Posts by Quendi

37

New BOE Letter Re. Elders/MS Appointments and Deletions

by XBEHERE in

jw
friends

from the wording of the letter it seems that the co has been given carte blanche with appointments and deletions.

nowhere in the letter does it indicate that any records are sent to and from the co to the branch office.

even if a body wants to delete an appointed brother and he disagrees his only recourse would be to write a "brief" letter to the service dept.

Quendi

The fact that not once is a single scripture cited or quoted to support this arrangement should remove any and all doubt about it being wholly, solely and entirely of human origin. You'd hope that any man possessing a functioning conscience and an ounce of integrity would see this and have absolutely nothing to do with it. But many won't. They'll not only support it, but will also keep all the details secret. There is no honesty or transparency with this organization and this letter gives me yet another reason to rejoice that I'm out for good and will never return.

Quendi

21

I realized I've been *hit on alot

by skeeter1 in

about a month ago, i realized that i didn't really care about my still-in jw family.

i just want to be left alone by them.

they caused me so much grief.

Quendi

What a story, skeeter! You have not only managed to survive, but you have made the determination to live and live well. I wish you all the best as you continue your life's journey.

Quendi

48

Can anyone give me any advice on how to get rid of cockroaches?

by Jeannette in

i have sprayed, i have bug bombed, i have sprayed some more.

i threw things out i thought that they might have a nest in.

i soaked some things in hot water all day.

Quendi

I like the diatomaceous earth suggestion as it is also extremely effective against bed bugs--not saying you have those pests--but that this solution is effective against a number of invasive insects.

Quendi

48

Can anyone give me any advice on how to get rid of cockroaches?

by Jeannette in

i have sprayed, i have bug bombed, i have sprayed some more.

i threw things out i thought that they might have a nest in.

i soaked some things in hot water all day.

Quendi

I've heard that boric acid is also very effective against ants as well.

Quendi

3

Gay for only 11 years...

by Calebs Airplane in

"when i was 14, i made the decision to present myself to the world as a homosexual.

i stayed that way for the next 11 years, even living with several different men during that time.".

-watchtower april 1, 2011 page 28.

Quendi

Thanks, Calebs Airplane and Zoos. The OP is a perfect example of the WTS "fairy tale" approach when discussing homosexuality. This young man 'made the decision to present himself as a homosexual.' I note that he did not make the decision to become a homosexual, only to present himself. That is a big difference which I'm sure is papered over in the article. It is presented as "proof" that being gay is a deliberate choice of lifestyle and not the expression of one's innate nature. Zoos draws the logical conclusion which the WTS never cites, how suppression of a person's real nature causes incalulable harm and damage to himself and others.

Quendi

29

WTS one step closer to "1984" - JW literature rewritten in online versions

by sir82 in

jw
friends

likely everyone here is familar with the novel "1984" - "he who controls the past, controls the future.

he who controls the present, controls the past".. take a look at wol.jw.org, insight book, topic "faithful and discreet slave".. current online wording: http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200001485.

jesus trained the apostles for the role they would have after pentecost 33 c.e.

Quendi

I got rid of most of my WTS library and don't regret it one bit. All it did was take up shelf space that should have gone to more deserving material. These revisions are part and parcel of an organization that has no love or respect for the truth, so we shouldn't be surprised at this latest example. I have the 2007 Watchtower Library DVD and that is good enough. There re-writes are bad enough, but this sin is compounded by the fact that the WTS has refused to allow the reading and examination of any publications produced prior to the year 2000 in its online library. That refusal should have raised hackles with some of the rank-and-file. If it did, their voices were muffled if not silenced outright. The bottom line in all of this for me is that I'm out and will never, ever have anything to do with the WTS again.

Quendi

35

100 Years Ago Today: World War I Began - July, 28, 1914

by Oubliette in

100 years since world war i07/28/14 07:44 am by timothy noah and johnny simon.

"one hundred years ago today, emperor franz josef of austria-hungary declared war on serbia in retaliation for the assassination one month earlier of his heir apparent, archduke franz ferdinand, by a serbian pan-slavic nationalist.

what might otherwise have remained a regional conflict between the dying hapsburg empire and one of its former holdings instead became, through a tangle of alliances and a global power imbalance, two world wars that began in 1914 and ended in 1945, with a 21-year intermission for the jazz age and the great depression.".

Quendi

This has been one of the most enjoyable and useful discussions I have ever participated in on this board and I want to thank everyone involved, especially Oubliette who started this thread. I appreciate what steve2 shared with us about the metamorphosis of New Zealand into a true and independent nation state. The clarification and correction he gave were particularly illuminating to me. While I knew about New Zealand's closing its ports to nuclear-armed and -powered vessels, I was not aware of Wellington's opposition to South Africa's apartheid. It was a Kiwi friend of mine who linked New Zealand's maturing into a nation with World War I. Perhaps that is because ANZAC Day and the Gallipoli killing fields it commemorates are personally important to him.

Thanks, kepler, for sharing your family history. As I posted earlier, my maternal grandfather never talked about his experiences in the trenches of France. Though wounded, he was never given a citation, commendation, medal or any recognition for his service except his pension. I marvel that he returned to his home in the American South to suffer further humiliation and mistreatment as a black man under the iron heel of the Jim Crow laws that prevailed in Alabama during most of his lifetime. Being black undoubtedly was a major factor in his not receiving the Bronze Star as was his due. Some black soldiers eventually were honored that way, but the vast majority of these wounded black veterans were not.

As for the WTS take on 1914 about what happened and when, I do think that should be the subject of another thread. If kepler doesn't start it, I think I will. October is fast approaching, but I suspect that the WTS will let its arrival to unmarked. Maybe the Governing Body fears poking the fire on this issue for although it has taken great care to cover its tracks by making most of its older publications completely unavailable, there are still many who possess them and they might feel a need to look at these wrong prophecies and predictions if the WTS were to discuss them.

Kudos to jgmat for bringing up Gavrilo Princip. While many people have never heard his name and don't know about the tragic errors which gave hism the opportunity to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, matters are otherwise in Serbia today. There Princip is hailed as a national hero. There are statues to his memory in different places, particularly in Sarajevo. The creation of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia by the Versailles Conference was an experiment in the "self determination" principle that Woodrow Wilson in particular championed. It was done without the careful consideration of culture and history it deserved and ultimately failed. We all know what happened in Yugoslavia. Czechoslovakia was more fortunate as the Czech Republic and Slovakia agreed to an amicable divorce which saved countless lives. Anyway, let's keep on talking for this discussion has been stimulating and of deep interest.

Quendi

35

100 Years Ago Today: World War I Began - July, 28, 1914

by Oubliette in

100 years since world war i07/28/14 07:44 am by timothy noah and johnny simon.

"one hundred years ago today, emperor franz josef of austria-hungary declared war on serbia in retaliation for the assassination one month earlier of his heir apparent, archduke franz ferdinand, by a serbian pan-slavic nationalist.

what might otherwise have remained a regional conflict between the dying hapsburg empire and one of its former holdings instead became, through a tangle of alliances and a global power imbalance, two world wars that began in 1914 and ended in 1945, with a 21-year intermission for the jazz age and the great depression.".

Quendi

World War I has certainly touched some of us taking part in this discussion. Kaik had a great-grandfather and a grandfather involved. My maternal grandfather fought in France, returned home to the Jim Crow South in Birmingham, Alabama in 1919, and died in 1973. He never spoke to me, his oldest grandchild, about his experiences "over there" other than to acknowledge his service. I only learned that he had been injured in the war two years ago. My mother knew next to nothing also. I'm sure steve2 is familiar with the saying that New Zealand entered the war as a colony and emerged from it as a nation.

While U.S. involvement made a crucial difference in the Great War's outcome, it is not really remembered in this country. Most Americans know nothing about the significance of 11 November. It is called "Veterans' Day" here, the emphasis being on honoring all of the nation's service men and women. Few know about the armistice which ended the fighting on "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" in 1918. When I quote that phrase to people I know, I get blank stares and puzzled looks. It's a shame.

Quendi

35

100 Years Ago Today: World War I Began - July, 28, 1914

by Oubliette in

100 years since world war i07/28/14 07:44 am by timothy noah and johnny simon.

"one hundred years ago today, emperor franz josef of austria-hungary declared war on serbia in retaliation for the assassination one month earlier of his heir apparent, archduke franz ferdinand, by a serbian pan-slavic nationalist.

what might otherwise have remained a regional conflict between the dying hapsburg empire and one of its former holdings instead became, through a tangle of alliances and a global power imbalance, two world wars that began in 1914 and ended in 1945, with a 21-year intermission for the jazz age and the great depression.".

Quendi

Kaik, thanks for your reply as I'm really enjoying the discussion. It may be that we are "arguing" from opposite ends of the same answer. I like and agree with the point you made about World War I being the end of the Long Peace in Europe, and that is buttressing my contention about it being the watershed event of the twentieth century. The events which followed that war's end would not have occurred if the Great War had not been fought. A war which started on 28 July 1914 saw 3.5 million dead by 25 December. Such a death toll in so short a time span was unprecedented in world and military history. While you mention lands that never saw a shot fired in anger (and there were plenty of neutral countries around the globe, not just in Europe), there were other places far away from Europe which did.

The entire North Atlantic Ocean was a war zone. Fierce military battles were fought in southern Africa. Naval engagements took place off the coast of Chile while Japan used its military might to drive Germany completely out of the western Pacific Ocean. Nothing like this had ever been seen in human history. Your points about greater military and economic disasters which followed World War I is valid and beyond dispute. I'm only saying that none of them would have happened if the Great War had not preceded them and that is why I believe it to be the watershed event of the twentieth century. Let's keep talking, my friend.

Quendi

21

BOE 2014-07-11 Use of ministerial servants where the number of elders is limited

by WatchTower87 in

to all bodies of elders.

the congregation secretary should arrange for this letter to be retained in the congregation permanent file of policy letters.

he may also wish to update the congregation copy of the index to lettersfor bodies of elders (s-22) at this time as well.

Quendi

I'd like to add this comment to DATA-DOG's excellent rant. Long before this crisis in local congregation leadership arrived, I noticed a glaring deficiency in the arrangement. There are many men who are passed over due to the jealousy and envy of elders and circuit overseers. Men who had higher education, held responsible positions at work, had good rapport with youth and women, were frequently and blatantly ignored. All kinds of excuses were given as to why these men were unfit to serve, but none of them held water. It was the petty jealousy and downright hatred of these men on the part of the local elders which proved to be the biggest reason they were not recommended and appointed.

There is also no effort made to recruit good candidates. The elders know damn well who the capable men in the congregation are. Many elders want to be entreated and begged to be allowed on the servant body. When that doesn't happen, they accuse those who refuse to do so of having a "bad attitude" or succumbing to pride. They say such men lack the spirit of voluntarism or they should be like Isaiah who said, "Here I am! Send me!" But if a man won't do this, or do some stupid task without grumbling about it, or point out there are other and better ways of doing things, then he will be passed over, more often than not.

Not every body of elders is like this, but enough are to disqualify many good recruits. And don't even get me started on the refusal to consider any woman--no matter how intelligent, kind, good, or qualified--to serve the congregation in any capacity whatsoever. Small wonder that ministerial servants are filling the breaches, but that isn't slowing down the decline in the organization one bit.

Quendi