The LDS are not as vicious persecuting others , that might be their saving card.Witnesses can copy them all they like, which is very funny because it wasn't that long ago they used to look down on them and used to call them a cult
raymond frantz
JoinedPosts by raymond frantz
-
15
NEW YORK TIMES 10TH MAY: HOW THE JWS COPY THE MORMONS
by raymond frantz inhttps://youtu.be/jctod7viuq0?si=bcffiejweq8k-rwn.
skip to main content.
jw updates.
-
-
-
15
NEW YORK TIMES 10TH MAY: HOW THE JWS COPY THE MORMONS
by raymond frantz inhttps://youtu.be/jctod7viuq0?si=bcffiejweq8k-rwn.
skip to main content.
jw updates.
-
-
raymond frantz
https://youtu.be/JcToD7VIuq0?si=bCFfiejweq8K-Rwn
Skip to Main Content
Jw Updates- 2 hours ago
- 8 min
The Ripple Effect: How Mormon Movements Impact Jehovah's Witnesses
The New York Times came out with an article on the 10th May where it considers the recent changes in dress code in the Mormon Church and how that affects Jehovah's Witnesses and it is worth considering :
Andres Gonzalez, 19, stands on the balcony of his Los Angeles apartment, his hands in his suit pockets. It is his first week as a missionary, but today, instead of approaching people on the street, he is shooting a video that he will later post to social media.
After about a dozen takes, he is successful. “Hello! If you would like to learn more about Jesus Christ,” he says to the camera in Spanish, “contact me.”
Gonzalez is the image of the modern missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has changed many of its practices — from how missionaries preach to how they dress.
The faith, long known for sending tens of thousands of neatly and formally dressed young people across the globe each year to preach door to door, is encouraging new missionaries to spread the gospel on social media and, for some, with acts of community service closer to home.
(=I don't see how the Watchtower can copy that as they have lost the game online years ago, and the exjw community is far more millitant in exposing the cult that ex-Mormons are)
As a church leader, Dieter F. Uchtdorf, put it, missionaries should feel comfortable sharing their faith in “normal and natural ways.”
In the last few years, the church has also changed some rules for missionaries themselves — loosening restrictions on dress codes (women can wear pants) and how often they can call family members back home (once a week, not just on Christmas and Mother’s Day).(=Where have we seen this before?)
To outsiders, the adjustments may seem small. But to missionaries who adhere to strict rules while on assignment, the shifts are dramatic.
“We’ve seen a lot of big, big changes,” Jensen Diederich, 23, said. He served his mission in Peru and said it was “monumental” when the church allowed him to call home weekly, instead of just twice a year.
The church believes missionary work is essential for the world’s salvation — that people must be baptized in the faith to get to the highest level of heaven after they die. Missionary work also helps increase the church’s membership, and it deepens many young members’ faith. Many missionaries begin their assignments just after they leave home. Instead of partying on a college campus, they commit themselves to the religion and develop habits that can last a lifetime.
One of those members was Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, who was a missionary in France in the 1960s. He has said the isolation of his mission allowed him to examine his faith without distraction. When asked about the changes, he said, “For young people of my generation, I think the separation from family and friends served us well.”
But he understands times have changed. “With today’s youth in near constant contact with one another, maintaining greater connection during a mission fits their life experience,” he added.
Many young church members say the new rules have made missionary service more attractive and realistic.
(=on the other hand I don't know many jw pioneers that can say the same thing, in fact the opposite is true , jws generally look demotivated these days next to their carts)
Kate Kennington, a 19-year-old with a mission assignment to London, said finding people online and messaging them is a more successful way of approaching potential converts. “It’s how I would want to be contacted,” she said.
“Knocking on doors and approaching people on the street are no longer seen as useful as they once were because of shifts in American culture,” said Matthew Bowman, a professor of religion and history at Claremont Graduate University who holds the chair of Mormon studies. He is also a church member.
(=and that's the path that the current GB is taking the Witnesses down to, one of their main tenets being that the door to door ministry is in the Bible but is not working you know that but at the same time I fail to see how they will embrace social media where they are currently being slaughtered by the exjw community)
For decades, missionaries’ clean-cut suits were signs of prosperity, Bowman said, and an effective way of appealing to converts. But they now feel “outdated.”
Many of the changes, especially the push to evangelize on social media, were fueled by the pandemic, which shut down in-person church gatherings and forced Latter-day Saints and Jehovah’s Witnesses to find alternatives to door-to-door preaching.
(=unlike the Mormons the Jehovahs Witnesses took to writing letters to strangers and the return address was always their Kingdom Hall and not their personal address.JWs are I'm fear of social media and that is not something that will change anytime soon)
The missionaries use their phones to film videos of themselves promoting the church or sharing messages of faith. In one video, a missionary raps about his faith. In another, two missionaries throw a football and a Frisbee through an obstacle course in a church gym — an object lesson meant to visualize how Jesus Christ can help people overcome challenges.
So far, the changes appear to be working: In the last three years, as pandemic restrictions lifted and young members responded to an appeal from the church’s top leader for them to serve, the number of full-time proselytizing missionaries has risen about 25%, according to church data. At the end of last year, the church had about 72,000 full-time missionaries serving around the world.
The church has just under 17.3 million members globally but has seen growth slow. From 1988 to 1989, during a surge in growth when the church expanded into West Africa, the church grew about 9%. Last year, the church grew about 1.5%.
A Tradition of Travel
Missionary work is a rite of passage for Latter-day Saints — and has been since the church’s founding in 1830.
The church’s missionaries have traveled the world, growing their faith from a fledgling startup in upstate New York to a global religion that brings in billions of dollars in revenue.
Church leaders say it is men’s responsibility to become missionaries for two years starting at age 18. Missionary work is optional for women, who serve for 18 months. The church has historically encouraged women to focus on marriage and motherhood. But since 2012, when the church lowered the age women could become missionaries to 19 from 21, more women have been going.
Missionaries leave their families and friends, learn new languages and spend the first years of their adulthood spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.
While on a mission, they cannot date and must follow the religion’s ban on premarital sex, drinking, smoking, coffee and caffeinated tea. Communication with friends and family back home is restricted. They commit to stay focused on their work, and their proximity to their missionary partner creates a sense of accountability that keeps most from breaking the rules.
Until recently, the experience of young missionaries was similar to that of their parents. They first attended a missionary training center — a religious boot camp of sorts — before traveling to their missions.
Most missionaries now start their training online at home, where the transition is less jarring. They can adapt to a mission schedule with their family’s support. Being home is also an opportunity for new missionaries to evangelize in their community.
“I’ve had friends who aren’t members of the church,” Tanner Bird, a 19-year-old missionary in Brazil who did part of his training at home in Houston. “And I just get super, super excited and talk to them about the gospel.”
Once deployed, men in some areas are allowed to wear blue shirts and go without ties, while women can wear wrinkle-resistant dress pants in “conservative colors.” Most missionaries now have smartphones and call their families weekly.
Some traditions remain: Young missionaries still do not get to pick their destinations. Many teenagers throw parties to open their assignments, reading their “call letter” aloud for the first time in front of family and friends. Others film elaborate announcement videos — including on ice skates. Some serve close to home (there are 10 missions in Utah). Others go as far as Tahiti or Tokyo.
Gonzalez, the missionary in Los Angeles, said he first imagined going on a mission when he was a child in Venezuela. His parents, who converted to the faith, often had young missionaries over for meals. After the church helped the family settle in Utah, he said serving as a missionary was part of his “American dream.”
Every morning, he wakes up at 6:30 a.m., the set time for many missionaries, with his “companion,” an assigned missionary partner. They are mandated to “never be alone,” with few exceptions, and each day follow a missionary schedule.
On Facebook, they contact people they have met, including those they have approached on the street in downtown Los Angeles. They also search groups for people who may be open to their message and post videos to generate interest in their faith. They keep track of potential converts’ progress, including lessons they teach. Every Monday, Gonzalez calls his parents.
Calls are also an opportunity for him to receive support. “It’s a little bit hard,” Gonzalez said of his mission work, describing people in downtown Los Angeles as “busy.” Still, he remains hopeful: “Some of them, they really are ready. They make time, even just like five minutes.”
The missionary experience is not for everyone. Some people feel isolated, find it difficult to adapt to a location, or struggle with the rules or the pressure to keep their commitment. Some people do leave early; the church does not comment on those who do.
Alex McAlpin, a 23-year-old who went on a mission to Denver, almost did not put in a missionary application. Before her mission, she attended Pepperdine University, where she wrestled with some aspects of church doctrine and history.
Then the church made its dress code change, allowing women to wear pants in 2018.
“That was the first day of my life that I thought maybe I would go” on a mission, McAlpin said. She saw the new dress code and the church’s other mission changes as a sign the church was evolving and listening to its younger members, many of whom hope their church will modernize in larger ways. “I wanted to be a part of the change.”
And there you have it. All the recent changes in loosening the rules on dressing on both men and women isn't something Jehovah communicated with the Governing Body but more likely the result of consulting the same agency that Mormons used back in 2018 to effect same changes in their rules of dressing. What I find interesting is that Mormons have changed things in the ministry and have a embraced social media in order to spread their message something that I find unlikely for Jehovah's Wirmesses to do anytime soon. They have lost the battle on social media for years now where they get slaughtered by the exjw community. But there is I think another reason too. The past 60 years beginning with Raymond Frantz they have driven away everyone that could put two verses together and they have been left with no theologian amongst their ranks that could have made meaningful changes in ministry and doctrine. We are way past this point and that is why the Witnesses have become a cartoonish version of their former self.
SOURCE:
6Post not marked as liked -
21
Lithuania Set to Mirror Norway's Approach on Jehovah's Witnesses
by raymond frantz init is proposed to the seimas not to grant state recognition to the religious community of jehovah's witnesses.
lithuania05/05/2024 09:30. jehovah's witnesses; baptism associative / e. ovcharenko / bns photo.. it is proposed to the seimas to refuse to grant state recognition to the lithuanian jehovah's witnesses religious community.. community representatives told bns that they hope that parliamentarians, taking into account the practice of the european court of human rights, will make a different decision.. the draft resolution registered by the chairman of the human rights committee of the seimas, tomas vytautas raskevičius, states that this community does not meet the requirements of the constitution and the law, that its education and rites do not conflict with laws and decency.. "the ministry of justice has determined that the religious teaching of this community is possibly not compatible with the constitution of our country in two aspects.
the first is that jehovah's witnesses oppose blood transfusions due to certain aspects related to health care (...).
-
-
raymond frantz
It is proposed to the Seimas not to grant state recognition to the religious community of Jehovah's Witnesses
Lithuania05/05/2024 09:30
Jehovah's Witnesses; baptism Associative / E. Ovcharenko / BNS photo.
It is proposed to the Seimas to refuse to grant state recognition to the Lithuanian Jehovah's Witnesses religious community.
Community representatives told BNS that they hope that parliamentarians, taking into account the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, will make a different decision.
The draft resolution registered by the Chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the Seimas, Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius, states that this community does not meet the requirements of the Constitution and the law, that its education and rites do not conflict with laws and decency.
"The Ministry of Justice has determined that the religious teaching of this community is possibly not compatible with the Constitution of our country in two aspects. The first is that Jehovah's Witnesses oppose blood transfusions due to certain aspects related to health care (...). Another aspect is the attitude of Jehovah's Witnesses not to participate in the defense of the state," TV Raskevičius told BNS.
Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius / D. Umbraso / LRT photo.
The draft resolution of the Seimas states that the religious teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses regarding the prohibition of blood transfusion is incompatible with the human right to life enshrined in the Constitution, and the protection of people's health is guaranteed, with particular emphasis on the values of the life and health of the child.
It also states that the religious teaching of the Jehovah's Witnesses, which prohibits defending the state with arms or contributing to the defense of the state in an unarmed way, including military or alternative national defense service, encourages non-compliance with the Constitution and the requirements arising from it to defend the state against foreign armed attack.
This project was prepared based on the conclusions of the Ministry of Justice and experts.
The religious community of Jehovah's Witnesses appealed these findings to the courts, but lost.
Representatives of the Lithuanian Jehovah's Witnesses religious community told BNS that the argument regarding refusal to perform military service will become irrelevant, as the Seimas is currently considering amendments to the law providing for the possibility of alternative civilian service.
"This fundamentally refutes the argument of the Ministry of Justice that our refusal to perform military service is against the Constitution," states the comment submitted by the community's Public Information Department.
It also recalls the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in the cases of Jehovah's Witnesses.
"We are sure that the Seimas will take into account the decisions announced by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on these issues. The ECtHR has repeatedly emphasized that Jehovah's Witnesses' right to belief is guaranteed by one of the basic human freedoms - freedom of religion, enshrined in the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as that their beliefs are in accordance with the laws and values protected by the Constitution", - claim the representatives of the Lithuanian Jehovah's Witnesses religious community .
According to them, after receiving state recognition, Jehovah's Witnesses would be able to legally register marriages in their meeting halls, as is the case with many other religious communities.
"And if the request were to be rejected, the peaceful community of Jehovah's Witnesses in Lithuania could become the object of discrimination and harassment," the comment states.
In 2017, this community submitted a request to the Seimas to grant it the status of a recognized religion.
Jehovah's Witnesses / E. Ovcharenko / BNS photo.
According to the Law on Religious Communities and Societies, non-traditional religious communities can be "recognized by the state as part of the historical, spiritual and social heritage of Lithuania, if the societies they support and their teaching and rites do not conflict with laws and morality". State recognition means that the state supports the spiritual, cultural and social heritage of religious communities.
Jehovah's Witnesses in the current territory of Lithuania began their activities in 1912 in Klaipėda region.
According to the data of the population and housing census, in 2021, 2,118 persons, or 0.075 percent, identified themselves as professing this religion. Lithuanian residents.
SOURCE:www.jwupdates.com
-
DONT MISS TONIGHT : INTERVIEW WITH CNE NEWS EDITOR ON NORWAY
by raymond frantz inhttps://www.youtube.com/live/twdn_lsmjvk?si=hzwktxrydimauumu.
-
-
6
WATCHTOWER response to LETTER about UN AFFILIATION
by raymond frantz inhttps://youtu.be/3y2guebfucm?si=aovdjk7szh1trpeq.
the following is half of the letter the watchtower send to a brother in 2021 as an explanation to why they still promote the united nations on their website ,it makes for an interesting reading.
the rest of the letter is on jwupdates.com or warch the video.
-
-
raymond frantz
Beth Sarim, will do
-
6
WATCHTOWER response to LETTER about UN AFFILIATION
by raymond frantz inhttps://youtu.be/3y2guebfucm?si=aovdjk7szh1trpeq.
the following is half of the letter the watchtower send to a brother in 2021 as an explanation to why they still promote the united nations on their website ,it makes for an interesting reading.
the rest of the letter is on jwupdates.com or warch the video.
-
-
raymond frantz
Beth Sarim8 hours ago
Great channel!!
Thanks Beth Sarim
-
6
WATCHTOWER response to LETTER about UN AFFILIATION
by raymond frantz inhttps://youtu.be/3y2guebfucm?si=aovdjk7szh1trpeq.
the following is half of the letter the watchtower send to a brother in 2021 as an explanation to why they still promote the united nations on their website ,it makes for an interesting reading.
the rest of the letter is on jwupdates.com or warch the video.
-
-
raymond frantz
https://youtu.be/3Y2gUEBfucM?si=AOvDJK7Szh1trPeQ
The following is half of the letter the Watchtower send to a brother in 2021 as an explanation to why they still promote the United Nations on their website ,it makes for an interesting reading
The rest of the letter is on jwupdates.com OR warch the video
This is in reply to your letter of May 11, 2021, wherein you ask why we quote information from United Nations officials and others in our recent website article, “Protect Yourself From Misinformation.
Today, you have access to more information than ever, including the kind that can help you stay safe and healthy. But in your search, you need to beware of misinformation, such as: Misleading news, False reports & Conspiracy theories. For example, during the COVID pandemic the secretary-general of the United Nations warned of a dangerous epidemic of misinformation. “Harmful health advice and snake-oil solutions are proliferating,” he stated. “Falsehoods are filling the airwaves. Wild conspiracy theories are infecting the Internet. Hatred is going viral, stigmatizing and vilifying people and groups.” Of course, misinformation is not new. However, the Bible foretold that in our day, “wicked men and impostors [would] advance from bad to worse, misleading and being misled.” (2 Timothy 3:1, 13) And the Internet now allows us to receive—and unintentionally spread—false news more easily and quickly than ever. As a result, our email, social media, and news feeds can become filled with distorted facts and half-truths. How can you protect yourself from misleading information and conspiracy theories?
-
18
2024-May-3rd-Announcement-and Transcripts!
by Atlantis in2024-05-may-03-announcement.
https://pdfupload.io/docs/faad3e3dtranscripts for 2024 governing body update #3englishhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/ce4ae1d8germanhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/3bf805be spanishhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/a4e3fd3b frenchhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/d37d5822 russianhttps://pdfupload.io/docs/71fe8f28 grandpa!
-
-
raymond frantz
Thank you Atlantis!
-
22
2024-05-May-S-147-Dress-and-Grooming-Announcements!
by Atlantis in2024-05-may-s-147-dress and grooming-announcements and reminders!.
https://pdfupload.io/docs/4d0d5bcf.
grandpa!.
-
-
raymond frantz
Listenera day ago
Here's a copy of what Winder/Watchtower claims to be the dress of 100 years ago in Update No. 3
Listener you are right, Winder is making an extreme point so by comparison his reasoning sounds moderate and legit
-
4
SHOWSOWN IN NORWAY: MORE NEWS on the coming appeal
by raymond frantz inhttps://youtu.be/4lhk30a1fxc?si=h9baqeu8gmm7vbm0.
the cne.news has come out with an article on the developments in norway and the aftermath of the deregistration of the watchtower there only last month.
cne stands for christian news in europe and it is a christian news site for continental europe that.
-
-
raymond frantz
Phizzy4 minutes ago
Thanks raymond ! and thanks for the link to "Updates" and the full Article. I noted two things
I really hope ECHR upholds Norway’s decision bur I would hold my breath, the ECHR has been siding with all the crazy AGENDA recently , recent example they ruled that climate change anxiety is a human right, look iit up
