relies on alcohol and coffee breaks to make it through each day!
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  58

  G.B. ARRANGED A MEMORIAL WITHOUT EMBLEMS!

  by The Searcher in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  weird!.

  http://ilynca.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/unforgettable-memorial.html?spref=fb.

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  respectful_observer

  What I find interesting is this topic was also posted on jwtalk.net several days ago. Total number of replies on that thread? One.

  I'm guessing that's because all the uber-dubs there are freaked out a little. They want to support whatever decision the GB makes, but this one is so far out of left field, they're not sure what to do. They don't want to look like they're mindless lemmings, but they don't want to look like they doubt any decision made by the GB. Hence, the silence.

  http://jwtalk.net/forums/topic/14742-a-missionarys-life-unforgettable-memorial/
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  7

  WT response to artificial blood

  by cookiemaster in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hey guys !

  here's an interesting piece of news.

  apparently there's an israeli company out there that has managed to produce universally accepted artificial blood with the help of stem cells.

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  respectful_observer

  I've been wondering the same thing. It sounds like they're still years away from having it on the market, but when it finally does, the GB will HAVE to rule on the issue. My guess is that it will become a "conscience matter". Honestly, from the GB's and WT Legal's perspective, manufactured blood is the most ideal outcome for them.

  The current blood policy is such a tangle of contridictions, no one can clearly explain or defend it as a whole. The WT will get sued left and right if they ever officially abandon it as a doctrine, so allowing manufactured blood would solve all their problems-- they could continue with the ban on "real" blood, but in reality JWs could accept this manufactured blood by the gallon, if needed.
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  39

  A few International Conv instructions (more ways to control)

  by doinmypart in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a few official instructions jw delegates are being told leading up to the international conventions.

  congregation secretaries are holding conference calls and then relating the instructions to the congregation.. atlanta - do not drive to convention, parking will not be available.

  take public transportation; attendants will be on all public transit and able to assist.. dallas - attendants will be on site at all hotels to make sure delegates leave the hotel at their assigned times and take their assigned route.

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  respectful_observer

  Wow.

  Given the fact that these stadiums/cities normally don't have WT-badged attendants running around telling everyone in the hotels, cars, and public transportation where to go and what to do, it must be some type of miracle that these venues in Atlanta, Dallas, and New Orleans manage to host capacity-level sporting events on a weekly basis without descending into Mad Max Thunderdome level of chaos.
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  35

  Family of 4 in Miami FL Partakes

  by James Jackson in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  kendall lakes congregation (miami fl usa), partook of the emblems.

  he is an elder(40), his wife and their 2 daughters (21 &19), all 4 are also regular pioneers.

  another 6 pioneers in that congregation partook of the emblems..

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  respectful_observer

  Sounds like they might be frequent readers of anointedjw.org