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.
NotFormer
JoinedPosts by NotFormer
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35
Beware of someone who will "cry wolf"!
by redsetter2 inthe 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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37
They Came To The Door!
by NotFormer ingoing 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 ini 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 inthe 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 inwhile 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!
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13
Do COs and Branch Officials Have A Rulebook?
by NotFormer inelders 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.
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NotFormer
Thanks, Atlantis!
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12
Norway Supreme Court Makes WTS Reinstate Disfellowshipped Member
by Golden4Altar inthe supreme court corrects a mistake.
massimo introvigne.
article source.
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NotFormer
Bringing this back to the top because of the irony. The Norwegian court directed the WT to reverse a disfellowshipping decision but, as pointed out by many above, the WT would get around it by sanctioning her for something else. So, the WT gets to laugh at another government and thumb their nose at it.
Fast forward to now. The Norwegian government gets the last laugh by disqualifying the WT from the funding that religions usually get.
It's interesting. This shows that the decision by the Norwegian government didn't just come out of the blue, but had been brewing for some time.
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25
The TWO new things to come this year for J.W Org !
by Phizzy inwhile 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
Balaamsass2: "They should eliminate child baptism. No modern country allows minors to enter into a contract. Get rid of the "blood card" in all its forms for minors."
Amen! Until minors aren't pressured into baptism and not encouraged to refuse transfusions*, they haven't gone far enough in their reforms.
"Stop allowing elders to stick their noses into police matters, and criminal investigations...especially child abuse."
Until they come out and say: "Call the police, not the elders ", their so-called reforms to date mean very little.
* Remember that horrible Watchtower cover in the 90s, that bragged about the children whom they had convinced to die, rather than to have transfusions that may have saved their lives?
Athanasius: "Regarding the Blood issue, isn't the Watchtower's present policy “Don't ask, don't tell?"
If that's the case, have they disbanded the HLCs? If so, when did that happen?
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6
Open letter to all JWs
by EdLogan init is useless for you to contact me, i already know that according to the new update of the governing body, you can contact me.. but the problem is... you can only invite me to meetings, and at most say "hello" once i'm there.. i already know.. so, if you really want to know how i'm doing, even if it's irrelevant for the purposes of this contact, i'll tell you.. i am not well.
i'm depressed and full of psychotropic drugs.
of course, being isolated from everyone i knew and loved didn't help.. here's how i am.. and for a thousand reasons, there is no question of becoming an "associate" in the congregation again.. ergo, it's useless.. there's no point in contacting me, because that's the only goal.. it's not out of a rush of love.
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NotFormer
That sucks, bro!
You're completely right, changing a bit now doesn't change that they were cruel to you when it matters. If the old treatment is wrong now, it was wrong then, yet your loved ones treated you appallingly, not because it was their natural instinct, but because they were told to by a bunch of arseholes. A bunch of arseholes who haven't changed, who aren't any more loving than they used to be, but who need to convince the world's governments that they have changed.
It begs the question, if they are Jehovah's loving organisation, why do they have to try to look less hateful?
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Do COs and Branch Officials Have A Rulebook?
by NotFormer inelders 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.
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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.