remember this and other threads a few months back, on the subject that some kingdom halls in chile acquiesced to govt rules that every building should display the national flag on the day of celebration?.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/262505/kingdom-hall-chile-has-national-flag?size=20&page=1.
many of us here and around the net, calling on our dub experiences cried "never would that happen!
So now it's OK to fly a national flag on a day of national pride, so long as you, personally, don't worship it.
It obviously doesn't matter that everyone seeing it will attach a patriotic meaning to it, so long as you, in your mind, do not.
Hmm, where else might this principle be used?
"Well YOU may think I committed fornication with Sister Pioneer, but in my mind it was no such thing".
"Celebrating Christmas? Of course not, not in my mind at least."
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i have noticed something even long before even looking into ttatt, something about morris bothered me.
i am personally very attuned to body language, facial expressions and general subtleties in human interaction.
there was something about his face that really bothered me, and i will explain it.
Such a contemptuous sneer. He holds the fawning underlings in total disdain.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3y0cd2cocs.
.
What do Americans call a chaise longue, isn't it a chaise lounge?
That's just lazy, it's a "long chair".
Cordon bleu becomes cordon blue. I mean, come on, mixing up languages?
The only satisfaction I get when I see ignorant spelling, is that Google probably doesn't work well for their searches. GOOD!
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john ekrann, a helper to the gb, revealed the true reason for the change was protecting jws from apostates and other "anointed" christians.. see: http://tv.jw.org/#video/vodprogramsevents/pub-jwbmw_e_201501_2_video (around 4:55ms).
.
5:43 "as we get closer to the time of the end"
Say WHAT???
Are we in the time of the end or are we just getting closer to it?
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do we understand these three words: worship, idolatry, and blasphemy?.
most christians have a vague notion of worship, idolatry, and blasphemy already, but.
a clear definition is necessary.. we must take care to differentiate, however.. how the words appear in original language and how they are defined today might be at odds.. ____________________.
johnamos [4-1-07 WT- Showing Due Respect forthe Faithful Slave
In this WT is a very worrying application of scripture:
"The humble submission of the other sheep to the
anointed members of spiritual Israel was foretold in the prophecy of Isaiah: “This
is what Jehovah has said: ‘The unpaid laborers of Egypt and the merchants of
Ethiopia and the Sabeans, tall men, will themselves come over even to you, and
yours they will become. Behind you they will walk; in fetters they will come
over, and to you they will bow down. To you they will pray, saying, “Indeed God
is in union with you, and there is no one else; there is no other God.”’”
(Isaiah 45:14) Symbolically, the other sheep today walk behind the anointed
slave class and its Governing Body, following their leadership."
The interpretation of the verse speaks about those who will 'walk behind' the anointed.
That verse also speaks of bowing down and praying to those same ones (the anointed).
The GB did not emphasize that aspect but you know for certain they considered it.
This WT is pretty recent - 2007. I wonder when they will bring out that we should be bowing down to the anointed (although they would say only the GB)?
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over the past few days i've been reading and watching bill and melinda gates speak about their plans for a better world by 2030. they bet that due to technology and the compassion of people the world should improve more in the next 15 years than it has in all of history.
specifically lower child mortality rate, eradication of polio and guinea worm among other diseases, improvement of standards of living, greater access to education etc.. i'm a realist, so i'm not looking for miracles, but i believe most of these things are possible given the level of success they have reaped in other endeavors, and naturally emerging tech being used to make some of these projections possible.. you can see that the world is actually improving in many areas if you seek out the good news stories and statistics and look beyond the watchtower friendly fear porn about terrorism, and potential dangers from culturally diverse nations around the globe.
for instance 2014 had the lowest fatal airline accident rate in history despite the hyping of the ill fated malaysian airlines crashes.
The JW organisation is a responsive, reactive one. It evolves according to its' surroundings.
When 'prophecies' fail, they respond with new light.
When world conditions change, for the good or bad, they react with WT articles explaining how this fits with Bible chronology.
When all else fails, a few misquoted scientists and professors seem to keep the sheep placated.
The internet will be the death of the WT though. Once the older ones have died off the younger ones will intuitively research online and be horrified at the huge dishonesty of this organisation. Even Africa is getting online. The funds will dry up and they will be spending more than they are earning.
If you think JW's are niche now, their dwindling retention rate will see them fade into obscurity.
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the current jws do not cease to amaze.
here's their latest video on youtube and straight from bethel.. there is a lot of work involved in this.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwou6e5vwbo .
Lots and lots of young persons.
If I was 40+ and still at bethel, I'd be having a hard think!
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*** km 9/74 p. 8 question box ***as jehovahs servants we.....................do not want to give others the impression that the tetragrammaton is the symbol of jehovahs witnesses as a whole.
we have no organizational symbol to identify ourselves but show that we are jehovahs christian witnesses by living in harmony with gods will.john 13:35.. don't you just love those "old" lights?.
At the next convention I would love to see someone wearing the full jw dot org outfit.
Badges, tie, cuff-links, umbrella, ball cap, bag, bible cover...
What would it take for JW's to think "this has gone too far"?
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my wife's parents who are pretty obsessed with the watchtower religion are going on holiday more than they are at home these days and spending money like it is something evil to be got rid of.
i have not been to a meeting in a long time but after reading the thread on hysteria by campaign of hate and the whole tv broadcasting thing i got to wondering if they really are ramping up the 'sense of urgency'.
many on here are better informed than me so i'd be interested to hear whether this is a common thing..
Didn't you know? The end is very, very near!
w69 2/1 p. 92 They Feel the Urgency
"The end of this system of things is very, very close, and we all know it!"
w77 4/1 p. 198 par. 5 How Can You Find Real
Security?
evidence from fulfilled Bible prophecy shows that
we are very, very late in the "last
days" of this present wicked system of things.
w81 12/15 pp. 28-29 Active Christians in a
Critical Time
what indications do we have that it is going to
terminate very, very soon?
w97 1/1 p. 11 par. 18 Let All Glorify Jehovah!
...the end of Satan's system is very, very near!
w98 8/15 p. 24 Living and Preaching in the
Shadow of a Volcano
Though no one knows exactly when that end will
come, there is no doubt that it is coming and that it is very, very close.
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*** km 9/74 p. 8 question box ***as jehovahs servants we.....................do not want to give others the impression that the tetragrammaton is the symbol of jehovahs witnesses as a whole.
we have no organizational symbol to identify ourselves but show that we are jehovahs christian witnesses by living in harmony with gods will.john 13:35.. don't you just love those "old" lights?.
A more recent quote:
*** km 4/09 p. 4 Question Box ***
"Congregations
or individuals should not use logos or names of the organization’s legal
entities, or variations thereof, on their Kingdom Halls, signs, letterhead,
personal objects, and so forth...
The
Watch Tower logo, or a variation of it, should not be used in future Kingdom
Hall projects even if the Kingdom Hall is owned by a Watch Tower entity."
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