NotFormer

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Posts by NotFormer

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  30

  FDS 1919 Declaration Date

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  did rutherford have any "prophetic" justification for 1919 as the date that jesus declared him (ahem, the wt organisation) the fds?

  such as some calculation attached to 1914?

  that in 1919, jesus would come looking for his true organisation?.

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  NotFormer

  The way they always spun momentous prophesies and symbols of arguably global import into ridiculously mundane events in their own little circle never ceased to amaze me. For example, isn't there one where the prophecy is supposed to be fulfilled by the holding of a convention one year?? I wouldn't be surprised to see the sun and the moon being struck as having its fulfilment on that momentous day when da Judge had lemon meringue pie instead of apple pie for dessert. 🙄 It makes about the same amount of sense.
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  49

  The ''dreaded'' birthday cake

  by RULES & REGULATIONS in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the watchtower—study edition | september 2023. study article 39. let mildness be your strength.

  11 if a workmate asks, for example, why we do not celebrate birthdays, consider: could he be wondering whether we are allowed to have a good time?

  or might he feel that our position will dampen the company’s team spirit?

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  NotFormer

  No bible verse says that God is displeased with us if we celebrate the day of our birth.
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  20

  I hate the way they talk.

  by Riley in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  what is with the jw cadence when they speak.

  do they think they are teaching people ?

  they sound like pro wrestlers doing promos or shakespearean actors.

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  NotFormer

  jhine: "I get annoyed at statements like " one church said " . Which church.? Always this very vague quality about the " information " that they are giving"

  They give out very little real information on what outside denominations believe deliberately, by design. They are "the Truth" and everyone else is "not the truth". Babylon the Great. Keeping the illusion that all denominations have an amorphous sameness to them helps them condemn all outsiders equally. "One church said" is probably WT code for "All churches believe this".
  
  
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  30

  FDS 1919 Declaration Date

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  did rutherford have any "prophetic" justification for 1919 as the date that jesus declared him (ahem, the wt organisation) the fds?

  such as some calculation attached to 1914?

  that in 1919, jesus would come looking for his true organisation?.

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  NotFormer

  Thanks everyone for filling me in on this. The 1919 date always seemed a bit odd to me, if it was connected to 1914. A difference of five years isn't a very biblical number; it's always 7 or 3.5, in those prophetic passages that the WT loves. That they stretched out the 3.5 makes sense, in a warped sort of way (to me, it smacks of desperation). It's nice to know that they at least tried to create a (albeit tenuous) connection with something biblical. 🙄
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  28

  The Saddest Thing About Tony Morris's Removal

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i've mentioned before how i've wondered how tony morris must have felt when he was sacked.

  yes, i know he's a rehensible human being who got served a healthy dose of karma, or, if you like, divine judgement.

  to go from having all there is to have within the world he lived in, to where he is now; that's a long fall.

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  NotFormer

  Beth Sarim, I've been thinking lately about Rutherford's era, and how he was setting up a government that would outlast the world's governments. He died early in 1942, so he didn't even live to see the end of Hitler's government.

  The 'Tower has survived in one form or another for over a century. But will it see the next century?
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  28

  The Saddest Thing About Tony Morris's Removal

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i've mentioned before how i've wondered how tony morris must have felt when he was sacked.

  yes, i know he's a rehensible human being who got served a healthy dose of karma, or, if you like, divine judgement.

  to go from having all there is to have within the world he lived in, to where he is now; that's a long fall.

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  NotFormer

  BluesBrother, until the facts are known, speculation is all there is to go on. If his withdrawal was voluntary and under reasonably peaceful circumstances, then my heartbreaking scenario of a bloke betrayed by his mates is speculation in the wrong direction.

  markweatherill, Tonus suggested a more amicable split; perhaps the stalemate was solved peacefully. That two thirds majority thing has been a hindrance to them ever since it was implemented. I believe Ray Franz said that the blood doctrine would have been abandoned decades ago if a simple majority rule had been in place.

  TonusOH, most speculation I've read up to this point has been about a hostile ousting. A more reasonable mutual agreement might explain why they have been able to keep the lid on everything. If nobody was seriously damaged, then there are no axes to grind, and no dirt to spread.

  Vidiot, that two thirds majority again. 🙄 Could they ever relax the blood doctrine, if Tony Morris was one of those who kept voting for it? Or is it so entrenched, and the lawyers so against removing it (and thereby exposing them to more litigation), that it's here to stay until the 'Tower falls?
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  5

  A New Name for an Old Orgy - Awake 95 2/8 pp. 26-27

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  yep, that is the title of an article in the 1995 awake magazine alerting people to the horrors of valentine's cards & candy.

  the message is simple, if you eat valentine's candy at school while no one is looking, it's nearly the same as being in an orgy.

  i just can't believe some of the garbage i used to read and regard as acceptable literature.

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  NotFormer

  It's very hard to participate in an orgy without at least some other people being aware. So their very analogy, that it's the same as eating candy while nobody is looking, is flawed from the get go.
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  28

  The Saddest Thing About Tony Morris's Removal

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i've mentioned before how i've wondered how tony morris must have felt when he was sacked.

  yes, i know he's a rehensible human being who got served a healthy dose of karma, or, if you like, divine judgement.

  to go from having all there is to have within the world he lived in, to where he is now; that's a long fall.

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  NotFormer

  ExBethelitenowPIMA: This, completely! Usually WT secrets are eventually shouted from the housetops. That they've kept the lid so tightly on the Tony Morris issue is impressive, to say the least. Perhaps his congregation has been offered various threats and incentives to keep things quiet. And outsiders (people from other congregations) being shooed away (perhaps by security). I suppose the issue is so sensitive that anyone in the know will be afraid to leak because such leaks would be traceable. This doesn't seem to be the run of the mill open secret that everyone in Bethel knows. I imagine that, whatever happened, this event is heavily lawyered, and a lot of NDAs are involved.

  What the heck did he do??
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  30

  FDS 1919 Declaration Date

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  did rutherford have any "prophetic" justification for 1919 as the date that jesus declared him (ahem, the wt organisation) the fds?

  such as some calculation attached to 1914?

  that in 1919, jesus would come looking for his true organisation?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  NotFormer

  Did Rutherford have any "prophetic" justification for 1919 as the date that Jesus declared him (ahem, the WT organisation) the FDS? Such as some calculation attached to 1914? That in 1919, Jesus would come looking for His true organisation?

  Or was it purely because he was released from prison? And therefore he pulled a complete extra-biblical doctrine out of his butt?
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  29

  No Reporting of Time, Tithing is OK, Now WT Teaches a "Rapture" - What's Next?

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  those who will be taken to heaven will first need to be “changed, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, during the last trumpet.” therefore, while we do not use the term “rapture” here because of its wrong connotation, the remaining faithful anointed will be gathered together in an instant of time.

  - the watchtower—study edition | july 2015. ok so they refuse to use the word "rapture".

  kinda like they refuse to use the word church and clergy (except when it suits their purposes in court cases).

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  NotFormer

  "Then there was the occasion when a turkey dinner was served in the school cafeteria just before Thanksgiving vacation. Rick, who was in the first grade at the time, refused to eat it. Only after persistent explaining by the teacher that it was not Thanksgiving Day nor a real Thanksgiving dinner, and after a phone call to Carol, did Rick’s conscience allow him to eat that meal"

  I imagine that the spin would be that Rick was giving "a fine witness". The teacher probably thought that he was a legalistic little shit. Not that "Rick", nor that situation, are real.