on one hand, he's enlightnened many to the internal circle jerk that is the governing body (circa the 70s).. but if there's one reason that can be pointed to for the jws becoming full on cult, it's ray franz.
without him leaving in the manner he did, and stirring the pot, they might not have change the rule (retroatively i might add) on shunning of disassociated ones.
they specifically changed that so they could remove him and eliminate his influence.. his actions single handedly have created the situation where we have to fade, evade, leave marriages, say goodbye to family, just because we don't buy the jw bullsh!t anymore.
At great personal cost he refused to live a lie once he discovered what it was.... That alone is heroic.
Then- he put down his thoughts in writing. His writings allowed me to eliminate every little piece of conditioning that remained in a logical manner.
Then- he responded personally to my emails when I wrote to thank him and ask for advice.
I'll go ahead and call him a hero. He helped save my life.
jehovah's help break free.. "greedy people".
but the desire to have more money, power and.
helped student.
"historical facts of theocratic history"
HMMMMM- I think they and I have differing definitions of history.
a world without satan (revelation 20:2,3,7,10).
romans 12- joy in the kingdom hope.
the spirit.. demonstration: family worship.
DEMONSTRATION: Young brother with a personal struggle. Meditates on the
time in the future when his worship won't be tainted by imperfection. Is
determined to struggle and try to make adjustments.
HMMMM- no jacking off in the new system??? What a shame.
have they crossed some sort of legal line when they enforce shunning of ex members?
can they get sued for harassment?
what are the legal boundaries they have crossed by enforce shunning of ex member by threatening disfellowshipping of any member not shunning certain individuals?
I have given thought to what effect a typical business lawsuit might have in the case of a disfellowshipping: for defamation of character, interference with business, interference with professional reputation, etc. Does anyone think that would stick?? There are possibly real, definable financial damages (as opposed to "harrassment" and other more emotional damages)
so what does everyone think this far?
please theist feel free to add your opinions if you e watched so you can also appreciate certain facts weve learned....and hey theres speculation too!
but non judgmental speculation;-).
I love it. The visuals on a large screen, high def tv are awesome. The cartoons are a turnoff- but the message is great.
that's right, millions now living are living during the best of times for humanity.
but aren't these critical times hard to deal with?
aren't these the last days of a dying wicked system of things.
This is a thesis that even non-JWs have trouble with. The world is better than it has ever been before- by all measurable metrics. The problem is that 3 major opinion makers- policians, news media and religion all have a vested interest in us hearing about the worst of our world- the most devastating, the most macabre, the most terrifying.
The actual problem that we face now is that there are no diseases, natural disasters, wars, etc that regularly kull the human population- so we are in real danger of overpopulating!!
so many at my wife's hall have rushed to buy i-pads,androids etc for use in servicetm and at the hall.. most know little or nothing about how to use them but have joined the stampede to jw.org tm and the reinvention of the wtbts.. it prompted one elder at my wife's hall to have a seminar at his house to explain how to use them in service and at the hall.. how exciting.... one 80 year old pioneer woman will be there with her new toy.. as a distraction it seems to be working quite well.
no need to worry about 1914 or other issues.. they are all nuts and getting nuttier....
just wait till they find out you can go on JWN on those things!!! and the porn- oh the porn!
within the last few hours, two separate posters, watchtower87 and pixel, independently posted news of a april 22nd, 2014 letter to the boe regarding a change in how elders are to be appointed and deleted:.
boe - pdf - confidential 2014-04-22 adjustment in process for appointing elders and minisletter to boe: adjustment in process for appointing elders and ministerial servantswhat i found very interesting is the letterhead and the signature.
they are both from "the governing body of jehovah's witnesses" and not from "the christian congregation of jehovah's witnesses.".
More legal insulation. The GB is a group of guys that have all taken a vow of poverty. They have no assets to speak of- not a very tempting target for a lawsuit. The corporation- which likely does own assets- has no paper trail connection to the appointment of elders and congregation governance.
boe - confidential.
instruction: press the 'skip ad' button top right, you should then see the download screen more easily.
no virus ;-).
Where's the "like" button on this forum?? Skully nailed it. This policy is intended to further insulate the heirarchy from liability stemming from actions of elders.
The lawyers are really running the place!!
i think there is a good chance i'm going to be asked to be the watchtower conductor.
on the one hand, i'll find it quite difficult some weeks having to go along with what is written.
on the other hand, there'll be opportunities to ask controversial questions (within limits).
I have done it before. It is tough. You're supposed to cover all of the detail in the paragraph, get people to think, not make it boring and engage multiple people in the audience- not just the same 3 people. Oh- and you have to stay paced and on time- not rushing at the end.
Also- doing the WT really gives you a lesson in the "head fakes" in the articles. "This article is about how everything we should do should be for love of Jah"- then never mentions that again- turns out to be about how we have to work hard to get into the New System!
Very monotonous and draining if you do it week after week.
