Gavindit, if this is a serious question, a better question to ask would be ... When does the 1000 year reign begin? This is because, it has moved over the years with the dates involved in the establishing of Christ's Kingdom.
no-zombie
JoinedPosts by no-zombie
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14
Is the 1000 year reign literal?
by gavindlt into all those on this students on this forum, i would love to know what your view is?.
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no-zombie
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Why are the 2 newly appointed Governing Body Members from Bethel, when there are anointed ones all over the world? they could have used.
by RULES & REGULATIONS inlibrary.
books & brochures.
enjoy life forever!—an interactive bible course.
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no-zombie
Despite the fact that every Jehovah's Witness denies it, it is very clear the Faith is American ... and becoming even more so over time. Why, even its doctrines and laws prove this point. Just look at the previous ban on beards, university study and sexual moral attitudes, and see that they all come from a purely American centric view.
For example, it is well understood that the link between beards and the rebellious hippy movement was not that defined out of the US, nor is the reason for tertiary education based on peoples' desire to get rich and make a 'name' for themselves. The United Sates on the other hand, has always had a problem with anti-establishment expression, as it does with its attitude towards money and non-traditional sexual practices.
So we should expect that new Governing Body members will always be American citizens, and any idea a truly international and ethically diverse Faithful slave, will only exist in our dreams.
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Ban on Independent Meetings
by lssjr insource - march 2021 announcements - - https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5085868283920384/2021-march-147-english-german-announcements-reminders.
this is a sobering reminder of what happened some 40 years ago when raymond franz and others were literally kicked out from the jehovah's witnesses for having pre-arranged private spiritual discussions.lesson: paragraph 7 is another example of the i and t in dr. steven hassan's bite model of the 21st century cult - information and thought control at its best!!!!
"my gosh, there must be a lot of independent meetings these days.
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no-zombie
Blondie, I remember this time (the 1980 to 81 period) quite clearly, it was relatively common for a local Elder to arrange a Watchtower pre-study group for the 'young ones'. We'd prepare for the coming meeting and it would give us the encouragement to answer up. Afterwards we'd have cake, biscuits and a cup Tea or coffee, which was a very nice and wholesome way to associate and grow together. Similarly, other Elders would arrange for the occasional congregation picnic down at a park, to a kick ball around and have a BBQ. These were nice family times, where those without a family in the 'Truth' (like spiritual orphans and those in divided homes) could enjoy some needed downtime.
However, it was all ripped away literally overnight, with the sudden and unexplained cancellation of these arrangements. And it was only many years latter, did I learn why ... but I can tell you that it was the beginning of the end of the Brotherhood, as being a Jehovah's Witness now became nothing but work.
Yeh, good job ... Governing Body. -
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Why disfellowship must be eliminated for the survival of the WT itself
by TheScientist inthis topic i digress about why the watchtower relaxing the rules of disfellowship is essential for its survival.
many things i'm going to say are not my ideas, some are, the point is, i'm condensing everything in a logical and concise way.. the first thing we have to keep in mind is that the wt's main objective in instituting disfellowship has always been not to lose members because of the damage that a dissident could do, or to avoid gaining new members because of the bad reputation of a confessed sinner in the his/her region.
in the end, the more active members, the more money to the coffers.. in this case of disfellowship due to apostasy, to avoid any spark, texts were sought out of context that even prohibited saying "hi".
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no-zombie
While I'm fully away of the segment of mankind who likes to draw attention to their own doomsday predictions (whether its climate change, global economics or the WBTS), I'm just trying to draw peoples attention to a inescapable timetable derived from well established modeling.
That being said, the Governing Body does not have a ten or twenty year window of opportunity to turn things around. No ... they must do things now. This is because generations of people do not die off gradually in a linear manner, they are call population cliffs for a reason. And in our case, as the greatest bulk of the Brotherhood are already in their latter middle-ages, they will ALL be dead or in nursing homes in 10 years time. Doubt what I'm saying ... then just study this topic by looking at Japan. And then think of the taxation issues (by that I mean the taxation of manpower and cash) the Governing Body will have to deal with, when the Brotherhood is halved.
And you can't just say ... oh well, 8 million Brothers divided by 2 equals 4 million, that's not too bad ... no, it just doesn't work like that in real life. Other biological, psychological and economic tipping points come into play, that generate their own addition downward pressures.
Yeh ... all negative stuff for sure. And while there maybe a little time left for the Governing Body to do something, I'm not convinced that they is smart enough or brave enough, to work it out.
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Why disfellowship must be eliminated for the survival of the WT itself
by TheScientist inthis topic i digress about why the watchtower relaxing the rules of disfellowship is essential for its survival.
many things i'm going to say are not my ideas, some are, the point is, i'm condensing everything in a logical and concise way.. the first thing we have to keep in mind is that the wt's main objective in instituting disfellowship has always been not to lose members because of the damage that a dissident could do, or to avoid gaining new members because of the bad reputation of a confessed sinner in the his/her region.
in the end, the more active members, the more money to the coffers.. in this case of disfellowship due to apostasy, to avoid any spark, texts were sought out of context that even prohibited saying "hi".
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no-zombie
Once again I'm amazed at the denial of the death dive the Organization is in. While I tend to use the publisher numbers as my indicator (which I know is quite rubbery), the global baptismal figures work just as well to prove that the Jehovah's Witnesses faith is dying, and may actually be irrecoverable no matter what the Governing Body does. Thus I have to say it again, the age demographic pattern of the Society is the only proof that anyone needs, to see how critical their situation is. And quite frankly ... any organization (or country) that does not have a growth rate of over 2.5% it is not even keeping its population stable. I mean come on guys, this is basic high school geography stuff.
To recover from this death dive, the Governing Body will have to do something as crazy as paying people to come to the meetings or offering free meals after the Watchtower study. That's how bad it is. But saying guys can wear beards or latter allowing you to come the Kingdom Hall in t-shirts and jeans, is almost a laughably weak response.
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109
Why disfellowship must be eliminated for the survival of the WT itself
by TheScientist inthis topic i digress about why the watchtower relaxing the rules of disfellowship is essential for its survival.
many things i'm going to say are not my ideas, some are, the point is, i'm condensing everything in a logical and concise way.. the first thing we have to keep in mind is that the wt's main objective in instituting disfellowship has always been not to lose members because of the damage that a dissident could do, or to avoid gaining new members because of the bad reputation of a confessed sinner in the his/her region.
in the end, the more active members, the more money to the coffers.. in this case of disfellowship due to apostasy, to avoid any spark, texts were sought out of context that even prohibited saying "hi".
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no-zombie
People here have to understand that the Governing Body does not care about stumbling the Brotherhood. The rank-and-file are already their captives. No ... all they care about is recruiting new members and the operating capital they bring. As a result they will ultimately do anything, overturn any long held belief or tradition, just to grow numerically. It is true that they might not like doing it (in fact it may even cause divisions within the Governing Body itself), but as things become more desperate, you can be sure that extraordinary things will happen.
Thus the disfellowshiping regulations, the higher education ban, political neutrality, birthday celebrations, and core time-based doctrines, will all be seen as negotiable items at some point ... as survival is the strongest motivator of change.
We have to remember that ... even an animal will chew off one of its own legs, to get out of a trap. Will the Governing Body be any different? I think not.
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In the spirit of Christmas
by no-zombie inon this auspicious day, i'd like to propose a question (half in fun and the other half not) to ask, ... if the governing body reviewed the origins of christmas and now proclaimed that it was now a matter of conscience, how many of the brotherhood would pick it up and start practicing it?.
for me, i think that very, very few would take issue of the change and disassociate themselves.
yes, many would question it in their minds for a while but since it would be a governing body sanctioned holiday, i think a very surprising large number would do so with zeal ... particularly in europe, were it still has wholesome family traditions.
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no-zombie
On this auspicious day, I'd like to propose a question (half in fun and the other half not) to ask, ... If the Governing Body reviewed the origins of Christmas and now proclaimed that it was now a matter of conscience, how many of the Brotherhood would pick it up and start practicing it?
For me, I think that very, very few would take issue of the change and disassociate themselves. Yes, many would question it in their minds for a while but since it would be a Governing Body sanctioned holiday, I think a very surprising large number would do so with zeal ... particularly in Europe, were it still has wholesome family traditions.
Think of it though ... no more embarrassing moments at work, when the office secretary is putting up Christmas decorations over your desk. No more thinking what to say, when you boss kindly give you a box chocolates, for you efforts over the year. And no more mumbling something at the end of the supermarket line, when the 15 year old checkout girl genuinely wishes you a happy holiday.
I think it would accepted just like our glorious joy of beards ... but what's your thoughts?
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Next change?
by JW_Rogue inso, first the turning in time got axed, now beards are okay, what is up next?
women wearing dress slacks to the meeting?
birthdays becoming acceptable?
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no-zombie
The problem is for the Governing Body, is that everything is a red line. And as such, each issue has received so much negative talk and the consequences of people going over these line so well know, that there isn't any slack in the believe system to ease up on. Thus to me, unbanning 'higher education' looks just as bad for the Governing Body, as allowing people joining the police.
This is problem that you get, when you are a very public all-knowing oracle but your prophecies are just not turning out. They should have kept their collective mouths shut a bit more, but these kind of people just go to make a comment on everything.
Thus, if the goal is to bring new blood into the Brotherhood, then tinkering around the edges (like clothing types or hair styles) is not going to do much, seriously. How about allowing Christmas celebrations. As shocking as that might seem, it would put Jehovah's Witnesses back on the global attention map, and for bang-for-buck, its good value ... and I think that you'd be surprised how quickly it would be accepted by the rank-and-file.
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What is worse: 1914 or Beard change
by Gorb inwhat is worse for jw's: changing the 1914 doctrine or allowing beards without the right to say what their opinion is?.
g..
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no-zombie
In my congregation everyone thinks that the beard thing is a big laugh, with people editing photos of each other and posting it around. Of course no one has said that "if it's ok now, why was it wrong before"?. No it's all robotic obedience.
Thus in my mind, the Brotherhood now can't see the difference between a 'doctrine' and a 'procedural adjustment'. No, its just ... 'so this is what we now believe, cool."
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Beards are now allowed - New Light
by Listener inlett has announced in the latest video update that jehovah has dignified the brothers by now letting them to choose for themselves whether they want to have a beard or not -.
https://www.jw.org/en/news/region/global/2023-governing-body-update-8/.
this applies worldwide and to all brothers in any position..
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no-zombie
I have a list of the top 10 things I hate about the Governing Body, and the 'beard issue' was one of them. Not that I ever wanted to grow one, but because of the fact the Governing Body has (now had) the audacity to ban, a man's natural choice. Quite frankly, its just another example showing that the Governing Body are no different than the rule making Pharisees of Jesus's day.
On a side note ... now I'm going to have to see a whole bunch of pimply youths, trying to grow one.