Posts by thedog1

57

The Watchtower religion(JWS), that really couldn't fail, from beginning to ........

by Finkelstein in

when one looks back retrospectively at the very beginning of this organization, you could see that the wts.. was on a structural platform of success, created by cunningly created doctrines, such as the invisible return of.

christ, the end times and the imminently soon to come armageddon, all bundled together.. .. this religious organization like so many others established in the united states was unregulated and had.

no upper governing control over its daily operations.. they proclaimed and taught what they wanted to or needed to sustain their operations as a publishing house.. .

thedog1

Sorry guys, got to disagree with you. I don't see myself as an enforcer. I do the best I can to interpret the Christian message and act in that way to the bros in the cong. I am not a great believer in fs reports even though of course I fill one out each month.

Kaik you said ' Thedog1, the power over local congregation is what drive men to join publishing company', if I understand you correctly that means elders become elders to dominate other people. That is not the reason I became an elder, believe it or not, it was to help, as I saw it.

57

The Watchtower religion(JWS), that really couldn't fail, from beginning to ........

by Finkelstein in

when one looks back retrospectively at the very beginning of this organization, you could see that the wts.. was on a structural platform of success, created by cunningly created doctrines, such as the invisible return of.

christ, the end times and the imminently soon to come armageddon, all bundled together.. .. this religious organization like so many others established in the united states was unregulated and had.

no upper governing control over its daily operations.. they proclaimed and taught what they wanted to or needed to sustain their operations as a publishing house.. .

thedog1

imitate

57

The Watchtower religion(JWS), that really couldn't fail, from beginning to ........

by Finkelstein in

when one looks back retrospectively at the very beginning of this organization, you could see that the wts.. was on a structural platform of success, created by cunningly created doctrines, such as the invisible return of.

christ, the end times and the imminently soon to come armageddon, all bundled together.. .. this religious organization like so many others established in the united states was unregulated and had.

no upper governing control over its daily operations.. they proclaimed and taught what they wanted to or needed to sustain their operations as a publishing house.. .

thedog1

Only if you believe that is your role. There are ways to avoid doing this if you truly simply want to help people. I realise that the org is not exactly what I thought it was when I became a Witness. But please do not believe that all elders are simply mindless servants, doing the bidding of the org and the CO without having some at times very creative input from themselves, input which reflects an attempt to imiate the mind of Christ.

57

The Watchtower religion(JWS), that really couldn't fail, from beginning to ........

by Finkelstein in

when one looks back retrospectively at the very beginning of this organization, you could see that the wts.. was on a structural platform of success, created by cunningly created doctrines, such as the invisible return of.

christ, the end times and the imminently soon to come armageddon, all bundled together.. .. this religious organization like so many others established in the united states was unregulated and had.

no upper governing control over its daily operations.. they proclaimed and taught what they wanted to or needed to sustain their operations as a publishing house.. .

thedog1

But I don't control other peoples' lives. Maybe I am the exception but usually I leave it up to people to be Christians themselves. If somebody in my group misses a meeting I might contact them if they have been sick simply to express concern, not to chase them up for non-meeting attendance. If they are somebody who has different private issues that might make it hard for them to attend, like a non-believing spouse, then I don't give them the third-degree if they miss meetings. Likewise with ministry. I let people work it out for themselves unless it is obvious they need some support from me. I really do believe in people deciding for themselves whether they want to attend meetings or go in fs for themselves. I am there to help if they need it but what they do is their choice. I respect their rights as human beings with an individual conscience and a working brain.

12

The Watchtower Society is IRRELEVANT!

by nicolaou in

i'm not ignoring the pain that thousands of disfellowshipped jw's suffer or the needless deaths or undealt with abuses.

to all these people the watchtower society is far from irrelevant - it's the cause of their misery, isolation and loss.. so what do i mean?.

if we want to make a difference then our focus needs to be on people.

thedog1

Is it a sign of indoctrination by others on this forum for many posters to keep saying 'it's a cult?' This gets very repetitive and undermines the points being made. Let people draw their own conclusions from what you post. You don't keep having to repeat the mantra. That is a bit like what many here accuse JW's of , repeating something enough times to 'brainwash' somebody.' Sound familiar? I prefer to go with Ray Franz and his description of what the WT org does as being cult-like. By the way, I'm not an apologist for JW's, even though I am a serving elder. I have read CoC and am halfway through IsoCF, so am still making my mind up.

57

The Watchtower religion(JWS), that really couldn't fail, from beginning to ........

by Finkelstein in

when one looks back retrospectively at the very beginning of this organization, you could see that the wts.. was on a structural platform of success, created by cunningly created doctrines, such as the invisible return of.

christ, the end times and the imminently soon to come armageddon, all bundled together.. .. this religious organization like so many others established in the united states was unregulated and had.

no upper governing control over its daily operations.. they proclaimed and taught what they wanted to or needed to sustain their operations as a publishing house.. .

thedog1

'The power, money and control was continuous and expanding for the top leaders of the WTS. right down

to the lower minions such as elders and COs/DOs etc. who were of pivotal structural importance to the

framework of the organization in keeping everything working and stable from a organizational standpoint.'

Don't know exactly what you mean here but nowadays the money part does not come into it for local 'minions', elders like me. There is no monetary reward in what we do. The power aspect is a double-edged sword as with power comes responsibility and there is a lot to live up to. Control, ha! What would I want to control other peoples' lives for?

108

"Jehovah ALWAYS had/used an organization". How would you reply?

by EdenOne in

in a recent meeting with elders, an argument was used to the effect that jehovah has always [= throughout history] used, or operated through, an organization; therefore, the wts must be that organization today, since god must be using one.

naturally, i know what arguments i've used to counter that argument.

but i'm interested in hearing yours.

thedog1

Crazyguy. Paul does not disagree with James. He is discussing people wanting to be righteous through works of the Mosaic law. He disagrees with the Jews on this. James is not discussing these kinds of 'works.' James is talking about having a faith and simplying demonstrating this faith through actions based on this faith. If, as he says, our faith is alive it is demonstrated by how we live and act.

17

A Greek JW serves 15? yrs in prison for his neutrality position.

by smiddy in

i`m thinking back to the 1960`s/70s of a watchtower article who described a greek brother who was imprisoned for refusing military conscription service and was sentenced to 5 yrs imprionment by the govt.at the end of his confinement he was again ordered to serve in the military,which he declined and was sentenced to another 5 yrs in prison ,i think this occured one more time.

( at that time their was no way you did alternative service ) of course he was hailed as a faithful brother who wouldn`t compromise his beleifs.of course their were probably many more people who went through an experience like this.is their anybody on the board who can verify,or enlighten us to this experience?

i would like to know what happened to the poor buggers who sacrificed their lives in this way.. smiddy.

thedog1

Today bros in Greece have to serve in civilian service for between one and two years instead of the nine months other people serve in the military.

47

The most disturbing Watchtower quote in 2013.

by never a jw in

i am trying to put together the worst of 2013. the first quote that comes to mind is possibly your "favorite" too.

do you have any other disturbing quotes from the publications in the wt?.

elders who are reading this article can draw some useful conclusions from the account we have just considered: (1) the most practical step that we can take to prepare for the coming attack of the assyrian is that of strengthening our faith in god and helping our brothers to do the same.

thedog1

We will be studying this article on the weekend of 18/19th January. I've already decided ( I conduct the WT study) that I am absenting myself from the WT study due later on in 2014 on 'the generation' as I cannot support the overlapping stuff. This article on the Assyrian and the point quoted above in paragraph 17 in a few weeks which has as a paragraph question "What four conclusions can the elders draw from the account we have considered" should be interesting. " the lifesaving direction that we receive from Jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint. All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not" must be one of the weirdest things I have ever read in a WT, and I've been a Witness a long time.

12

Has anyone heard about Elders latest instructions re: Child abuse?

by Newly Enlightened in

ok, we got an email thru facebook from a viewer of ours and he said that he had heard, that it is not even going out in a boe letter, the elders have to sign into their secure https://www.jw.org/apps/e_hfrsfvtrhc1.

page to get firmer instructions on how to handle any child abuse accusations and they are being told not to call the police..

thedog1

nothing as of just now that is newer than the BOE letter mentioned by Newly Enlightened.