Listener

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Posts by Listener

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  12

  Something that really ticked me off about seeing the video of New Head Quarters of J.W.s (Warwick)

  by StoneWall in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i was a jw it was always emphasized that we should trust in jehovah completely.

  jah will protect his people do not trust in man, throw your burdens upon jehovah etc.ok now if that's true wouldn't it mean that if jehovah was going to protect anywhere it should be his world head quarters right?.

  we were told to not trust in ourselves (such as guns,walls for defense and protection) but to leave it in jehovah's hands and he would provide a means for escape etc.so as i'm watching some pro-wt vid's about the facilities in warwick i noticed something they didn't show on them or focus on and only reason i know about it was because of the w5 newscast as well as the vids the protesters shared.they conveniently leave out the parts of them putting walls/fences and gates as well as a "guard shack" at entrance instead of relying on jehovah to protect them.the guard house even has a "no trespassing" sign in the window.

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  Listener

  So much for keeping their lives simple.

  They even have their own fire engine at Warwick.
• 
  114

  The biggest news of the year for Mr. and Mrs. Totally ADD

  by Still Totally ADD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is bigger than christmas and birthdays wrap into one.

  thanks to the australian royal commission our youngest son has woke up.

  we received a e-mail from him tonight where he apologized to us for shunning us all these years, how bad he felt for doing this.

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  Listener

  That's wonderful news, I'm happy for you both.
  
  Thank you to all those that participated in the ARC, either by opening up to their own stories, emailing, phoning or writing to the Commission.
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  7

  Olin Moyle

  by Vincent Law in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  olin moyle was a attorney for the wtbts during joseph rutherford reign.

  his papers from wtbts are still at princeton in the rare books section and boxed up.

  what is the likely hood that that there was political entanglement and that politics did not keep wtbts at arm's length but from time to time has used the wtbts for it's purposes.

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  Listener

  Are you talking about books or papers and what are they doing in Princeton?
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  30

  Watch Tower History

  by vienne in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  we've posted updated and new research on our history blog.

  http://truthhistory.blogspot.com/2018/06/temporary-post.html.

  this is rough draft material for a chapter in vol.

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  Listener

  It seems to me that there is a lot of discussion about what Russel was teaching but much of it is left out. In particular, what he was professing would soon occur and the dates he put forward. Much of the focus is on his teachings which do have a lot of Biblical backing for them but little or no discussion on his false teachings. For instance, what exactly was this upcoming 'gospel age' that he was advocating and did he set a date for this or for Armageddon?
  
  

  As side issues, this presents us with interesting fare. The tracts were free, paid for primarily out of Russell’s pocket and secondarily by contributions to the Tract Fund. The modern Watchtower Society declined to allow us access to the ledger book from this period, which still exists. We do not know why.
  

  
  Do you have any proof that the tracts were primarily paid for from Russell's pocket primarily? This is especially in view of the fact that you admit to not having access to the ledgers of that time.
  
  It is possible that what was printed in publications about the funding at that time was deceptive, just as the current Watchtower is today. So much discussion is made about the free tracts and little on the publications/bibles he sold.
  
  The tracts served the purpose of advertising and it was through them that individuals were encouraged to purchase more substantial publications.
  
  

  But in terms of income levels in the 1880s, an immense amount of money was expended to provide evangelizers with free tracts. This gives the lie to the claims of some former-adherents that the Watch Tower was founded by Russell as a money making scheme. It was a money-losing proposition
  

  
  The fact that the tracts were distributed at no cost in no way proves that Russell was not establishing a money making scheme. In many businesses you've got to create a market who is ready and willing to part with their money for more of your products. Many businessmen expect a loss in the initial years in order to reap profits in the following years. There are various methods that businesses use to encourage people to purchase their products. Providing free samples or advertising in brochures are just two, both methods being used by Russell and who knows what else because there is little discussion about this.
  
  His venture into his Photo-Drama of Creation was another innovative project which he was prepared to gamble on.
  
  

  The message of God’s Love contrasted with the message of fear preached in Christendom. In Russell’s view God would save the bulk of humanity, in what some call “near-universal salvation.”
  

  
  I cannot see any substantiation regarding the claim that his message did not include a measure of fear, just as Christendom's does. If the idea is that more humans would be saved under Russell's idea's than under Christendoms, this doesn't mean you can claim there was no fear being taught through his doctrines. To also claim that all of Christendom were preaching fear is not proven and may well be false.
  
  

  His passion for individual and public testimony shows through despite his questionable punctuation and grammar. And to his readership it was the passion that mattered. They saw it as founded on Biblical “truth.”
  

  
  I find this comment intriguing. It would have been more correct to claim "His passion for individual and public testimony shows through despite his questionable teachings of Biblical 'truth'." And then you follow on with a significant comment in saying that it was his passion that mattered to his readers. That seems to be very much the case because his teachings could not hold water on their own.
  
  In conclusion, I find the blog very biased and it seems that the writer has been moved by his passion.
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  16

  Whack-a-postate

  by Fay Dehr in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  .

  it seems that i played this game and suffered a hit.....

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  Listener

  Thanks for uploading those video's that you did.
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  18

  "This Good news Of The Kingdom Will Be Preached In All The Inhabited Earth" ........

  by smiddy3 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ..".for a witness to all the nations and then the end will come" .matt.24:14.. the religion of jehovah`s witnesses kid themselves into thinking they are filling or have fulfilled this prophecy/scripture .. given that you take the jehovah`s witnesses and the international bible students association as one and the same religion , then they have been preaching their message primarily within lands that are predominantly christian based.....and certainly do not cover "all the inhabited earth " as their are many populous non christian nations nations that do not allow, even forbid any proselytizing in their lands.

  i would estimate about one third of the current world population.. but that is not all .. given that you take the jehovah`s witnesses and the international bible students association as one and the same religion ,then they have about 140 years of preaching their beliefs to the public specifically to preach "this good news of the kingdom " as they claim to do in obedience to j.c.commands at matt.24:14.. take a survey no matter where you live on this planet earth of the people in your locality and if you asked them "what was the message jehovah`s witnesses left you and no one would be able to say "they told me about and explained to me the good news of the kingdom" and what it would mean to me.. no one would be able to say that .after 140 years of preaching and witnessing by what is now 8 million plus jehovah`s witnesses .. what a waste of time and energy and lives .. after 140 years of preaching what do the public know about jehovah`s witnesses ?.

  they don`t take blood transfusions .

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  Listener

  For decades it was less about preaching the good news and more about pushing a particular product offer. It was usually the current Watchtower and Awake but sometimes it was a brochure or booklet.
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  17

  Ectopic pregnancy

  by Whynot in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  ectopic pregnancies, when detected, are usually treated by surgically removing them.

  i always understood that this procedure was ok for jehovah's witnesses.

  but the subject came up during pioneer school.

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  Listener

  There is this from the Dec 2017 Watchtower

  Christians would not choose to terminate a life that in time would normally result in the birth of another human being. (Ex. 20:13;21:22, 23; Ps. 139:16; Jer. 1:5)

  I wonder if he has ever held a JC over the matter.
  
  
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  11

  Our own "Russia" style letter writing campaign to request our private data!?!? Please share

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  we all know of the tactic employed by the society to flood the russian govt with the mass letter writing campaign.

  no doubt, one of their aims was to send a clear message of the governing body's views to the russian authorities.. what can't we all do the same to the governing body?.

  with the advent of ever tightening data privacy laws occurring in many countries around the world, we now have a valid and legitimate reason to write the society!

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  Listener

  I called the Sydney, Australia Bethel today and the guy was reasonable to talk to. The address he provided was
  PO Box 280
  Ingleburn, NSW 1890
  
  He advised that I would need to include POI, such as a drivers licence.
  
  When I initially called, a Sister answered and asked who I would like to talk to. I said it was in relation to obtaining personal documents. She asked if it was computer related??? I started to explain what I was after but she was really quick to say she'd just put me through to the Service Department. It seemed like she was a little nervous that I would be telling her too much and her position didn't allow that.
  
  Anyway, there were some interesting things that were discussed.
  
  The guy from the Service Department advised that they have retained the same 'retention policy' but on inquiring he said the retention policy was confidential.
  
  I mentioned about the information that was discovered through the Royal Commission so I said, since the information 'discovered' at the RC was in relation to discipline then that would still be held. He would not confirm.
  
  He said that if I was entitled to the information under FOI or privacy laws then I would receive it although their legal department would have to determine that. I said I hoped their wasn't going to be a situation of whether the Branch thought they were above the law by applying their own consideration of 'entitlement' under their theocratic warfare policies. He wouldn't deny this and again referred to the legal department as making the determinations.
  
  Having mentioned the RC I was very surprised with the information he did tell me. He said they were still in discussions in relation to this matter and there may still be some policy changes. He confirmed that it had not been finalized. I reckon these guys at the Branch must be having a real hard time trying to be reasonable and sensible but probably being stonewalled by HQ. He used the words that it was ongoing, being reviewed and that there could be changes.
  
  He mentioned that I could check out their current policy on JW org. I asked him for the links as I couldn't find anything about the Australian RC on there. He said it was a Worldwide Policy that was accessible on their site as they don't publish in regards to individual countries. I mentioned that was disappointing and strange since they report so much about individual countries, Russia being just one example.
  
  It's about time I requested my information and with privacy laws constantly changing I would like to obtain whatever they have before or if they are ever destroyed.
  
  Thanks for the reminder Stuckinarut.
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  19

  Accounts report at Circuit Assemblies to go away

  by LevelThePlayingField in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was at the regional convention and asked an elder why is that at the assemblies their is an accounts report but not at the conventions?

  he said, well actually they got a letter and in it said that in a little while they will do away with the accounts report stating how much the assembly costs for the weekend and just go to donation basis like at the conventions.. my first thought was, "they will donate even less now.".

  anybody else hear about such a thing?.

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  Listener

  Maybe they are planning on putting more pressure for JWs to donate regularly, as much as they can, rather than in a ad hoc manner.
  
  They mentioned this scripture in their finance meeting which was recently leaked -
  
  1 Corinthians 16:1,2
  

  Now concerning the collection that is for the holy ones, just as I gave orders to the congregations of Ga·la′ti·a, do that way also yourselves. 2 Every first day of the week let each of YOU at his own house set something aside in store as he may be prospering, so that when I arrive collections will not take place then

  
  
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  28

  60 years of SMURFS ...

  by wozza in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  running through kingdom halls near you!

  !.

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  Listener

  The idea that a smurf doll got up and walked out of a KH is beyond belief simply for the fact that we weren't allowed toys in the KH.