i am very new to this board and have already have ready a post mentioning copyright laws in japan.
and have seen the full text of a non-watchtower book be made free to users here.. now i don't mind watchtower magazines being made free here because jws give away their literature all the time anyways.
but when i see a book being offered that must be purchased normally on amazon or waldenbooks i get a little mad.. say someone who visits this board works at a book seller or printer/publisher.
According to Cornell's Copyright Information Center (in footnote 8 here):
"A 1961 Copyright Office study found that fewer than 15% of all registered copyrights were renewed. For books, the figure was even lower: 7%."
Of course, you should always carefully check to see that something is in the public domain before you do something that would otherwise violate copyright law.
haven't been around for a while - nice to see so many still around, alive an' kickin'!
here's what's bothering me - i want to request the return of any records bearing my name at my former kh.
i want it to be like i was never even there, call me 'casper', lol.
It would probably be useful if an elder (current or former) would post what kind of information the local Body of Elders keeps on each individual publisher.
I know that there is a publisher card for each individual that contains some basic personal information. I also think that there is some kind of record kept regarding judicial proceedings, but I'm not sure of the details. I also don't know what kind of information is sent to the branch, though I don't think that it's extensive.
i am very new to this board and have already have ready a post mentioning copyright laws in japan.
and have seen the full text of a non-watchtower book be made free to users here.. now i don't mind watchtower magazines being made free here because jws give away their literature all the time anyways.
but when i see a book being offered that must be purchased normally on amazon or waldenbooks i get a little mad.. say someone who visits this board works at a book seller or printer/publisher.
Isn’t it sad that creativity is frowned on by many Watchtowerites? When my first book was published my daughters wanted to tell everyone. No. Just no. I know “the brothers” well enough to know that someone would make it an issue
Old Goat, I understand exactly what you mean. At times, I have held back from expressing myself because I was too worried about breaking a rule or "stumbling" someone.
I think it would be useful to start a new threat on the effect of the Witness culture on creativity.
i knew of a hall that allowed only white shirted speakers on the platform for sunday public talks!
when a visiting speaker did not wear the official white shirt he was either told that he couldn't give the talk or he could change shirts,as the hall kept a variety of sizes, just in case of an emergency!!!
i don't make this up.
There was an old stodgy brother in one hall that used to say that the closer you got to water (ocean), the less spiritual-minded the JWs were.
Did this brother have any idea where Brooklyn is?
Here's an interesting article about the white shirt only rule:
wt 89 11/1 Do You See Only the Outward Appearance?
The Bible requirement—God’s requirement—is that a Christian’s clothing must be neat and clean, well-arranged and not betraying a lack of “modesty and soundness of mind.” (1 Timothy 2:9; 3:2) Obviously, then, the elders in one congregation went “beyond the things that are written” a few years ago by requiring every public speaker in their congregation to wear a white shirt, even though pastel colors were generally acceptable in that country. Guest speakers who showed up with a colored shirt were asked to change into one of several white shirts kept in the Kingdom Hall for just such emergencies. How careful we have to be in order not to impose our personal taste on others! And how appropriate Paul’s counsel: “Let your reasonableness become known to all men”!—Philippians 4:5.
i have heard this a couple of times:.
evil apostate: if, for example, a friend of you who wanted to be a mormon said: 'i have studied mormon throughoutly: its history, what it says, what the critics say, and i am sure mr. smith was under divine influence and this is the truth', but what if he had only studied mr. smith from mormon litterature - ie.
what mr. smith himself said about himself, his opposers, etc.. would you really think he had done a throughout examination?.
JW: Well, look: I go door to door every week. I hear all sorts of arguments from all kind of religion. If any of them could show something jw believed in was not in the bible, I think i would have heard it by now.
The Witness here is not saying that it is wrong to consider what critics and apostates have to say, but unnecessary since any legitimate criticisms would turn up in conversation while out in field service.
Ask this person outright whether or not they personally would read material (apostate or otherwise) that was critical of Jehovah's Witnesses.
I suspect that they would not. In that case ask them if this is how they make other decisions.
If they went to the local Ford dealership would they trust a salesman that told them, "The new Mustang is great. Don't read the review in Consumer Reports though. It's all lies and half-truths. Just take my word for it and buy it now."?
Or what would they think if they had a rare illness and their doctor said, "I have a new experimental procedure that can cure you. Other doctors think it's dangerous, but they're all quacks and liars. The entire medical establishment is corrupt. Whatever you do don't get a second opinion."
I think in both of these situations and many others Witnesses would tend to think more critically and view claims of exclusivity with suspicion. They need to apply this same type of thinking to their religious beliefs as well.
notes from 127th gilead class.
september 2009. .
statistics: 56 students - 28 couples from 8 countries going to 22 lands.. average age: 33.6. average years in the truth: 18.3. average years in full time service: 13.6.. .
Thanks for posting this truthseeker.
I found the introduction to the opening talk infuriating. Jehovah's Witnesses generally despise true creativity and any real use of the imagination. Apparently though, it can be very useful to their own ends.
In the new world, it's not going to be just a nice house, gardens, and a measure of health because some already have that. We’re talking about a spiritual paradise.
I thought that Witnesses were already enjoying the spiritual paradise now?
nearly every living thing is drowned to death because of the badness and general mischief going on during noah's day.
why aren't the angels who materialized bodies and fathered a race of giant, violent freaks destroyed as well?.
i know that they, presumably, left their bodies just in time to escaped the flood, but that shouldn't be enough to escape the wrath of almighty god.. it's interesting that the genesis account says very little about them.
Nearly every living thing is drowned to death because of the badness and general mischief going on during Noah's day. Why aren't the angels who materialized bodies and fathered a race of giant, violent freaks destroyed as well?
I know that they, presumably, left their bodies just in time to escaped the Flood, but that shouldn't be enough to escape the wrath of Almighty God.
It's interesting that the Genesis account says very little about them. As far as I can tell, their actions are not even condemned until much later in the books of Peter and Jude. I'm sure Leolaia will have some interesting things to add about this.
what really is the biblical support for this major doctrine of the wt society?
when i was still a pioneer, we met a young lady at her door, crying and holding a small disabled baby, asking for an explanation.
my friend, it was his turn at the door, started to mumble something about universal sovereignity.
If the almighty is the creator and all powerful and wise, there is no need to prove anything to humans. According to the watchtower he's very insecure.
Yes, exactly!
I think the ridiculousness of this particular Witness belief is highlighted by an illustration (from the Bible Teach book) that they use to explain it:
Imagine that a teacher is telling his students how to solve a difficult problem. A clever but rebellious student claims that the teacher’s way of solving the problem is wrong. Implying that the teacher is not capable, this rebel insists that he knows a much better way to solve the problem. Some students think that he is right, and they also become rebellious. What should the teacher do? If he throws the rebels out of the class, what will be the effect on the other students? Will they not believe that their fellow student and those who joined him are right? All the other students in the class might lose respect for the teacher, thinking that he is afraid of being proved wrong. But suppose that the teacher allows the rebel to show the class how he would solve the problem.
Jehovah has done something similar to what the teacher does. Remember that the rebels in Eden were not the only ones involved. Millions of angels were watching. (Job 38:7; Daniel 7:10) How Jehovah handled the rebellion would greatly affect all those angels and eventually all intelligent creation. So, what has Jehovah done? He has allowed Satan to show how he would rule mankind. God has also allowed humans to govern themselves under Satan’s guidance.
The teacher in our illustration knows that the rebel and the students on his side are wrong. But he also knows that allowing them the opportunity to try to prove their point will benefit the whole class. When the rebels fail, all honest students will see that the teacher is the only one qualified to lead the class. They will understand why the teacher thereafter removes any rebels from the class. Similarly, Jehovah knows that all honesthearted humans and angels will benefit from seeing that Satan and his fellow rebels have failed and that humans cannot govern themselves.
Something like this happened a few times when I was in school. In most cases the teacher just told the student to sit down and be quiet. Sometimes, the teacher would hear the student out, but only if the student was sincere and needed a better explanation of the material. I could never imagine a teacher allowing one of the students to confuse the whole class with something they knew was wrong to begin with.
None of the other students felt that one of their classmates knew better than the teacher and they would even get annoyed by the interruption. We had enough confidence in our teachers' knowledge and experience.
Still, the teacher wasn't perfect and it was possible that the teacher was wrong and the student was right. Of course, with an omniscient teacher this would never be an issue.
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http://www.americanreligionsurvey-aris.org/reports/aris_report_2008.pdf.
includes his being raised as a witness as well as life at bethel during the tempestuous seventies.
Thanks so much for posting this Gayle. I just finished reading all eight chapters in one long sitting and I enjoyed them immensely.
on another thread:http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/183305/3/the-guy-that-claimed-he-was-going-to-bring-down-the-wtbtsi posted some information i'd like to split into it's own discussion: .
"congregation collapse disorder" or "congregation publisher depopulation syndrome".
the ccd problem is clearly obvious when worker bees disappear, fade away, go away, pass away.. every congregation of jw's has publishers that pass away due to illness and aging.
I too think the demise of Jehovah's Witnesses lies in a slow decline of growth rather than the mass exodus that is often hoped for.
I agree with Rebel8 that the "failings and lies of the cult are well-documented at this point." Only when people have access to such accurate, critical information can they make an informed decision.
However, I worry that non-English speakers have significantly less available or that information in their language is harder to find.
Of course, Commentary Press has made Crisis of Conscience available in many languages, though there are a few important omissions. I also noticed that FreeMinds has translated selected material on their website. Perhaps, this is enough.
