Growing up, I was always leary of tattooed people. There's a nurse in the local emergency department (I visit there way too frequently) whose arms are covered in tattoos, but contrary to my childhood fears, she is the sweetest lady you ever met. To be fair, her tattoos are all floral in nature.
NotFormer
JoinedPosts by NotFormer
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33
Jehovah's Witnesses and Tattoos
by NotFormer ini was wondering about the jw attitude towards getting tattoos.. redditors suggest that the only jws who have them would have got them before they were baptised.. jw.org gives a meally-mouthed "true christians wouldn't" response.. but no-one (that i've seen so far) answers the question i'm actually asking: is getting a tattoo after being baptised a disfellowshipping offence?.
if not disfellowshipable, how would a typical jw congregation treat someone who got a tattoo after baptism?
would they really treat it like it is a conscience issue?.
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Conscience Issues
by NotFormer inthought inspired by my post on tattoos: within the watchtower organisation, how many "conscience issues" actually are?
are people who actually do exercise their consciences in grey areas painting a target on their backs for the more hard-line dubs?
are they quietly avoided because " bad associations spoil useful habits"?
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NotFormer
Bluesbrother, can you think of any examples where they have published definite black and white directives as opposed to a previous conscience based stance?
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2023-August-S-147-Announcements And Reminders!
by Atlantis inpage 1. https://imgbox.com/32tnfnel.
page 2. https://imgbox.com/f8jh7e0m .
page 3. https://imgbox.com/chjmr4km .
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NotFormer
"30 years ago that was the case.
I'd bet you have a bit of gray around the temples"
Somewhat 😁
I was never a JW, and it's 20 years since I had much to do with the ex community. I remember there being much discussion on the WT transitioning away from the literature donation model.
I wonder if they wouldn't be in the financial dire straits they are today, if they weren't so paranoid about sales tax and paid their taxes like everyone else. 🙄
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double standard
by enoughisenough ini was thinking about the henrietta ??
trust that the org has with the questionable stock in warfare, entertainment, and tobacco among others.
why wouldn't they get rid of all of that?
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NotFormer
Just had a look at the most recently uploaded tax return for the trust. Substantial for the average person, but chicken feed to the WT. $3m in assets only yields about $50k after administration expenses. As Jeff has said in another thread about this, there are bigger smoking guns to worry about than this matter, albeit a very interesting situation.
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double standard
by enoughisenough ini was thinking about the henrietta ??
trust that the org has with the questionable stock in warfare, entertainment, and tobacco among others.
why wouldn't they get rid of all of that?
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NotFormer
Isn't the trust controlled by the trustee? While a beneficiary has no say in how the trust is run, unless they are also the trustee (that's possible under Australian trust law - not sure if the same is the case in the USA), there's nothing to stop a beneficiary making specific requests to the trustee. The trustee could very well decide to humour the beneficiary, if the request is reasonable.
If you have any more insight into this matter, I'd be very interested to know, Jeff!
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New NWT
by NotFormer inis it very different from the old version?.
has it changed much?.
how can i get a copy?
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NotFormer
I never thought of the cash handling aspect.
It's an interesting situation in this town. Not only do the dubs have a literature rack, but so do other groups. The Open Brethren have a table, giving away not just tracts, but full copies of the NKJV. There's even a bloke with a table set up to sell socialist literature and books. This usually happens on Saturday. A few times I've seen another group that I assume is not the Brethren because they have Gideon bibles, a guitar and are singing much more modern choruses than what the Brethren usually sing at the their services. I think they're from the main Pentecostal church in town.
Perhaps I could appeal to their pride: "There are so many people giving away bibles, but I have heard that yours is the most accurate and true to the original souces!" 😁😆
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New Version of NWT
by NotFormer inhow does it compare to the old one?.
has anything changed much?.
how do i get a copy?
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NotFormer
I'll have a look on yt
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34
2023-August-S-147-Announcements And Reminders!
by Atlantis inpage 1. https://imgbox.com/32tnfnel.
page 2. https://imgbox.com/f8jh7e0m .
page 3. https://imgbox.com/chjmr4km .
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NotFormer
What are these donation resolutions? Are they a pledge to give a certain amount? Are they individual pledges, or is it at the congregational level. Is the amount really decided by the elders as to how much they can shake-down the congregation for, or does Bethel decide how much they expect each congregation to cough up, while pretending that it is the elders' decision?
My understanding was that donations were tied to the literature. That each JW was expected to take and distribute a certain amount of literature and were expected to "donate' a certain amount for it. Now that they're not printing hard copies of the magazines (or even issuing the magazines on a fortnightly basis anymore) how are they maintaining the donation levels?
Will the GB ever decide to announce the "new light" of tithing?
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New NWT
by NotFormer inis it very different from the old version?.
has it changed much?.
how can i get a copy?
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NotFormer
Damn! This was an unintentional repost; I thought the first one wasn't going through.
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New NWT
by NotFormer inis it very different from the old version?.
has it changed much?.
how can i get a copy?
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NotFormer
Is it very different from the old version?
Has it changed much?
How can I get a copy? A hard copy, that is. The JWs sometimes have a trolley/cart in my local town centre. Could they get me a copy? Would they charge me for it, or expect a "donation"?
I could possibly call the local congregation but I don't want to end up on their radar.