Posts by NotFormer

13

Do COs and Branch Officials Have A Rulebook?

by NotFormer in

elders have a rulebook.

do cos and their superiors have a similar written set of guidelines setting out everything they're supposed to be on top of?.

what prompted the question was a statement by jehovax that there is a new elders manual coming out due to the new changes.

NotFormer

Whoever he is, the assertion didn't ring true for me. For that to work, it's not just the elders who have to change in attitude, but everyone up the appeals/enforcement line. Hence my question about rulebooks. If the elders book were to be changed, the other rulebooks would have to be as well. If kinder/gentler was the organisation's goal, a lot would have to be changed all over the org.

I don't personally believe that any of the changes have anything to do with the WT becoming kinder and gentler. It is all about convincing governments that they are. Most here have pointed out that there are many more changes that are needed that the conservative and slowly moving organisation haven't addressed yet. They've only done the minimum that they hope they can get away with.

25

The TWO new things to come this year for J.W Org !

by Phizzy in

while having my first strong black coffee of the day, i was thinking about what may be to come next as the org.

rapidly goes mainstream, and this is what i came up with :.

1) they will introduce for sunday, the after meeting fellowship, a time for just chatting but with the added bonus of coffee and snacks.

NotFormer

I doubt it. The organisation is famous for its "Who will be accountable?" stance on anything social. And they wouldn't allow the service of food and drink under their roof due to liability issues.

It's a no-brainer to ordinary people to lighten up and allow people to have a bit of fun. But it's not in the WT's DNA.

As for blood, that's a possibility. But with the vaccine mandate, they still showed signs of being happy to dictate what medical procedures people should and shouldn't have.

BTW, Phizzy, despite my doubts, I hope that you are 100% right! 🤞

13

Do COs and Branch Officials Have A Rulebook?

by NotFormer in

elders have a rulebook.

do cos and their superiors have a similar written set of guidelines setting out everything they're supposed to be on top of?.

what prompted the question was a statement by jehovax that there is a new elders manual coming out due to the new changes.

NotFormer

Elders have a rulebook. Do COs and their superiors have a similar written set of guidelines setting out everything they're supposed to be on top of?

What prompted the question was a statement by jehovax that there is a new elders manual coming out due to the new changes. And he suggests that elders will have virtually no control over R&F regarding disfellowshipping situations because the COs and Branches will be all for letting the DFed go virtually scot-free as far as reinstatement goes. (That's my understanding of the phrasing of it, anyway 🤔)

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5078791571898368/new-standard-on-how-they-treat-disfellowship

8

Anyone Have a Photo of The Current 9 Member Governing Body?

by Vanderhoven7 in

governing body members.

kenneth eugene cook, jr. (2018).

gage fleegle (2023).

NotFormer

A photo of the Banana Splits being brought to order at a meeting might be good enough. Fleegle wields the gavel:

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/4813137241440256/fleegle-calls-gb-meeting-order

108

Who really is the Faithful and Discreet Slave? The recent changes and the Governing Body's 10 year plan

by redsetter2 in

i am sure we were all shocked at the governing body update #2 with the unusual and impulsive changes set forth.. i am an insider at whq, and when i was on reddit and in communication with avoidjw i explained to the best of my ability that the approach on disfellowshipping was going to change based on the new light at the 2023 agm, that the jubilee rumor was false, and there were going to be changes on how jws approached disfellowshipping in response to the norway situation if it didn't turn out in watchtower's favor.

the decision came because of a legal blow to watchtower, not because "holy spirit" wad directing a faithful slave, who is going to become the "evil slave", more explanation on this soon.. everything i stated came true.

i left reddit exjw community due to the immature and mentally unstable nature there, and yet as has been the case my words came true.

NotFormer

LaFrancia: "According to Furuli, only 11 of the 45 sins currently the subject of judicial committees (today they are just called committees) are based on the Bible."

Is there a list of these 45 sins available out there somewhere? It would help my understanding of these matters immensely if there is! A list of the 11 actually biblical sins would be helpful too.

194

GB Update #2, March 2024: Women allowed to wear pants, no ties/coats required if not giving a talk, & now able to greet DF ones in the KH!

by WingCommander in

jw
friends

you heard me correct, this is not a joke, and it is not april fools day!

the asl portion of the governing body updated #2 (march 2024) has been released a bit early and someone caught it.

summary: .

NotFormer

Vidiot: "...could they be, for all intents and purposes, beta-testing on offenders like the WTS (justifiably), to see how effective it’ll be on worse groups like, say, Scientology?"

You mean that they're saying to the WT: "You're not the ultimate badass religion you think you are, we're just using you for training purposes (and target practice)!"?

8

2024 What's Afoot with World Religions?

by KerryKing in

the parliament of the world's religions, member of the united religions initiative, has on their website a focus24 page, they call this year the year of democracy.. apparently an unusually large proportion of the world's countries are holding national elections this year, it's certainly the case here in ireland.

this somehow is the focus of their mission, it reads well, you know peace, love and justice etc.

i am wondering if the the watchtower society is a part of this movement, seeing as they have the 501c3 agreement they are also a state church, therefore bound to follow the states laws and regulations for fear of fines or loss of the 501c3 religious charity status, loss of tax exemption etc.. if so, we could be seeing many more changes this year.. does anyone have more detailed info on what rules and regulations 501c3 religious charities have to comply with?

NotFormer

Does any other country, similarly to the US system, allow tax deductibility for donations to churches in their own right*?

*As opposed to the charitable organisations that those churches may be operating at arm's length.

Edited to add: Can corporations donate to churches and get a tax deduction, or are only donations by individuals tax deductible?

TV Show About A Man Escaping Blood Transfusions

by NotFormer in

i found this on youtube:.

https://youtu.be/aoof0ug4pbc?si=dki3kgfcmtv_kggw.

does anyone remember it?

NotFormer

I found this on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/Aoof0ug4Pbc?si=dki3KGFcMtV_kGGW

Does anyone remember it? If so do you remember if it sparked any discussion among JWs, back in the day?

8

2024 What's Afoot with World Religions?

by KerryKing in

the parliament of the world's religions, member of the united religions initiative, has on their website a focus24 page, they call this year the year of democracy.. apparently an unusually large proportion of the world's countries are holding national elections this year, it's certainly the case here in ireland.

this somehow is the focus of their mission, it reads well, you know peace, love and justice etc.

i am wondering if the the watchtower society is a part of this movement, seeing as they have the 501c3 agreement they are also a state church, therefore bound to follow the states laws and regulations for fear of fines or loss of the 501c3 religious charity status, loss of tax exemption etc.. if so, we could be seeing many more changes this year.. does anyone have more detailed info on what rules and regulations 501c3 religious charities have to comply with?

NotFormer

As far as I know, the USA is fairly unique* in that they allow tax deductions for donations to churches. Where I live, you only get tax deductions if you donate to a properly registered charity that actually does charitable stuff, not simply for donations to the church you attend. So references to the WT's charitable status don't really resonate here.

Churches might have a side gig, like a food bank, that does have tax deductible status. Maybe the WT has something similar, like an emergency relief fund to which JWs can donate, but I can't see them emphasising something like that over donations directly meant for Bethel to use however it likes.

* Well, it's certainly different from here. I haven't looked into at length. I am aware that some European countries do stuff like the Norway thing which was pulled out from under the WT. Not sure if that's the same thing, though.

37

s-395 Adjustments-to-handling-serious-wrongdoing-in-the-congregation

by gavindlt in

this was posted on jw leaks.. my truth's | dad seeking truth.

.

NotFormer

Vidiot: "Ironic that the WT leadership got so scared of “apostasy” that over the decades, they dialed disfellowshipping up to eleven across the entire spectrum of, thus driving folks to apostasy who would otherwise have never even remotely considered it."

Identifying paradoxes within their approaches seems never to have been their strong point.

Jazzbo: "The Appeal Committee change is significant. I used to sit on an Appeal Committee and the rule was that the person appealing had to be repentant at the time they were being disfellowshipped. If they were only repentant when meeting with the Appeal Committee that wasn't good enough."

The terror had to be real, and palpable, all through the process? So maybe they are discovering a small part of the quality of mercy. Sad that they have done so, not because they believe that God is watching, but they now know that governments are.

Many believe that Tony Morris was holding all this reform back. If that was the case, how long ago could these changes have happened if he was holding them back?

The Norway thing is relatively new; would the disfellowshipment and shunning rules have changed without that happening?