Will Power

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Posts by Will Power

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  4

  Medjugorje, Bosnia. Anyone ever heard of it?

  by TTWSYF in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  according to 6 children [aged 10 - 16 years old], jesus's mother, mary has been visiting them everyday for over 28 years [these 'children' are now 38 - 45 yr old adults and preach the good news of the gospels everyday].

  that's what folks say.

  the official position of the catholic church is still under investigation.. anyone familair with this story?.

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  Will Power

  my parents have been there a few times.

  popular pilgrimage destination

  wp
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  508

  Most-Ignored Scriptures by JWs

  by Mad Sweeney in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the watchtower has been known for over 130 years as a great scriptural cherry-picker.

  they pick out disparate unrelated verses and combine them to support the wackiest of wacky doctrines.. on the other hand there are many scriptures they almost never address, whether because they contradict wt doctrine or because they simply don't have a clue what they mean or how to spin them to the wt advantage.. one of these is revelation 19:1 that mentions a "great crowd" "in heaven.

  " the only time it is ever brought up it is dismissed.

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  Will Power

  MJw: you asked when was jehovah ever an angel and I answered that the WT denotes him as so in 1 thes 4:16 with the footnote. This is a "J" reference in which they also use to insert the word jehovah in the new testament in other places, so it must be credible in their eyes.

  The rest of that post was not directed to you, sorry, I should've made it separate. It was to add to the Most-Ignored Scriptures by JWs.
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  72

  Jehovah's Witnesses---A Religion That Does Nothing For Anyone

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the reality is: jehovah's witnesses benefit no one but themselves!.

  they don't contribute to society.

  they refuse to get involved in local interests because that would constitute violating their neutrality.. if sexual abuse allegations are made amongst their members, unless two witnesses can attest to the molestation, they refuse to get the "superior authorities" involved.. they claim to be doing their neighbors a "life saving" work but the reality is that they simply are pests to their "householders".. they are a tax free "religion" and they do not pay taxes.. they are judgmental people and regard the "world" as "worldly" and in the "power of the wicked one".. and if the individual members do not conform to the organization's dictates, they might very well be "shunned" and regarded as "dead".. why anyone would want to be a jehovah's witness is beyond me..

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  Will Power

  Well you know - individuals doing charitable things compared to an organization who in general does not are two entirely different things.

  In that case, I personally and on behalf of my family as an organization could file for charitable status and demand my religious rights not to be taxed.

  I do believe cities and governments have the right to assess an organization's contribution to society when deciding exemption status. Contributor vs freeloader kind of thing.

  That has nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not they have freedom of worship.

  wp
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  72

  Jehovah's Witnesses---A Religion That Does Nothing For Anyone

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the reality is: jehovah's witnesses benefit no one but themselves!.

  they don't contribute to society.

  they refuse to get involved in local interests because that would constitute violating their neutrality.. if sexual abuse allegations are made amongst their members, unless two witnesses can attest to the molestation, they refuse to get the "superior authorities" involved.. they claim to be doing their neighbors a "life saving" work but the reality is that they simply are pests to their "householders".. they are a tax free "religion" and they do not pay taxes.. they are judgmental people and regard the "world" as "worldly" and in the "power of the wicked one".. and if the individual members do not conform to the organization's dictates, they might very well be "shunned" and regarded as "dead".. why anyone would want to be a jehovah's witness is beyond me..

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  Will Power

  Aren't there all kinds everywhere?

  Some people need (and want) to be told everything, how to act, when and how to be compassionate, how and when to give.

  Some organizations believe it is their place to make the laws for such actions.

  Others have the giving spirit inside and do not need instructions by an outside organization.

  The bible calls it the 'Christ within'.

  some call it your budda nature

  Its a sad day when you judge your brother (or sister)
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  508

  Most-Ignored Scriptures by JWs

  by Mad Sweeney in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the watchtower has been known for over 130 years as a great scriptural cherry-picker.

  they pick out disparate unrelated verses and combine them to support the wackiest of wacky doctrines.. on the other hand there are many scriptures they almost never address, whether because they contradict wt doctrine or because they simply don't have a clue what they mean or how to spin them to the wt advantage.. one of these is revelation 19:1 that mentions a "great crowd" "in heaven.

  " the only time it is ever brought up it is dismissed.

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  Will Power

  MJW: BTW, did GOD ever speak with the voice of Archangel?

  1Thes 4:16 NWT
  For the Lord*(make sure you check foot note) Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, and with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

  *Jehovah

  Remember the old Roger's and Hammerstien's Cinderella (Played by Leslie Ann Warren) When the king and the queen and later cinderella herself, entered the ballroom with the trumpets and the shout of the announcer. You sure knew someone important was arriving. Love that movie.

  Here are a few more ignored ones from a thread back in 2002

  Rev 1:17-18
  .."Do not be afraid, I am the first and the last,
  18 and the living One; and I was dead and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of hades.

  Rev 22:12-13
  "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. 13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

  Check WT history to find out who they say is coming. depending on the president at the time - Jesus, Jehovah, Jesus, Jehovah. Proves they as an organization do NOT know who God is any more than most - and are in no positon to boast that they do. Old light, new light, zig zag course. Books, books and more books - never coming to an understanding.

  New light aside, Its one thing to get some minor players wrong when starting a new religion but OMG shouldn't the main characters be in place?Guess that's what happens when you must fit the bible to your own interpretations.

  food for thought this thread

  wp
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  14

  1998 Letter To the President Of France

  by Bangalore in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

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  bangalore.

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  Will Power

  I didn't know how embed the article but here is the text.

  Should churches and religious organizations continue to receive automatic tax exemptions?

  Should community groups?

  A couple of years ago, the little town of Gibsons, on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast, began to ask those questions in earnest. Squeezed between a contracting economy and a provincial government that was off-loading costs to municipal governments, the town, like many other small towns across the province, had to account for every tax dollar it collected and spent.

  So in the 2007-08 tax year, Gibsons' council put the town's dozen tax-exempted properties on notice: By the 2009-10 tax year, they would have to justify the reasons why they received their exemption or risk losing it.

  Eight of those properties were churches or had religious affiliations. Gibsons was challenging the automatic tax-exempted status that religious institutions have always enjoyed.

  "The town of Gibsons is a progressive little place," Mayor Barry Janyk said, "and we just felt it was the appropriate thing to do if the taxpayers of the community -- the businesses and residential owners -- were being asked to contribute. And I don't see from the response that we got that any of the dozen potential listers were objecting to it."

  To big city taxpayers, it is not a lot of tax dollars Janyk is talking about. The municipal portion of the permissive tax exemption Gibsons is allowed to forgive amounts to $60,000. But that is three per cent of Gibsons' total tax bill -- not insignificant when a town must struggle to pay for services.

  "So," Janyk said, "do we want to give three per cent of our tax bill to the Legion and the Baptist church and the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, which is in there too? Don't forget we're a very small town, not only in terms of population, with about 4,300 people, but in terms of footprint as well, only about two square miles."

  The justification process begins with the tax-exempted properties filling out a form that asks several questions, including: What services and programs do you provide? How do they benefit the general public?

  The local United Church, for example, cited its thrift store that provides clothes to needy families at low or no cost, the rental of its hall to the public, the staging of local school plays and the counselling services of its minister. "A great organization," said Janyk.

  The local Legion cited its offering of its hall space for public meetings, which, Janyk said, met the criteria, though any profit the Legion made from things such as liquor sales, he said, would continue to be taxed.

  But one tax-exempt property that has given the town pause was the local Jehovah's Witness hall.

  When asked what services and programs it provided, the Jehovah's Witness answer, Janyk said, was: "To assist the local unincorporated association of Jehovah's Witnesses in carrying out their religious objective of preaching the good news of God's Kingdom and promoting public religious worship."

  In other words, providing a place of worship for local Jehovah's Witnesses, or those who wished to become Jehovah's Witness.

  And how did that benefit the citizens of Gibsons at large?

  "The response was:" said Janyk, " 'To assist any who attend these public meetings by means of moral and spiritual instruction based on God's word in the Bible.' "

  But proselytizing, Janyk said, was not exactly what the town has in mind as a service to taxpayers.

  "We're going to have to look at that, and ask if this meets the objectives of a tax exemption from council's perspective, or is there something more we could ask from the Jehovah's Witnesses.

  "And my personal feeling is, I think we could ask them to open their hall for public purposes and not to just the members of their congregation."

  And if the Jehovah's Witness do not comply, they could lose an exemption worth $1,400, Janyk said.

  Is it worth going down this road for a $1,400 tax bill?

  "I think (it is), because I think you have to justify what we do to the taxpayers. I think if you're going to create equality, it has to be good for all parties. And I'm trying to get these great organizations to recognize what they're getting in benefits from the community, and contribute accordingly.

  "It shouldn't be that you just put in the application and you get the money. It shouldn't be like that. This is a contract between you and your community."

  An organization with an even greater tax exemption is Christenson Village, a large assisted-living facility for seniors operated by the Good Samaritan Society, affiliated with the Lutheran Church. Open since 2006, it enjoys an exemption worth $22,000.

  It does good work, Janyk said, but one aspect of its operation is problematic. Not all the residents in the facility are from Gibsons. Some are from the Lower Mainland, some from the regional district.

  "And the town is looking at this, and going, 'Hang on a second: Why are we subsidizing the provincial government and the organization that's operating this facility on behalf of the provincial government?' Perhaps it's time to look into a phased approach of taxing them. Because, is it fair, is it right, for the local taxpayers to be subsidizing the provincial government?

  "I can assure you that if it was the provincial government that was in the driver's seat, they certainly wouldn't give us the credit of a couple of years to implement tax policy."

  Did he see this kind of tax scrutiny of religious and social organizations coming to larger communities?

  "I would hope," Janyk said.

  © Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
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  14

  1998 Letter To the President Of France

  by Bangalore in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

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  bangalore.

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  Will Power

  http://www.edmontonjournal.com/life/Economy+forces+town+examine+breaks+churches/2913971/story.html

  There is a town that is asking... If you want tax exemption - what do we get in return?
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  Interesting stats of JWN visitors: 74% from U.S. and 2.3% from U.K.

  by paul from cleveland in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i would have thought more traffic came from the uk since there are so many posters from there.. .

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  Will Power

  Don't alot of companys use servers in india ??
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  23

  Just had JW come to the door to invite me to memorial

  by tec in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is the first time that i ever refused to go the memorial.

  usually i make excuses or fall back on the 'maybe'.

  in fact, i have never stated an opinion that differs with anything that a jw at my door says.

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  Will Power

  I remember at the door once I made a point to the sweet lady that dared to knock - that the JWs seem so bent on not celebrating birthdays, and other so called pagan holidays and are proud that they can give gifts or make nice gestures every and any day of the year.

  Yet they choose to celebrate the DEATH of jesus (as opposed to the resurrection- the reason for the death) - on one day of the year only.

  19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."

  It doesn't say once a year, or every nisan 14, or on this specific day - every year from now on....

  there are so many churches who do this "remembering" of the death & resurrection every day of every week, of every month, of every year, all over the world

  the whole memorial rejection thing just seems so "anti.... " to me
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  22

  I'M NEWLY CONVERTED TO SOME ASPECTS OF EVOLUTION, BUT COULD IT BE COMBINED WITH A CREATIVE FORCE?

  by Life is now in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  could a creative force be the catalyst?.

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  Will Power

  I read a book last year called "Thank God for Evolution" the author Michael Dowd also has talks up on google video or u-tube not sure which.

  I liked the way he described the science as day language and the spiritual side as night language.

  YOu might want to check it out

  wp