Topics Started by cedars
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12Watchtower teaching have all the bases covered?
by trailerfitter ini am not sure if you are aware of the proposals by pastor micheal stahl who wants to get a register of atheists started so they activities like boycotting their businesses can be engaged in.
i mensioned this to my jw wife who already who i am trying to show that the wt policies are just a nutty as other american religious influences however she just retored that this is the sign of the end because there is a war going on.
i cannot get through to her and everything goes back to her newly found belief being the only true one.
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WT: "Don't watch news items featuring witnesses!"
by cedars inhi everyone, yet another analysis of a recent watchtower i'm afraid.
this one's a little closer to home, as it concerns apostates.
yes - i'm referring to the forthcoming article "will you heed jehovah's clear warnings?
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23
Watchtower: "Google is like a mushroom picker"
by cedars inif you don't mind i'll share another gem from my review of the latest watchtower study editions (july to october '11).. one article which seemed riddled with flawed reasoning and bizarre analogies was entitled "the internet - making wise use of a global tool" on page 3 of the august 15th watchtower.. under the heading "information - reliable or false?
"never assume that all information found on the internet is good and beneficial.
internet search engines might be compared to a legion of mushroom pickers who tirelessly collect all types of mushrooms - edible as well as poisonous - throwing them into a single container and dishing them out for us to eat.".
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30
The Concept of "Increasing Light" Scenario
by ziddina ina re-posting of cedar's hi-jacked thread.... cedars:.
i just thought i'd share something if you don't mind.. my conviction in the legitimacy of the society was slowy eroded over a number of years simply by reading the publications and becoming increasingly frustrated at how little the interpretations of prophecy and scripture made sense, added to the complete ineptitude of senior figures in the organisation.. for me, the "glue" that kept everything roughly held together into something that can be called a "faith" was the concept of "increasing light", which as you all know is the principle employed by the society to excuse any mistakes or backtracks that are made.
they routinely flog proverbs 4:18, which as we all know has nothing to do with gradual refinements in understanding when read in context.
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46
QFR: "Warning - memorial partakers might be loonies!"
by cedars inas part of my objective analysis of four month's worth of watchtower study editions from july to october 2011, i found the following gem from a question from readers, on page 22 of the august 15 magazine.
the question under discussion was "how are we to understand the figures in the annual service report?
", and it goes on to provide an idiot's guide to what the figures mean, including the following.... "memorial partakers.
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17
Stephen Lett: "Pray for us to be faithful and discreet!"
by cedars inout of interest, i have just been scanning through the four latest available watchtower study articles (july thru october 2011) and in doing so i am reading them objectively for the first time.
i have been shocked, outraged and amazed by some of my findings.. as one example, take the article "a history-making meeting" from the august 15th watchtower, 2011. the article, beginning on page 18, discusses the 126th annual meeting of the watch tower bible and tract society, and begins with a summary of the opening talk by governing body member stephen lett.
it concludes the highlights of his talk in this way:.
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60
Society tells us to stop asking questions...
by cedars ini was just glancing at the back of the october 15th watchtower and the questions from readers.
the question under discussion is "what should i do when i have a question about something i read in the bible or when i need advice about a personal problem?".
the article goes on to discuss how we should consult the watch tower publications index among the many 'tools' that have been provided by the faithful and discreet slave whenever we have a question that is not directly discussed in the publications.. one statement really caught my eye, because it's the first time i've ever seen the society actually dissuade people from writing in with questions.
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25
Is the IBSA's charitable status in the UK vulnerable?
by cedars inone thing that has occurred to me recently is how much money the society makes from being registered as a charity in certain countries.
in the uk, the government contributes 28 pence for every pound that is donated (referred to as "gift aid"), effectively increasing the value of each contribution from 1 to 1.28. not surprisingly, the society in the uk are doing very well out of this arrangement, and last year according to the charity commission's website they made a turnover of 25.7 million, with profits of 7.8 million.
i calculate that approximately 5 million of this must have been generated by gift aid.. the thing is, to my knowledge recent laws that have been passed by parliament stipulating that a charity must be in the "public benefit".
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12
A photograph that I would pay money for...
by cedars ini've only recently become properly acquainted with barbara anderson's wonderful website www.watchtowerdocuments.com.
after reading her life story, she strikes me as a truly remarkable woman.. if i may quote from her story, one particular experience stood out for me when she was going through old memorabilia as part of a research project at the brooklyn headquarters.... in one of these drawers, finding personal photographs of the second president of the watchtower society, joseph f. rutherford, was, for me, one of the most disagreeable and revolting discoveries.
rutherford was clad in a dark-colored, one-piece, skin-tight, sleeveless swimsuit which covered him down to his thighs, a garment popular in the late 1920s and 30s.
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