An elder once asked me: "Why is the Truth like a crescent wrench?" Confused, I replied "Huh, what do you mean?"
His answer: "Because it fits all the nuts."
respectful_observer
JoinedPosts by respectful_observer
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23
My dear old Dad's (RIP) observation
by punkofnice inmy dear old dad was the po of a congregation.
he had been in the british marines during ww2.. one jolly day we were in the coach park at twickenham convention.. dad was watching the brothers and sisters getting off the coaches.. he looked at me and said quite pained: 'they all look like loonies.'.
i kid you not..
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Royal Commission into Child Abuse - Australia
by biometrics insaw this in the paper today:.
the jehovah's witnesses church in australia is the latest religious group to come to the attention of the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.. the child sex abuse royal commission will hold a public hearing into controversial christian group the jehovah's witnesses, next month.. the inquiry, to be held in sydney, will hear from people who were allegedly sexually abused within the jehovah's witnesses church in australia.. it will examine how the jehovah's witnesses church and its company, the watchtower bible and tract society of australia, responded to claims of child sexual abuse within the organisation.. a victorian inquiry into how churches handle child sex abuse claims has previously taken submissions from former jehovah's witnesses who alleged instances of paedophilia, sexual assault, blackmail and death threats.. the organisation has 64,000 active "disciples" in australia but has also been described as a cult.. jehovah's witnesses believe their church is the one true religion and all others are wrong.
they are among a number of religious groups which have been examined by the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse including the catholics, anglicans, australian christian churches and the salvation army.. the jehovah's witnesses australian headquarters has been contacted for comment about the inquiry which is scheduled to begin on july 27.. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/nsw/jehovahs-witnesses-to-appear-before-sex-abuse-royal-commission-20150622-ghue73.html.
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respectful_observer
Is it only former victims that will be present at these hearings, or does the commission have subpoena power to compel WT officials or representatives to testify as well?
I think it's important for victims to be able to tell their stories and express their concerns, but I think it would make a much bigger impact on current J-dubs if they had to watch a branch rep (or similar) try to explain and defend the WT's policies in front of a TV camera.
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Re: Music at Theocratic Events
by pixel inthis is a crappy letter from the watchtower.
i'm only posting it to show how micro-managers these fools are.
and at the end, they say: "we should avoid making specific rules about somewhat technical matters".
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17
Convention Invites are Idiotic
by cookiemaster inso, like every year, there's a campaign going on about giving people convention invites and urging them to attend the convention.
what an utterly moronic waste of time.
we live 500+ kilometers away from the convention hall.
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respectful_observer
So, why do they keep this idiotic practice going year after year?
1. Keeps the ordinary J-dub busy.
2. It's easy hours for publishers, so they don't mind. That many fewer presentations to give.
I'd be curious to know whether, since this invitation work began, there has been any marked increase in convention attendance. Same goes for the Memorial-- since the invitation work started, has there been a measurable % increase in worldwide attendance? If the "faithful and discreet slave" thought it was worth all that expense and effort, surely it must have reaped measurable results for the Master.
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20
Tsongas Center Lowell MA, Sunday Session of the Regional Convention 2015
by oppostate inwe're breaking up the regional convention event by going each of the days to a different weekend session.. the tsongas center lowell ma was a bit hard to find, we got lost and got there after the first song and prayer (just in time for the first talk)!
we ran into so many from our home congregation who aren't even assigned to this rc!.
i think it's quite common for publishers now to break up the convention weekend and attend at times when their congregation isn't assigned.. some families (3) were attending this particular convention so as to meet up with family members who are in another part of the region.
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respectful_observer
Hopefully the parking situation is better in Lowell than it was in Amherst.
As for the lower attendance numbers, I think it's mostly because there aren't too many hotels that are willing to work with the WTS. I've never been to a DC/RC with more than 5K or so. Most are in the 4K range.
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Disfellowshipping Image
by naazira inthis photo can be found in the april 15 , study edition article titled:.
why disfellowshipping is a loving provision.
just by looking at this image we can see how quickly the barrier between the congregation and former member is put up, after the announcement that this sister is no longer one of jehovah's witneses.
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respectful_observer
What you can't see is what's on the FRONT of her dress. Here's another view of her from earlier during the meeting:
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45
New Thought About Active J.W.'s
by The Searcher infrom my own observations & conversations with selected active j.w.
's, here are my conclusions:.
's are very rapidly falling into two distinct camps -.
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respectful_observer
The ritual pomposity and pedantic theatricality of the old Roman religion is no match for the brainwashing, easy to "study" literature that reinforces their feeling of belonging and acceptance.
Btw, oppostate, this made me think of this classic Family Guy. Love it!!:
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New Thought About Active J.W.'s
by The Searcher infrom my own observations & conversations with selected active j.w.
's, here are my conclusions:.
's are very rapidly falling into two distinct camps -.
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respectful_observer
I heard one report it was something in the range of 40 vids at the RC? 40 VIDEOS! WTF?! And people are lapping it up.
Btw, I'm glad someone posted a few of these here. I took a glance at a few today and involuntarily spit out my coffee, I laughed so hard. The skits about Jesus are so cheesy and amatuerish, I couldn't help it. Thankfully I can prep myself for my upcoming RC...I would have hated to be taken by surprise sitting in the audience and laughed out loud.
As for oppostate's observations, I think they are spot on. A huge proportion of the 20-40-somethings today, are only JWs because they were raised in it, and very often married with kids. Their extended families are all JWs, their friends (and very often co-workers) are almost all JWs. They realize they don't have to "reach out" like their parents' generation, so they "coast"...enjoy hanging out with their friends, drink what they want, watch what they want, etc.
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29
"do not go beyond the things written"
by stuckinarut2 inthanks to bu2b and splash who mentioned this quote in another thread!.
but i thought it deserved a thread all of its own, such is the impact of this:.
the very best example of going beyond the things written comes from a 2008 watchtower.
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respectful_observer
Not the video that the poster above was thinking of, but I haven't seen anyone post this classic in a while:
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"We can't even talk with you anymore! You react very abruptly"
by stuckinarut2 inso that was the line used by an elder the other day to me!.
he implied that i react badly when spoken to by the elders.. i corrected him and said: "no, i'm always happy to have a conversation.
but what you seem to be implying is that unless i sit and accept and take everything you say, then i am being defensive?
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respectful_observer
If you keep bringing them back to their personal views, such Elders will be conflicted, and most likely, at the end of some time, will saying something like: "it doesn't matter what I personally think." That is when you'll have them in your corner. You can than say:
"Then why does it matter what I think? If you are not free to express your personal conscience, then why would you seek out the details of mine. Like you, I would like to keep it private and like you, I believe I have the right to do so."That's actually a really good idea. I'll have to file that away for future use.
