I remember when Ray Franz was banished - there was an announcement in the Kingdom Ministry™ to not speculate on why he was gone, nor to attempt to contact him. Something to that effect. It was a very long time ago. Could it be....?? was he lurking here... ?
Posts by Scully
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27June 2024 WT: Don't talk about Anthony Morris
by neat blue dog inthe latest study edition mentions hypothetical scenarios of jws who are no longer serving at bethel or no longer elders, etc.
and says we shouldn't speculate, as defaming them could border on slander.. we could unintentionally defame someone by spreading negative information.
..... would it be proper to speculate on the reasons why these adjustments were made and to share that opinion with others?.
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29
Beards vs. Shunning announcements
by slimboyfat induring lett’s announcement that beards are now allowed he elaborated at some length how brothers ought to feel and react to the change in policy.
he warned brothers not to resent not being able to grow beards earlier if they had wished to do so.
he also warned brothers who supported the old policy not to allow themselves to wonder what the point of doing so was now that it has changed.
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Scully
I wonder how many JWs who have been shunning DFd and DAd family members and friends for years are going to feel reluctant about reaching out to touch base with those folks, and what their reaction will be when those family members and friends tell them to pound sand?
Honestly how does one approach that?
"Hey! Long time no chat! We just got New Light™ that we can talk to you again... isn't that great?"
*click*
"hello? hello?"
*crickets*
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83
Who Pays The Ferryman....?
by hillary_step infrench philosopher blaise pascal once noted, "men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.
" a case study for this statement can clearly be evidenced by the governing body of jehovahs witnesses.. the gb present themselves as lovers of truth and righteousness who are the only persons on this planet who speak for god.
this doctrine is at the very core of the beliefs of jehovahs witnesses and is one of the few that cannot be rationalized away by wts apologists.
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Scully
What a lovely person to talk to. Miss him a lot.
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144
Hailstone message AND everyone will be saved? Questions
by slimboyfat ini’ve not been paying close attention to watchtower developments, but talking to a jw yesterday it occurred to me the society (yes, still use that term - old school) have been sending out mixed messages in recent years.
from what i gather, a few years ago the gb announced that during the great tribulation jws would be required to preach a “hailstone message of judgement” which involved telling people it was too late for them to repent and they were definitely going to be destroyed.
there were hints that this could be very soon, “any day now” preaching could stop and the hailstone message come in, kind of thing.
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Scully
Earnest:
- This was reported on in the October 15, 1923 Watchtower (pp.307-314), the sheep were identified as those in Christendom who were sympathetic towards the Bible Students and their message.
There is a reason why scholarly articles do not recommend using sources that are 100+ years old... it's supposedly because we are 100+ years smarter.
And... it belongs in the dungheap.
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New rules for dress & greeting disfellowshipped: It's even worse!
by neat blue dog ini know they're panicking and trying to gain favor with governments, former members, prospective converts & those who are teetering, all for financial worries.
still, the latest update in some ways made things worse, and if there's any jws watching it who are beginning to wake up it should be very disturbing.. starting with dress codes: they say that suits, ties & skirts are no longer required, but in so doing they admit that they were required, something not often appearing as an explicit command in print.
(similar to how lett referred to the "policy on beards" in his video, even though this direct policy wasn't made available to rank and file.
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Scully
Ozzie!!!
How are you??
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194
GB Update #2, March 2024: Women allowed to wear pants, no ties/coats required if not giving a talk, & now able to greet DF ones in the KH!
by WingCommander inyou heard me correct, this is not a joke, and it is not april fools day!
the asl portion of the governing body updated #2 (march 2024) has been released a bit early and someone caught it.
summary: .
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Scully
Halcon:
I predict birthdays, mother's Day and Father's Day will be next. The blood thing is tricky bc there is explicit rules on it in the scriptures.
If I recall correctly the explicit rules in the OT were against partaking in blood for nourishment, as was the case in groups other than the Hebrews. I can still see that being a thing, making sure that your sausage doesn't contain any "meat by-products", which (in the 70s) was my job when going food shopping with my mom.
Blood transfusion as a medical treatment, though, is not - as former WT Publications™ falsely stated - a nutritional thing, and as such, cannot be interpreted to be a practice that is prohibited in the bible.
When your blood volume is severely and/or decreased (as in a trauma like a GSW or MVA, or a postpartum hemorrhage), you will die if you are not replenished. Also even if you survive, the loss of red blood cells takes a long time to naturally return to the level it was before the blood loss occurred. You need the red blood cells to feed the the body from the inside, providing oxygen, removing carbon dioxide and other waste materials, sometimes with the help of the lungs, other times with the digestive system. The brain cannot function properly with oxygen saturations below normal levels (92-100%); we can adapt and survive, but we can't thrive the way we should.
When a woman has a postpartum haemorrhage and her hemoglobin level drops to 70-80% of what is normal, she won't be able to produce milk for her newborn, because her body is severely occupied with keeping her alive. It can take months to recover from that. (been there, done that)
If anything, the GB can use the example of David pouring out water that his men had risked their lives for to acquire on David's behalf, as if the water was a blood sacrifice, to show the value of blood - what is now a very renewable resource in the field of medicine - to save lives. Ecclesiastes 9:4 "a live dog is better than a dead lion" conveys the meaning that it is always better to live when you have an option to keep yourself alive.
In the How Blood Can Save Your Life booklet, they came up with some cockamamy rationale that because Jesus gave his life for others, that JWs can only respect that sacrifice by being willing to sacrifice themselves in the face of death. It's just another lame control tactic by men in suits. I'd be willing to pay for a ringside seat when (not "if") a class action lawsuit for wrongful deaths happens brought forward by people who lost loved ones for coerced (or else DF) refusal of blood transfusions. The number of deaths around the world probably outnumber those of Jonestown by at least a factor of 20.
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GB Update #2, March 2024: Women allowed to wear pants, no ties/coats required if not giving a talk, & now able to greet DF ones in the KH!
by WingCommander inyou heard me correct, this is not a joke, and it is not april fools day!
the asl portion of the governing body updated #2 (march 2024) has been released a bit early and someone caught it.
summary: .
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Scully
All I can say is that Farkel and alanf must be spinning in their graves.
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New rules for dress & greeting disfellowshipped: It's even worse!
by neat blue dog ini know they're panicking and trying to gain favor with governments, former members, prospective converts & those who are teetering, all for financial worries.
still, the latest update in some ways made things worse, and if there's any jws watching it who are beginning to wake up it should be very disturbing.. starting with dress codes: they say that suits, ties & skirts are no longer required, but in so doing they admit that they were required, something not often appearing as an explicit command in print.
(similar to how lett referred to the "policy on beards" in his video, even though this direct policy wasn't made available to rank and file.
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Scully
I notice with a huge eyeroll, that nothing was said about Sisters™ being allowed to wear pant suits or slacks to the KH or other JW functions.
Just saying.
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144
Hailstone message AND everyone will be saved? Questions
by slimboyfat ini’ve not been paying close attention to watchtower developments, but talking to a jw yesterday it occurred to me the society (yes, still use that term - old school) have been sending out mixed messages in recent years.
from what i gather, a few years ago the gb announced that during the great tribulation jws would be required to preach a “hailstone message of judgement” which involved telling people it was too late for them to repent and they were definitely going to be destroyed.
there were hints that this could be very soon, “any day now” preaching could stop and the hailstone message come in, kind of thing.
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Scully
Vidiot:
Maybe they phrased it the way they did on purpose to leave enough wiggle room for either possibility.
😏
O M G Vidiot! You know they would *never*, *ever* do that! PUH-Lease!!
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144
Hailstone message AND everyone will be saved? Questions
by slimboyfat ini’ve not been paying close attention to watchtower developments, but talking to a jw yesterday it occurred to me the society (yes, still use that term - old school) have been sending out mixed messages in recent years.
from what i gather, a few years ago the gb announced that during the great tribulation jws would be required to preach a “hailstone message of judgement” which involved telling people it was too late for them to repent and they were definitely going to be destroyed.
there were hints that this could be very soon, “any day now” preaching could stop and the hailstone message come in, kind of thing.
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Scully
If you know that WT is spewing nonsense while simultaneously creating a sense of urgency among its followers, why give it ANY of your precious time and mental resources.
Sure, it's nice to know what my JW relatives are being spoon-fed in the Publications™, but should it have any effect on my life? I don't think so.
It's just another shovelful of crap on an already heaping, steaming, smelly pile of crap.