NotFormer

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Posts by NotFormer

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  47

  Norway

  by St George of England in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so the wt society is going to contest the recent norway ruling.. jehovah’s witnesses to appeal unconstitutional ruling in norway (jw.org).

  their true colours are shown in the statement: "the decision to deregister jehovah’s witnesses denies us the financial aid and other benefits that the government provides to over 700 registered religious communities in the country.

  additional consequences include losing the right to appoint and authorize ministers of jehovah’s witnesses as officiants for weddings.".

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  NotFormer

  I remember seeing a clip of a GB member whinging about the Norway decision. I wonder what the GB meetings were like about that. Would they have been outraged? Extremely offended? Did they even once question their own purported infallibility?
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  47

  Norway

  by St George of England in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so the wt society is going to contest the recent norway ruling.. jehovah’s witnesses to appeal unconstitutional ruling in norway (jw.org).

  their true colours are shown in the statement: "the decision to deregister jehovah’s witnesses denies us the financial aid and other benefits that the government provides to over 700 registered religious communities in the country.

  additional consequences include losing the right to appoint and authorize ministers of jehovah’s witnesses as officiants for weddings.".

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  NotFormer

  "I always figured it’s because they know the statement is correct and resent it.

  (Now watch me get one. 😏)"

  I deliberately upvoted this post. 😉
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  47

  Norway

  by St George of England in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so the wt society is going to contest the recent norway ruling.. jehovah’s witnesses to appeal unconstitutional ruling in norway (jw.org).

  their true colours are shown in the statement: "the decision to deregister jehovah’s witnesses denies us the financial aid and other benefits that the government provides to over 700 registered religious communities in the country.

  additional consequences include losing the right to appoint and authorize ministers of jehovah’s witnesses as officiants for weddings.".

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  NotFormer

  They could take the high road, of course. Approach the government department that decided to deregister them, ask them what needs to change to be re-registered, change it and ask to be re-registered. Simple.

  But WT loves taking governments to court, trying to make said governments look like fools in the process. Dem days is over. Governments are getting tired of religious freedom being used as a cover for tax fraud and crappy behaviour.
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  10

  Inaccuracies regarding pagan origins

  by AEnEm in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  easter and christmas have pagan origins.

  many of us were told that since birth.

  the evidence?

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  NotFormer

  Whenever Hislop is a source, you can be reasonably sure that you have a poor argument on your hands. Jack Chick's "Alberto" series of comics relied heavily on it, mainly to prove Catholicism's pagan origins.

  In certain circles you'll see the "Easter=Eostre=Ishtar" assertion.

  As pointed out above by the OP, the true origin of the term probably relates to a timetable, and not a goddess.
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  37

  They Came To The Door!

  by NotFormer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  going door to door with their "memorial" invitation.

  "so you can pass the emblems but nobody partakes?

  them: "we can explain who is to partake".. me: "all jesus' followers".

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  NotFormer

  If it had been you at the door that day, Earnest, I'm sure we could have had a very interesting discussion 🦉👄🤝, if I had remembered that verse. However, it wasn't you, it was a couple who seemed nowhere near as prepared for discussion as previous generations of JWs (see further lamentations on that subject above). It's a pity; I miss the days when you could have a meaty, substantial argument, er, I mean, "animated discussion" at the door*.

  As it was, I was totally unprepared myself. I saw a well dressed couple** knocking on nextdoor's door. The man was wearing a tie and had a piece of paper in his hand (which I now know to have been the memorial invitation). I thought that they were perhaps detectives or some sort of court officials, possibly serving a summons. When they headed towards our gate, I realised who they were and had to quickly struggle into a pair of pants***.

  *When I'm in the right frame of mind, that is. It doesn't always happen that way. Neither time I've had JWs at the door since I moved here were ideal for me. I was fortunately in a better state of health this second time, but to no avail. That whole encounter can't have been more than two to three minutes long. That being said, I've never slammed the door 🚪 on a JW. Both of these last two times, it has been the JWs who have slammed the door 🚪 on me, figuratively speaking. They were happy to get out the gate and close it behind them.

  **This was before the relaxing of the dress standards; how time flies!

  ***Dress standards at my house are even more relaxed than those at the Kingdom Hall****.

  ****This is an attempt at humour; even I know that Kingdom Hall dress standards haven't been relaxed that much! 😱
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  35

  Beware of someone who will "cry wolf"!

  by redsetter2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  the following is an excerpt from one of aesop's fables.. the boy who cried "wolf"!.

  there once was a shepherd boy who was bored as he sat on the hillside watching the village sheep.

  to amuse himself he took a great breath and sang out, "wolf!

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  NotFormer

  I wouldn't call it a witch-hunt. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. It'll take a while for that extraordinary evidence to filter through, if it exists. You can't blame people for exercising caution.
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  37

  They Came To The Door!

  by NotFormer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  going door to door with their "memorial" invitation.

  "so you can pass the emblems but nobody partakes?

  them: "we can explain who is to partake".. me: "all jesus' followers".

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  NotFormer

  I was just thinking about this thread and realised how rusty I am. I forgot to try bringing up this verse:

  1 Corinthians 11:26 (NWT ) "For whenever you eat this loaf and drink this cup, you keep proclaiming the death of the Lord, until he comes."

  'If the "coming" (parousia) happened in 1914, why the heck are you still doing the memorial, anyway??'

  Not that it would have stimulated any more discussion; they were already halfway out of the gate anyway.
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  7

  What is the Best Way to Reach Out to My JW Brother?

  by ApostolicJesus93 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i am not a jw, nor have i ever been.

  i'm an apostolic pentecostal.

  i do have an older half-brother who is about 13 years my senior.

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  NotFormer

  While I dislike the NWT, you're right: it's the bible whose wording he will be familiar with. Outside of several verses that the WT "tampered with*" to conform with their doctrines, it is usually adequate.

  The trouble I see is that the 17 years of non-communication has become habitual. He probably doesn't see you as family any more and feels no obligation towards your father or anyone else. Remember, "worldly" people (anyone not a JW) are condemned already. You could try using some biblical reasoning to reach out to him, but in his eyes you have no authority to be interpreting the Bible; that right belongs exclusively to the Governing Body in JW doctrine and practice.

  So yes, try and reach out. Perhaps you will be pleasantly surprised. Or perhaps not. Be prepared, either way.

  * This is the opinion of some, and is not meant to stir up that debate in this thread. There are plenty of other threads along those lines. The important thing is to address the OP's request for help reaching out to estranged JW family.
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  12

  Norway Supreme Court Makes WTS Reinstate Disfellowshipped Member

  by Golden4Altar in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  the supreme court corrects a mistake.

  massimo introvigne.

  article source.

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  NotFormer

  They've always loathed secular governments. They probably changed the "superior authorities" definition to make governments think that they were less of a bunch of arseholes, kind of like what they are doing today with their so-called reforms.

  I wonder if the above case was the tipping point, the incident that brought WT disfellowshipping policy to the attention of the Norwegian government?
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  25

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

  by Phizzy in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  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.

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  NotFormer

  Two decades ago the reputation of HLCs was that they were death squads which made sure that you were going to die if you needed a blood transfusion to live. DesirousOfChange suggests that this may have varied according to region. A bit like BOEs, it probably depends on the team make up as to how conservative and gung-ho they are. Some are probably more lenient than others.

  But HLCs are the elephant in the room. If the WT was really going to relax the blood policy, why the heck do they still have these committees of jackbooted enforcers*??

  It just goes to show that reform is not desired by the current GB, they are only conceding ground in the face of possible future government force.

  *Hyperbole alert!