jp1692 and others, you appear to have not read earlier replies which point out the requirement is for safety reasons.
Posts by steve2
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27Baptism during Covid - pool must tough the ground?
by jwfacts inthe july 2020 announcements mentions that baptism can be held in an “inflatable pool” as long as it touches the ground.
the pool must not be “on a terrace, flat roof, balcony, etc.”.
has anyone ever noticed that as a requirement?.
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22
Worldwide Campaign Nov 2020
by Listener inthanks petra and atlantis for sending the latest letter regarding the watchtowers plan for a worldwide campaign in november this year.
i am wondering what they are planning to achieve from this campaign, particularly their focus on sending the watchtower 2020 no.
2, titled "what is god's kingdom" to politicians, governments (and tribal leaders) around the world.. it would appear that this is their answer to governments who have put them in the spot light for their bad policies, particularly their handling of child abuse.
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steve2
Government official in November, upon opening the letters from JWs:
"Marion, here's another handful. Just file them in the usual "Religious Nutters" folders along with the others we're getting from all the other religious groups."
Marion, rolling her eyes, obliges.
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26
Was It Designed? (My head hurts)
by Cadellin ini know i shouldn't--i tell myself this over and over--but i can't help peeking at these silly articles.
and then i see this and my head really starts hurting: so the gannet, if you don't know (and why would you?
) is a seabird that feeds on fish.
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steve2
In one of their irritating evolution versus creation brochures, the writer(s) marvel at the ingenuity of a poisonous spider and its ability to defend itself against enormous odds. Funny, I thought, that this "creation" that they marvel over is a deftly moving killer machine that can even imperil any human who happens to be in its path - no mention of that in the brochure. Did Jehovah "design" this spider's deadly force? And don't give me that crap about the animal kingdom "changing" since the fall of Adam and Eve.
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27
Baptism during Covid - pool must tough the ground?
by jwfacts inthe july 2020 announcements mentions that baptism can be held in an “inflatable pool” as long as it touches the ground.
the pool must not be “on a terrace, flat roof, balcony, etc.”.
has anyone ever noticed that as a requirement?.
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steve2
A safety requirement with little, if anything to do with "spiritual" considerations or interpretations. I'm a bit surprised that JW organization's instructions on this do not mention or allude to safety. Balconies and terraced areas risk collapse when weight-bearing inflatable pools are filled with water.
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The women that abandon “The Good News” are a large army
by Aimee.Padilla into be born a woman is a great disadvantage in many parts of the world and much more if she is part of a destructive sect like the jehovah’s witnesses where she is submitted to the “theocratic order” being the base that sustains the corporate pyramid, displaying submission at all times before male authority.
those of us that have been part of this cult can verify that the woman has to carry out a series of practices that for the rest of society is somewhat incomprehensible.
i’d like to draw your attention to the act of head covering, if for any reason a woman has to pray in public while a male is present, who is not available to lead the prayer, she must cover her head because she wouldn’t be respecting the arrangement of authority if she didn’t.
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steve2
The Bible and fundamentalist high control groups are first and foremost patriarchies not theocracies.
best not blame an imaginary invisible "theocracy" for the behaviour, rules and policies of men.
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False prophets, and proud of it
by neat blue dog inthe latest wt celebrates the 100th anniversary of 1920 with an article about what happened that year:.
on march 21, 1920, joseph f. ruther-ford .
spoke on the subject“millions now living will never die.” the bi-ble students left no stone unturned in theirquest to invite interested ones to this event.they rented one of the largest theaters innew york city and distributed some 320,-000 invitations.the public responded beyond all expecta-tions.
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steve2
And not a peep about Beth Sarim, the mansion purchased with Watchtower money on the pretext that resurrected individuals like King David and prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah would dwell there - but in the meantime Rutherford saw out his later years living there in the lap of luxury.
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Where Is BLONDIE?
by minimus ini might have missed this but blondie was always one of the best posters here.
her analysis and commentary was spot on.. is everything ok with her?
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steve2
No big deal really - we all journey in a way that works for us. I'll miss her fantastic knowledge, wisdom and wide experience which she ably communicated.
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80
Quit Quietly now more than ever
by gone for good inthe amazing exoneration of info sekta in swiss court has finally reinforced the proper way to exit an abusive cult.. never write a letter of disassociation.
- no need to invoke shepherding or judicial action from elders.
make a written, dated statement of your free-will choice to have abandoned the jw religion - secure this document with a friend -a trusted friend (not the jw kind).
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steve2
Make a written, dated statement of your free-will choice to have abandoned the JW religion - secure this document with a friend -a trusted friend (not the JW kind). This document is your proof of having exercised your right to freedom of religion - a right guaranteed you by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Article 18.
Not a good idea to leave your dated, signed statement with a trusted friend. It is hardly likely to carry any legal weight.
If you must sign a document, get its contents verified paragraph-by-paragraph and co-signed by a current Justice of the Peace or a registered legal professional.
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JW vs. Mormon with regards to homosexuality
by Downtowner ini find it ironic that jw.org publishes an article about homosexuality on the day i received july 2020 issue if the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints magazine "ensign" which also has an article on same-sex attraction.
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regardless, the lds article comes across as more caring than the jw article although in the end members in good standing cannot act upon their same-sex attraction in either religion..
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steve2
JWs often talk about homosexuality but have very little to say one-to-one to homosexuals. In the Sophie video, her mother talks in a roundabout way to Sophie about what homosexuals need to do to get into the kingdom. Similarly, in the video featuring a virtuous young sister who is angrily confronted by a worldly woman (naturally) because the sister will not wear an arm bracelet in support of alternate lifestyles: It is a message about homosexuals to JWs about maintaining their stand in non-JW environments.
This tells me JWs have very little positive they want to share with non-heterosexuals: it's as if they cannot bring themselves to talk to the very people whose lifestyles they condemn. A moist off-putting approach.
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Weekly Meeting Importance Being Reduced - Your Thoughts?
by JWTom ini am pimo, but now have 40+ years of being a jw as i was raised in a 3rd generation family of witnesses and continue to fake my way through things - fading as i can.. for the vast majority of my time as a jw, the meetings were the central focus for all jws to get teaching, association, information and so on.
nothing was more important than being at the meetings!
over the last 20 years starting with the elimination of the weekly book study in homes and continuing down to today - my opinion is that the value/purpose of the weekly meetings continues to be diluted or minimized.
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steve2
Very informative OP.
I think that one of the major reasons meetings do not appear to be as vital or unmissable as they perhaps were in the past is due to the continued "delay" in the foretold "end of this system of things"
From a human survival point of view, it is extremely hard to keep up the hope in something that is called "urgent" decade after decade after decade and not feel seriously "let down" as you get older and older.
People can't help but think about all the sacrifices they made as young JWs (no higher education, no "worldly" career, no retirement savings or funds, no children, serving as pioneers for decades barely getting by financially, etc.). JWs do not expect to grow old and die in this system - yet that is exactly what is happening, generation after generation after generation.
My maternal grandparents started affiliating with the organization in the mid to late 1920s when its followers were known as "Bible Students". They were so convinced the end was so very near that they never bought their own house but remained tenants until they died in the 1970s. All of their children, including those who remained in the organization, had seen how frugally their JW parents lived their lives and subsequently decided not to be tenants but property owners. The second, third and now fourth and fifth generations of JWs have become progressively more nominal. The zeal and enthusiasm has gone - even thought a significant number remain in the organization.
It recalls exactly what is stated at Proverbs 13:12:
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."
This utter nonsense about the world ending needed to have happened well before now, given their founder, Charles Russell, predicted in the 1880s that the furthest reach of the time of the end would be 1914. It was only later followers who changed that expectation to 1914 being the beginning of the time of the end and now, given that the generation who witnesses World War One has passed away, they shore up belief in 1914 by introducing the unBiblical concept of "overlapping generations".