Posts by truth_b

24

Why wasn’t O’Donnell charged with receiving stolen goods.

by joe134cd in

firstly i appreciate the work mark o’donnell does for the xjw community.

no doubt this has also been discussed numerous times before.

but with regard to those documents that were illegally stolen in that vice documentary.

truth_b_known

In establishing whether or not a crime has been committed, one fact that must be obtained is "Who is the victim?"

The crime of theft usually reads in the corresponding statute something like: "Intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly taking property with the the intent to keep it without the effective consent of the owner." In such a case we must ask "Who is the owner?" because that would be your victim.

It appears what was taken were files involving congregation disciplinary matters. It would therefor be reasonable to conclude that the owner of the files is the local congregation - a legal corporation. One would have to read the corporate by-laws filed with the State to see who is authorized by the congregation to be in possession of said files. Based on the nature of the files I would imagine there is no mention of such a thing in the corporate by-laws.

We know that any congregation member in good standing is has voting rights. That makes any member in good standing a part of the corporation. I was never an elder, but I was a Ministerial Servant. As such, I was given a key to the Kingdom Hall and the alarm code. I had to pick up literature from the Assembly Hall and deliver it to 3 different Kingdom Halls. So, you can see this all muddies the waters when it comes to who is authorized to possess such documents.

I didn't get the impression the person in question burglarized the Kingdom Hall. It sounds more like this person just walked in and took the documents. It doesn't sound like the local elders found the front door of the Kingdom Hall busted open and the file cabinet pried open as well. It sounds more like an elder was just going through files and noticed some missing.

Either way, on the surface, it does sound like this person committed Theft. The crime of Receiving Stolen Property usually reads in statute that the offender possesses property he knows is stolen or would be reasonable to believe is stolen (e.g. buying a TV from a guy in the back of a van in a dark ally at a ridiculously low price). Whatever the case, it does put the Watchtower in a bind.

6

How Did They Get Micheal Palin To Star in the Daniel drama?😂

by Diogenesister in

.

truth_b_known

"It's..." <queu The Liberty Bell>

17

How would you respond?

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

if you tell a jw that he or she is in a cult and they asked you why do you say that?

how would you respond?.

truth_b_known

I echo the sentiment about calling Jehovah's Witnesses a cult. A person has to come to that realization on their own or they will become defensive. Instead I would reference the Three Pillars of Religion/Spiritual Practice.

Faith
Doubt
Dedication to finding the truth

Faith - You must believe in the teachings or doctrine. Belief is not knowing. It is a highly held opinion. "I believe these teachings will lead to salvation or, more importantly, to the end of suffering."

Doubt - This is not skepticism or the endless asking of questions. This is simply accepting that what you believe has not been proven. It is being open minded that you may find evidence that could either prove or disprove your belief. It is not accepting something as truth simply because a book or a religious leader says it is true.

Dedication to finding the truth - Truth requires examination of belief and proof through experience. Truth is eternal and must be experienced. Truth is not an intellectual process, but rather an experiential phenomena.

So, ask -

"Do you have faith in the teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses? Do these teachings bring salvation? Have the teaching brought to an end of any sort of dissatisfaction, fear, anxiety, regret, and sorrow in your life?"

The answer to this may be "yes" and may be "no".

"Do you have any doubts in these teachings? Are you allowed to openly doubt these teachings?"

We know the answer to this question, especially the second question, is probably "no".

"Have you diligently examined these teachings? Have you personally experienced the truth of these teaching? Do you accept these teachings because you proved them to be true or do you simply accept them because of something you read or were told?"

We know that in recent years the Watchtower has expressly forbid Jehovah's Witnesses to do their own research and have been told the Watchtower that they will tell Witnesses what to believe.

This line of questions shows that, at most, the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses only has one of the three pillars. In regards to question #3 you could also ask, "Is it not hypocritical that you are told 'Make the Truth your own,' but are also told, 'Do no research and accept only what we say'?"

21

What is the Jehovah’s Witness position on Unions and Labour action?

by hoser in

jw
friends

i remember you weren’t supposed to picket or be involved in labour unrest.

is this still the jw policy?.

truth_b_known

I believe I was marked for this. I remember sitting at an Circuit Assembly program and there was a talk about this. I remember saying to myself, "Hey! That brother is talking about me!"

30

East Pennines A$$emb£y Hall

by punkofnice in

so, my spies tell me that the east pennines a$$emb£y hall is being sold and all proceeds going to jobo hq.

there's a surprise.....not!.

i understand there are other properties too.

truth_b_known

If the 2023 District Convention will once again be online I will have little doubt that the Watchtower is taking the JW religion online. If all Conventions and Assemblies go online the next step will be to take all meetings online. Once that is done there will be a mass sell off of Kingdom Halls.

30

East Pennines A$$emb£y Hall

by punkofnice in

so, my spies tell me that the east pennines a$$emb£y hall is being sold and all proceeds going to jobo hq.

there's a surprise.....not!.

i understand there are other properties too.

truth_b_known

Didn't someone once say "Religion is a snare and a racket."

Racket: An illegal or dishonest scheme to make money.

16

Squandered Life of Jehovah's Witness Youth

by silentbuddha in

08:30 - 15:30 = school.

truth_b_known

Growing up and elders kid made things worse. More sacrifices for dad's spiritual career. Coming home from school on Tuesdays and Thursday meant homework and then studying with mom to prepare to answer at the meetings. So, no time to be a kid on those days. We had to try to answer to make dad look exemplary

Wednesday night after dinner was my one-on-one study with dad. Friday night was preparing doo-to-door presentations for Saturday morning field service. I think Monday night was the only school night I didn't have some "spiritual" activity.

Weekends were a train wreck. Get up early on Saturday to go out in field service. Come home, eat lunch, and now it is time for the family study of Sunday's Watchtower study. It was about 3:00PM before I had time to myself on the weekends. Not too much time. I had to get to bed early so I could get plenty of sleep so I didn't zone off during the meeting.

Sundays were pointless if it was our congregation's turn to have afternoon meetings. Even worse, that meant a full year of Sunday morning field service before the meeting. Either way, Sundays were bad. My dad would be asked to give public talks on Sundays to other congregations. Sometimes they were a good hour's drive away. Those were also the days where it was custom for someone to provide "hospitality" to the guest speaker. That often meant sitting at some stranger's home for the hours after the meeting. Many times it was an elderly couple who would have us over for lunch. That meant hours of staring at the walls while enjoying the refreshing odor of moth balls.

It is no wonder Witness kids grow up resenting the religion and their parents for forcing it on them.

18

If all GB members died at once?

by Jofi_Wofo in

i don't suppose anyone knows for sure, but do we have any kind of hint of what would happen if all of the governing body members died at the same time- such that nobody was left to appoint successors?

in lieu of any solid evidence, i'd also be interested in hearing some speculation based on what we already know about the organizational structure.. it would certainly throw a wrench in either the teaching that the faithful and discreet slave will survive into the great tribulation and/or the implied doctrine that the the gb succession arrangement is justifiable biblically.

let me firmly disclaim any implication that i am encouraging violence or wishing death on the governing body.

truth_b_known

The way things are going now with Jehovah's Witnesses it really wouldn't make a difference. You have a group of people who will live or die at whatever JW Broadcasting tells them to do. Whatever reasoning given for the Governing Body's replacement will be accepted because, if you don't, it means being disfellowshipped.

10

Question for parents with a believing co-parent

by Anony Mous in

my daughter is being raised in a pimi household and spends a significant time with me in a pomo household.

i don’t pressure her to believe, so she is thinking/pressured about becoming a jw from the other end, so she is reluctant about celebrating holidays and birthdays, but as any kid, she loves the gifts and attention, so she will “not celebrate but still do things”.. she is becoming a teenager however, and showing interest in not-so-jw-things.

her mother forbids star wars for violence and magic, but she wants to watch it, she wants a few horror video games, she wants to shoot things and go hunting but guns aren’t allowed, so i’ve compromised for archery.. what do parents of teenagers do?

truth_b_known

Telling your daughter you want her to be free to be herself would probably be the single greatest thing you can do. Let her know whatever decisions she makes for her life you will support. I find it highly hypocritical that Jehovah's Witnesses sing a song about "Make the Truth you own" and yet they demand that the religion be imposed on their children.

If your daughter wants to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses let her know you would support her decision. Let her know it would make you feel better if she made that decision after:

She thoroughly examined the history and teachings of the Watchtower
She is familiar with the practice of Disfellowshipping based on the Watchtower's own articles
She makes the decision as an informed adult
She makes the decision because that is what she wants and not because it would make her mother happy or our of fear from being kicked out of her mother's house.

In other words, she really does make it her own.

112

Afghanistan-Kabul falls to Taliban - U.S. Embassy staff evacuated by helicopter

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

in a scene reminiscent of the fall of saigon, the usa embassy staff have been evacuated by helicopter.. for a third time in asia ( a fourth, if you count usa supported chiang kai shek's defeat in mainland china) usa supported forces have been defeated.

more than 1 trillion dollars wasted and a huge deathtoll (both sides) afghanistan is back to where it started,.

will the taliban behave differently this time ?

truth_b_known

I understand why the West went into Afghanistan - to clear out the Taliban and catch Bin Laden - but they sadly didn't really have a long-term plan.

The U.S. invaded Afghanistan to locate and apprehend/kill Osama bin Laden, the Al Qaeda leader behind the 9-11-2001 attacks in the U.S. The Taliban, sympathetic to bin Laden's cause, gave safe haven to bin Laden. The Taliban had nothing to do with 9-11 and had no intent on attacking the U.S.

When the U.S. located bin Laden's hideout in Afghanistan and bombed it military forces soon learned that bin Laden escaped. That was the time for the U.S. to pull out of Afghanistan. That failed military strike was in 2001.

truth_b_known

Posts by truth_b_known