Posts by Syme

26

Time to move on, my last post on JWN....

by JustHuman14 in

jw
friends

i have been posting into the forum since 2001(my previous avatar was "justhuman" and when forum changed to net, i couldn't retrieve my old avatar so i had to use a similar one and log in again).

almost 15 years are gone.

made some friends here, including mr flipper and one that i really miss dearly is oompa.

Syme

JustHuman14,

PM me please, in your native tongue ;)

143

Letter to BOE: Adjustment in process for appointing elders and ministerial servants

by pixel in

hello, you read it here first!.

governing body of jehovah's witnesses.

to all congregations.

First, it really upgrades the role of COs. Simultaneously, it downgrades the significance of the privilage per se; I mean, it's different being appointed by the Branch Committe itself and being appointed by a Jon Doe Circuit overseer.

Apart from that, the game changes with respect to appointments/deletions: The Branch office was detached from the persons in question so it could give a 'objective' appointment/deletion. Now, it's all up to the CO, who personally knows the individual and may even be best friends, or worst enemies, with him!

A personal example: When I was due to be deleted, both the BOE and especially the CO did not wish my deletion. But the Branch office took the matter in their own hands and chopped my head in an istant. So, if that adjustment was in force back then, I would now still be an elder. (which would be for the worse, now that I think of it)

12

Here is my prediction.

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

i think next year they will have the memorial at a larger event space like where they held their circuit assemblies.

i noticed each first congregation at each kingdom hall has to leave immediately because each 2nd congregation is coming afterwards.

the first congregation does not really have the time to greet new people after the memorial.

Syme

It's not the same as with assemblies.

Bear in mind that assemblies aim almost exclusively at JWs, while the memorial aims at the public. It is the only event which is observed by lots of non-jws.

So, while it is natural to drag jws to WTS-owned assembly halls, it is not easy to drag the general public in a jw-owned construction.

That's why many congs try to throw the memorial at a 'neutral', and if possible luxurious place, such as a hotel conference hall.

So, yes, maybe they will start to hold bigger memorials, but still, not in assembly halls, I think.

Except if the memorial attendance drops at such low levels, that will degrade it to a mainly jw-aimed event, like assemblies.

29

Is it true that elders lurk the forums?

by make yourself in

it seems like it is one huge contradiction.

but are they doing it for the purpose to try to guess exactly who in the congregation is on ex jw sites?

.

Syme

"Something evil's lurking in the dark", as brother Michael Jackson would put it...

135

Shark Evolution

by metatron in

jw
friends

http://descrier.co.uk/science/fossil-discovery-shows-model-evolution-sharks/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=fossil-discovery-shows-model-evolution-sharks.

i used to consider sharks to be evidence for creation - and against evolution because it was stated that they are largely unchanged after millions of years ( hence, 'what evolution?')..

that's not the case, however.

Syme

The mere existence of the huge divergence and variety of the shark family is a beautiful example of evolution's power.

Apart from that, the very structure of, let's say the Great White, is an argument against a Creator, at least such as the WTS imagines Him.

I mean, just look at those creatures. Unstoppable apex predators, with every inch of their body specifically 'designed' to produce an effective killer. How could this be the work of a 'Garden of Eden'-like creator?

Sharks are one of evolution's mastepieces.

69

Your Experience with Resigning as an Elder

by committeechairman in

i'm considering resigning as an elder.

i'm not planning to fade or stop as one of jehovah's witnesses, just stop serving as an elder.. i have responsibility in the congregation and in circuit, district, rbc, etc.

and i'm completely exhausted.

Syme

committeechairman,

It is my theory that privileges are a kind of dope. To paraphrase Marx, I would say that privileges are the opium of the j-dub.

In what way? If you have privileges, you are too committed to let yourself think doubtfully etc; moreover, the actual privileges that come with the office, the benefits, the recognition, the respect you gain, the power you have over other people, all these are very powerful opiates!

I was deleted as an elder, I did not ''step down''. For the first few weeks/months, I was determined to follow a reinstatement course. However, for the first time in years, I felt actually FREE, free to think and read and study and travel, things that I did not have the luxury for previously. (as an elder, a pioneer and an MTS graduate)

After some time, I accidentally came across the scientific evidence for evolution. Were I still an elder, I would not allow myself to indulge in that study. But since I did not have that chain over me, I dag deeper and discovered that up until that moment I was scientifically illiterate (as most poor jdubs are), even though I was a university graduate! A whole new beautiful world of wonder opened before my eyes.

Of course, the price was doubt and eventually, disbelief. However, I do not change knowledge, REAL knowledge of creation and its wonders for anything in this world, let alone for serving an organization in which the idea of spirituality is giving out leaflets advertizing a website!

51

So Spill the Beans, Brothers: Were There More or Fewer At this Year's Bore-Fest

by steve2 in

the jw date-worshipped memorial has just completed its bleak worldwide commemoration.

that wasn't a dust cloud you saw; it was a millionfold hearts limply beating themselves into another round of great tribulation expectations.

i was knocked into a deep, deep sleep by the imagined experience of being at several thousand consecutive kingdom halls as the platformed drones spat forth the predictable sludge that, once released, hits and stains white clothing and bleach is useless.. we know that memorial attendance worldwide has dipped for two consecutive years since 2011 when it reached a high of 19,374,737 and for the promised land, obama's usa, the all time memorial attendance high was also 2011 when it hit over 2.5million (2,563,518) but shrunk in shame back to 2,502,055 in 2012 and spluttered upwards a handful or two to 2,504,114 last year.. so, what was attendance at the date-obsessed bore-fest this year in your neck of the woods?

Syme

In my KH today an elder announced how many attended the memorial. They were 10 less than last year, but instead of revealing that fact, the elder said than they were MORE if we account for the fact that many local JWs have moved from town sicne last year!

Sneeky poor fella. If they were 10 more than last year, he would surely announce it with great pride!

2

Jw.org FAQ do Jehovah'Witnesses practice tithing?

by Skinnedsheep in

jw
friends

http://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/do-jehovahs-witnesses-tithe/.

5 bucks says this article either disappears or is re written in the next month.

here is the text of the article... .

Syme

"If the Mosaic Law required one tenth of one's belongings, then how much more should the Supreme Law of Christ himself require? Of course, that does not mean that Jehovah's Witnesses are required to donate a certain amount, let's say 20%, but rather, that they feel impelled by their conscience and by Christ's death to do so."

[Possible content of a future BOE letter. Soon, in a Kingdom Hall near you.]

32

Did you count the time for your "hour talk"?

by compound complex in

jw
friends

hi fellow speakers (sorry, brothers only!):.

my first public talk, given in my early 20s, was actually a twenty-minute part of a symposium talk.

my pioneer partner friend and i each had twenty minutes and a "servant" had the concluding part.

Syme

I counted my public talk time. I counted 1 hour when I gave 45' talk, and 1/2 hour when I gave a 30' talk (after the recent change). That includes memorial talks.

I did not count any other kind of talk.

Of course, when I went for a talk to a distant congregation, I used to take along with me at least 1 unbaptized publisher, so the actual counting was a lot more than 1 hour.

23

Advice, Opinions, Please!

by mellojello in

do any of you sometimes experience difficulty in shaking wt teachings?

like it intrudes in your daily life and thought and some things that may be alright, now you feel as if they're wrong or you plain just don't know.

i know the wt is a lie but i haven't lost my faith in god, i know he's there but it's hard knowing whats the right thing to do.

Syme

In order to ''know what to do'', you need resources.

Before you act, you need to have a background. The sterile WT publications that were your sole channel of information until now, do not provide that background.

Now that you are not bound by the WTS publication chains, try reading as if you read for the first time.

Read philosophy, read science, read politics, read economy, read applied psychology. Read everything that helps you re-discover the world around you and re-defince your place in it!

When you have sufficient amount of secular knowledge, you will apply it to your own life, circumstances and feelings, and then do what's best for you.