Doubting Bro

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Posts by Doubting Bro

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  39

  The Current State of the Watchtower & The Cynicism of Soviet Communism

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am reading a book by victor sebestyn called "revolution 1989 - the fall of the soviet empire".

  if you lived through the astonishing collapse of communism in the late '80s i highly recommend it.. what has struck me is the description of life under communism in the six soviet satellite states of east germany, poland, czechoslovakia, hungary, romania and bulgaria.. here is a couple of paragraphs that really stood out to me as a possible parallel to the current climate in the regime of jw.org.. ---------------------------------------------------------.

  once idealism or revolutionary fervour had disappeared - certainly by the soviet invasion of czechosloakia in 1968 - the system stagnated.

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  Doubting Bro

  Berlin Wall = WT Shunning policy. If they were to drop it, the whole religion would come tumbling down which is why they will never willingly do so.
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  18

  Mr. Wade from noblood.org

  by turtleturtle in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  choices are or are not.

  witnesses we do not.

  of their choices.

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  Doubting Bro

  He's definately a JW and I've also met him before although didn't really know him very well. Small world in JW land.
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  38

  Do You Still Wear "Meeting" Clothes?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have dozens of suits.

  i still buy them .

  i wear ties sometimes too.

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  Doubting Bro

  Wear suit & tie to work. Hate it!!!
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  406

  Goodbye JWD/JWN (my last post)

  by slimboyfat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after some considerable thought i have decided that i will no longer post on this forum because i want to return to jehovah.

  thank you for all the kindness and many interesting discussions over the years.

  i wish you all well in the future and the decisions you make.

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  Doubting Bro

  Sorry to keep this going but SBF, if you are reading these comments, I want to wish you the best. I still attend and while I hate it, I've developed the ability to cope somehow. We all have choices some of which are very difficult. It really boils down to what is going to cause the least amount of pain.

  I always enjoyed SBFs contributions and he'll be missed. I think he brought a bit of balance to the board that was needed.
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  122

  Can the jw organization be reformed?

  by wannaexit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know that this has been discussed in the past but i wanted to get some fresh opinions.

  there are many out there that recognize the "rot" that is in watchtower but still feel that there is a "wholesome" side to it and are trying to bring about change or reform from within.. in 2002 when the rose colored glasses came off for me and i truly started to understand ttatt, i still felt that there was some redemable aspects of the organization.. i felt that russell had some doctrinal things right.

  i don't feel like that anymore.

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  Doubting Bro

  Not in my opinion. To reform would require such a drastic change in policies and even in people that it would just implode. Plus, anyone who voices a contrary opinion is quickly squashed. The only ones that have the right to question anything are the GB and it's in their best interest to continue things as they are. It's hard to imagine even a black swan event that would make them drop their most cult-like traits.
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  33

  Nugget's Latest work in progress (pen and ink)

  by cantleave in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  still a fair bit to do but i thought it is worth posting.

  this is all done with dots no lines at all.. .

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  Doubting Bro

  Nugget - that's really great. Good luck on your exhibit!!
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  60

  Hear Ye!!!Hear Ye!! WONDERFUL GOOD NEWS!!!!

  by mouthy in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my jw daughter called me this afternoon!!!!!

  !i am just over the moon.

  her hubby not a jw has cancer & was operated on today!!!!.

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  Doubting Bro

  Mouthy, that's fantastic news!

  I'm struck by how sad it is that something that would be a normal family communication ends up being a big deal because of the WTS hurtful policy. And they say it doesn't destroy families???
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  25

  A bit of gossip.

  by chrisuk in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i just thought i'd share this; my mom has dinner with her jw friend on tuesdays and apparently the jw wasn't in a very good mood today... the reason for this as she told my mom is because she wasn't invited to the agm.

  she's been a jw for 25 years, doesn't pioneer, but is very dedicated to the cause.

  she also explained to my mom that 2 other sisters one of whom is 80 yrs old and has been a jw all her life wasn't invited either.

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  Doubting Bro

  So, in the US and Canada all publishers and their minor children were invited (except in apparently some cases where there were spaces issues and small children weren't allowed). In the UK, only specific individuals were invited. What about other English speaking countries?

  They mentioned something like 99 countries where the program was heard but I assumed most of the non-English countries just had their Bethel staff/missionaries/big wigs going like they normally do.

  But in the UK, you have assembly halls and the ability to stream video (or at least replay a video that was downloaded). So why restrict it in one country and not in others? The only thing I can think is they didn't have enough Bibles to distribute.

  This is a US religion and while I'm an American and think the world revolves around me () I know that's really not the case. But it has always seemed to me that the WTS treats other countries like second class citizens. It's still very American-centric although only 1 in 7 JWs are in the US and Spanish is about 25% of them which makes the English speaking Americans an even small percentage of the overall number.
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  22

  Bible printing, a loss of money for the WTS

  by oppostate in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  so i brought this up in another thread... but i think it needs its own discussion.. having had one of the new grey leatherette and silver edged bibles with the new appendixes in my hand.

  i immediately thought of all the custom covered nwt bibles you see some publishers sporting at meetings.

  also the fact that the co's and wives who'd been given one had to turn it back in seemed very off-putting.. .

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  Doubting Bro

  How did I miss this? So, the RNWT wasn't really that well kept of a secret after all!
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  24

  So Why Do You Think They Needed This New Revision?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  are they simply trying to make their bible more readable, or do you think there is a more sinister motive?.

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  Doubting Bro

  I was listening while at the AGM and don't recall hearing any donation suggested. They did mention a few times that there were contribution boxes available.

  I think the original NWT was done to match their theology with bible verses and some of the videos they showed especially the Herd "Trip down memory lane" interview session with old timers said how they would read verses that didn't match with their knowledge because the scriptures were inaccurate. Once the NWT was release, those scriptures then matched JW theology.

  All bible translations get revised from time to time. Their cheaply produced versions were the source of complaints and they realized they needed to produce something a little better when it came to the Bible. All the hoopla surrounding this was a marketing ploy to increase contributions. They could have announced the release at the district convention (which I'll bet they wanted to have one ready but it must have gotten delayed) and made it available 10-1. But inviting everyone in the English world to the AGM and creating a buzz certainly produced more donations than if it just been made available at the literature counter.