A.proclaimer

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Posts by A.proclaimer

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  80

  Rumor: New light comes from outside marketing consultants

  by Londo111 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  this is a rumor i heard back in november, it comes to me third or fourth-hand.

  feel free to poke holes.

  i have many doubts about this myself.

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  A.proclaimer

  The outisde marketing and psychologist sounds more like a consporacy theory to me, but I would say they do hold a "marketing" mentality with all these changes. Just a few days ago, my mother told me that when her Field Service group met, the Elder taking the lead read a Kingdom ministry from last year, saying that the focus has been moved more from preaching door to door, to public places because more people are being found outside than at home.

  To change the Blood doctrine and 1914 within short periods of time is way too heavy. It's like their two signature doctrines. If one were to change, the other would need to happen much after.
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  3

  Jehovah's Witnesses Believe in Evolution (of Doctrines that is)

  by konceptual99 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have been having some interesting low level conversaions with people i know about various aspects of jw dogma that touch on the controversial to gauge reactions.. one conversation has been about evolution and that jws do accept evolution to a certain degree since it is the only way to explain the variation in life we see now since the flood supposedly wiped the slate clean 4000 years ago.

  this has lead to some interesting blank, slightly confounded faces but i've then gone one step further about the evolution of doctrine.. so for example, i've had conversations about the fact that we (the royal "we" that is) have always had the but truth doctrine has evolved.

  i have used the example of how russell believed that jesus was present in 1874 and 1914 would see essentially a rapture before the world ended.

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  A.proclaimer

  I've thought about something similar before. I always noticed how things just naturally evolve- like out clothes, style, cars, music, knowledge, mentality; and you can see it throughout human history. I asked myself, isn't this possible in nature too? I haven't studied evolution enough to know all the facts, but it's just something. I noticed. I do know that certain evolutionary concepts are taught to explain different races and variations of animals (ex. seperation of gene pools).
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  24

  We are seeing JW history in the making

  by suavojr in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  with all the current changes and downsizing, the 1914 "anchor date" appears to be drifting out to sea.

  yes, i know the gb is putting all of their chips on 1914 but if you stop and think about it for a moment.. we are seeing jw history in the making for the next jw generation of 2114.. first they teach a date as significant.second, when it becomes obsolete, they come up with a convoluted explanation of how it really was significant, just not in the way "some believers" once taught.third, it becomes a historical footnote, as in: "bible students at one time thought... but now we see... evidently... .

  the next generation of jws (100 years from today) will be talking about 2014 as the year of great expectation, and how close the end is in 2114. yes, when jesus spoke about this generation evidently he was talking in a symbolic way, and he was truly referring to the generation class.. .

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  A.proclaimer

  The only way the Watchtower is going to survive is by adapting to the new generation and making big changes. If it does live on for 100 years more, it will look different than what it is today. We live in the Information Age and each day it is easier to record information for future generations. One big problem with the Watchtower is time. They've limited their time so much in the past that their predictions (or prophecies) have failed and they're forced to change.

  As for 1914, I can only see this doctrine abandoned far into the future. Slowly being insignificant. There's so much invested into that one date that to undo the damage is going to take a loooong time. Not to point out how this would prove opposers right and them wrong. Only time can tell what will happen...
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  85

  My Elderette is returning today to CONDUCT another conversation...

  by Faithful Witness in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  she has had 42 years of training and indoctrination.

  i'm feeling sort of nervous, but also looking forward to it.

  this will be our second scheduled session together, and we never did agree on a topic.. i'm assuming she will come with an agenda and another prepared presentation.

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  A.proclaimer

  Good luck! You should record these experiences to learn from. she probably suspects you know more than the average bible study and been doing your research. Don't give out too much information or else she'll run the other way, unless that's what you're looking for.
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  5

  help from the savants regarding the gentile times

  by never a jw in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i find it interesting that the wt is boasting about the 100 year anniversary of the kingdom in 2014, but i have never seen an explanation on how they calculate it.

  i know how to get to 1914 using the bible (ezekiel, revelation, daniel, jeremiah).

  in fact, i know all the messy stuff behind it, such as 606 bce, 537 bce, mishandling of no-zero year in the calendar, 536 bce instead of 539 bce, etc.. what i am wondering is when was the last time the wt wrote an article in the wt magazine to explain in the weekly meeting how to calculate 1914. if this year is so important, one would expect an explanation in a regular basis, but i have not seen it yet.

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  A.proclaimer

  You have a good point there. When I've looked at past publications, they've explained the 1914 calculation. I think they just assume the reader already knows since the Watchtower study is made for believers. 1914 is in the Teach book as an extra to read.
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  10

  I met two Mormons today

  by Quarterback in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  while going on my walk this morning, i saw two female members of the mormon faith coming towards me.

  as they got closer they initiated the conversation.. i stopped getting into arguments a long time ago with people about beleifs, so we just had a friendly chat, in the end of our conversation, they gave me a card.

  do you know what that card was about?.

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  A.proclaimer

  Looks like Mormans are on a campaign to spread the word on their website too. Another coincidence between JWs and Mormons was the release of a new bible edition just last year.
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  26

  The reason the Society keeps everyone busy with "campaigns"

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  im sure that many have had an experience where we try and keep little kids "occupied" while on a boring trip, such as a car ride or plane flight.. we come up with "games" like..."lets see how many green cars we can count", or "lets try and see who can sit still for the longest time".

  "the winner gets a prize!".

  obviously, until they are wise enough to cotton on, all we are doing is keeping them occupied to prevent them asking things like "are we there yet?!".

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  A.proclaimer

  You made a very good point here. Passign out a flyer is much easier and cheaper than leaving magazines. More ways to make field service feel more special than leaving the average Watchtower/Awake magazine. And by calling it a "campaign", it makes the average JW feel like they are participating in something new, that's for a limited time, kind of like a holiday sale at a store.
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  33

  A Text Message Exchange

  by Emery in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have been in the fading process for over a year now.

  nobody has really bothered my wife and me since we've stopped, which i am thankful for.

  recently, i've had an old jw friend send me a few text messages relating to business.

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  A.proclaimer

  Very well handled in my opinion. You did a great job. I've noticed that witnesses always pull out the preaching card but you brought up some very good points against that, something I could use as well.

  as for the FDS, here's another discrepancy You can point out. It says that the slave was already appointed over the master's domestics in 1919 according to the Watchtower July 15, 2013 p. 22,23 Based off of Mathew 24:45 which says: “Who really is the faithful and discreet slave whom his master appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time?

  Notice it says "appointed" as in past tense, already done. Now compare it to Luke 12:42 which is the same parable: "And the Lord said: 'Who really is the faithful steward, the discreet one, whom his master will appoint over his body of attendants to keep giving them their measure of food supplies at the proper time?'"

  now it says "will appoint", in the future. Why does one use past tense and the other future tense? The Governing body says they were already appointed but Luke refutes that. I asked my parents and a friend of theirs this question and I couldn't find a good answer.
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  20

  Electronic KMs Now Being Provided By Org to R&F?

  by pronomono in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i received a call from my book study conductor the other day asking for my email address so that he could start sending electronic copies of the km to me.

  has anyone else received calls like this?

  i've missed quite a few meeting (it's been nice) so am unaware if any letter has been read.

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  A.proclaimer

  The MS in my congregation passes the electronic forms out to us by email. It's been like that for a while now. Of course, I get them much quicker and earlier on this site ;P
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  2

  Starting to believe in "new lite" .......

  by Blttex in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm now fully convinced that the society provide new lite!

  well, at least the lite that is defined by miriam webster.

  they were right all along, just had the wrong spelling.. lite- 2: diminished or lacking in substance or seriousness <litenews>; specifically : being an innocuous or unthreatening version often used postpositively <it is film noir lite james greenberg> .

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  A.proclaimer

  Haha, good one. That's the new name.