Posts by Fencing

57

Elder Mentioning an "Apostate Problem"

by Simon Templar in

i bumped into a sister that i have known for at least 40 years or so.

we were catching up.

she and her husband have been in the truth for decades.

Fencing

The Borg is really going to have to do something here the way the number of partakers keeps ever increasing.

They've been doing something for the past several years. First step was back in 2007 when they made the "sealing" open-ended, to try and explain away why the numbers weren't dropping. Next step was openly calling into question the mental state of new partakers - which they continue to do. Third step was detaching the "Faithful & Discreet Slave" from the Anointed Remnant, so that the rising number of partakers wouldn't be able to make any claims of authority in competition with the GB.

The next step will be to officially say that the 144,000 is a symbolic number. When that happens, all the problems with the rising partaker numbers go away.

Everything points to that happening relatively soon. Especially with the more recent statements that they're backing away from all the types and anti-types nonsense, showing a willingness to admit that just maybe not every scripture in the bible has some secret symbolic hidden meaning that only they understand. They just had to spend years setting everything up ahead of time, because it would be a major doctrinal change - quite possibly the biggest they've had in 80 years. If they just did it all at once, there'd be huge problems, especially with the older ones.

62

Brooklyn news on sending the elderly packing

by I am a Bible Student in

johnny the bethelite on this program talks about the older bethelites being targeted by watchtower.they are getting rid of those at bethel who are 65-87 years old, some being anointed even the widows of former governing body members who gave decades of loyal service time to the watchtower organization.. the reasons the very elderly are being expelled are money in that for their age range they cost so much to cloth, fed, and medicate, having problems from high blood pressure to dementia.

they include persons such as sister henschel whose husband had been a watchtower president and marian sydlik whose parents are long dead.. https://soundcloud.com/rick-fearon/jan-16-2016-johnny-the-bethelite-watchtower-insider-host-his-radio-program-from-brooklyn-ny .

Fencing

Fearon is STILL pushing the "Johnny the Bethelite" fraud?

39

No Sports Cars Please!

by snugglebunny in

jw
friends

i read on a jw forum that jw's came in for disapproval if they drove either sports cars or 2-door cars.

the reasoning was that a driver couldn't easily take fellow dubbies out preaching in such a vehicle.

was that ever official policy or just local nonsense from a grumpy po?.

Fencing

I definitely remember that people who bought 2-door cars were looked on suspiciously. I know of at least one case where a young man buying a 2-door car actually held him back from being appointed an MS, because the elders took it as proof that he wasn't "spiritually-minded" enough.

But I can't recall anything from a CO or district convention saying anything so specific. I would assume it was just one of those "things" that's neither official or unofficial, yet somehow becomes law on its own.

To this day I'm hesitant to buy a 2-door car, that's how much the unofficial policy affected me. Even though I haven't had anyone in the back seat in several years.

133

The new service meeting

by John Aquila in

i wanted to relate an experience that happened this morning.

it is regarding the new format for the meeting on thursdays in my area.

its not word for word but im summarizing what i heard, the best i can remember.

Fencing

And to think some other posters criticise me for my grip on reality. I've got a long memory. Some of the same posters bought into Johnny the bethelite I seem to recall...

Johnny the Bethelite was REAL! The Society's black helicopters took him away in the middle of the night.

37

Did I imagine a brief thaw in the Watchtower injunction against going to university?

by slimboyfat in

okay i was talking to an elder and he said me going to university was a bad idea and i should have listened to the society and not gone.

but i said that when i went to university the watchtower was saying it might not be a bad idea to go to, as long as you do it for the "right reasons", don't associate with worldly people, and keep clear of "damaging ideas".

but basically they said it was okay, in this "changing world" and job market to go to university.

Fencing

There was definitely a brief "thaw" in the anti-college stance. I, unfortunately, was right on the cusp of the generation that grew up with all the demonizing of college and the softening didn't start until I was already exiting high school. So even though it was suddenly "allowed", I had no money for it, no college prep work behind me, and didn't have the right mindset to go to college since it had always been out of the question for most of my life.

The generation after me, who graduated in the late 90s/early 00s, had more time to prepare and I know of quite a few who went to college, including the kids of elders, and it wasn't even questioned. Of course, that all changed again several years ago.

14

BOE 2015-10-24 TO PUBLISHERS LEARNING ANOTHER LANGUAGE TO ADVANCE THE GOOD NEWS

by wifibandit in

pdf.

.

Fencing

I would estimate that 90% of dubs who learn another language, end up burning out within three years. This is based on the stories of friends who have learned another language.

That's been my experience as well. I know people who have learned French, Spanish, Chinese and Arabic, all to "assist" in foreign language groups. The vast majority quit within a couple years and come back to their original hall.

63

Why does the Watchtower leadership slap its own defenders in the face?

by slimboyfat in

take the case of rolf furuli.

i don't think there has been a specific thread on the hebrew verbs u-turn in the nwt, and how the society has responded to the work of perhaps their brightest and ablest defender in their history.

so here goes.. rolf furuli has defended jws on multiple fronts in many different settings, on issues ranging from chronology, mental health, doctrines, bible translation and the blood issue.

Fencing

Somewhat off-topic, but on the subject of Furuli: I still would love to know how much involvement he had in the (really poorly argued) two-part 607 defense article in the WT a few years ago. It's obvious that the bulk of the article came directly from his typical arguments (particularly the stuff trying desperately to shove that solar eclipse into the wrong year), but I wonder if he had more of a "hands on" role in the writing of it. Either advising the writing department, or perhaps even writing parts of it himself.

80

ANNOUNCEMENT CLIP ...2015 Annual meeting Sam Herd confirming what we knew a month ago about slow down and halt of worldwide construction

by Watchtower-Free in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_h68ktwpim&feature=youtu.be.

Fencing

If you pay attention, you'll notice he never actually said that the Society wasn't experiencing a lack of funds. What he said was that these actions were not because of the rank and file. "These adjustments are not being made because of a lack of financial support on your part." Very carefully worded to give the impression that they're doing just fine financially, without actually ever making that claim.

43

Witnesses - Ever Wondered Why You're So Tired After Assemblies/Meetings?

by The Searcher in

recently shared this with me.. they compared the tiredness they felt after attending an assembly and meetings, and noted how much worse it was than actually working and studying hard for hours for their secular employment!

why were they so exhausted after an assembly/meeting?

no, it wasn't satan.

Fencing

I'm convinced this is also why every convention is the "Best Convention Ever!" The pure boredom and desire to be anywhere but there combined with the elation of it being finally over, and the cognitive dissonance that creates (you're not supposed to be happy the convention is over!), gets transposed into positive memories about how "amazing" the convention was.

95

Template to dump Special Pioneers

by avaddohn94 in

"downsizing" has reached special pioneers.. this is the template mexico is using to get rid of many of its special pioneers.

see how cold and unloving is the language they use.

a translation attempt is as follows:.

Fencing

Note that this likely includes some Gilead Graduates.
Gilead Grads can be assigned as Special Pioneers, Circuit Overseers or they can be assigned to work at a Branch.

This also likely includes many of the last round of Bethel layoffs about 9 years ago, as many of them were allowed to become Special Pioneers instead. I was in a congregation that had one of them.