NotFormer

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Posts by NotFormer

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  8

  2024 What's Afoot with World Religions?

  by KerryKing in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  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?

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  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.
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  37

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

  by gavindlt in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

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

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  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?
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  54

  If the org. Is being advised by consultants, is a name change in the works?

  by nowwhat? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  let's be honest, there's a stigma to the name jehovah's witness.

  if they are going more mainstream.

  i imagine the first recommendation was a name change.

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  NotFormer

  "Until this organization becomes more Christ like,,, it never deserves to have anything ""Christ"" in its name."

  Yes, they've never shown any signs of liking or respecting Jesus much. Not since Rutherford, at least.
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  54

  If the org. Is being advised by consultants, is a name change in the works?

  by nowwhat? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  let's be honest, there's a stigma to the name jehovah's witness.

  if they are going more mainstream.

  i imagine the first recommendation was a name change.

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  NotFormer

  Ron.W.: "Could they call themselves 'The Truth'...??"

  How about: "Struth"?
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  32

  Will recent dress-code changes affect the WTS negatively?

  by Wonderment in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in a span of a few months time, we have had many unexpected changes announced by the jw organization.

  some here have expressed the belief that a great number of witnesses will leave the religion.

  in fact, there is a great probability the opposite will be true.. yeah, ancient hardliners will have a hard time assimilating these changes, but the younger generation will likely welcome these changes.

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  NotFormer

  Vidiot: "Problem is, after a lifetime hearing everything from WTHQ as marching orders, the prospect of anything being genuinely optional is hard for them to wrap their heads around."

  After decades in an organisation where many messages are coded to mean something other than what it would mean in plain English, eg. "conscience issue", the R&F JWs are probably trying to find the hidden code: "What are they actually commanding us to do here?"
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  54

  If the org. Is being advised by consultants, is a name change in the works?

  by nowwhat? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  let's be honest, there's a stigma to the name jehovah's witness.

  if they are going more mainstream.

  i imagine the first recommendation was a name change.

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  NotFormer

  Just to add, if they were thinking of dropping "Jehovah" in order to mainstream, you'd think that they would be getting people used to it by using "God" more. A post just this week pointed to an article put out by them with "Jehovah" as virtually every second word*. They may have thought of it, rejected it and are doubling down to make sure.

  But it wouldn't be the first time they've apparently doubled down on something, only to unceremoniously drop it later. Although the "later" usually is a couple of decades or so...

  * https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/4697143395221504/june-2024-study-watchtower
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  54

  If the org. Is being advised by consultants, is a name change in the works?

  by nowwhat? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  let's be honest, there's a stigma to the name jehovah's witness.

  if they are going more mainstream.

  i imagine the first recommendation was a name change.

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  2. 
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  NotFormer

  I cringe whenever one of the higher-ups says "Jehovah", when anyone else, outside of the organisation, says "God". The name change could be possible. They probably couldn't have "church" in their title. Something like "Worldwide Congregations of the God of the Bible" might be enough to look more mainstream while maintaining some distinctiveness. Of course they might need to change the whole "New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures" title to something with "Bible" in it to facilitate a change of that sort.

  There are plenty of naming possibilities. "New Life", "New Hope", and so on.

  But a name change won't necessarily stick. Prince tried to be clever and ended up being "the singer formerly known as Prince". X is still called Twitter by most people. Be prepared for "the organisation formerly known as The Jehovah's Witnesses "
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  5

  Article-New Zealand: JW's Church takes case over Abuse in Care ruling to Court of Appeal

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/512321/jehovah-s-witness-church-takes-case-over-abuse-in-care-ruling-to-court-of-appeal?fbclid=iwar0ipoxydannpkym0rbwj-0ffxcmauhknchpvhql2l0azq4-garjfiihsqa.

  the court of appeal has reserved its decision in the jehovah's witness church's case challenging the abuse in care inquiry.. in wellington on thursday the church appealed a high court ruling that dismissed its claim to be excluded from the investigation.. the public gallery was packed with members of the church and abuse survivors.. lawyer sarah jerebine began the appeal by challenging the royal commission's decision to extend the inquiry's scope from institutional care to trust-based relationships between authority figures and children.. "it becomes a person with authority, not authority to care but just authority, can assume responsibility for a trust-based relationship.

  we say that is something quite different to what was intended and understood by what this commission would be looking at.".

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  NotFormer

  Vidiot: "It’s like they have trouble grasping that secular laws can, will, and need to be fine-tuned from time to time, and it ain’t always gonna be in their favor."

  That's an interesting point. It's perhaps seriously ironic that an organisation that flounders around from doctrine* to doctrine, new light to new light and is constantly making "adjustments", can't perceive that the real world might function that way too.

  * "Doctrine" might be too specific; perhaps "points of doctrine" might be more accurate.
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  32

  Will recent dress-code changes affect the WTS negatively?

  by Wonderment in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in a span of a few months time, we have had many unexpected changes announced by the jw organization.

  some here have expressed the belief that a great number of witnesses will leave the religion.

  in fact, there is a great probability the opposite will be true.. yeah, ancient hardliners will have a hard time assimilating these changes, but the younger generation will likely welcome these changes.

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  NotFormer

  I'm somewhat surprised that slacks doesn't mean anything in the UK. Here in Australia we usually follow a lot of Britishisms and slacks have always meant women's trousers over here (at least in my lifetime). Must be one of those times we followed the American pattern.
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  32

  Will recent dress-code changes affect the WTS negatively?

  by Wonderment in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in a span of a few months time, we have had many unexpected changes announced by the jw organization.

  some here have expressed the belief that a great number of witnesses will leave the religion.

  in fact, there is a great probability the opposite will be true.. yeah, ancient hardliners will have a hard time assimilating these changes, but the younger generation will likely welcome these changes.

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  NotFormer

  KerryKing: "The WT changed the dress code right after they lost the Spain court case against the Victims of Jehovah's Witnesses Association, where the Judge said that JWs are a cult because of the level of control they have over their members' dress and grooming.

  "This has nothing to do with them wanting to be more appealing as a religion, this is damage control, and if Norway is anything to go by, then WT stand to lose a lot lot more."

  Yes, this is not an attempt to be kinder or gentler. Whenever the WT changes anything, always look for the smoking gun of what governments are looking at with regards to the WT.

  Funny how Jehovah himself doesn't get a look in.