THE POWER OF EIGHT
In the first paragraph on page 26 of the 15 June 2013 Watchtower we read:
"On Wednesday morning, September 5, 2012, it was announced to the United States and Canada Bethel families that a new member had been added to the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Effective September 1, 2012, Mark Sanderson began to serve in that capacity."
The article in which this appeared also gives us a 'family' photograph of all current members of the GB. Sitting in the front row are S F Herd, G L Losch and G H Pierce. Standing behind them are D H Splane, A Morris III, D M Sanderson, G W Jackson, and M S Lett. Readers are also given the reassurance that "all members of the Governing Body are anointed Christians".
I noted with interest that the addition of this eighth member came just before the first announcement of a new understanding of the identity of the "faithful and discreet slave" during the autumn annual general meeting of the Watch Tower Society. So does the addition at this time have any significance?
Well, just on a whim I decided to investigate the number eight! Was there some spiritual/biblical meaning attached to that number? You know, like six and seven supposedly representing imperfection and perfection respectively. What I did get by way of feedback was that eight is viewed by at least some people as having a biblical meaning of "re-birth" and that may be why male children were circumcised on the eight day (?!). Of course, when you do internet searches it can be rather a mixed bag in terms of what results you get. Among those results also were a bunch on numerology. Although I can't say I'm a believer in numerology, I did find it rather interesting what one numerologist wrote ;-)
"Some of the more recognizable traits of the 8 are drive, ambition, authority, efficiency, organization, management, discipline and control. The 8 is goal-oriented, focused, has good judgment, can discriminate and is practical, a realist. Its closest relative is the 1 as both numbers are powerful, have strong leadership skills, are unquestionably masculine and will not shy away from a confrontation. However, where the 1 lacks diplomatic skills and an understanding of human nature -- more typically the traits of the 2 -- the 8 has those abilities as well, which is perhaps the most important reason the 8 tends to do well in business and in authority roles (the military and law enforcement draw a lot of 8s)."
I couldn't help chuckling to myself! The mention of 8's closest relative 1 having traits of lacking diplomatic skills and an understanding of human nature made me think of Joseph Rutherford. But the supposed association of eight with "drive, ambition, authority, efficiency, organization, management, discipline and control" seems to sum up the more modern WTS quite well I thought.
I must stress that this post is a little tongue-in-cheek so please take it that way.
Posts by JWB
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12The Power of Eight
by JWB inthe power of eight.
in the first paragraph on page 26 of the 15 june 2013 watchtower we read:.
"on wednesday morning, september 5, 2012, it was announced to the united states and canada bethel families that a new member had been added to the governing body of jehovahs witnesses.
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JWB
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AUSTRALIA | TRANSCRIPT of Child Abuse Inquiry into Jehovah's Witnesses and Watchtower Society - April 2013
by jwleaks injw leaks has published the 17 page official transcript of the appearance by watchtower bible and tract society of australia and jehovah's witnesses before the "inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations" conducted on 11 april 2013 in victoria, australia.. http://jwleaks.org/australia/.
quote from rachel van witsen, legal counsel for watchtower bible and tract society of australia and jehovah's witnesses, in reply to who is responsible for reporting child abuse within the religion of jehovah's witnesses... .
ms van witsen at the moment, because there is no mandatory reporting for ministers of religion in victoria, then the victim, who has very often had their dignity removed, is then put in the drivers seat.. .
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JWB
"Mr T. O’BRIEN — People are free to be Jehovah’s Witnesses, or if at any time they wish to discontinue for whatever reason, that is a personal choice. If the person simply decides to become inactive and no longer associate with Jehovah’s Witnesses, then they are just viewed as they were before they became one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. But if somebody is, what we refer to as being disfellowshipped, or if they disassociate themselves because of whatever reason — their activity, their disagreement with scripture or whatever the case — that puts them in a situation that the scripture has outlined where we would disassociate with them and they would come into the category of what we refer to as ‘disfellowshipped’ or ‘disassociated’. But they are free to believe whatever they like. If they want to challenge the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, there are plenty who do. You only have to browse the internet to see that. People are free to express themselves against any religion or any organisation."
So, it looks like 'fading' is probably the best way to go. At least you will viewed only as a person of 'the world'. I assume that the shunning doctrine will not apply if you fall into this category - just make sure you don't bother them and they won't bother you! -
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MIL letter to my wife
by AggieNostic inbackground: my wife and i are inactive, we stopped attending in 2005. raised as jws, were pioneers, i was elder etc... .
our kids are in college, also inactive but are baptised.
my wife went back to college, getting her degree this month at age 48!
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JWB
outsmartthesystem, what a great response. I think you covered things extremely well and identified the contents of the original letter to be tantamount to emotional blackmail. It is so sad that family relationships can be destroyed through the WTS's psychological programming. Unfortunately the mother of the letter, like so many JWs, equates leaving the organization with leaving God.
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WT Society Changes Definitions of Words to Control JW's for Their Agenda
by flipper inmy wife and i were discussing this and thought of a few examples of words that the wt society changes meanings on in order to accomplish their own self serving agenda .
the term - generation - definition in webster's new world dictionary : " generation - a single stage or degree in the succession of natural descent ( father, son, and grandson are three generations ) .
the average period ( about thirty years ) between the birth of one generation and that of the next .
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JWB
(See 15 June 2013 Watchtower)
headquarters - permanent address of the 'faithful and discreet slave' since 1919 -
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What are your favorite hypocritical sayings of the WT??
by iamwhoiam in"religion is a snare and a racket".
...ironically, today the wt is a bonafied religion..
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JWB
"Pray to Jehovah that he may open your eyes to UNDERSTAND it".
Or something along these lines when you don't agree with the WTS interpretation of scripture regarding some New Truth(tm), even though you completely understand that the interpretation has no basis in Scripture (eg birthdays being bad because on the only two occasions mentioned in the Bible, something awful happened!).
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Thoughts on the new AAWA video and other things!!
by iamwhoiam inso does this mean aawa is going to stop shunning?
are they themselves not guilty of shunning those who shun?
shunning can never be stopped no matter how bad you want it to.
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JWB
Here is my two-pence worth:
From what I've seen the only way the WTS has ever really been forced to change is out of expediency. One example being of course the Bulgaria case which seemed to move them to stop disfellowshipping those choosing to have a blood transfusion. Although the Raymond Franz incident caused them some embarrassment, I don't think it really made much difference to the way they operated - neither did the UN involvement scandal either.
However, there are two areas I can think of where it is possible to weaken their grip. Firstly, in terms of possible future converts from among those who have never had WTS conditioning via a JW family background. Secondly, those with a JW background who have doubts about the WTS and are willing to hear what others have to say via the internet and even ignore some of what the GB command them to do. With regards to the first category, bad publicity for the WTS is I think the most effective as it will tend to make members of the public less receptive to the JW preaching. In the second category, the vast number of forums (such as this), blogs and other information sharing websites as well as videos freely available at such places as youtube provide a huge wall of resistance against the WTS.
I think the word 'education' is key here. Peaceful public protests may help to raise awareness in some cases, but I personally don't think picketing kingdom halls and assemblies is the answer - in fact I think they tend to reinforce in the minds of many JWs the bad image the WTS portrays concerning 'opposers' and 'apostates'. What Simon said about consumers is spot on; each JW is part of a collective whole that keeps the organization alive, 'the world' doesn't.
We have to be realistic when it comes to the WTS. Even if some criminal activity were discovered at HQ and heralded in the media, I think there would still be many JWs who would be crying "Lies! Lies!" or "Jehovah's organization is under attack from Satan and his cohorts!"
If the men in charge at the WTS can get away with it the 'end' could stretch for several more decades, so I don't believe the WTS is going to disappear overnight as many no doubt wish it would.
Having said all of this, I applaud any peaceful and sensible efforts to confront the beast that is the WTS and continually keep it on its toes! -
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Pure Christianity Straight from the Apostle John
by Perry inme whom they have pierced .
blood flowed from our saviors' side when he was pierced:.
"but one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out...for these things were done that the scripture should be fulfilled...and again another scripture says, 'they shall look on him whom they pierced.
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JWB
Some food for thought:
www.infidels.org/library/modern/james_still/gospel_john.html
("11. Doctrine of the Logos in Philo’s Writings":)
www.iep.utm.edu/philo/ -
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'The Matrix' and 'The Village'
by JWB in'the matrix' and 'the village'.
elsewhere someone created a thread concerning the novels '1984' and 'animal farm' as being relevant to the wts.
i would also like to add a thread to draw suggestions for movies.. .
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JWB
What I found disturbing about the Eloi was that one minute they were happily engaged in normal human life then as soon as the siren went they became totally different people. Contrast this with the quite normal JW who suddenly takes on a new personality come the time for Kingdom Hall attendence or door-to-door preaching as she/he is subject to an irrestible force beckoning her/him.
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This thread is for people that do not really understand the control mechanisms of the Watchtower Society
by Iamallcool inplease feel free to explain the control mechanisms of the watchtower society.
thank you!.
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JWB
snare&racket, good points. One of the things I would say to any loyal JWs is that it is imperative that any one who truly wants to know the truth about any matter must never be a dependant thinker. This also applies for those who wish to be truth seekers outside of the organization. Don't rely on one source or one community for your info. I sense that some people jump from the 'frying pan' into the 'fire' by simply exchanging one belief system for another (and this does not have to be what we might call religious) because it appears to have more believers, 'experts' etc. I take my hat off to all truly independent thinkers for having the courage to stand alone if needs be rather than take the easy option of joining some group with a ready-made solution to the questions of life and the universe.
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How can anyone claiming to be part of Yahwehs people so blatantly disregard his eternal laws?
by srd inexcerpts from http://contradictionsinthebible.com/circumcised-or-not/.
given the priestly writer's strict adherence to circumcision as the covenantal sign by which one belongs to yahweh as his people, is heir to the promise of the land, and can partake in yahweh's festivals such as the passover---all "eternal laws" expressed through yahweh's mouth!---we might rightly be able to grasp the seriousness of the charges laid against paul by the jerusalem church in allowing uncircumcised males into the covenant, into the passover feasts, and into the inheritance of the land (galatians).. paul's complete disregard for the priestly writer's beliefs, the "eternal covenant of circumcision" as the priestly writer put it, is blasphemous we might say toward this specific text, the author who wrote it, and most importantly this author's conception of yahweh!
it is no coincidence that the historical record has shown that paul's form of "christianity" was rejected by the jews, and rightly so since it also rejected the torah of moses!
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JWB
Actually I have some issues with 'Paul' too. One of which is that he got Timothy circumcised out of concern for the sensibilities of certain Jews (Acts 18:1-3), and yet he opposed Peter on the matter of Peter's showing concern for the sensibilities of certain other Jews (Galatians 2:11-14) - although of course Peter's actions were nowhere near as drastic!