Posts by ScenicViewer

21

Are JW's really not allowed to view apostate material?

by Joey Jo-Jo in

on youtube there is this man who recorded is judicial commitee, the point i am making is that the elders viewed his material on youtube as stated on the recording.. my question his are elders allowed to view apostate material but not non-elders?

when did this happen?

!.

ScenicViewer

49

The Predictions Thread

by cedars in

jw
friends

i thought it might be interesting and fun to have a "predictions thread", where we set out our predictions for events to unfold concerning the watch tower society (or jehovah's witnesses in general) over the coming years/decades.. it strikes me that so much has happened in the last ten years, most of which has defied expectations.

here's just a few of the developments that i can think of:.

the abolishment of group book studies in favor of a "family worship evening"the creation of a "study edition" watchtowerthe halving of monthly magazine printing commitmentsthe unprecedented closure/merging of branches (16% reduction in branches last year)the menlo park scandal, a body of elders removed for resisting a refurb of their kingdom hallthe lawsuits in victoria, australia - the society taken to court concerning child protection lawscourtroom admissions about the faithful & discreet slave and similarities with the catholic churchincreased hate speech against "mentally diseased" apostatesastonishing lapses of judgment, such as the "selma and steve" study articlethe ditching of gilead as a school for missionariesambitious construction plans for a new world hq (with or without jehovah's blessing!

ScenicViewer

Cedars said,

"It wouldn't surprise me if this [shrinking organizational needs] has already been factored into the design [at Warwick] as a contingency.

That makes a degree of sense. The GB can see the trend that is underway and can predict needs for the future as well as posters here can.

However I was thinking the Society may use the strategy that has been mentioned on this board, which is to build up property with the idea of selling for a profit in the future. If properties are designed and built in a way that they can be useful to other corporations, which has been suggested here a few times, it would make for a fairly easy sale in the future and the organization could reap multi-millions of dollars in profits. Then build again for very little.

Donations are suffering, a condition that will probably worsen in the future. Watchtower needs a cash cow. The current sale of the Brooklyn buildings will reap steep financial rewards, even if sold below the asking price, which can be invested and used to carry the organization far into the future, but not forever.

Since guidance by holy spirit has now been taken out of the loop at Watchtower, as shown by your excellent thread here, that leaves the powers-that-be free to make decisions based solely on business and profit based criteria. If other properties have been built to be 'flipped' easily in the future, why not the world headquarters too?

If such a thing happened, it would not be soon, but a few decades away, at which time the current move from Brooklyn would be a faint memory in the minds of the majority of Witnesses at that future time.

Just my speculations.

49

The Predictions Thread

by cedars in

jw
friends

i thought it might be interesting and fun to have a "predictions thread", where we set out our predictions for events to unfold concerning the watch tower society (or jehovah's witnesses in general) over the coming years/decades.. it strikes me that so much has happened in the last ten years, most of which has defied expectations.

here's just a few of the developments that i can think of:.

the abolishment of group book studies in favor of a "family worship evening"the creation of a "study edition" watchtowerthe halving of monthly magazine printing commitmentsthe unprecedented closure/merging of branches (16% reduction in branches last year)the menlo park scandal, a body of elders removed for resisting a refurb of their kingdom hallthe lawsuits in victoria, australia - the society taken to court concerning child protection lawscourtroom admissions about the faithful & discreet slave and similarities with the catholic churchincreased hate speech against "mentally diseased" apostatesastonishing lapses of judgment, such as the "selma and steve" study articlethe ditching of gilead as a school for missionariesambitious construction plans for a new world hq (with or without jehovah's blessing!

ScenicViewer

1- The number of memorial partakers will continue to increase. (I don't think thats been mentioned; apologies if it has.)

At a time when the number should be decreasing, it will become a bigger embarrassment than it is now. The Society has already said it doesn't keep track of the anointed (faithful and discreet slave), so the next logical step would be to do as predicted by Cedars (#7), Jnat, Sapphy, and breakfastof champions, and stop publishing partaker (and other) statistics.

2- Due to eventual decreases in many areas of the organization, the new headquarters being built at Warwick will no longer be needed in 30 years (possibly less), and the property will be sold for a whopping profit. New down-sized facilities will be built in another rural location for next to nothing, leaving Watchtower with a much needed cash flow.

7

I AM. The documentary by Tom Shadyak

by I quit! in

jw
friends

tinker told me about this documentary and i finally got around to watching it.

i thought it was great.

i'm wondering if anyone else has seen it.

ScenicViewer

@ I quit and bob1999,

Thanks for the information and the link!

BTW, that link is to the full documentary, 1hr 17min.

7

I AM. The documentary by Tom Shadyak

by I quit! in

jw
friends

tinker told me about this documentary and i finally got around to watching it.

i thought it was great.

i'm wondering if anyone else has seen it.

ScenicViewer

Can this documentary be found online?

73

GB: "We don't know if Jehovah wants us to build new headquarters, but we're doing it anyway..."

by cedars in

the latest august 15th watchtower study edition features an interesting review of the society's annual meeting.. one comment struck me as evidence that the governing body isn't quite as "discreet" as it claims.. here is what the article said:.

"there are plans to develop a 248-acre (100 ha) property at warwick.

'although we are not yet certain of jehovahs will regarding warwick,' said brother pierce, 'we are proceeding to develop the site with the intention of relocating the world headquarters of jehovahs witnesses there.

ScenicViewer

'Although we are not yet certain of Jehovah’s will regarding Warwick, we are proceeding to develop the site with the intention of relocating the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses there.'

This is an unusual admission that they are not being led by holy spirit. They never have been, but I can't recall when they have admitted it so plainly. There was a time when the Organization would have insisted the bldg project was 'Jehovah's will, and should be viewed as a sign that He was moving His people forward in these critical last days.'

There was a time when anyone doing this would have been accused of 'running ahead of Jehovah!'

The other remark tells us that they are completely uncertain about the closeness of the great tribulation.

'If the great tribulation interrupts our plans, that will be wonderful, absolutely wonderful!'

50

Elders breaking Confidentiality - I want this thread to be dirtyy

by usualusername in

jw
friends

i was taught at the mts school that no elder has ever broke confidentiality.. .

did my instructors lie to me?.

uun .

ScenicViewer

00DAD said,

"At that point I flat out accused him of lying, [...] I kindly reminded him where the door was..."

I'm sure glad you had the nerve, courage, and presence of mind to call him on that. Too often we let things slide, then later wish we had said something.

This lack of confidentiality in the Organization, but pretending everything is ok, is too much. It's just one more example of Watchtower dishonesty.

50

Elders breaking Confidentiality - I want this thread to be dirtyy

by usualusername in

jw
friends

i was taught at the mts school that no elder has ever broke confidentiality.. .

did my instructors lie to me?.

uun .

ScenicViewer

Did my instructors lie to me?

They sure did.

- I recall one clumsy elder who announced at a meeting for field service that brother So-and-So had been privately reproved for drinking.

- In another instance an elder talked to another elder in another town, who was completely disconnected from the case, about a serious wrong doing by someone he knew. I overheard it too, and I was not an elder.

- One elder told me about a brother who had had sex relations with a woman he was divorced from. (The brother thought that since they were still married in God's eyes it was ok.) The elder telling me this didn't mention names, but he was so specific that I knew exactly who he was talking about; it was someone I knew and liked a lot. I was sickened by the elder's violation of his privacy.

- An elder told me about one sister, by name, that had attempted suicide.

There are other examples where elders have started rumors, without revealing names, to discredit certain individuals in the congregation. I believe it's a method they sometimes use to bring a brother or sister down, but by not giving a name the elder(s) remain blameless.

I can't wait to hear some of the really egregious examples of elders violating confidentiality.

21

Has the Watchtower been sued for defamation?

by biometrics in

does anyone know if the watchtower or individual elders have been successfully sued for defamation follwing a disfellowshipping.

i know some have tried to sue for shunning, and their case had no legal basis.. what is the current platform announcment for a df or da?.

what about court action to recover past donations?.

ScenicViewer

Notjustyet said,

I heard that there was a settlement, enough to put said child throught college, how ironic.

The info is on here somewhere, even the letter fromt he attorney was pasted here.

I believe the thread you are thinking of is here. Notice the posts by Roberta804.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/members/private/219169/1/Important-to-put-in-your-letter-of-DA

35

Could you 'Wake Up Happy' if you were an active Witness, knowing what you know now? (A 2012 Convention invitation)

by ScenicViewer in

a convention invitation.

i came home the other day and found an invitation to the upcoming district convention in my door.

i don't believe these are left in the doors of the general public, so a well-meaning witness must have been thinking of me, even though i have not been to the kh in about 7 years.. the leading question on the front immediately got my attention, and made my jaw drop a bit.. i thought i would ask the forum, .

ScenicViewer

irondork said,

"What Is True Love?"

Oh, this oughtta be good!

Yes it oughtta, and we all know that whatever it is, it will include spin that slants it toward Watchtower doctrine.