Doubting Bro

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Posts by Doubting Bro

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  16

  Oooh, caught a JW colleague telling porkies at work this week.

  by nicolaou in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  there's a jw 'sister' at work, lovely girl in her mid twenties.

  anyway, on monday the union (cwu) called a one day strike in support of colleagues and all union members supported the action as far as i'm aware, except the sister.. she claimed it was 'against her religion' to strike.

  bare in mind, she's a fee paying member of the union.. now, a few of my workmates know of my past and asked me if this was really true, that jehovah's witnesses aren't allowed to strike.. we'll, i like this girl and i didn't want to make her look silly but what was i supposed to say after i stopped laughing?

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  Doubting Bro

  I just love the expression telling porkies! That's a new one on me.
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  11

  A petition in Russia for transforming a Kingdom Hall into a cultural space for young musicians.

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  someone in russia is paying attention to the jw property seizures.

  this is a petition started in russia for transforming a kingdom hall into a cultural space for young musicians.. the petition is in russian so i have copied the google translate here:.

  please mark out space for the development of musical creativity among young people!shtanko eugene - pechora, russiaapril 20, 2017 the supreme court declared extremist activity "administrative center of jehovah's witnesses in russia" and banned its operation.

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  Doubting Bro

  Didn't one of the videos at the RC last year have a kid who decided to give up his dream of being a professional musician so he could pioneer or some such nonsense? Pretty ironic if that's the case.
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  65

  Major changes to convention security beginning in 2017

  by Edison Trent in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  short info on interesting changes to the major conventions this year: there will be a new security concept that will be implemented at all regional conventions in 2017.. similar to other major events (e.g.

  festivals, concerts), there will be admittance controls in stadiums.. - at each entrance, there will be a massive presence of attendants that look at each visitor.. - there will be pocket checks at the entrance.. - suspicious persons are no longer left on the convention grounds.. - suppliers to the stadium will be intensively inspected by attendants.. - there will be a special sign for attendants that must enter the stadium before 7.30 am.

  all others (even all attendants) can only enter after 7.30 am..

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  Doubting Bro

  I don't have an issue with this at all. Every time I go to a major sporting event or concert or even visit places like museums, you have to go through a metal detector. Given issues with terrorists (whatever their motivation), I could certainly see an event like that being an easy target. Just makes sense to me.

  Given the way JWs treat former members and break up families, I'm actually surprised that someone hasn't threatened violence or carried it out in the past.
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  184

  Outcome - Banned in Russia - Final

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just watched the live feed from the russian court room and followed the updates on the russian exjw forum.. just waiting for confirmation from other sources...but, it looks like the final (and expected) result is:.

  banned.

  which means that the wts property in russia now belongs to the russian state..

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  Doubting Bro

  I think that freedom to practice religion (or not) is a fundamental human right that governments shouldn't take away. As much as I want the WTS to disappear, this isn't the way. This will have impact not just on JWs but on every other religion that Russia decides they don't like.

  Incidentally, I absolutely hate the fact that in many countries religions get preference treatment via being exempt from tax. Freedom to meet is fine and good, I just don't want to support religions via my tax dollars.
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  22

  Chairman of the St Petersburg-based Administrative Centre of JWs issues press release - Forum 18

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  according to the latest forum 18 article, this is what happened in russia on march 15:.

  http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2265.

  with immediate effect, a 15 march suspension order forbids the administrative centre and all its local religious organisations from "using state and municipal news media, organising and conducting assemblies, rallies, demonstrations, processions, picketing, and other mass actions or public events, and using bank deposits, with the exception of use for making payments connected with their economic activity, compensating for losses (damages) caused by their actions, and paying taxes, fees, or fines, and making payments based on labour contracts" .

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  Doubting Bro

  tor1500,

  Maybe its local but where I live (US), tons of people are posting pictures of their letters on Instagram and other social media. Our KH had 2 different days where service groups could come to the KH and write letters together. Its mentioned in every single prayer at the meetings since the announcement. Its definitely got the locals in a tizzy.
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  44

  The Latest Trend in NW England: Homeschooling Your Children

  by pale.emperor in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i dont know if this is becoming a national thing or even globally.

  but im hearing more and more people i knew from my jw days have taken their kids out of school to home school them instead.

  in my sisters case she's taken her 8yo and 6yo children out already and her 3yo wont ever start a school.

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  Doubting Bro

  I live in the US and its pretty common in my area for JW kids to be home schooled as well. Especially after they turn 10-11 (after 5th grade in the US). Sometimes, I see it done well. Most of the time, the kids fall behind. At least where I live, the state requires mandatory testing and proof that they kids are doing work to stay on their grade level. I have a relative with a 15 year old who was told that if she didn't catch up in a specified period of time, she would be forced back into the public school system.

  I agree that most people don't have the training to educate properly. I certainly don't. Plus, kids tend to learn better from others than from a parent (at least in my house). Its a different dynamic. Of course, there's the socialization issue that is probably the biggest advantage to attending a school.

  There are cases where home schooling makes sense. But, the majority of the time, I'm not convinced that its best for the child. And yes, I know some parents who sleep until 10am with their teen aged kids and I'm fairly certain the motivation for home schooling is the lack of a schedule. I know others that home school so they are free to vacation whenever they like.

  Again, my personal experience may skew my opinion. I have several family members and others that I know go down the home schooling road and it hasn't ended well.
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  19

  Should Blood Transfusions be forced?

  by Fisherman in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  1.there are times when a doctor decides that the only life saving medical treatment -short of a miracle- is a blood transfusion.

  in such a case, what should be done when a person refuses treatment on religious grounds and why?.

  2. should a person be allowed to "mutilate" his body and why?.

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  Doubting Bro

  No one should be forced to accept or reject any medical treatment. Which is the problem with the JW stance making accepting blood a disassociating offense. They always want people to respect their views but never allow their members the freedom to have their own views. So the choice a JW has is to 1) reject blood or 2) lose their friends and family. Or take it and hope no one finds out.

  If they wanted a consistent policy, they would butt out of health decisions and make the taking of all blood products a conscious matter with no congregational sanctions. But, then that would mean giving up control which they don't want to do.
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  75

  Poll - Will you accept blood?

  by OrphanCrow in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  i have made a poll to try to determine the impact of the wt's no blood policy on ex members.. if you are an exjw, please participate.. vote here:.

  *oops...hang on here...i have to make a new poll...this one lets you vote more than once.

  i will post the new one .

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  Doubting Bro

  I'm technically still a JW but yes, I would accept medically necessary blood. I would also authorize for my immediate family.

  One of the more emotional symbolic things I did while waking up was rip up my executed Advance Medical Directive. Fortunately, I never provided a copy to the congregation nor to any medical professionals. I was given a new one maybe a year ago and promptly torn up the blank copy.

  It was quite therapeutic to destroy that symbol of control over my individual decisions. The anger that boiled up when I thought about how many people died over this stupid policy was pretty intense. Their callous disregard for the individual members over a long held superstition is unreal and unchristian. It would be one thing to make it a conscious matter and not subject to congregation discipline and just speak in unfavorable terms. It's quite another to make the decision to use blood a disassociating item so basically you don't even get a JC.

  To the WT monitors, I know you don't care but if you believe in God, understand you will answer for all those deaths.
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  144

  2.16.2017 NJ Star-Ledger Ad: "Were you sexually abused by the Jehovahs Witnesses?"

  by breakfast of champions in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  my wife found this 1/4 page ad on page 2 of yesterday's nj star-ledger, probably the biggest newspaper in nj.

  pretty telling.. .

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  Doubting Bro

  Wow, I'm surprised that such a relatively small insignificant group like JWs is getting this kind of pressure. But, if you look at the amount of liquid assets they have now with the sale of all those buildings in Brooklyn (public record) coupled with the big money grab from the local congregations that these firms could have easily done a quick internet search on sites like this, I guess they do make an attractive target.

  Really will get interesting.
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  5

  Scientology: A War Without Guns' on ABC News 20/20 Tonight

  by Gayle in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ‘scientology: a war without guns’ airs on abc news’ ‘20/20,’ friday, january 6. posted 1/5/2017 .

  ‘20/20’ reports on ex-members of the church of scientology: those who are crusading against it and others who still practice outside the church .

  actress leah remini sits down with anchor dan harris to discuss her fight against the church.

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  Doubting Bro

  I absolutely love this Brooklyn girl. LOL - they really messed with the wrong person.