Posts by Alfred

i remember around 2005, there was an announcement made from the platform that in a few weeks time we would have to remain at the end of the sunday meeting for a big announcement, directly from the society.. i remember all the murmuring, people thought maybe this was going to be related to armageddon.

everyone was excited, people were speculating.

only the po in each congregation had any idea what was going on, and they were frequently pestered for information, but sworn to secrecy, which only hyped things up even more.. then the meeting came, anticipation was in the air, the announcement started, you could hear a pin drop.

Alfred

37

Should private citizens be allowed to video record law enforcement?

by Fisherman in

jw
friends

i saw an article in the news yesterday that laws are going to be passed subjecting the police to being recorded by anyone while performing their duty or enforcing the law and encourages citizens to sue if they interfere.

some law enforcement agents become angry and confiscate recording devices from people recording them while making an arrest, etc.. it does seem that the work that the police and other government agents do is public and not private or confidential so there should be nothing to hide from the cameras.

on the other hand, how can one distinguish being shot by a camera or by a weapon until one is hit?.

Alfred

Desirous of change... nail on the head... but I suppose he filmed this for "political" reasons and we don't have all the facts... Poor innocent police officer.

60

2017 Service Year Report Grand Totals

by Drearyweather in

jw
friends

2017 figures released to bethel families worldwide:.

peak publishers: 8,457,107. total baptized: 284,212 .

regular pioneers: 1,225,279 .

Alfred

Does anyone have a pdf of this letter?

178

Charging $150 To Tell Your Stories

by Bangalore in

jw
friends

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/how-to-escape-from-jehovah-s-witnesses-religion#/.

for $150: collaboration with the backer so that their story of successfully escaping an abusive belief system (300 words max) features along with others in the final pages of how to escape from jehovah's witnesses.

the text will be written by the author but will include a minimum of one quote worded by the backer.

Alfred

5

May 20, 1987 BOE Letter regarding >> Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 << (aka “Simpson–Mazzoli Act”)

by Alfred in

some of you might remember this period of time better than i, but i can recall a huge issue in the mid 80’s with the lack of qualified “legal” brothers “reaching out” in my circuit while we had an unusual spike in bible studies (mainly undocumented immigrants and visa overstays from central and south america).

many of these new bible studies were actually very well educated but most knew little to no english, so they eventually settled into their nearest spanish congregations.. as they “progressed in the truth”, the society saw huge potential in these illegal immigrants but could not give them any privileges beyond cleaning the toilets after meetings… until the 1986 amnesty program.. however, this program required proof that they were in the us since before 1982 and a large percentage of these illegal immigrant bible studies snuck in after 1982. in fact, the largest surge started in 1983 and continued well into the 90’s.

it got so bad that kingdom halls in certain parts of the us simply had no qualified legal brothers to fill the numerous elder vacancies that this unexpected situation created.

Alfred

Some of you might remember this period of time better than I, but I can recall a huge issue in the mid 80’s with the lack of qualified “legal” brothers “reaching out” in my circuit while we had an unusual spike in Bible Studies (mainly undocumented immigrants and Visa overstays from central and South America). Many of these new Bible Studies were actually very well educated but most knew little to no English, so they eventually settled into their nearest Spanish congregations.

As they “progressed in the truth”, the Society saw huge potential in these illegal immigrants but could not give them any privileges beyond cleaning the toilets after meetings… until the 1986 Amnesty Program.

However, this program required proof that they were in the US since before 1982 and a large percentage of these illegal immigrant Bible Studies snuck in after 1982. In fact, the largest surge started in 1983 and continued well into the 90’s. It got so bad that Kingdom Halls in certain parts of the US simply had NO qualified legal brothers to fill the numerous elder vacancies that this unexpected situation created.

Then, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 was signed giving the Watchtower some hope that they would finally be able to fill these elder vacancies.

So, after feeling the pressure, the Society finally put out this BOE Letter on May 20, 1987 which (in part) states the following:

“[…] If brothers making application under this law ask the body of elders for an affidavit because they are not able to prove through other means their presence in the country since before January 1, 1982, then it is permissible for the elders to provide an affidavit, but this should be done only as a last resort. Attached is a sample of an affidavit that the elders could provide. You will not want to say any more than what is included in this sample affidavit.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has authorized certain voluntary agencies and other non-profit groups as Qualified Designated Entities to help undocumented persons to gain legalization. Some of these are religious organizations. Some have asked whether a Christian could go to one of these religious organizations that has been authorized by the INS. Of course, it would be preferable if the brothers who want to take advantage of this law would go to volunteer agencies that are not religious. However, if the only agency authorized in their community is a religious organization, and they decide to go to such for assistance with their application, then the fees that would be paid would be viewed as paying for services rendered rather than as contributing to a false religious organization. […]”

So there you have it… With a simple BOE letter (and a wink, wink), the Society magically filled all the elder vacancies that were putting a huge strain on their precious operations in the US… even if that meant going to “Babylon The Great” (ran by Satan) for assistance or fudging some dates on legal affidavits. It was all in the name of theocratic warfare I guess.

Anyways, are any of you old enough to remember this? What was your recollection of this?

22

Millions Then Living Did Not Survive

by Fred Franztone in

jw
friends

it's almost 2018, almost 100 years since 'judge' rutherford confidently prophesied that 'millions now living will never die!'..

so how many of those millions are left?

well, since it was 100 years ago, all we need to do is find out how many people of age 100 and above are currently living.

Alfred

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJCcjXBlQNY

42

Kingdom Hall ... BURGER KING?

by sparky1 in

i live in a very rural part of the northeastern united states.

after 9 years of waiting, the local witnesses are getting their new kingdom hall.

it is being built on a back road next to a sandpit.