Yes, the elders who review the 'Questions for Those Desiring to be Baptized " certainly should be held accountable With reports of children as young as 8 being approved, I wonder how this questioning process is being done, considering that several of the questions are on topics beyond their comprehensiion or usually considered inappropriate to discuss with children...marriage, divorce, sanctity of life, sexual immorality, neutrality etc. The Organized book [at least the one on their website] does state that if the canditate is a minor "his believing parent(s) should be present..." or if they cannot be, two elders, or an elder and ministerial servant. This latter statement is possibly now up for revision...
HereIam60
JoinedPosts by HereIam60
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JW Lawyer in Norway uses "theocratic warfare" to conceal the org's controlling language!
by BoogerMan inin the org's vocabulary, the term "independent thinking" is applied pejoratively to any jw who thinks & reasons for themselves.
the org's lawyer knew exactly what he was doing in court when he voiced his carefully prepared words:.
"watchtowers lawyer anders ryssdal compares jehovah’s witnesses’ baptism to the norwegian state church’s confirmation of 15-year-olds, arguing that their baptism is no different.
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JW Lawyer in Norway uses "theocratic warfare" to conceal the org's controlling language!
by BoogerMan inin the org's vocabulary, the term "independent thinking" is applied pejoratively to any jw who thinks & reasons for themselves.
the org's lawyer knew exactly what he was doing in court when he voiced his carefully prepared words:.
"watchtowers lawyer anders ryssdal compares jehovah’s witnesses’ baptism to the norwegian state church’s confirmation of 15-year-olds, arguing that their baptism is no different.
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HereIam60
I told the story here once before...how the brother who conducted my home bible study years ago was shocked and suspicious when I once said I was considering moving out of my (non-witness) parents house, because it would help me be more independent. All I meant was that I would have to take on more adult responsibilities. I did not know how much the Organization had spoken against 'independent thinking' and just my use of the word independent appalled him. Much of what that lawyer said is quite telling..."If children are baptized too early it is the parent's fault, not Jehovah's Witnesses...". Yes but JW parents frequently make their decisions based on what is said in JW literature and talks, and young baptism has even recently been praised......"It is not the organization's fault if some are overly zealous..." For decades we were told to BE zealous, to have zeal...though I have not noticed this said in recent years.....'Children must learn to think independently (Yes, they do!) before they are baptized..."
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JW version of Airbnb?
by FFGhost inhey, has anybody else noticed this?.
https://brotravels.com.
seems to be, as my title indicates, an “airbnb” service for active jws.. nothing on the site explicitly limits users or listers to being active jws but given the name of the website and the high number of listings proclaiming their proximity to “bethel” and/or “world headquarters” it certainly seems all but certain.. the number of basic typos, misspellings, and just general awkwardness of phrasing makes me wonder if it is run by non-us jws or at least jws for whom english is not their first language.. the dates in the reviews seem to indicate the website has been around for the past couple of years, though today is the first i heard of it.. they also have a couple of tours listed, for paris and “bible lands”.. maybe it’s just me, but i get a kind of icky, weird vibe from the website.
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HereIam60
A sister showed it to my wife last year when we were considering visiting Warwick, but we have not gone...Something else that I found weird was the website the organization has set up about their Special and International Conventions. jwevent.org It offers information about the cities in which they are held. Much of it reads like travel brochures, suggesting things the "delegates" can see or do while there, which makes me wonder if they are getting some recognition or compensation from the host cities. These conventions are not just open for anyone to attend. They have to apply and be approved. There are health restrictions and those attending are required to stay for a specified time.
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Remember they said this was the last of the FB and the helpers would have to take over to lead the flock through the great GT?!
by nowwhat? inthat aged well lol.
since then 4 younger gb members appointed.
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HereIam60
It seemed that from 1992 onward the congregations were being slowly and gradually conditioned to one day accept a non-annointed Governing Body. That was when the GB “Helper” Commitees were set up. The Scriptural precedent given in a Watchtower Study then was how non-Israelite “Nethenim and Given Ones” assisted the anointed priests in their temple service. In years after the number of professed Annointed Ones increased significantly and the idea began being implanted that many Memorial partakers were mentally or emotionally confused which did not bring down the numbers. Just last year there was a peculiar study article saying that Many had worried “What will we do when all the remaining anointed are gathered to heaven?” and the assurance was given that men of the ‘other sheep’ are being trained to carry on. Then at the most recent Annual Meeting it was stated that we should not be surprised that there are many anointed still here in the ‘time of the end’ as Revelation says they will be collected from the four corners of the earth. The present Governing Body seems to have never been well grounded in their own doctrines.
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My Beliefs After Leaving the Watchtower
by KalebOutWest ini tend to keep my personal beliefs separate from my posts.. i know that is often different from others as their posts as often one and the same with their opinions.
i think that is good.
you get to learn a lot about people that way.
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HereIam60
I have not known any Witnesses who were genuinely antisemetic, but I had sometimes heard (not recently, but years ago) prejudicial remarks made out of ignorance. There was a jaw dropping moment in the ministry once, when at a door, I was with a sister who was relating to the householder how she felt she had been overcharged in a business dealing. She said "Yeah, he really tried to Jew me!". I don't remember if the householder reacted, but I was embarrassed and appalled. I heard another older person in the Hall also use that phrase once.
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How Do JWs Understand Salvation & What Is Needed to Obtain It?
by LauraLynn infrom my experience within the jw organization, i understood that salvation meant a person accepted the teachings of the wbts without question as the "faithful and discrete slave," thereby placing their trust in them, not jesus christ.
salvation consisted of being found "righteous" by jehovah and resurrected to everlasting life in an earthly paradise.
to obtain this salvation, one needed to obey the organization's teachings, remain a faithful jw, and lead a moral life.
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HereIam60
Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I thought that talk by Cook about the Great Tribulation being the cut-off and the “hailstone judgement message” was done just a few weeks before the Annual Meeting where the idea of salvation during the Tribulation was announced…? -
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WT HQ is never proactive, they are reactive to everything put out showing their blatant hypocrisy and abject stupidity
by WingCommander ina few on here (and of course many on the ex-jw reddit forum) have mentioned that wt hq just recently (like in the past couple months) put out a video warning against the praising of jw actors, taking photos with them, etc.
to not do it anymore.
it was narrated by geoffrey jackson.
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HereIam60
I would also like to know if it was ever verified that Robert Hendricks was removed. Just a few months before those reports surfaced he actually visited our hall for a weekend as a "Special Bethel Speaker". I did not speak to him personally but my impression was that he was very " in", sincere in his beliefs, but also very slick and polished in his manner. An elder interviewed he and his wife on stage after the talk. He was asked what his biggest challenge serving on the Public Info Dept was and he frankly said it was regarding the food distribution during the Covid pandemic. This was U. S. government sponsored but apparently some congregations put a note into the boxes saying it was a gift from Jehovah. Hendricks had to go before some authority to explain this. Also why it was primarily given to Witnesses rather than the general public. I cant remember if he told how he answered but seemed slightly nervous talking about it. Then shortly after this it began being said in some forums that he had been "let go"...
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Do children still get destroyed at Armageddon?
by Anony Mous ini know back in the day, that was taught, that if the parents were going to be destroyed, so would the children.
i just can't easily find reference to anything.
this thinking has been used to justify some egregious behavior towards children and their parents such as exclusion of children from jw family - why worry, the end is near, all will work itself out then - the end didn't come though.
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HereIam60
When I first began studying with the Witnesses (early 1980s) a scripture being used a lot in the ministry was Psalm 37:10 "Just a little while longer and the wicked one will be no more. And you will certainly give attention to his place and he will not be...(, and the meek will live in peace etc. ) This was a new and comforting thought to me. I had never been closely associated with any religion but had read plenty of literature from various groups that gave me fears of hellfire and Armageddon. So I thought when Jehovah took action there would just be a sudden instant vanishing of everything harmful, it would just be gone, with no pain or horror and the peaceful ones left would work together in the restoration. It was only later that the idea of Armageddon and the illustations of fire and hail from heaven, the ground splitting and people running screaming were introduced. I felt like I had been tricked, the rug pulled out from under me. I stopped responding and my teacher asked what was wrong. I said " You never said anything about this before." "About what?". " All this desruction". "Well Jehovah has to destroy the wicked doesn't He?". I was urged to just keep studying and praying and eventually I'd understand, but I could never harmonize this with God's Love.. iI think the current teaching, implied, not directly expressed is that Jehovah and Jesus will judge each oerson fairly and righteously, so, no children will not be destroyed.
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News of fires out of control in California
by ballistic inhope everyone near to the region affected in california is ok. it's shocking to hear of the destruction.
these affected areas are some of the places i visited when i came on a tour of the us.
malibu, santa barbera, la, santa monica, hollywood and so on..
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The Dangers of Independent Thinking
by daystar in"the dangers of independent thinking".
reading mary's thread regarding the july 15th wt, i began to really consider what the wbts' problem is with "independent thinking".. what exactly is "independent thinking" and what about its opposite, "dependent thinking"?
i think the following excerpt from an article here does a good job of defining them.
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HereIam60
Back in the early 1980s I was having a home Bible study conducted by a young zealous pioneer brother. Once I was identified as a progressive student , prepared for lessons, attending some meetings, he gradually became pushy and intrusive into my personal life. I was uncomfortable and annoyed by this, but I took it as him showing personal interest in me, and since I was supposed to be learning to be humble I put up with it. I was in my early 20s and still living in my parents’ home, working, and helping with expenses. This arrangement was working for us, but since they were not interested in studying, the brother began suggesting I consider moving out, also changing employment so as to be free for all meetings and field service. Looking back, he was probably hoping to ultimately engineer me into “joining the pioneer ranks” which was a big thing then. During one study he asked me if I had been giving any more thought to this. I said I had, and added “I guess it would help me be more independent.” All I meant was that living on my own I would have to take on more responsibilities, paying rent, bills, cooking , laundry etc. After I said this his whole manner changed. He became quiet, looked at me disapprovingly, then slowly said “So… you’re thinking about it because you want to be…Independent…?”. He said it in such a weird and ominous way that I was startled and wondered what happened. After a moment he relaxed and resumed the study. This should have been a Red Flag to me, but I couldn’t see it. I didn’t know that during that time period there were a lot of meeting and assembly talks about ‘the dangers of independent thinking’ and my use of the word must have triggered him.