Anony Mous

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Posts by Anony Mous

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  29

  More Elders than MS's For First Time in WT History

  by FrankWTower in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  have you heard the good news?.

  i heard from a reliable source that for the first time in watchtower history, there are more elders now than ministerial servants.

  this is not just a regional issue either, it's worldwide..

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  Anony Mous

  The reliable source is the recent letter of March 31, 2011

  Transscript:

  Dear Brothers:

  We are also writing on behalf of Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses.

  Thank you for your recent contributions to the:

  *snip*

  You will be interested to know that 791 Kingdom Ministry Schools were held within the United States branch between November 2010 and January 2011. Within just two months over 88,000 elders and 66,000 ministerial servants attended this school. The program was designed to deepen spirituality and help each carry out his work "in a fine manner."-1 Timothy 3:13.

  Once again, we wish to express our thanks to you for your generous support of the worldwide work. May Jehovah continue to richly bless your hard work in his service.

  Your brothers,

  Watchtower B. <scribble>. Society

  OF NEW YORK, INC.

  Since all elders and ministerial servants were REQUIRED to go unless you were deadly sick I would say this count is accurate. The current qualifications for MS are (beyond the biblical): No recent child molesters, regular family study, regular meeting attendance, more than the national or congregational field service average - whichever is higher, no recent blemishes on your JW record. Most MS'es are going on to be elders now and most young people are either leaving or don't have the time or energy to put in many hours of service.
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  29

  What's the Watchtower's current stance on...

  by FifthOfNovember in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the big bang?

  -do they leave room for it as a possibility for jehovah to have created the universe?

  (i heard an elder say once that the society doesn't necessarily rule out the big bang as a possiblity).

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  Anony Mous

  The bible may say that a day could be a thousand years but then according to calculation, the day's or week's rest that God took is already over. It ended in 1975 according to the JW's so Jehovah is sleeping in on a Monday? His alarm didn't go off? If 1975 didn't match with the creationist days, something has to replace it.

  You can't take everything the Bible (or the JW) say literally or interpret it according to anyone's faith. Catholics will say it's a single 24 hour day, others will say it's a 1000 years. IF scientific PROOF and the Bible have to match up then the JW's are 'right' with their aeons of time per day of creation - it is PROVEN that the Universe and even the Earth and a lot of living tissue was alive more than 12,000 years ago regardless of whether you believe it's to be a 1000 years or not and regardless if you're an evolutionist or a creationist.
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  12

  Jesus is the 'fine' shepherd or is he the 'Good' Shepherd

  by Anony Mous in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  read john 10:11, 14 in the wtbts bible.

  then read it in just about any other bible you can find.. .

  i am the fine shepherd; the fine shepherd surrenders his soul in behalf of the sheep.. vs.. i am the good shepherd.

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  Anony Mous

  Read John 10:11, 14 in the WTBTS bible. Then read it in just about any other Bible you can find.

  I am the fine shepherd; the fine shepherd surrenders his soul in behalf of the sheep.

  vs.

  I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

  Does it really matter? They are nearly synonymous. But (one big but) - the fine shepherd would be slightly less of a shepherd than the Good Shepherd (God). Also, the "no-one is Good but God" from Mark 10:17-21 would support a non-trinitarian viewpoint better if you can't link together the two scriptures as easily. Anyone have any ideas how to discuss this with JW's?
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  29

  What's the Watchtower's current stance on...

  by FifthOfNovember in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the big bang?

  -do they leave room for it as a possibility for jehovah to have created the universe?

  (i heard an elder say once that the society doesn't necessarily rule out the big bang as a possiblity).

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  Anony Mous

  No they don't leave room for any scientific fact or hypothesis. A couple of months ago that was in a watchtower that there is to be no deviation to bend the JW faith to fit scientific theories/facts on ourselves. That job is for the Governing Body (although it's not spelled out like that, it basically comes down to that)

  Dinosaurs went extinct with the flood or before that.

  No they don't believe ANYMORE that stuff only existed for 6k years. They took on parts of the "new age" creationists view that the creation days were longer than 1 day, 1000 years (as it was before) or any specified amount of time although some older JW's still haven't caught onto that. They do believe humans (homo sapiens) existed for little over 6k years with Adam being the first.
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  49

  Slandered At the Circuit Assembly & My Letter To My Mother

  by headisspinning in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  on saturday, my ex husband went on the platform at the one day circuit assembly and slandered me in front of 800+ people.. my jw family is even up in arms because he basically lied and ruined any last bits of my reputation that i had left, the worst part is this was elder sanctioned.. i am really exhausted from all the upheaval so i will get right to the point.

  the following is what i sent to my mother:.

  hi mom.

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  Anony Mous

  Yup, consult a lawyer and depending on where you are they may do it for free if you can't get money out of it and otherwise they will take a share of it at really no cost to you.

  Off course you're going to need proof. The JW's will defend their organization and lie in court but if you got a tape or so (sometimes people tape the program for 'elderly' - see if you can get a copy).

  If lawyers won't help or are too costly or you have flimsy proof, use the media with your proof, they usually like something like that.
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  11

  How to email JWs at the Brooklyn Bethel?

  by ABibleStudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  does any one know how to send emails to jws in the brooklyn behel or else where in the wtbts organization?

  is the email address format [email protected]?

  in this day of technology it would be very hard to believe that the wtbts doesn't use email to communicate with elders, cos, dos, branch, and bethels.

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  Anony Mous

  Yes I do but there's a thin line between private and 'the leadership' in the WTBTS, actually, there is no such thing as a public face anywhere in the WTBTS.

  I could but I won't at this point b/c I'm not sure what legal waters I would have to tread. If Wikileaks ever starts accepting submissions again or if there is a similar forum for religious whistleblowers I will share.
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  11

  How to email JWs at the Brooklyn Bethel?

  by ABibleStudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  does any one know how to send emails to jws in the brooklyn behel or else where in the wtbts organization?

  is the email address format [email protected]?

  in this day of technology it would be very hard to believe that the wtbts doesn't use email to communicate with elders, cos, dos, branch, and bethels.

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  Anony Mous

  The branch now also uses GMail for some functions.
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  6

  Blood

  by wha happened? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i know this is an old topic but i'm in need of some catch up.. an old friend of mine lives nearby.

  she is the youngest sibling to some active jw's that i know.

  i was asked to kinda keep an eye on my friend as she has major health issues and past substance addiction issues.

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  Anony Mous

  Stem cell treatment hasn't been 'handled' yet but I'm sure it eventually will. It's kinda hard to say - (I'm not a stem cell researcher) but you're making blood and/or other organs (blood is also an organ) from a donor's own cells thus creating life in an asexual form of reproduction. The blood isn't being taken out of a living person and thus is not/cannot be 'poured out'.

  Right now I would consider it a 'matter of conscience' and don't talk about it in order 'not to stumble anyone in the faith'.

  The main problem not only JW's but also other right-wing Christians talking about abortions and murder are going to have is the definition of stem cells, life and the soul. Would you consider a clone of yourself (or parts of yourself) to be a valid 'life form' and therefore give 'it' the same rights as a natural person. At what point is something considered to have a soul.
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  84

  In general, what is the ethically correct response if a minor tells you someone is molesting him/her?

  by InterestedOne in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  i was thinking about what the elders are trained to do versus what i personally would do if a minor confided in me that someone was molesting him/her.

  i'm not sure what the ethically correct first response should be.

  my first thought is to contact some kind of law enforcement that specializes in investigating situations like this with people experienced in getting to the truth of the matter.

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  Anony Mous

  @InterestedOne: You would hope so but it doesn't happen. This is what happens when you call WTBTS Legal Dept:

  When you are not in a reporting state, he is told to seal the file, write pastorial privilege on it and file it.

  When you are in a reporting state, he is told to seal the file, write pastorial privilege on it, file it and make an anonymous phone call from a pay phone and let the "world's justice systems" take care of it.

  All claims and questions are to be redirected to WTBTS Legal Dept. and they ONLY make a note of the abuser's (if known) name. When investigators look for information, the WTBTS doesn't have it and the locals redirect them to the WTBTS. Only when anyone has a warrant, the local elders have to get a lawyer first, contact legal and then give them the absolute least amount of asked for information. THAT is what's being thought at the elder school all 80,000 of them went through in the last couple of months.
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  10

  Memorial nibbler asked to leave

  by MrMonroe in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  seen this?.

  blogger is a partner of an ex-bethelite who attends a memorial after a decade out, takes a nibble and is asked to leave.

  photographic evidence provided.. partner, meanwhile (non-jw, smoker, unmarried) is warmly welcomed.. .

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  Anony Mous

  The reason his friend told him he should leave was because if anyone is seen partaking, they have to get talked to by the local big boys - this may be a new arrangement, I never heard about it until 2 or 3 years ago. If somebody slips away they get counted, if they get talked to and they are not a good JW they are not counted. They are really trying hard to keep the numbers down.