The disfellowshipping arrangement is one of the saddest arrangements of one of the saddest religions on earth.
The price is very low. I'll be ordering one and having a look.
hello, i renounced my belief/faith in the watchtower society a few years ago, though i am still a bible believer.
since departing from them, i have studied the bible aptly to try to understand it's true teachings.
i decided to start publishing essays in the hope that my research may help enlighten other disillusioned jw's by seeing alternative viewpoints, or at least pointing them in a direction that would help unlock their minds when studying the bible.
The disfellowshipping arrangement is one of the saddest arrangements of one of the saddest religions on earth.
The price is very low. I'll be ordering one and having a look.
please post any examples of clear cut watchtower deception.
my wife does not believe that the watchtower would purposely decieve her.
i need clearcut examples of deception of by the wtbts.
Joining an Organization
(From Marvin Shilmer's blog, http://marvinshilmer.blogspot.com/2011/09/watchtower-bait-switch.html)
I. The Society tells us that there is no organization to join. Here are two examples of this from the literature.
II. A letter from the Society's legal dept says just the opposite. Here is an excerpt followed by the letter.
"From the date of your baptism and your joining the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, you...agreed to submit to the rules and proceedures of the ecclesiastical government of Jehovah's Witnesses." (bold and underlining added.)
obviously this has been covered to death, but i haven't seen a comprehensive list of stories produced by the media that have been done on the recent abuse cover ups of the watchtower.
today i saw this news story from australia, and i had never seen it.
i wanted to create a thread that can constantly be updated as the media exposes the practices of the watchtower of covering up abuse.
From Canada, here is an excellent Fifth Estate news magazine report.
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XIgz6mmfkU
Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cPTijd4NzY
Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS-UrESDzN8
Edit: Sorry about that Christ Alone. I temporarily forgot how to embed a link. I went back and fixed it, but you had already embedded them too. You're fast!
i understand that the judge's book "millions now living will never die" has undergone a slight of hand change of title to "millions now living may never die.".
where could i find the new title in print in any wt publication?
i do not have a wt library anymore, and would like to show my mom how they have changed the name of the book in their references to it..
Proof Conclusive That Millions Now Living Will Never Die was the subtitle of The Harp of God starting with the earliest edition of that book in 1921.
After the predictions of 1925 failed to come true, that subtitle was dropped and The Harmony of the Ten Primary Bible Teachings was added to later editions, I believe beginning in 1928.
the latest december 15th study edition of the watchtower opens with an intriguing article entitled "beware of superstitious use of the bible".. as an example of what constitutes "superstitious use" of the bible, it has this to say.... .
"perhaps a more common misuse of the bible is the practice of bibliomancy.
it refers to opening at random a book, often the bible, and reading the text that first meets the eye in the belief that those words will provide needed guidance.
One more example.
This topic has intrigued me. I had never heard of Bibliomancy, and it surprises me a little that the Society would print encouraging experiences involving the practice if it is to be condemned. Is there any other superstitious practice that has brought such favorable results that Watchtower was moved to write about it for all to read?
At any rate, here is one more 'encouoraging experience' involving the practice,
(W 1-1-1981, pp17-18)
19 God’s acceptance and blessing continue on this preaching work, including the important house-to-house activity of locating and helping persons. As just one indication, a minister who visits congregations in a large district accepted an invitation to accompany a Christian in Maryland on a call to conduct a Bible study. He says:
“I asked the householder what motivated her to study the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses. She said that often she would open the Bible at random, point her finger at a verse and read it. But she seldom could understand what she read.
“One day she was very depressed over serious family problems. Again she opened her Bible and picked out a verse. She could not understand it, and in her depression and disappointment began to cry. She prayed to God to send her someone to help her understand his Word. Just as she said that, the doorbell rang. Answering it she found a Witness, who began, ‘Would you like to understand the Bible?’ The householder pulled her inside and quickly a regular study was begun.”
What does this experience show? According to the account a couple of things stand out.
- That “God’s acceptance and blessing continue on [the] preaching work.” The positive result seems to have brought Jehovah's approval of the practice in this case.
- The angels are apparently in approval too, since when the Woman prayed to God to send someone, the Witnesses immediately rang her doorbell. I remember reading that the angels are used in directing, or carrying out, such things.
A great topic.
big news - i met with the elders last night.
they were not arrogant and they were not mean spirited, but of course we all know they also would not budge from the jw brainwashed beliefs they are sworn to uphold.
i let my light shine, and within two minutes of sitting down with them was no longer nervous.. .
RayPublisher, you have done an AMAZING job of planting seeds of truth in those elders!
If they are indeed waiting for a reply from Brooklyn you will likely be DF'd, since those replys are cold, without human feeling, and show no regard for truth, but there may be someone on that JC that you have touched, and who is struggling with their own conscience as a result. There could be very positive results down the road because of what you have done.
Congrats on the great presentation you made to them! I can't tell you how encouraging this post is.
just re-discovered this gem:.
"it is a matter of fact that the history of the watchtower society is riddled with failed date-setting and abandoned doctrine,1 and the society has gone to great lengths to hide this past from its members.
older (incriminating) watchtower publications are virtually impossible to obtain through the society,2 while at the same time members are overwhelmed with "current" watchtower material.. the watchtower society has even gone as far as to publish disinformation about its own history in an attempt to convince readers that watchtower doctrine has remained consistent over the years, and that the society is not a false prophet.
For many years I've had problems with Watchtower beliefs, teachings, and methods. It's only in the last two years that I've been able to put my finger on the one big, overriding problem with the Society. For me, it's organizational dishonesty!
Whether it's past teachings that have been abandoned, the long list of false prophecies, the UN involvement, blood or other medical issues, double standards regarding neutrality, or anything else, the Society always responds to it's flaws the same way...by spinning, white washing, re-writing...in other words, with dishonesty!
This religion cannot survive without lying!
Thanks for this post.
Is there a little something wrong with those eyes, like they are looking in two different directions? They seem odd.
Maybe it's just me.
up and running for 1 week.
started with 139 languages.
currently 155 languages.
"Jehovah's Witnesses are the coolest religion!"
Maybe it's supposed to look like it comes from a newly interested person, but it sounds like something a zealous Witness, posing as a non-Witness, would say. And a very young one at that.
any suggestions?
attending an invite (strange we're invited but hoping to make it worth my while) but i don't want to suffer big consequences as i've already said enough wrong stuff.
i'm stuck reading hassan's ccmc book (about half way --- just don't have time and not into it).
Did you know that watchtowers have a strong pagan connection, and that there is not one single example in the Bible of a faithful servant of God using a watchtower icon as a symbol of his religious beliefs?
Yet JWs live and die by what the Watchtower (the Society)tells them.