konceptual99

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Posts by konceptual99

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  12

  What is meant by the expression

  by poopie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  persistent spiritual association?.

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  konceptual99

  In the Shepherd The Flock of God Book, elders are given direction as to when a judicial committee should be formed. Item 10 provides some examples of "brazen conduct" and starts as follows:

  10. Though this is not an exhaustive list, brazen conduct may be involved in the following if the wrongdoer has an insolent, contemptuous attitude made evident by a practice of these things:
  • Willful, continued, unnecessary association with disfellowshipped non relatives despite repeated counsel—Matt. 18:17b; 1 Cor, 5:11, 13;2 John 10, 11; w81 9/15 pp. 25-26.

  Child sexual abuse and dating a non-believer are also in this list - nice to know where they all rank...

  Anyway, the point is that simply talking to a DF'ed person is in itself not a DF offence, it's the "brazen" disloyalty to scriptural and divine (read JW) process by continued association and requires repeated counsel.

  Elsewhere in the book it is clear that elders risk (note risk - not an automatic revocation) their privileges if they allow a DF'ed family member to live in the house. This is inconsistently applied and is a neat way for bullying elders to pick on weaker elders.
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  35

  Some recent baptism figures in the UK - is there a "bounce back"?

  by freddo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, round my way (south of the uk) all the way up to and including the regional conventions this summer, baptism numbers have been extremely low.

  but i have just received news of three recent circuit assembly days where the figures seem to be higher.

  (all have been across the last three weekends at a uk assembly hall in october).

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  konceptual99

  It's just the ebb and flow within an overall trend. The trend can only really be observed over time and these figures will do nothing but reinforce the consistent evidence that baptisms are a very low proportion of reported active Witnesses. Anyone still attending can also attest to the fact that the majority of getting baptised are born-ins as well.
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  175

  The facts on crucifixion, stauros, and the "torture stake"

  by Leolaia in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  finally, i will look at biblical and patristic evidence bearing on the crucifixion of jesus in particular.

  we need to examine the earliest known descriptions of the kind of crucifixion adopted by the romans and the specific terms they used to refer to it.

  apparently the society believes that crux still meant "stake" in the second century a.d., when tacitus composed his annals.

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  konceptual99

  Wish she was still here and posting. Work like this is remarkable.
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  21

  Attending a same-sex wedding

  by Samantharockeby33 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  my cousin, whom is not jw, but we have grown up together our whole lives has just gotten engaged to her same sex partner, i am very conflicted on wether i can/should attend the wedding or not.

  i am very close with my cousin and her partner and they are very understanding to our beliefs and differences as she grew up with our whole family being jw.

  some family members have already said they will definitely be attending and some definitely not attending so i just want some extra advice and guidance!

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  konceptual99

  I assume you are an active Witness. If you have any kind of "privileges" like being an elder or pioneer then you risk losing them if found out. Other than that I know of no sanctions that can be applied, just the disapproving glares of your judgemental 'friends".
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  14

  An ANALYSIS of Watch Tower of Britain’s last (January 2013) Child Safeguarding Policy by Barbara Anderson

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  an analysis of watch tower of britain’s last (january 2013) child safeguarding policy by barbara anderson.

  last year, i was asked to review watch tower of britain’s child safeguarding policy and its implementation.

  what i discovered was depressing and disappointing especially because the policy contained just a single statement (#18) directing elder/trustees on how to protect children in their congregations from avoidable harm - they were to restrict a repentant abuser “…from being alone in the company of children.” the policy did not explain what procedures to follow to assure that abusers would obey that rule.

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  konceptual99

  In my experience Mephis most elders don't have a clue about their role and responsibilities as trustees. If they did they would shit themselves at how exposed the WTS leaves them. Not only that but any responsible trustee would not allow the WTS the level of ownership of the hall and cash that they currently have.
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  39

  Can Someone Explain To Me, Are The Org In Debt Or Rich?

  by pale.emperor in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  hi guys.. im aware of the orgs blatant hints to donate, donate, donate to the org, the sacking of bethel staff, selling of buildings, reducing mags and books, emphasis on digital rather than physical books etc which is obviously a money saver - but are the wt org in money difficulty?

  because elsewhere on here and on youtube there's stories of the watchtower being mega rich, one even called it "a billion dollar organization".

  and if there is any money in there, who's benefiting off it?

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  konceptual99

  Spot on blondie. The change driven by the general move to digital means less revenue from publication donations This is offset by the cashing in of real estate assets but in the long term they have to balance the books with money coming in and expenditure. I think they are also hunkering down in case of a change to their tax status and from any exposure through litigation related to child abuse.

  Aside from the economies of scale of centralising printing in Europe in Germany,I think part of the reason for the UK downsize was Brexit exposing the UK as potentially being able to change the tax status without the protection of European legislation. I am sure it wasn't a major aspect but still there in the back of their minds.
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  22

  22 fascinating maps that show how Americans speak English differently across the US

  by blondie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/smart-living/22-fascinating-maps-that-show-how-americans-speak-english-differently-across-the-us/ss-bbwqtug?li=bbnb7kz&ocid=iehp .

  everyone knows americans don't agree on pronunciations.. that's great, because regional accents and dialects are a major part of why american english is so interesting.. josh katz, a former ph.d. student of statistics at north carolina state university, published a group of awesome visualizations of professor bert vaux and scott golder's linguistic survey, which looked at differences in american dialects (via detsl on /r/linguistics).. his results were first published on the abstract, the nc state university research blog.

  the complete set of katz's maps, updated with the results from more than 350,000 new survey responses, are compiled in the new book "speaking american," publishing october 25 from houghton mifflin harcourt.. katz gave business insider permission to publish some of the coolest maps from his collection..

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  konceptual99

  Really interesting blondie - I love stuff like this.
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  39

  More Anti Tight Pants Content

  by konceptual99 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just skimming the latest study wt that has been posted and what did i see...?.

  i wonder what the message is that they want the flock to take from this picture?.

  there is also an article about training younger men to take over responsibilities.

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  konceptual99

  Just skimming the latest study WT that has been posted and what did I see...?

  
  

  I wonder what the message is that they want the flock to take from this picture?

  There is also an article about training younger men to take over responsibilities. The last set of articles about this was not that long ago so perhaps they are still worried there are not enough young men to take over.
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  98

  Steve Hassan. Can some one verify if this is true.

  by joe134cd in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  https://culteducation.com/group/1289-general-information/8227-disclaimer-regarding-steve-hassan.html.

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  konceptual99

  I am pretty ambivalent about Steve Hassan. He has the same certifications that the majority of his peers in counselling in the US would hold and if that sort of thing floats your boat then fine. I've never read his books so can't comment on them other than the breakdowns I have seen of the BITE model make sense to me.

  I am not sure that his experience as an ex-moonie and subsequent training give him any more credibility or ability than someone with some kind of psychology doctorate to produce content with high academic value, however many people have found his books useful and informative. Could they have got that content elsewhere for less money, or even free? Sure but plenty of people pay over the odds for goods and services every day of the week just because they get something else that provokes a more emotional response from the transaction.

  I think his higher charges come from the fact he has built the perception that he is a leading expert on cults. In a world of counsellors his USP is this perceived expertise with cults and cult behaviour. He is leveraging that to make money. I read it more as hubris and ego than a cynical "let's fleece the morons" attitude but fundamentally it comes down to the point that if you don't like his charges then don't pay them.

  I'd love to meet the guy, chat to him and find out more about how he approaches his work. I just wouldn't pay $400p/h to do so.
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  19

  What was the biggest hypocrisy you have seen while a witness?

  by HereIgo in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have far too many to name, however, i have noticed obscene music, cussing, lying and secretive gambling to name a few.

  thoughts?.

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  konceptual99

  Congregations are riddled with individual cases of hypocrisy but lets not forget the number of organisational examples of hypocrisy. The blood doctrine, free passes for historical sin for elders, Mexico/Malawi, criticism of Christendom for changing doctrine, claiming that anyone should be able to change their beliefs without consequence.... the list goes on and on and on.