dec 1, 1:16 pm est
teen pleads innocent to setting fire to jehovah's witness church
westfield, mass.
hmmm..$$375,000.00 for a building that possibly cost $10 or $15k when it was built by volunteer labor and donations.
Add that to the 100k that they might get for the land and the society makes a hefty profit;perhaps law enforcement should consider who actually stands to benefit from the destruction of an older building that was in need of "updating"! Could it be, that the boy is innocent?
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do you often wonder when the memorial will be, well here is a simple converter that is easy to use.. btw we are in 5763 in the jewish calendar .
just enter the memorial date, which is the 14th of nisan year 5763, and this will give you the date of the memorial in our julian calendar.. you can try for any year.. try it !.
JH,
Yes, that is correct; and thanks for the link. Can you or anyone explain the absence on the full-moon in this year's memorial date?
Cookie
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do you often wonder when the memorial will be, well here is a simple converter that is easy to use.. btw we are in 5763 in the jewish calendar .
just enter the memorial date, which is the 14th of nisan year 5763, and this will give you the date of the memorial in our julian calendar.. you can try for any year.. try it !.
Sorry for the duplicates,( don't know how to edit yet).
The above date in the year 5757 is a special year for me, because that is when I mailed my letter of dissassociation.
I memorialize it each year! It is a commemoration of my "death" as a witness and my new life as a "real" person!
cookie
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do you often wonder when the memorial will be, well here is a simple converter that is easy to use.. btw we are in 5763 in the jewish calendar .
just enter the memorial date, which is the 14th of nisan year 5763, and this will give you the date of the memorial in our julian calendar.. you can try for any year.. try it !.
23 Adar II 5757
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do you often wonder when the memorial will be, well here is a simple converter that is easy to use.. btw we are in 5763 in the jewish calendar .
just enter the memorial date, which is the 14th of nisan year 5763, and this will give you the date of the memorial in our julian calendar.. you can try for any year.. try it !.
23 Adar II 5757
this question was asked in a previous post.
i wrote to the worldwide church of god website and the answer is posted below: .
thank you for your message.
We had dinner with them, and it was amazing how similar they were to JW's. In all areas. Mind boggling.
They also had a book with a similar title to Russell's (divine plan of ages?),but have successfully (through legal means) stopped the Philadelphia church of god (TRUMPET writer's ) from publishing or distributing copies of it. (I wanted it so that I could compare it to the WT take on it because, I ,too, wondered if the same writing staff may have worked for both.)
It is interesting to note the paralells in the heated division that occurred within Armstrong's group and the philadelphia church / with the wt group and russellites.The WT and PLAIN TRUTH guys are somewhat dismissive of their founder's beliefs but the spin- offs, Russellites ,as well as the Philadelphia church of god have kept their founder's on a perpetual pedestal.
It was also of interest to me that Russell was referred to as the Laodacean messenger and Armstrong was referred to as the Philadelphian messenger.
Hmmm, if one didn't know better (does one?)one might think that they were different divisions of the same body.Kind of like the army, navy, and air force all part of one military giant, but separate and competetive with each other on their respective levels.
Some day someone ought to do a comparative analysis of the American made religions and see just what they have in common other than mind control,secret male hieirarchies,and worlwide building operations. Maybe we would find a common bank account somewhere!
Cookie
being reasanable to assume that,they are promoting fear within the congregations,keeping others from asking awkward questions,it seems that no one is interested in the reasons why that other person was named and shamed,what a way to control people , one minute they are your best friends the next minute you bump into them say in the high street and you dont seem to exist within there boundarys or vision ,.
my remedy .if you are in this position is to greet them very loudly laughingly saying hallo there ,big wave big smile,be carfull of those paedophiles your mixing with.
( nice & loud ) next time they see you they will run to the otherside of the road,instead of trying to intimidate you.
Thanks to all for your kind thoughts.
I hope that this will be an eye opener for my son, but time will tell.
When I was threatened by an elder (in 1981) that I would be disfellowshipped for associating with my (DF'D)sister, I chose"Jehovah" and didn't say hello to her for 17 years.
What a waste. But the WT owned every fiber of my being.
My son is much stronger than I was at his age,(so there is reason for hope)
cookie
don't care how you are slanted "politically" - this should be of great concern to all americans:bush plans to let religious groups get building aid.
by eric lichtblau.
ashington, jan. 22 the bush administration plans to allow religious groups for the first time to use federal housing money to help build centers where religious worship is held, as long as part of the building is also used for social services.
IDEA!
This Faith Based Initiative (aka FBI) might do well using the witnesses for the TIPS program that the govt.wanted postal workers and G&E personnel involved in.
Who better to spy and report on neighbors than clean-cut door- knockers who have been so well-trained in spying and tattling on others.( See today's thread on disfellowshipping )
Might that be one of the social programs that could qualify the WT for Government funds, since they don't do anything else in/for the community than door-knocking?
cookie
being reasanable to assume that,they are promoting fear within the congregations,keeping others from asking awkward questions,it seems that no one is interested in the reasons why that other person was named and shamed,what a way to control people , one minute they are your best friends the next minute you bump into them say in the high street and you dont seem to exist within there boundarys or vision ,.
my remedy .if you are in this position is to greet them very loudly laughingly saying hallo there ,big wave big smile,be carfull of those paedophiles your mixing with.
( nice & loud ) next time they see you they will run to the otherside of the road,instead of trying to intimidate you.
This just happened to us:
My son (an MS) meets his childhood "best friend"(an elder) at a gathering. "Beast" friend says to son,"So how are you?"
"I'm fine; how's everything with you"?
"Great" says the elder. "And how have your parents been"?
"Oh, they are fine. A few health problems along the way, but nothing too serious."
Elder says sympathetically,"Oh really?sorry to hear about their problems. Do you get to see them often?"
My son replies:
"About once a month. Not as often as I might like, but we are all busy,you know."
Elder says(in his mind) "GOTCHA!"!!!
Says out loud, "Ohhhhh,Michael(not real name), We have to talk about this."
Michael asks,"What do you mean?"
Didn't you read the August Kingdom ministry?"
Yes.
"And didn't you read about that brother and sister who called their mother right after an assembly to cut them off?"
"Yes, so?"
"Well, Michael, she came back into the truth because of their stance"
Michael is now very irritated with the bait and switch that just took place and the toes that are being stepped on at the moment.
"Are you CRAZY?!!, he says. Do you think my parents would come back because I cut them off? That is the most INSANE reason for anyone to want to come back. I am not about to cut my parents off!"!!!!
"Michael, we are going to have to talk more about this later, why don't you call me."
Michael,blew it all off. (but best friend calls elders at Michael's hall to REPORT the SIN.)
Michael goes to a meeting and gets called in the backroom. OH OH! What could possibly be wrong?
"It has come to our attention that you have been seeing your parents",Brother Himler says.
Yeah so? Michael responds.
"Well, as a servant you need to set the example for the congregation"
"Are you kidding? You want me to stop seeing my parents? Are you crazy? I am not going to stop seeing my parents! They are my parents,for God's sake!.
"Well, this is a bigger problem than we thought; we will have to get a commitee together to determine what should be done."
"Done? What is to be done?"
Well, we cannot have someone in a position of responsibility going against the direction of the faithful and discreet slave. You must realize that a ministerial servant has to be beyond reproach or the rest of the friends might follow his lead."
"Hey! You do whatever you need to do. I AM NOT GOING TO STOP SEEING MY PARENTS!"
"Michael, I am afraid that you are displaying a spirit of hostility. I wasn't aware that was one of your personality traits."
"Listen, you just told me, (basically)that I have to give up my parents in order to keep my position in this congregation,, and you can't understand why I am a little upset?"
"Michael,we will give you time to think about this. In the meantime,we will schedule a formal meeting."
Michael leaves the KH., (goes home)talks with his wife, who agrees that if it means he loses his "Position" so be it, they were on the same page with this one.
A meeting is scheduled, it is not over yet,(new gun- ho CO coming next month)
In the meantime, Michael calls that old x-best friend and leaves this question on his answering machine,"WHY did you do that? What possible motive did you have in in feigning concern for my parents and calling my elders behind my back? Are you that desperate to get me in trouble? Do you want me removed, is that it?
Why? I just want to know why?"
X-best friend never called him back(the coward).
So he visits us, a week after this pow wow, and I mentioned the AUG KM. He says, "you know about that"?
I say, "Of course I do. I still have one of you in the religion. I am going to do my best to learn what the "current" mindset is within the org.
"I have lived with this Sword of Damocles since August, wondering when my call would come."
'It won't,Mom. I am not about to give up my parents, even if they do remove me."
I said, "Michael, that may not be all."
"What do you mean?"
"They might DF you for this."
"No, "They wouldn't do that."
"Michael, I believe the AUGUST Kingdom ministry says that you are FORBIDDEN from shopping,going on a picnic,having a meal in a restaurant,watching movies, etc."
"No, it doesn't"
Yes,it does."
"It says it in one of the questions at the bottom of the page."
"THE KM doesn't have questions."
I know that, but the August KM does! And it says FORBIDDEN.I believe it asks the question,' WHAT ACTIVITIES ARE forbidden......" And the paragragh makes it clear that you cannot go to a restaurant with us, vacation, or even visit anymore. THE Society never went so far in specifying such things but they have now.
"I think you are wrong ,Mom. I have the KM in the car; let me get it."
He looks at the bottom of the page, "You are right, there are questions, I didn't even notice that before. He reads the question. FORBIDDEN jumps out at him. He proceeds to read just what is FORBIDDEN, and his face is frozen in place. He didn't smile once after that.
He just shook his head and said,"I don't believe that."
"We are to be treated as the tax collectors, Michael."
He responds by saying that ,'Jeus ate with tax collectors.'
"Well, that was okay for Jesus, but you will not be allowed to emulate his spirit on this one."
"THEY don't have a scriptural right to do this to us!"
"I know, Honey. But they have the legal right. And they are planning on enforcing this, so be prepared."
My son lost sleep over this when his position as an MS was at stake, but he didn't realize that he might face far worse consequences than that.
The sword continues to hang over my neck ,because he is going to be forced to choose between Jehovah and me.
This whole thing sickens me, and reminds me of something I read about some of the Hitler youth. These young boys were each given a puppy, to live with ,to train,and to bond with. (Anyone who has had puppies can understand the special love that can develop in a year's time)
At that point ,the boys' loyalty was to be tested. They were each told to shoot and kill their dogs.If they couldn't,they proved their disloyalty to the "cause" ;if they could, it was clear that they could be trusted.
Discern the fruit discover the tree. Same spirit! UGGH!!!!
Cookie
i just got through talking to a couple of elders, they both had moved here from other places, one from fla and one from wis. i can't remember their names.
they said the society had instructed them to call on all inactive ones.. they were nice to me, but had the same old answers that i used to present.
i brought up a lot of things for them to think about, but their minds have been carefully programed so it didn't register.
Blondie:you said
"There is no place for an SSN. That must have been a idiosyncrasy of the congregation/or circuit you lived in"
Your response makes me even more curious as to why anyone (our PO) would have asked us for such private information. I could kick myself for having been such a compliant fool.
Cookie
