Posts by konceptual99

69

Not Sure What I Believe In Anymore

by nuthouse escapee in

jw
friends

inside my head is a tangled ball of wool when it comes to what i believe.

i have days where i believe in a creator and other days when i don't.

then there are times when i refer to this as believing in 'something' but what exactly this something is, i have no idea.

Brazen Conduct

by EmptyInside in

their new phrase,that i never read in the bible.

it was used in the watchtower study today.

and an elder used marrying an unbeliever as an example of "brazen" conduct.. does this mean they are going to start disfellowshipping those who marry unbelievers?

They've slipped this one in. As per the info above it seems to have been first been used with the elders as a way of defining non compliance to the org. It's since started to be used in publications, this weeks WT being a good example. I seem to recall it was refered to in the DC programme as well. Of course you will not find the full definition outside of the Flock book thereby providing the elders with a stick that the R&F don't really know about.

51

"We don't believe only JWs will survive Armageddon, only Jehovah can read hearts" - Logic Fallacies by JWs (or us)?

by cognisonance in

recently i talked to someone i care about who is in the jw group and stated i feel that believing billions of people are going to die when armegedon comes and only a jws will survive would be unloving of a god.

the response is one that i've also noticed others have experienced.

in short the answer is something like the following: "we don't believe that, only jehovah can read hearts.

konceptual99

I've never accepted that only dubs would survive. I've always looked at it as we just don't know and it's down to God. I've squared that with the need to preach in the past as simply giving people the opportunity to come to a knowledge of the "truth". In my current questioning state of mind, however, I am much more interested in what the party line is as only a couple of weeks ago an elder said only witnesses would survive in a talk from the platform.

The other thing I have noticed after having attended several funerals of non believers given by brothers (eg parents and non believing relatives) is how they have always raised the likelyhood of a resurrection even though these ones have been close to the "truth" but never accepted it. Nice comforting thought but surely is at odds with the base reality of what is ultimately taught.

16

Jehovah's victory in France!

by Kensho in

jw
friends

somebody please explain this to me!.

last talk of the dc today,( i know everyone has already attended by now, i just put it off as long as possible) the bro.

read letter from gb about jah's stricking the jaw of the gov.

konceptual99

Hey S&N, thanks for the detailed response. I have not seen the detail before on why the French government were applying the tax and therefore what the context of the stance taken by the society is. I never knew that the French defined dubs as a cult. The WTS have always portrayed this as a discrimation issue and it seems they are not questioning the inclusion of the org in that list but rather trying to get out of paying a tax that know is due.

What about TheOldHippie's points however? Is he correct in saying they are the only religious org to have to pay this tax - from the list it seems like there should be loads. Is it not also fair to say that they did volunteer the info as opposed to have it demanded of them.

I have some friends in France - I'm going to ask them for their background on the situation.

16

Jehovah's victory in France!

by Kensho in

jw
friends

somebody please explain this to me!.

last talk of the dc today,( i know everyone has already attended by now, i just put it off as long as possible) the bro.

read letter from gb about jah's stricking the jaw of the gov.

konceptual99

S&N... Maybe I'm being thick here but I don't get the detail of the technicality from the reports you posted. Perhaps it's cos it's 5 am and I've been working all night! Can you explain in a bit more detail why the wts should have been paying the tax? Many thanks!

8

Have you ever put HBH on house to house record?

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

hbh=home but hiding.

.

konceptual99

I can't remember the last time I wrote down anything on a house to house record. Given that I've managed to do about 1 hour in the ministry over the past 3 months yet not get called out as a MS, worrying about filling that paper work in has not been on my radar for months and months and months.

9

New iphone 5 reminds me of JW

by bobld in

jw
friends

many are looking forward to the new iphone 5 after awhile they will be disappointed.. just like jw always looking forward to a new release at d.c. only to be disappointed.. they always look for some new thing.you see new always intrigues but never satisfies..

konceptual99

I have to disagree. The iPhone5 may not be a whizz bang product with loads of changes but why does it need to be? It has been doing what it does very well for years and has spawned loads of copies that overall do not really give you anything better. The only competing product in terms of style, quality, operation ease etc is the galaxy s3. For example, Apple have managed improve things like screen size without compromising backwards compatibility. You ask any android developer how they cope with the plethora of screen sizes and resolutions and it's a nightmare.

So to bring the analogy back to the dubs... Apple innovated. When did the wts ever innovate? Apple found an interface that worked and stuck with it. Has the wts stuck with a theology that works for its "users"? Apple spend ages in r&d - trying to find the right combination of tech and usability. The wts spends ages designing new light but never something that is really beneficial. Apple may not have some of the features of other phones such as the tech for contactless payments but you can bet when they do it will not compromise the form of the product. By contrast the WTS are always looking for ways of standing out from everyone else that just burden the bulk of the congregation.

The only area that I can see apple and the wts being similar in is the level of control they want to exercise over their product and consumers. Apple is notoriously bad at being open and I think we all know another org that is pretty similar....

39

Restrictions On JW Members: What Are They??

by Cold Steel in

can someone please explain the rules and regulations jws are expected to abide by as it pertains to the outside world?

for example, if a jw wanted to debate his religion on a site like this, can he/she do so without fear of reprisal from the church?.

and for those who have cable or satellite television, what are their restrictions?

konceptual99

Hi CS. You say that apostates only refers to those who have never been baptised. H ave I misunderstood something as its a label that is most definately applied to baptised witnesses and is a disfellowshipping offence. As an active witness, if I was outed to my elders for posting on this board I would face a jc and be df'ed as an apostate if I did not submit to having my thinking "readjusted". Never mind that ive not promoted any "false" teaching, just expressed some doubts.

In fact, Being considered an apostate is about the worst thing a witness can be labelled. You can manoeuvre your way into someone else's marriage, play the df game and be back in after a few months or you can be a convicted pedo but in good standing - no problem. Tell someone you struggle with the GB being led by holy spirit and you are out in a flash and hated with a venom.

60

Meeting attendance

by DATA-DOG in

konceptual99

Just for clarification purposes as far as I have ever known meeting attendance *should* be above 100% all the time. This is because of the way the congregation size is calculated. The base figure is the number of publishers. This includes all the members with record cards and includes inactive ones and unbaptised publishers. As a minimum the ideal attendance is 100% of this number. You the have children and others who are not yet publishers. In a congregation of, say, 120 publishers (to use my cong as an example) you would expect to get around 140-150 if everyone of the publishers plus the extras attend. When I was on the hall attendants team we were instructed to count everyone above around the age of 4.

The reality is that with illness, holidays, skiving etc. you are never going to have 100% of the publishers at the meeting but this should be made up for by the extras. This means that a mid week attendance of, say, 90 and 115 on a Sunday in our cong is pretty poor. I would also add that this has been commented on every visit by the CO in his meeting to the elders and servants for ages.

I would also note that our memorial attendance has been dropping and we had around 170 last time. Bearing in mind we probably should be around 150 at full strength it ain't exactly mind blowing. What is more, our congregation is by no means unique. It's a very similar picture throughout the UK, especially outside of the largest cities.

25

where is that quote in the WT on even thinking against the WT constitutes apostasy?

by WildeLover in

can someone direct me to that quote ?

i think it was back in the 80s?

i have looked and can't find it anywhere?.

konceptual99

I had an elder say to me very recently that if you are looking for a definitive stance or principle on a matter the there are two places to go. One is the bible. The other is anything written by the society. Either of these you accept without question he added.

I can't believe that any elder really has never come across a situation where the two are at odds, or at the very least don't quite join up.