dozy

Joined

• started 136 topics
• posted 2,383 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by dozy

• 
  11

  The National Anthem

  by BluesBrother in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  recent controversies in america brought this to mind , although i don’t want this to become a political thread , rather to discuss the wts rules that stop a jw showing respect for the national anthem.. the watchtower says that doing so is an act of idolatry, giving worship to the state or its icon.

  as such witnesses remain seated when the anthem is played.

  in britain people simply stand quietly to show respect, there is no hand gesture.. when i was a boy, every cinema show and theatre concluded with the anthem,being played .usually it was orchestrally with no words sung.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dozy

  I remember at school ( in UK ) once the national anthem was played at some event we were watching and I stayed in my seat when everyone else was standing & singing - I was maybe about 10 years old. A teacher was sitting behind me and literally pulled me to my feet - I'm guessing she didn't get the memo - she wasn't one of my teachers - so I stayed standing and pretended to sing & never told my parents about it as they would have gone crazy and made a big fuss! Thankfully generally in the UK it is rarely played nowadays in that kind of setting.
• 
  30

  Has anyone ever turn down being appointed an Elder or MS?

  by Davros in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  has anyone turned it down or know of someone who did turn down being an elder or ms?.

  yes, it should be one of the biggest privileges a brother can get !!

  (how do i put the barfy icon in?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dozy

  There was a MS in our congregation that several times we ( I was an elder back then and all the elders wanted to appoint him ) tried to persuade to become an elder but he wasn't interested. His father was an elder in another congregation and he had seen just how tough and soul destroying and busy a job it was and he freely admitted that he didn't want any of that.

  In addition , there were quite a few JWs that did just enough not be be appointed. It was almost if consciously or sub consciously it just wasn't for them.
• 
  22

  How have Jehovah`s Witnesses ever gotten away with being a Tax Exempt Religion ?

  by smiddy3 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i can never get my head around this one ?

  don`t the powers that be ever really investigate religions that claim exemption from paying taxes because they claim they are a not for profit religion ?.

  you would have to be a brain dead imbecile not to see that the religion known as the" watchtower bible and tract society" otherwise known as "jehovah`s witnesses" are nothing more than a religious publishing house that have made x amount of $$$$$ over the years since their inception in the late 1800`s to this day.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dozy

  In fairness , JWs are by no means the worst offender in this regard. There are some real weird ( and even damaging ) "religions" claiming charitable status.

  Interesting article here:

  https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/the-commission-should-remove-the-advancement-of-religion-as-a-charitable-purpose-says-report.html

  Among other things , it states that 12,000 UK charities list "advancement of religion" as their sole charitable aim.
  
  
• 
  14

  Looking for suggestions, I'm being called on by a JW

  by Tameria2001 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  just before the pandemic affected my area, a couple of jws came to my door.

  this was the first time i didn't tell them to hit the road but instead had a pleasant conversation with them.

  i never revealed that i am a former jw, nor do i ever want the jws in my area to know that i was ever one.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dozy

  I would probe them a bit on the "wonderful news" about God's Kingdom. Ask them who would be annihilated to achieve this. We know that the Society teaches that everyone who isn't a JW ( and even some who are but are weak ) will be destroyed including new born babies and children.
• 
  158

  8 Documents Arrived Today!

  by Atlantis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  1.--authorization and release agreementfor disaster relief medical assistance.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------2.--for the attention of all elders------------------------------------------------------------------.

  3.--additional direction regarding assistance with practical needs------------------------------------------------------------------.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dozy

  pm please petra
• 
  7

  Watchtower Mobile Homes For Sale!

  by Atlantis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ibsa.

  watchtower mobile homes for sale!.

  https://ibsaproperty.com/properties/park-homes/ credit to mike & kimpetra!

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dozy

  Presumably they purchased them a few years ago to house workers on the new Bethel ( which is only about a mile or so from this park ).

  The Society has morphed into becoming mainly a real estate business. They always seem to prefer to buy property , even if only required for a short term , rather than lease ( the million pound home housing Welsh translators being a case in point ). https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/279555/wts-buys-ps1-000-000-luxury-sea-front-property-wales-uk
• 
  16

  The future of the Watchtower Society

  by mickygrey in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i left way back in 2002, seems a long time ago now and i haven't really kept up with any developments since.. i've kept one ear open and noticed recently there is talk of the wt being investigated over the sex abuse cover ups, but over the years this story has come in and out of the news.. what is everybody's predictions as to the future of the borg?

  i know what most people want to happen, but realistically, are we just looking at certain elements being hit because of the restructuring they did a few years ago to protect from this very thing?

  looking further ahead, you'd like to think that more people would wake up?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dozy

  I'm with Simon's analysis above on this. I think they will just continue to amble along with moderate growth overall - probably already in long term decline in most first world countries but more than offset by the third world. Financially they have ring fenced most of their assets in "independent" holding and service companies ( such as the IBSA and Kingdom Halls Trust ) so they will be safe from any major legal claims.

  I guess the main issue they have is the none-arrival of Armageddon - this is a religion with a big sell by date on its ass ( unlike the Mormons , for example. ) . Admittedly they have got away with it since 1879. They have fudged this for decades with recent changes to the "generation doctrine" , for example , which has bought them another 30 years or so but eventually they need to find some kind of new work-around solution - maybe 1914 ultimately will be ditched.
• 
  18

  Before cutting my hair my witness barber had to check with Bethel...really? Not a cult?

  by Witness 007 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i was balding and grey so i asked my witness barber friend to "just shave it all off" many brothers were doing the comb over which looked friggin stupid.

  but oh no in the 1990's this was rebellious he had to call a brother we knew at bethel to see if it was ok. we got his ok to go ahead but at the time i could help thinking about the no beard rule and how controlled and cultish we were..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dozy

  Some JWs will phone "Mother" for directions on anything. It is quite bizarre sometimes. As Ray Franz relates in his books , the Society has created a dependency culture where many JWs are simply incapable of making choices or decisions on their own , even on a quite simple level.

  I remember a JW telling me he was thinking of buying a microwave ( this was about 35 years ago when they were still quite a novelty item ) and he had phoned Bethel to see if they were safe and "approved by the Society". The Bethelite told him that the kitchen there had a few so the JW was satisfied that they were OK.
• 
  19

  First Proper Chat With the JWs in Almost 11 Years

  by passwordprotected in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  since disassociating in october 2008, i've had little to no direct contact with the jws, apart from immediate family members (ie my parents).

  i've lived in my rented flat since may 2014 and haven't had a knock on the door in that whole time.

  until saturday morning.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dozy

  Interesting conversation that you had there.

  Just one point I am slightly puzzled over - your assertion to the JWs that Jesus "probably didn't exist".

  Did you mean by that that the Jesus depicted in the bible as a son of God , miracle worker etc didn't exist ( I guess most of us would agree with that. ) Nevertheless , although I am no longer religious & certainly don't believe in the "Jesus" that christian religions espose , my understanding had always been that historians generally are in agreement that there is a historic individual behind the description.

  Wikipedia - "Virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically"

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus

  
  
  

  
  
• 
  72

  Not invited to congregation “get togethers”. They finally said it

  by solomon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we don’t get many invitations to congregational social gatherings.

  we don’t attend midweek meetings and miss about 1/3 of sunday meetings.

  we go in service at least once a month.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  dozy

  I had faded for a few months ( my wife was still attending ) when an invite came from an elder to a "going away congregation party" he was holding for a young couple who were our good friends in the congregation. To be honest , I didn't really want to go so as I thought it could be a bit embarrassing and anyway I was very busy at work so I had pretty much decided the best option , to save any fuss or hassle , was on the night not to turn up , giving as an excuse that ( delete as required ) I had been called into work or wasn't well or one of the kids wasn't well and my wife could attend if she wanted to. Even when I was a fully assimilated JW I was never really a big fan of these kind of JW social occasions.

  Some of the other more self righteous elders got to hear of it and one night a week or so before the party came the dreaded "knock at the door" and two elders turned up. They were pretty nervous and told me that the elders had met and decided ( by majority ) to rescind my invitation. I asked if they had told the elder who had invited me and they said that though he disagreed with the decision he was bound by collective responsibility.

  I then asked for a scriptural basis for their decision and suddenly there was a kind of "rabbit in the headlights" look and the two elders just said - sorry , this is what we have decided. They didn't even have their bibles with them. I showed them the scripture in 1st Corinthians which talks about not even eating with a man who is immoral , an idolater , drunk etc and asked into which definition they were placing me. I asked if Bro Xxxxx ( a convicted paedophile in our congregation ) would be attending and they said they weren't sure. They then shuffled away , saying that they had other congregation business to attend to. It was all a bit surreal,

  My wife was very upset and said that she wouldn't attend and this was kind of the last straw for her and she stopped attending the meetings a couple of weeks later. The whole episode was just pathetic really.