respectful_observer

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Posts by respectful_observer

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  46

  JW Table at My Student Center Today, My Response

  by breakfast of champions in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  they're baaaack!!!

  jws "tabling" at my student center again, first time in over six months.

  i wonder if the fact it's been 15 degrees out had anything to do with it?

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  respectful_observer

  I'm sure some will take umbrage with my view, but universities typically embrace free speech and encourage students to challenge their own opinions and assumptions.

  Even if someone disagrees with Jehovah's Witnesses, or feels their teachings and practices are harmful, unless they are somehow illegal, I don't see any problem with them having a presence on campus.

  If a student feels like killing another human is wrong, should the university ban the U.S. armed forces from hosting a table at the student center?

  If Westboro Baptist or Jehovah's Witnesses want a table on campus...my opinion is, let them. The students can judge for themselves and use their freedom of speech to react to it as they see fit.
  

  Barring free speech on a college campus is far from most institutions' ideals.
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  41

  How many were baptized in your area, last assembly?

  by brandnew in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  how many were baptized in your area, last assembly?.

  santa paula, ca..........17..

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  respectful_observer

  1,200 in attendance.

  1 baptized (adult)

  Same thing happened about 2 years ago in the same circuit.
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  56

  PBS program

  by wannaexit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  watching the pbs program as i write...........

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  respectful_observer

  I watched it with my SO, who audibly laughed out loud at 7:03 (of the segment excerpt posted by Mad Sweeney) when the third statement appeared on the screen.

  "Congregation elders comply with child-abuse reporting laws."

  "Congregation elders to not shield abusers from the authorities or from the consequences of their actions."

  "We are committed to doing all we can to prevent child abuse."

  The laugh was followed up with "They may technically comply with the reporting laws now, and they don't actively shield abusers, but that third statement is an outright lie! Otherwise their policy would be to call the police whether the law required it or not."

  Oh wait, never mind, according to Br. Ashe (7:15), physical protection isn't the congregation's job; that job belongs exclusively to the secular authorities. Based on that, next time an elder calls/emails/texts after the next severe weather event to inquire if we are safe, I can reply, "Br. Concerned, I'm confused, isn't my physical protection the responsibility of only the secular authorities?
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  42

  National Public Radio (NPR) broadcasts today about JWs. Do you want to hear the secrets of what this religion has been keeping under wraps?

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  to all those who frequent this discussion board:.

  we just wanted you to know that an investigative public radio program named reveal, produced by cir (center for investigative reporting) and prx, will present today, saturday, february 14th, the results of new investigations uncovering hidden stories.

  in this weeks story, there will be three different topics covered.

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  respectful_observer

  It will be interesting to see whether this story generates additional stories. Very often you'll see stories appear first on PBS or NPR, and then appear in the New York Times, and vice versa. Those three organizations definitely feed off of each other on investigative stories.

  What would be remarkable is to see Frontline pick this up. They did a full documentary on the Mormons a few years back, so why not the JWs?
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  27

  40,000 new kingdom halls needed

  by sowhatnow in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  not sure where to post this, but the other day my jw mom says to me, 'the number is increasing they announced that we need 40,000 new kingdom halls'.

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  ok, who else has heard this, and how should i respond, other than to say well your cong is smaller now than it was 15 years ago..... where your growth?.

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  respectful_observer

  1% / year growth for the past 20 years, and suddenly they "need" so many new or remodeled Kingdom Halls.

  
  

  k, who else has heard this, and how should i respond,  other than to say well your cong is smaller now than it was 15 years ago..... where your growth?

  
  

  You could always just be honest and say that given the near constant 1-2% increase, clearly so many projects are needed because of gross organizational mismanagement and poor planning over the last 20 years. After all, if they're doing it "the right way" now, that must mean they weren't doing it well before.
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  33

  Within one minute JW with trolley directs me to JW.org

  by steve2 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i live in relatively small seaside community (regional population around 45,000).

  in my ten years here, i've had witnesses call on me perhaps twice (not special visits but during door-to-door).

  whereas they once canvassed door-to-door much more frequently - and in larger size service groups - there is quite a decline in their door-knocking - at least in this region.. with the advent of the "trolley" work, their visibility has increased - but i'd estimate only marginally.

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  respectful_observer

  Is this what witnessing has now come to? If you, as a member of the public, need to approach them first, they won't see you or bother to approach you? And when you do approach them, they will automatically - and unthinkingly - refer you to their website to find out more that they once would have simply told you themselves.

  
  

  Sounds exactly like the behavior I would expect from someone who truly believes God is about to execute 99.9% of human life on Earth at any moment.  Their urgency couldn't be stronger.  
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  109

  Happy at Bethel. Can't believe what I'm seeing.

  by Pubsinger in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  apologies if this has already been posted but i am speechless.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnbmyudrwgs&x-yt-ts=1422327029&x-yt-cl=84838260#t=72.

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  respectful_observer

  EVERYONE seems to love that song...youtube must have a million similar videos.  

  Just some people trying to have a little fun.  On a side note, the guy in the welder's mask at 2:12 seems to have confused this "Happy" video with a Harlem Shake video.
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  94

  New JW video, song and dance

  by Listener in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the current jws do not cease to amaze.

  here's their latest video on youtube and straight from bethel.. there is a lot of work involved in this.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwou6e5vwbo .

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  respectful_observer

  Countless groups (frats, companies, volunteer groups, etc.) have done their own versions of the "Happy" video.  It's just a bunch of people trying to have some fun in life and I can't fault them for it.  

  Glad to see they can at least be happy and have some fun making the video!  There's probably a lot of other things JWs are expected to do that aren't nearly as much fun.  

  It's not an official video, so I say "good on them" for having a little fun.
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  49

  Elders in Spain Steal Millions from Congregation

  by cappytan in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  these men are appointed by holy spirit,.

  here is the source: http://www.economiadigital.es/es/notices/2015/01/la-fiscalia-imputa-una-estafa-de-mas-de-170-millones-de-euros-a-una-congregacion-de-testigos-de-jeho-65161.php.

  basically, if you don't know spanish, it boils down to this: (my personal editorial of what i've read).

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  respectful_observer

  Maybe they didn't steal it, maybe they sent it to the WTS last year with all the other congregations.  
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  49

  Elders in Spain Steal Millions from Congregation

  by cappytan in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  these men are appointed by holy spirit,.

  here is the source: http://www.economiadigital.es/es/notices/2015/01/la-fiscalia-imputa-una-estafa-de-mas-de-170-millones-de-euros-a-una-congregacion-de-testigos-de-jeho-65161.php.

  basically, if you don't know spanish, it boils down to this: (my personal editorial of what i've read).

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  respectful_observer

  If my math is right, that would mean the 1,300 members donated an average of 131,000 euros each.

  I'm sure there are some JWs in that area that might be able to contribute that much, but I'm slightly skeptical it's that many.  Although doing the math....there are just over 100,000 JWs in Spain (based on a quick Google search...not invested enough to dig up the yearbook figure), so if this story is true, it looks like the "one per centers" of Spain's JWs got taken.