respectful_observer

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Posts by respectful_observer

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  31

  Today's Daily Text is a Convoluted Mess

  by TTATTelder in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  wednesday, december 11. his heart did not prove to be complete with jehovah.1 ki.

  will we let solomons course be a warning example for us?

  (1 ki.

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  respectful_observer

  Haha...I remember this paragraph from when it was studied at the hall. I voiced to my S.O. that I found the paragraph very odd:

  - "marry 'only in the Lord.' (In the Bible)

  - "underreport taxable income" (In the Bible ("pay Caesar's things to Caesar...") not only against God's law, but can land you in Federal prison)

  - "or tell untruths" (In the Bible and can land you in prison in certain situations)

  - "share in extracurricular sports or clubs at school" (Whhaaaaatttt???? Seriously? Lump playing varsity tennis in with cheating on your taxes, lying, and violating a Biblical directive?)
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  23

  I AM CONFUSED WITH THE JAN STUDY EDITION?? Help me

  by Sittingstraight1212 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  2 jehovah will use the kingdom to unify his family in heav- en and on earth.

  that divine purpose will be realized.

  (isa.

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  respectful_observer

  Ask a JW: "How long is Jesus' reign?" Answer: "1,000 years"

  Ask a JW: "When did Jesus take his throne as King?" Answer: "1914"

  Ask a JW: "So he's already done with 10% of his reign?" Answer: "Well no, you see...."

  I guess the Jan 2014 WT answers everything by just saying that Jehovah is really King. (?)

  R_O
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  31

  USA, Oklahoma | Jehovah's Witness church elder Ronald Lawrence arrested over sex abuse claims dating back to 1980s

  by jwleaks in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  usa, oklahoma | jehovah's witness church elder ronald lawrence arrested over sex abuse claims dating back to the 1980's.

  a 76-year-old mcalester man was arrested tuesday on 19 counts of sexual abuse after police received claims he molested several children while in a position of authority more than 30 years ago.. mcalester police detectives were alerted to the alleged sexual crimes conducted by ronald lawrence back in august when his first accuser reported abuse at the hands of a jehovah's witness church leader.. a woman now in her 40s told detectives lawrence, an elder at mcalester's kingdom hall of jehovah's witnesses, abused her when she was just eight years old, inviting her to his home, where he fondled her and raped her in his bathtub, according to her testimony found in lawrence's arrest warrant, which was issued tuesday.. two other accusers, also in their 40s, then came forward with similar stories of abuse.

  both said they were very young, with one telling investigators the molestation took place from the time she was 10 until she was 13 years old.

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  respectful_observer

  Wow, so based on the news reports he supposedly admitted to all of these sins back in 2005 to get reinstated. So he was still disfellowshipped for this disgusting behavior, but today he's serving as an elder??? I wonder how long it took them to reinstate him in 2005, promote him to MS, and then have Holy Spirit direct them to re-appoint him as an elder?
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  20

  new watchtower on jw.org Americans don't know their own history

  by hoser in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i started reading the feb 2014 public watchtower about a war that changed the world.

  i had to do a double take in the very first paragraph.. .

  "a century ago, millions of young men left the security of their homes and went off to war.

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  respectful_observer

  RO said-

  Haha...I saw you're thread title and expected to open it, read an example in the Watchtower demonstrating that Americans don't know their own history...followed by your observation of how ironic that would be since most J-dubs don't know the real history of the Organization TM .

  Shouldn't this one (sung by Brother Sam Cooke), be included the official JW Song Book, the religious anthem for legions of home-schooled publishers?

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNO72aCnVr0

  I love it! (oops...looks like I needed more coffee this morning..."you're" "your")
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  20

  new watchtower on jw.org Americans don't know their own history

  by hoser in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i started reading the feb 2014 public watchtower about a war that changed the world.

  i had to do a double take in the very first paragraph.. .

  "a century ago, millions of young men left the security of their homes and went off to war.

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  respectful_observer

  Haha...I saw you're thread title and expected to open it, read an example in the Watchtower demonstrating that Americans don't know their own history...followed by your observation of how ironic that would be since most J-dubs don't know the real history of the Organization TM .
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  97

  First post

  by thedog1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is a very strange thing for me to do.

  i have been an active witness for over 25 years.

  i currently serve as an elder and i conduct the watchtower study.

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  respectful_observer

  "...so maybe I will just use the line I have used sometimes in the past, ' our understanding now is...'"

  I made a decision several years ago to never say something from the stage or in comment that I do not personally believe in. You could always just "call a spade, a spade" and say, "The Governing Body now teaches...". That way, your not forcing yourself to state YOU believe a teaching/interpretation when you really don't. But since it's factually accurate, no one should be able to criticize what you're saying.

  (Now that the GB claims to make up the entire membership of the "Faithful and Discreet Slave Class", I've completely stopped using the term and just refer to them as "The Governing Body." On occassion when someone starts throwing around the term left and right, I reply "Oh, you mean the Governing Body?" They get a really uncomfortable look on their face and change the subject because suddenly it makes it sound like they're worshipping men.)
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  58

  Home schooled witness kids

  by stillin in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  sorry if i'm stepping on any toes here, but i haven't seen anything positive about home-schooling...at all.

  the notion is that parents are taking advantage of the formative years to inculcate more worthwhile values while protecting their kids from worldly influences.

  they end up with lazy, socially inept, illiterate duds who haven't a clue.

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  respectful_observer

  The only kids that I ever knew who were home schooled came from UBER-spiritual J-dub families. They all decided to start home schooling them during middle school (around 12 years old). In every single case, each kid went from giving their experience about home schooling and spending a lot of time in field service at meetings and assemblies to getting into drugs, getting disfellowshipped, and in two cases, getting knocked up by gang members/drug dealers. One or two eventually made their way back, but the rest of them disappeared into a disfunctional, below-the-poverty-line existence.

  There isn't a single J-dub I know who was home schooled that never got DF'd or who can successfully support themselves or a family as an adult.
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  22

  Do You Often See JWs Out In The Ministry?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i used to always see them preaching.

  now, it seems as though they rarely are around.

  the only witnesses i see, every once in a while, are the hispanic ones..

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  respectful_observer

  I've lived in my current location for several years (not in my congregation's territory) and have never once seen any JWs in my neighborhood, let alone at my door. I've never even seen any signs of them (old mags, tracts, etc.). I'm curious whether I'll get one of the new Kingdom News tracts jammed in my door.
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  55

  WT article on ''never have we said Jehovah has said"

  by Aussie Oz in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  been going nuts looking for this.. i am sure i have read, and probably saved, a quote by them about not being false prophets but i am buggered if i can find it anywhere in search, google or my own pc.. can you help?.

  i think its 2009 but not sure, where they have the line 'never have we said ''jehovah has said'' when ...'.

  a link or pdf or scan or cut n paste, etc would be great!.

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  respectful_observer

  "The Watchtower does not claim to be inspired in its utterances, nor is it dogmatic." (August 15, 1950, page 263)

  Righhhtttt.....not dogmatic. Got it. So then it's perfectly okay to voice your disagreement with a WTS teaching. Sorry, what's that? If I voice my disagreement I can be disfellowshipped and shunned by my family for the rest of my life?

  dog·mat·ic dôgˈmatik /a djective 1. inclined to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true.

  "The brothers preparing these publications are not infallible...[a]nd so, at times, it has been necessary, as understanding became clearer, to correct views. (Prov. 4:18)"-February 15, 1981, page 19.

  Glad to know THEY can claim that they are not infallible and need to correct views. If THEY say it, it's okay. If anyone else says it, they are eyed with suspicion and risk judicial action.
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  20

  Assembly resolutions - did anyone ever take them seriously?

  by LogCon in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  is there any site that has the assembly resolutions for download?.

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  respectful_observer

  blondie,

  Oh good Lord, I remember that DC. I was standing near the cleaning desk when they starting going through these. I thought to myself "this is so cheesy...are they going to try to reference these resolutions years from now the same way the Revelation book argues that some resolution at Cedar Point, OH fulfilled Bible prophecy?"

  The whole thing made me feel very uneasy.