Posts by Quendi

17

All JWs share the same belief

by biometrics in

i was having a discussion with a (currently serving) elder recently when he brought up a straw-man argument that went something like this:.

elder: i've been invited to speak with other christian groups, you know what they do when studying the bible?.

elder: they read a verse or chapter, then go around the room asking how everyone interprets the reading.

Quendi

The unanimity of belief among Jehovah's Witnesses has been purchased at a terrible price: surrender of one's God-given free will and power of reason.

Quendi

106

Latest convention brochure on,,, the Governing Body

by cedars in

i've finally get my hands on a pdf of one of the two newly released brochures, this one entitled "who are doing jehovah's will today?".

here's a link so you can download your own copy.... http://www66.zippyshare.com/v/98881625/file.html.

predictably, the brochure is extremely vague on key topics.

@ InterestedOne: Your study conductor's reaction to the information you shared with him is nothing short of disgusting! I would have terminated the study right then and there and told him he was no longer welcome in my home. Talk about cognitive dissonance!

Quendi

19

Had a visit from JW's yesterday.

by exwhyzee in

jw
friends

it took almost 3 years after we quietly left our last meeting (memorial 2008) before anyone came looking for us.

after nearly 25 years raising our family in the same hall and it was as if we didn't exist anymore.. that happened about a year ago but yesterday the boys and our daughter in law were here and were all having a late breakfast and lounging around in our robes an p.j's having a nice morning.

we were sitting at the kitchen table looking out the sliding glass door at one of those summer rains where it just buckets down all of a sudden.

Quendi

It is indeed wonderful that your old friends still have affection for you. I have no doubt that they deeply appreciated your kindness and hospitality. Otherwise, they would not have communicated with you further. Abraham Lincoln once said, "You'll draw more flies with one drop of honey than you will with a gallon of gall." This experience demonstrates the truth of that observation.

I think you should continue in the same vein. Mrsjones5 has made an excellent suggestion of what to say to them when you do call. I can understand your apprehension and it may well be justified. But don't make the mistake of making this decision for your friends. Continue to show your concern and appreciation for them. Thank them for their visit and how much you and your family enjoyed it. Tell them you would like to spend time with them again. Unfortunately, you won't be able to attend the district convention with them as you had no plans to do so and now it is too late to accommodate it.

Ultimately, you'll come to a crossroads in this relationship. Your friends will ask you to come back to the meetings and you know that isn't possible anymore. Then it will be time for that heart-to-heart talk with them. But that can still be done in a spirit of love wherein you help them understand that all you are asking is that they respect the choice and decision you have made as you have respected theirs. Your problem is not with them personally nor with the others in the congregation. The problem you have lies with the organization and its demands for unquestioning, blind loyalty. Since you believe that is something no human organization can or should have, you have chosen to part ways. I know you have other issues with the WTS but framing the discussion in these terms makes the point simply and directly. You'll be telling the truth and telling it in terms they will be able to understand. You might even use the title of certain talks given at the convention (its program is listed on prior threads here on JWN) to support your contention. Good luck!

Quendi

19

Landmark U.S. verdict against Jehovahs Witnesses may prompt Canadian sex abuse lawsuits

by mind blown in

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1220527--landmark-u-s-verdict-against-jehovah-s-witnesses-may-prompt-canadian-sex-abuse-lawsuits.

published on monday july 02, 2012. vicki boer sued the canadian jehovah's witnesses over 10 years ago over the way they handled her complaint of sexual abuse.

she won but was burdened with heavy legal costs.

Quendi

The WTS is facing litigation in Australia, the U.S., and perhaps soon in Canada. I can only hope this is just the beginning.

Quendi

24

Whisper in My Ear

by compound complex in

jw
friends

you whisper in my ear that ne'er shall you leave me,.

though, truth be told, you've died to both me and the .

world so many years ago ... .

Quendi

I am no poet and that makes me admire those with the gift all the more. Thanks for sharing.

Quendi

8

Cyprus District Convention

by Joe Grundy in

jw
friends

this is the report in the online edition of the cyprus mail announcing the dc (http://www.cyprus-mail.com/jehovahs-witnesses/jehovah-s-convention/20120703):.

"the district convention of jehovahs witnesses will be held this friday at the spyros kyprianou athletic centre in limassol.

the two-day convention titled safeguard your heart!

Quendi

I've always wanted to visit Cyprus, but I can think of better ways to spend my time there than a mind-numbing, dumbed-down district convention of Jehovah's Witnesses!

Quendi

106

Latest convention brochure on,,, the Governing Body

by cedars in

i've finally get my hands on a pdf of one of the two newly released brochures, this one entitled "who are doing jehovah's will today?".

here's a link so you can download your own copy.... http://www66.zippyshare.com/v/98881625/file.html.

predictably, the brochure is extremely vague on key topics.

Quendi

What bobld shared reminded me of an experience a Witness in Colorado had. He was severely criticized for going door-to-door offering householders a free Bible study without using WTS publications but the Bible alone. His reply to the critics was to say if we offered Bible studies to people, then that is what we should use, that the Bible should be the only "publication" examined. If we did anything else, then we were liars and perceptive householders would see that. He went further and said that if we were real Bible students, then we shouldn't fear using the Bible alone in the field service. The silence which followed those words was deafening.

Quendi

106

Latest convention brochure on,,, the Governing Body

by cedars in

i've finally get my hands on a pdf of one of the two newly released brochures, this one entitled "who are doing jehovah's will today?".

here's a link so you can download your own copy.... http://www66.zippyshare.com/v/98881625/file.html.

predictably, the brochure is extremely vague on key topics.

Quendi

@ 00DAD: That's an excellent analysis you give and it should raise questions among any Witnesses who have retained a shred of their power of reason. The way things are done now, however, is not the way they were done in the past. There was a time when the upper echelon decision makers in Brooklyn actively collaborated with other Witnesses around the world on matters of doctrine. Some of these collaborators professed to be of the anointed and some did not. But all of them actively contributed to the development of WTS theology. As a matter of fact, their collaboration was sought and expected. Fred Franz, although he was the power behind the throne before the creation of the Governing Body, was considered the organizations "chief theologian". He built a network of researchers with whom he consulted fairly regularly. That network has been abandoned now because the current ruling clique has no real interest in Biblical research, scholarship or hermeneutics. That's why they don't bother to discover who among the Witnesses professes to be anointed. They don't want their input and have made that as clear as glass in The Watchtower and other publications these last five years or so.

@ Room 215: You're right to point to the death of Fred Franz as the line of demarcation with respect to what has happened to the quality and even quantity of printed material from Brooklyn from that time forward. I can remember the time when convention releases were the high point of those gatherings and were eagerly awaited and enthusiastically received. And while the teachings expounded were false, the publications themselves were well written and stimulated all kinds of discussion among those who had a real interest in Bible prophecy.

The reason nobody has donned Fred Franz's mantle is because no successors were groomed to do so. One reason is because nobody at WTS headquarters really expected to still be operating in this "system of things". They were certain that the world would end sometime in the 1970s or shortly thereafter. As those hopes faded and were finally dashed, the organization stagnated. Nothing was done to train a new generation of leaders who could keep things going as they had before. Then came the digital revolution beginning in the 1990s and the organization was totally unprepared for what that meant to communication and information technology.

Those who could have helped the organization adapt and regain momentum were purged or shut out of any decision-making responsibilities. The result was the rise of men to the top positions who were timid, diffident, ignorant, uneducated and extremely conservative. Iniative was stifled. Curiosity was damned. Innovation was accepted begrudgingly. Now the WTS is in the hands of men who are interested only in remaining in power no matter what the cost. They are doing what despots have done in the past: creating a personality cult that will keep the rank-and-file in line--or so they hope. But I have the feeling that their hope will lead to bitter disappointment.

Quendi

26

Andy Griffiths Died

by mouthy in

jw
friends

Quendi

As someone who has lived in the Deep South, I thought Andy Griffith's portrayal of Mayberry's sheriff Andy Taylor was absolutely perfect. He put a human face on a region that too often wallowed in self-pity, obstinancy, racism and retrograde thinking. He displayed another side of the South: charm, grace, hospitality, common sense and loyalty. He brought those same qualities to his role as Matlock, the Atlanta lawyer.

I am back in the Deep South now looking after family and this news sounds like a death in the family. I'm sure many Southerners--black and white--will feel the same sense of loss. I'll try to catch that Matlock marathon tomorrow and muse on Griffith and his depiction of Southern life. By the way, if you get a chance, listen to Griffith's zany monologue called "What It Was, Was Football." You'll be in stitches.

Quendi

106

Latest convention brochure on,,, the Governing Body

by cedars in

i've finally get my hands on a pdf of one of the two newly released brochures, this one entitled "who are doing jehovah's will today?".

here's a link so you can download your own copy.... http://www66.zippyshare.com/v/98881625/file.html.

predictably, the brochure is extremely vague on key topics.

Quendi

@ jgnat: You raise an interesting point about the "neo-Anointed" because it harks back to "old light". There was a time when WTS theology held there not only was an "anointed" and "other sheep" class among Jehovah's Witnesses, but that the anointed themselves were divided into two classes. Of course, this has been swept under the rug now along with so many other discredited and abandoned teachings but once upon a time, this was a view that was actively taught.

The thinking was that C.T. Russell and those who were originally associated with him had been prefigured in the Bible by the lives and times of Naomi and Mordecai. Witnesses who claimed anointed status but who joined the religion after Russell's death were thought to have been previewed by the lives and times of Ruth and Esther. So you had a "Naomi class" or "Mordecai class", depending on what "type" the WTS theology wanted to discuss and the "Ruth class " or "Esther class" again depending on what point was being examined. Confused? You would not have been alone.

Many of us Witness veterans can remember when WTS literature would talk about "types" and "antitypes", "typical" and "antitypical" fulfillments of Bible prophecy. There is a school of theology which holds that the Bible is deeply allegorical and full of symbolic dramas. There is Biblical precedent for this as can be seen in the discussion in the book of Hebrews about Sarah and Hagar. Many took that discussion and ran with it, applying it to the Bible as a whole. Among those who were fervent advocates of this viewpoint was Fred Franz and WTS publications were rife with this kind of thinking, reflecting his role as "seer and oracle" in the religion.

But as the years went by and those professing to be of the anointed began to dwindle to a small fraction of active Witnesses, you heard less and less talk about this. Today, you don't hear or read it at all. It has been expunged from current doctrine. With the Governing Body now having effectively shut out all other professed anointed Witnesses from having any voice or role in shaping policy, this should be no surprise. The last question a Garrit Lösch, Sam Herd, et al. want to answer is if he is part of the "Ruth" or "Esther" class of the anointed! It's better to pretend this was never taught in the first place, especially since it might reincite unrest among the "neo-Anointed".

Quendi