Heh. Well it sounds like this is a more common expectation amongst Witnesses than I thought. I suppose we all prefer to imagine that we lead a charmed life so that we don't worry so much about what might happen to us in an uncertain world. Religious people in general like to believe that God or an angel is watching over them personally, and probably some of this thinking bleeds into the JW religion from the sides (JWs on the fringe, or those with Christian relatives who are saying this kind of thing), and it spreads from there.
Apognophos
JoinedPosts by Apognophos
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41
3 JWs injured whilst Cart Witnessing
by Listener inhttps://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/25697590/three-injured-as-car-hits-park-bench/.
an elderly driver crashed into a park bench in mandurah, western australia today where 3 jws were sitting.
they had set up their jw cart and their literature was also strewn across the ground.. one of the jws was seriously injured with head injuries.. what a freak accident this is.. .
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Elders removed in Northern PA. Congregation
by ToesUp ina close family member just informed me what happened during their last c.o.
visit.
this occurred 3 months ago.
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Apognophos
That's the only way to deal with an out-of-control elder body. The CO clears them out. How else would it be done? Just like your boss' boss can fire your boss, so the CO has the authority to remove the elder body -- though I wouldn't be surprised if it needs to be run by the branch first.
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3 JWs injured whilst Cart Witnessing
by Listener inhttps://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/25697590/three-injured-as-car-hits-park-bench/.
an elderly driver crashed into a park bench in mandurah, western australia today where 3 jws were sitting.
they had set up their jw cart and their literature was also strewn across the ground.. one of the jws was seriously injured with head injuries.. what a freak accident this is.. .
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Apognophos
Look at the reports I posted on page one: all those JWs were killed while in a group, on their way to an assembly or meeting. In fact, the 27 JWs killed in the Philipines were killed in a Kingdom Hall...told to go to the meeting by the GB during a typhoon.
When the literature says that the Witnesses are protected as a group, it doesn't mean "group" as in "a few people gathered in one place" but rather "as a class".
*** w08 8/15 p. 5 par. 10 Jehovah Will Not Leave His Loyal Ones ***
Moreover, Psalm 116:15 assures us: “Precious in the eyes of Jehovah is the death of his loyal ones.” Jehovah’s servants are so precious to him that he will not allow them to perish as a group.*** w75 6/15 p. 377 par. 10 Looking to the Future with Confidence ***
Should we expect, moreover, that because Jehovah is on our side he will miraculously intervene to protect each one of us personally from death or injury during the “great tribulation”? Both Psalm 91:7-12 and Proverbs 3:25, 26 have been mistakenly cited by some as supporting this view. The psalm says: “A thousand will fall at your very side and ten thousand at your right hand; to you it will not come near.” Lest we read into this text more than it states, we must ask ourselves if Moses is here talking about the coming “great tribulation” and is declaring a blanket protection for individual servants of God then. This would hardly be so when we remember that centuries later Paul showed that up to his time the devoted followers of Jehovah had undergone mockings, scourgings, prisons, tribulations and many other persecutions, even violent death. However, we can be assured that, as a group, Jehovah will protect them from being exterminated by their enemies during the “great tribulation,” and He, himself, will not touch them during his executing of adverse judgments.—Heb. 11:36-38. [emphasis theirs, though it was originally in italics]And chapter 7 of the Draw Close book covers this thoroughly, but I won't copy-paste the whole chapter here. The point is, if JWs have some sort of personal superstitious belief that they are protected by the angels, then it didn't come from the literature.
At every assembly (and many meetings) I've ever gone to, the brother giving the never fails to ask Jehovah to protect the attendees as they "return to their various homes".
Well, that may be, but I don't think they're supposed to. It's probably just one of those bad habits that spreads around but isn't approved of, like when brothers had to be reminded not to ask for "extra" holy spirit in the public prayers.
How foolish would the Society have to be in order to claim that bad things wouldn't happen to JWs while in service or traveling to assemblies? Even they're not that stupid.
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Elders removed in Northern PA. Congregation
by ToesUp ina close family member just informed me what happened during their last c.o.
visit.
this occurred 3 months ago.
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Apognophos
I've personally heard of an elder body being dissolved in one case, and although I wasn't privy to the details, it was definitely a moral failing or lack of responsibility on the part of the elder body rather than failing to send in money, etc.
However I have no idea what "indecisiveness" means in connection with removing elders, so that's bizarre. Maybe they were too lenient, giving reproofs instead of disfellowshipping, but then I would think that the CO would give a talk about standing up for Watchtower principles, maybe throw in the story of Phinehas as an example or read Paul's instruction to disfellowship the man who lived with his father's wife from 1 Corinthians.
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One of my main problems with the WT: A very irresponsible organization
by Hidden-Window inone of my main problems with the watch tower and, more specifically, with the governing body is the level of irresponsibility seen when lives of people are involved and their unapologetical attitude when people suffer due to their absurd policies.. how many people were imprisoned or killed for refusing to perform civil service in exchange for military service?.
we do not know, but it does not matter, because the society does not even apologize for the harm their blinking light caused.. how many people died or contracted illnesses due to the prohibition of vaccines?.
we might never know, but an apology is not on the menu.. how many people died for refusing (or disfellowshipped for accepting) fractions of blood when it was against the rules?.
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Apognophos
Yeah, 250,000 is definitely bogus. There was a huge thread on this a while back and lots of people disagreed with that estimate. Just ask yourself how, with an organization that only now numbers 7 million members, a quarter million people could (a) be badly injured and need blood, and (b) die from not receiving it.
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3 JWs injured whilst Cart Witnessing
by Listener inhttps://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/25697590/three-injured-as-car-hits-park-bench/.
an elderly driver crashed into a park bench in mandurah, western australia today where 3 jws were sitting.
they had set up their jw cart and their literature was also strewn across the ground.. one of the jws was seriously injured with head injuries.. what a freak accident this is.. .
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Apognophos
mana11, maybe the JWs in your neck of the woods just weren't very good Witnesses. You're not supposed to ask for personal protection.
*** w08 9/15 p. 10 par. 14 Jehovah Is “the Provider of Escape” for Us ***
To highlight such spiritual protection, recall the parents mentioned at the outset of the preceding article. A few days after their daughter, Theresa, was reported missing, they received devastating news: She had been murdered. The father recalls: “I had prayed for Jehovah to protect her. When she was found murdered, I must admit that I initially wondered why my prayers were not answered. Of course, I know that Jehovah does not guarantee miraculous protection for his people individually. I continued to pray for understanding. I have been comforted in the knowledge that Jehovah protects his people spiritually—that is, he provides what we need in order to safeguard our relationship with him. That type of protection is most important, for it can affect our eternal future. In that sense, Jehovah did protect Theresa; she was serving him faithfully at the time of her death. I have found peace in knowing that her future life prospects are in his loving hands.”
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2014 AGM - Splane and Pyramids
by berrygerry injust read a comment on a site that said:.
"at the annual general meeting this year at stanley halls it is on tv.jw.org david splane said the pyramid of giza the bible students believed in for calculating time periods were from pagans".
wasted 2 hours watching the am on jw tv.. splane indeed says this, and that br.
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Apognophos
Do you mean that the org has officially discussed those wacky old teachings publicly?
Um, they've talked about this publicly for years.
*** jv chap. 14 p. 201 “They Are No Part of the World” ***
For some 35 years, Pastor Russell thought that the Great Pyramid of Gizeh was God’s stone witness, corroborating Biblical time periods. (Isa. 19:19) But Jehovah’s Witnesses have abandoned the idea that an Egyptian pyramid has anything to do with true worship. -
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"Material Objects"
by J-DUBBED ini've heard before about the j-dubs saying they are not to have too many things..............it's just "material objects".
not to have tattoos on their skin also.. what about a full blown born in j-dub getting breast implants??
is that allowed??
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Apognophos
Where I grew up, this would have been heavily frowned upon in the congregation because it's an act of vanity. Witnesses do not live monastically or ascetically so the number of things they own is not especially important unless they are working long hours to afford them and thus missing meetings and service.
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How to capitalise on recent unwise appointment with my wife.
by disposable hero of hypocrisy ina brother was appointed recently in the cong, he's got a dodgy history, doesn't really have the respect of many in the cong.
it's surprising to me, but i don't really care, good for him.
my wife, on the other hand, is angry!
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Apognophos
Don't you think that your wife already sees the problem, if she's upset about it? What more do you need to say?
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3 JWs injured whilst Cart Witnessing
by Listener inhttps://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/25697590/three-injured-as-car-hits-park-bench/.
an elderly driver crashed into a park bench in mandurah, western australia today where 3 jws were sitting.
they had set up their jw cart and their literature was also strewn across the ground.. one of the jws was seriously injured with head injuries.. what a freak accident this is.. .
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Apognophos
"As a group" is the key phrase there. For a JW to believe that God protects individual Witnesses is saying that God will "put up a hedge around us" as Satan accused him of doing with Job. Perhaps many JWs still believe they have guardian angels, but they're not doing a good job keeping up with their own beliefs then.