FFGhost

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Posts by FFGhost

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  77

  Disfellowshipped for Fornication

  by TxNVSue2023 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hi i want to tell my story and get advice.

  i'm a single sister ( in usa) that has been baptized for 20 years.

  i came from the world, so did not grow up in the truth and i have no family in the truth -- i am alone.. last year i met a brother & we did have premarital sex while we were dating.

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  FFGhost

  What Blues Brother said. It is an absolute crap shoot, what might happen.

  The identical case with the identical words could be heard by 100 judicial committees and the outcome would be 50/50.

  Putting it another way, “anyone can be disfellowshipped for anything that 3 elders agree on”.

  You are presenting sound, rational arguments for why your outcome could have been different. But a judicial committee is neither sound nor rational. In the “best case scenario”, it’s 3 guys in a room trying their best to interpret intentionally vague instructions on how to judge if someone’s repentance is “genuine”.

  In the worst case scenario, it’s 3 guys who are out to “get you” or “make an example of you” and you’ll be DF’ed no matter what.

  in short, it is a completely irrational and arbitrary process. You can argue about how it should have been different or “they should have done it differently” but in the end, it’s the opinion of 3 guys.
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  13

  New musical video on jw.org / humour or sad??

  by Gorb in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  today i discovered the musical highlight of jehovah's witnesses, recently added to jw.org.

  we had "from house to house, from door to door", but this song will be more famous!

  https://www.jw.org/finder?wtlocale=e&docid=1014316&srcid=share.

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  FFGhost

  If the WTS ever had a “jump the shark” moment, it was surely the “singing literature cart”.

  What idiot ever thought that it be even a remotely good idea?
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  19

  Why are aqwsed12345 post`s so long ?

  by smiddy3 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there is no way i will even try to read such long posts and i`m sure many others here would agree with me.. smiddy3.

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  FFGhost

  I always got the impression that they are just copy-paste from some pro-Roman-Catholic source, an encyclopedia or some such. Maybe a few personal comments interspersed here and there.
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  32

  Secret Elders Book? Bwahahaha!

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i remember a couple of decades ago when the internet was relatively young and the wt was at war with it, that they were battling to keep the pay attention book secret, commencing legal action against anyone who published it online (and of course, trying to out anyone who leaked it).

  i think it was a norwegian skeptics organisation who had it available for download and dared the wt lawyers to come after them.. so i guess the new shepherd the flock book came out to try and put the genie back in the bottle and reassert some air of mystery and secrecy back into the equation.. so i typed jehovah's witnesses secret elder book into google.

  colour me gobsmacked!

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  FFGhost

  In fact, the phrase "governing body" never occurs in the bible ever

  Their justification for the use of the term “governing body” is based on Hebrews 13:17, “Be obedient to those taking the lead over you…”

  In the original Greek, the phrase “those taking the lead over you” can also be translated “the ones governing you”.

  Since the concept of a “governor” appears there, they run with it and hinge on it what is their sole unchangeable primary doctrine, which is this:

  ”The governing body speaks for God. What they say should be treated literally as if it came from the voice of Jehovah himself”.

  Beyond that, anything - literally 100% anything - is subject to the “new light” treatment. But the “obey the governors of you” concept will never ever ever EVER change.
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  83

  Do You Think Trump Is Done?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  certain forces appear to be trying to make sure donald trump never runs for president again.

  some republicans are clearly abandoning trump and of course the democratic press has been saying trump is done!

  is trump’s goose cooked?

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  FFGhost

  who would be willing to run as his Vice-Presidential running mate?

  Keri Lake

  Rudy Giuliani

  Mike Lindell

  Lin Wood

  The QAnon shaman guy with the buffalo horns

  
  
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  32

  Secret Elders Book? Bwahahaha!

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i remember a couple of decades ago when the internet was relatively young and the wt was at war with it, that they were battling to keep the pay attention book secret, commencing legal action against anyone who published it online (and of course, trying to out anyone who leaked it).

  i think it was a norwegian skeptics organisation who had it available for download and dared the wt lawyers to come after them.. so i guess the new shepherd the flock book came out to try and put the genie back in the bottle and reassert some air of mystery and secrecy back into the equation.. so i typed jehovah's witnesses secret elder book into google.

  colour me gobsmacked!

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  FFGhost

  Does it need to be a 'secret' book? If the instruction comes from the Bible, they shouldn't worry that the rank and file might read it.

  The reason they want it kept secret is that someone who has access to it prior to meeting with a judicial committee would pretty quickly learn the "tricks" needed to not be DF'ed.

  One of the sections is all about "how to tell if repentance is genuine" or some such. There is a series of 15 or 20 questions that elders are supposed to use to determine how "genuine" is the repentance expressed by the "sinner".

  Basically, the key is more or less wailing and gnashing your teeth over how you have "damaged your relationship with Jehovah". Embarrassment, shame, bad consequences, etc. all have to take a back seat to how absolutely gut-wrenchingly broken up you are about "bringing reproach on Jehovah's name".

  If you put on a good show about how soul-achingly devastated you are about the "pain you have caused Jehovah", there's a better than 90% chance you'll get off with mere "reproof" and not be DF'ed.

  If everyone knows in advance what the key to be judged as "genuinely repentant" is, everyone would do it and they wouldn't be able to DF anyone.
  
  
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  38

  Were Bible writers flat earthers?

  by ExBethelitenowPIMA in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  job 26:7 he stretches out the northern sky over empty space, well should it be the southern that has empty space under it?.

  the north pole has the earth under it?.

  the south pole has empty space under it?.

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  FFGhost

  there is no absolute hard proof either way.

  You make that same absurd claim about 20 or 30 times a week.

  To paraphrase the great philosopher, Inigo Montoya, "I do not think that [phrase] means what you think it means".
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  12

  Armageddon is just beginning

  by TheEndIsNear in

  1. social
  2. current

  do you want to know what is really behind the fake coronavirus pandemic, so-called vaccines and the war in ukraine?

  to understand current events, you must first learn the history.

  the world's biggest secret is that there have been tremendous global disasters in the past that decimated populations and caused the collapse of empires.

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  FFGhost

  I like turtles.
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  12

  Blood Card Check

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  i remember many years ago that apparently there was an annual event where witnesses' blood cards (or whatever they're called) were checked by some visiting wt dignitary.

  that the blood cards were current, and that the r&f were carrying them.. given the situation in some countries that kingdom halls can't legally keep data about people who have been visited, is the practice of checking and enforcing the carrying of blood cards similarly illegal in some places?.

  are there any places where it is illegal for the hlc to set up camp near the hospital bed of a sick jw?.

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  FFGhost

  That has never been done in any country that I'm aware of.
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  5

  Current Member Stats/Numbers

  by NotFormer in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i remember that the wt used to regularly publish their membership and memorial attendance numbers.

  was that in the watchtower?.

  how would i find the current numbers by country?

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  FFGhost

  It's on their website.

  Type in "2022 Service Year Report" in the search box. If you just type in "Service Year Report" you'll see links to prior years' report as well.

  It's a hoot. The number of newly baptized has been in utter freefall for the past 2-3 years. It's now less than half what it was just a few years ago.