I find this hard to believe because isn't there something like 3000 people at Mexico Bethel? I would believe they plan on drastically reducing the number of people there though, probably to around 1000. Also COs also have to take the "vow of poverty" which is supposed to prevent them from making money on the side. The independent note is likely true, the branch has been having a "hands off" policy with congregations for the last few years now.
Richard_I
JoinedPosts by Richard_I
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58
Mexico branch......Now closing!!!
by krismalone ina circuit overseer friend of mine serving in latin america called me today to say hi.
i asked him what's new and he dropped the news that they have received notification that the branch in mexico will be closing!!
this branch also called the central american branch (although located in mexico) oversees all of mexico's 800,000+ publishers plus all 7 countries of central america of over 100,000 publishers.
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45
Special Talk During the Meeting Today About the Bad Press in Canada
by RobertT18 ini was invited to a congregation in ontario, canada today and as soon as the meeting opened the brother conducting the meeting said there was a very important statement coming from the borg.
this talk replaced the two last parts of "living as a christian" section.
he started reading a letter from the borg about how much they loved us.
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Richard_I
Damn, the one time I wish I didn't miss the midweek meeting. I still don't understand why they say this is an imperfect organization, yet claim anything negative about the org is a lie/Satan's persecution, literally ANYTHING negative is a lie or slander. God's perfect imperfect organization on earth.
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Jehovahs Witnesses and Marijuana
by NikL ini live in california where pot just became legal for recreational use very similar to alcohol.
my wife who is a very active jw has had her medical card for cannabis for a couple of years now.
and i know several in our congregations around our area who are using it medically.
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Richard_I
I've been wondering about this as well since Justin Trudeau was elected Prime Minister here in Canada in 2015. He's pushing for the legalization of recreational marijuana across Canada by spring 2017. Plus the fact that so many states in the US are legalizing it shows that most people have no issue with marijuana anymore, at least in the West.
However, I feel the org will still view it as a substance that allows the "demons" to enter your mind, and I'm sure we know former Witnesses who used marijuana before and will say the same thing (my parents included). I've talked about this with other witnesses I know and none of them agree with it other than the medicinal use of marijuana, or at least they're afraid to publicly say they see nothing wrong with recreational use.
I'm expecting the org to still say its prohibited, akin to tobacco use due to the perceived damage it could do to the body, even though thousands of witnesses use prescription drugs that can easily kill them if they abused them and yet there is nothing wrong with using any kind of prescription drug according to the org (I don't recall ever reading or hearing anything against any kind of prescription drug, and I know quite a few Witnesses who went to other countries like Mexico to get treatment/drugs that you can't get in Canada). This is something that I've been talking about as well, what's wrong with marijuana when the prescription drugs that some witnesses are on can result in death (with very stringent instructions on how to prevent overdosing), or how alcohol can easily kill you if you drank a lot of it yet its still permitted to drink?
At best, they won't say anything about it. At worse, they will outright condemn recreational marijuana in an Watchtower study article, possibly in one of the fall or winter 2017 magazines. The middle ground is making it a conscience decision, akin to having to carry a firearm for your job, where if it is found out/you say you are using recreational marijuana then you will be denied "privileges".
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Canada Bethel (Georgetown) to begin renovations early 2017
by Richard_I ina letter was just read at my midweek meeting that georgetown (canada bethel) will have renovations done on it beginning spring 2017. the letter asked for publishers who are electricians/plumbers/etc.
and in good standing to apply to help out.
those helping out will be considered "part-time commuters" and will only be at the property for about 3 days a week and must reside outside of bethel and pay for all their own expenses.
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Richard_I
@Blondie: I don't know. I don't recall the letter saying what exactly the renovations would involve. When I was there almost 7 years ago it looked fine, so I don't know what they have in plan other then making it look nice to sell. There's less than 400 full time Bethelites there now too so quite a few of the rooms will be empty anyway
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21
Canada Bethel (Georgetown) to begin renovations early 2017
by Richard_I ina letter was just read at my midweek meeting that georgetown (canada bethel) will have renovations done on it beginning spring 2017. the letter asked for publishers who are electricians/plumbers/etc.
and in good standing to apply to help out.
those helping out will be considered "part-time commuters" and will only be at the property for about 3 days a week and must reside outside of bethel and pay for all their own expenses.
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Richard_I
A letter was just read at my midweek meeting that Georgetown (Canada Bethel) will have renovations done on it beginning Spring 2017. The letter asked for publishers who are electricians/plumbers/etc. and in good standing to apply to help out. Those helping out will be considered "part-time commuters" and will only be at the property for about 3 days a week and must reside outside of Bethel and pay for all their own expenses.
I believe the last major work done at Canada's Bethel was in the 80's when they built another residence and renovated some of the rooms in the main housing center (I forget the building name) and in 2009/2010 when they got the new Manroland press.
I don't understand any of this, the org is laying off so many Bethelites, why bother doing any renovations? Are they really just renovating it only for it to be sold in 5 years time? Too many questions, no answers.
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New Midweek meeting visual aids
by neat blue dog instarting this week the midweek has visual aids throughout the meeting such as sing along lyrics that scroll smoothly, images from the publications being used and the year text displayed in between.
does anybody have the files that were used or have they been leaked?.
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Richard_I
My congregation started doing this two weeks ago. We just got two ~60'' TVs mounted to our walls and they display song lyrics and photos, such as the opening image of the Watchtower study article for that Sunday meeting. A speaker used them to show images as well during his public talk.
This isn't the same religion anymore.
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10
Revealing the wt "translators" now that gb are all over the place?
by carla inback when me & my jw were still discussing anything jw related we had numerous discussions about just who the translators of the wt's bible were.
(i knew, thanks to this site and others like it) the answer was usually something to the effect that they (the wt) didn't want to give 'honor' to mere men by revealing who they were and what their education was.
now that the gb are all over the place, youtube, etc... why not reveal the 'translators' and their educational background?
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Richard_I
Nathan Knorr, Fred Franz, George Gangas, Milton Henschel, and Albert Schroeder were the main guys who did the NWT. Lots of the old higher ups know this as well, I remember a few years back when Joe Jackson (some old brother at Wallkill, I think that was his name) took me and some other bethelites visiting Wallkill to the cemetery (Launching Pad) and said out loud that Schroeder was on the committee.
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Barnet Kingdom Hall in the UK is a Pokemon Go Stop
by usualusername1 ini have no ideas what to make of that.discuss.uun.
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Richard_I
Every kindgom hall in my city is a PokeStop. Most religious centres are, including mosques and synagogues.
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10
Governing Body Member Ted Jaracz cornered at Convention and asked about Pedophile database
by Awen inhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orrokevgpcm&feature=channel_video_title.
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Richard_I
Bumping this for more to see, this happened some time during/before 2002. Also here's a higher quality video (skip to 0:43 for the interview with Jaracz if it doesn't start there):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zObDeL9jRM8&t=0m43s
And a transcript:
Reporter: Tell me about the database. How do you justify keeping a list of people, men in some cases who have confessed to pedophilia, but you have not reported them to the authorities? What justification is there for you to keep that list?
Jaracz: You know, you're from Britain. You have a privacy law. You have a directive from the European Union. You observe that, don't you? Well...
Reporter: So when allegations of abuse are made, it's alright to keep them private?
Jaracz: I think you were answered. The question was answered and it should be to your satisfaction.
Reporter: Could you answer it now?
Jaracz: I'm not going to repeat. I'll just tell you exactly that you can go and you will see it in writing. It's all in print. You know, the Bible says, "Do not go beyond the things that are written." We don't go beyond the things that are written.
Also this thread has some discussion on it too -> https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/32198/jaracz-what-did-he-really-mean
To me, this video really shows what sort of cold person Jaracz really was. Also, I doubt anyone with a camera will ever get that close to a member of the GB near the stage again, they would likely be tackled by all the attendants situated around the stages now.
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David Splane on the "older members" of the GB
by Richard_I inin the august broadcast, david splane is shown in a morning worship video.
i just wanted to focus on the end of the video, were he has this to say:.
the governing body loves to get together and discuss the bible.
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Richard_I
In the August broadcast, David Splane is shown in a morning worship video. I just wanted to focus on the end of the video, were he has this to say:
The Governing Body loves to get together and discuss the bible. Now, when those bibles come out on the table, and when the brothers bring their research in, and they are starting to search the scriptures and analyze the scriptures, you see the happy smiles on their faces - the brothers love discussing spiritual things. But, the clarifications are often a long time in coming into print. Why? Because the clarification on one scripture can have a domino effect on others. The clarification on one scripture can have ramifications on other prophecies, so we have to be absolutely sure that everything fits. So to reiterate, although certain changes may be announced one after another, these decisions are thought out very carefully. And here's an interesting side point: the older members of the Governing Body - Brother Jaracz, Brother Barr - were just as interested in making the adjustments as the younger members were. They were very progressive.
I just thought it was weird that he would mention Jaracz and Barr, who have both been dead for over 6 years now, in a recent morning worship, and say that they were "progressive". To me, it sounds like some higher ups may be disgruntled with the recent changes in "understanding"/meeting format and this is Splane's way of saying "Hey, those guys would've liked these changes too!" It just seems odd to bring them up all of a sudden, almost like he is really trying to put out a fire. Also, the fact he was talking about this makes me think he really is the big boss of the GB, moreso than Morris, who seems to be the org's "bulldog".