Posts by twinkletoes

16

Calling all "apostates"

by alreadygone in

jw
friends

my parent's came to visit me this weekend.

i decided to start a conversation with my mom about jw's and why i don't go anymore.

i brought up the un scandal.

When we first heard about the UN scandal, we couldn't believe it, we really thought it was a cut and paste job being done on the internet. So we wrote to the Guardian newspaper and found out the exact dates when they ran the story, then we ordered back issues of those two papers. Even after receiving the info from the newspapers, we still tried to make excuses, we were in utter disbelief (30+ years in the Org) So my husband telephoned the UN itself and they confirmed that the WBTS was indeed affiliated for almost 10 years. We also got them to put this in writing for us and when their letter arrived we made sure that we kept the envelope with the UN postmark on the front. You may be able to make that phone call to the UN while your mother is visiting you and let her hear first-hand from the UN. Maybe then she will start to research this herself.

I hope she will see reason, but it may take some time, it took us over one year to really accept the hypocrisy of it all.

Twinkletoes

7

Should The WTBTS Be Held Accountable?

by Honesty in

should the wtbts be held accountable for hurricane katrina relief donations even though they direct contributions be noted for 'world wide work'?.

should they be reported to the us government and, if so, for what since they claim the donations will be spent where it will 'do the most good'?

are they acting in a morally responsible manner by the way they are accepting donations for hurricane katrina disaster relief efforts?.

twinkletoes

A good question

I would like to think they could be held accountable, but I feel that it more the responsibility of the donor to ignore the fact that they ask you to put World Wide Work on your donation and for them to insist/specifically state that you want your donation to go to "The Hurricane Katrina Appeal". They would then be bound by charity law to treat this donation as "Restricted Funding" and this donation would not be able to be used for any other purpose what so ever. This ruling applies in the UK (see Charity Commissioners website) but I should think that other countries must have similar laws.

But then can you imagine the "Good and Faithful Dubs" going against the Elders/Society?

Twinkletoes

49

WTBTS: Do Not Mark Donations For Relief Efforts - Mark World Wide Work

by Honesty in

i have just talked with the wtbts service department at 718-560-5000.. you can contribute for hurricane katrina relief efforts through your local kingdom hall and put your donation in the contribution box marked for the world wide work.

you may also send donations directly to the branch office... to the brooklyn address.

donations should be marked for the world wide work and not specificically reserved for relief efforts.

twinkletoes

WT, so called Christians - well they are certainly showing their true colours. This thread needs to be kept live!

bttt

76

E-Watchman Has Sent NGO Letters to Over 5000 U.S. Congregations!

by Greenpalmtreestillmine in

e-watchman has sent over 5000 letters to congregations in the u.s informing them of the ngo debacle and a similar one to 101 branches around the world.

and according to his guestbook post he has signed his real name to the letters!

great work and great news!

twinkletoes

I think that this thread (although it may be an old one) is worth keeping at the top, especially for all the new ones joining this forum. His letter is excellent and I have copied it and will put it in my "JW" file for future reference.

bttt

twink

34

Our New Orleans is gone.

by LyinEyes in

jw
friends

after talking to many of the evacuees from new orleans and watching all of the local coverage , interviews of surviors ,they are just thankful to be alive.

they are also in deep despair over family members who they can not find, they don't know if they are alive or dead.

not to mention the ones they know are gone.. there are so many are just heartbroken that the home they knew is gone forever .

twinkletoes

I too was saddened by the sight of all of those poor people and the conditions they are trying to survive under. It's bad enough to view the scenes of devastation, but the TV can't convey the smells - it must be awful.

I felt very angry that it was taking days to get the very basics to these people, and then I heard the UN Spokesman (Jans Egeland) say that they were ready to give any help required, but they had to wait to be ASKED by the US. The same sort of response came from the EU and a quite a few other countries. WHAT IS HAPPENING - IS THE US GOVERNMENT TRYING TO GO IT ALONE. Why don't they accept help from the other countries?

I too would have loved to visit New Orleans as I am coming to Texas (first time in the US for me) in Oct to visit my son.

Twink

20

Only Jehovah appoints elders ?

by KAYTEE in

prior to my resignation from the jws, i heard a taped talk by bro.

kite (appeared to be an american from the bethell) where he spoke about some-one in a communist country joining the org.

and making his way "up the ladder", eventually finishing up as a district overseer.

twinkletoes

Jethro

One elder's comment to my husband (Kaytee) was "You will never be an elder because you would not work with the body of elders" (in other words - he would rock the boat too often!) even though at that time, he met all the scriptural requirements. How different to another congregation that we visited whilst on holiday, when one of the elders of that congregation, tried to get us to live there saying that he would soon be an elder, ( because they were short of elders) -

SUPPLY AND DEMAND or SPIRITUAL APPOINTMENTS?

Of course, now he is so pleased that he did'nt ever reach those "dizzy heights".

Twink

9

Christ---Jehovah God

by RevFrank in

"to those who through the righteousness of our god and savior jesus christ.

" 11 peter 1:1 emphatic diaglott.

"the glorious appearing of our great god and savior, jesus christ," titus 2:13 emphatic diaglott .

twinkletoes

I wonder if we will ever be able to fathon out this doctrine. If Jesus and Jehovah are the same, are we talking about part of the Trinity?. There are many other scriptures that indicate that Jesus did not consider himself to be the same as God Almighty. Phil 2 v 6 ..."although he was existing in God's form gave no consideration to a seizure, namely that he should be EQUAL to God." and v 9 .. "for this very reason God exalted Him to a superior position and gave him the name that is above all other names " ...? that's from the New World Translation, but I have also checked out the Amplied Bible, which gives the same meaning. If Jesus is the same as Jehovah, how could he exalt himself to a superior position when he has already got the highest position?

Twink

58

When Did You Realize That You REALLY Were Going To Die?

by minimus in

jw
friends

and not live forever on paradise earth?

twinkletoes

I suppose it was when I finally realised that I had been so gullible and had accepted all of the JW teachings and then had the "rug pulled from under my feet" when I discovered all of the lies and hypocrises from the JWs.

I don't believe though that this life is all there is. If there is a God who created all of the universe, then he must have a purpose for the rest of the universe. This planet earth is such a tiny speck in the whole scheme of things, that I do believe that there must be much more to come. More scrolls to be opened - and afterall Jesus said he was going away to prepare a place for us - in his father's mansion there are many abobes (or something like that)

It has been recently discovered that mankind has an area of their brain which apparently is for spiritual matters and that couldn't have evolved. Spiritually is not necessary for evolution.

I guess I am still hoping, but then if I die and there is nothing after this life - I won't know anything anyway. As has already been said, the concern is for the ones you leave behind

Twink

10

Does anyone know?

by Honesty in

the wtbts has some interesting comments but they still don't describe the why, how or what of the matter.

they also twist the scripture proofs they provide as evidenced below:.

*** it-1 966 goat ***.

twinkletoes

Interesting point.

I have first hand experience of goats, I kept goats for about 13 years, milking them each day. They are very strong willed and independant, but great personalities. where-as our next door neighbour sometimes has sheep on his land, and one of them lay down on a slope in the field and couldn't get up again, the next morning he found it dead - they don't seem to be able to work out anything themselves ! I certainly cannot image the goat just lying there. Maybe there is a moral to this (true) story after-all

Twinkletoes

79

DID YOU KNOW THIS about the BIBLE?

by Terry in

jw
friends

the oldest manuscripts are not considered the most reliable.. there are no "autograph" texts.

none.. there are no "original" manuscripts.. no two manuscripts agree.. the bible as we know it only came together in the form it now holds because certain men decided it should do so.. neither jesus nor his apostles or disciples carried bibles.. the apostle paul didn't carry a bible and none of his letters were in any of the scrolls considered holy scripture at the time he was preaching and forming christian theology as it is now understood to be.. largely, what the bible is today, is the result of certain men with certain agendas who had the authority to make their project happen.

they also had the power to destroy writings which did not agree with their agenda.

twinkletoes

Terry,

Very interesting post, thanks for taking the time to let us have your thoughts and obviously the results of your research.

It's good to see some "meaty" stuff to read and appreciated others comments too.

I have often wondered about the books that never made it into the Bible.

Twinkletoes