raymond frantz

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Posts by raymond frantz

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  15

  Now the Baptist Church is waking up to the Watchtower's scandals

  by raymond frantz in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  https://www.jwupdates.com/post/jehovah-s-witnesses-sue-norway-after-registration-revoked.

  the following article appeared on baptist standard's online edition in january 18, 2024. other christian denominations are starting to pay attention to the legal cases against the watchtower and write about it.

  like the watchtower did in yester years with catholic csa cases.. oslo district court in norway is home to an ongoing trial after norway deregistered the jehovah’s witnesses last year.

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  raymond frantz

  Vidiot I agree
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  15

  Now the Baptist Church is waking up to the Watchtower's scandals

  by raymond frantz in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  https://www.jwupdates.com/post/jehovah-s-witnesses-sue-norway-after-registration-revoked.

  the following article appeared on baptist standard's online edition in january 18, 2024. other christian denominations are starting to pay attention to the legal cases against the watchtower and write about it.

  like the watchtower did in yester years with catholic csa cases.. oslo district court in norway is home to an ongoing trial after norway deregistered the jehovah’s witnesses last year.

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  raymond frantz

  They will do anything for these precious million cronas , Mamon is their real god
• 
  15

  Now the Baptist Church is waking up to the Watchtower's scandals

  by raymond frantz in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  https://www.jwupdates.com/post/jehovah-s-witnesses-sue-norway-after-registration-revoked.

  the following article appeared on baptist standard's online edition in january 18, 2024. other christian denominations are starting to pay attention to the legal cases against the watchtower and write about it.

  like the watchtower did in yester years with catholic csa cases.. oslo district court in norway is home to an ongoing trial after norway deregistered the jehovah’s witnesses last year.

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  raymond frantz

  https://www.jwupdates.com/post/jehovah-s-witnesses-sue-norway-after-registration-revoked

  The following article appeared on Baptist Standard's online edition in JANUARY 18, 2024

  Other Christian denominations are starting to pay attention to the legal cases against the Watchtower and write about it. Like the Watchtower did in yester years with Catholic CSA cases.

  Oslo District Court in Norway is home to an ongoing trial after Norway deregistered the Jehovah’s Witnesses last year.

  WASHINGTON (RNS)—After Norway deregistered the Jehovah’s Witnesses last year, some human rights experts say the nation’s reputation as a bastion of religious freedom could be in question.

  Now, the Jehovah’s Witnesses of Norway are suing the state for revoking their national registration and withholding state funds. According to Jehovah’s Witnesses, they are the first religious group to lose their national registration in Norway, which recognizes more than 700 faith communities.

  The trial, which began Jan. 8, will determine whether some practices of the Jehovah’s Witnesses violate Norway’s Religious Communities Act or whether withdrawing the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ registration violates their right to freedom of religion and freedom of association, as guaranteed in the European Convention on Human Rights.

  “It’s certainly the most important trial about a religious freedom issue in Norway in decades,” Willy Fautré, director of the Brussels-based organization Human Rights Without Frontiers, told Religion News Service.

  Accused of defying Norway’s Religious Communities Act

  In January 2022, Valgerd Svarstad Haugland, the county governor of Oslo and Viken, in Norway, denied Jehovah’s Witnesses state grants for the year 2021 in response to concerns about what she perceived as exclusionary practices(=in layman terms, disfellowshiping practises). The Jehovah’s Witnesses had received the grants, which currently amount to around $1.5 million annually, for three decades.

  These funds typically are used for international disaster relief work(=so next time the Warchtower offers you to help free of your time and energy the "brothers" tell they have received over 45 million crona just from the Norwegian government the past 30 years and get on their bike and do it themselves) and supporting religious activity in Norway, including translating literature and building kingdom halls, said Jørgen Pedersen, spokesperson for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Norway.

  The county governor of Oslo and Viken claimed Jehovah’s Witnesses are forbidden to contact disfellowshipped members, as well as people who voluntarily dissociate, which can hinder a person’s ability to freely withdraw from the group.

  She also argued Jehovah’s Witnesses may disfellowship children who have chosen to be baptized if they break the religious community’s rules, a practice she said constituted “negative social control” and violated children’s rights.(=When assessing whether a type of behaviour constitutes negative social control, consideration shall be given to the age and development of the controlled party, as well as to the principle of the child’s best interests)

  These practices, the county governor argued, defy Norway’s Religious Communities Act.

  “We have assessed the offenses as systematic and intentional, and have therefore chosen to refuse grants,” a statement from the county governor said.

  Clarifying stance on disfellowship

  In an email to RNS, Jehovah’s Witnesses spokesperson Jarrod Lopes said Witnesses only disfellowship an unrepentant member who “makes a practice” of serious violations of “the Bible’s moral code.”(=carefully crafted legalistic language at its best)

  Even then, Lopes added, Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t force members to limit or cease association with former congregants, whether they’ve been disfellowshipped or withdrawn voluntarily—that’s up to individuals.

  “Congregation elders do not police the personal lives of congregants, nor do they exercise control over the faith of individual Jehovah’s Witnesses,” Lopes wrote.(=that's exactly what they do, in order to get me disfellowshipped they had a minor print my online chat and then post it through the letterbox at the Kingdom Hall because they didn't want to get for harassment and stalking )

  Serious sins that might lead to disfellowship include manslaughter, adultery and drug use, Pedersen explained. A congregation always will try to help an individual restore his or her relationship with God. But if the problem persists, Jehovah’s Witnesses feel compelled to respect the entire Bible, including instructions not to associate with unrepentant sinners, such as 1 Corinthians 5:11.

  Though the Witnesses appealed the county governor’s decision, in September 2022 the Ministry for Children and Families upheld the ruling.

  In October that same year, the county governor said in a press release that unless Jehovah’s Witnesses would “rectify the conditions that led to the refusal of state subsidies,” they would lose registration, which they did a few months later, in December.

  Without its national registration, Jehovah’s Witnesses cannot perform marriages, and they lose entitlement to government grants.(=its all about the money)

  Should the state interpret religious texts?

  The Jehovah’s Witnesses of Norway filed two lawsuits against the state in December 2022—one challenging the denial of state grants and another challenging their loss of registration. Those lawsuits have since been combined.

  Though the Oslo District Court initially granted the Jehovah’s Witnesses an injunction that suspended their deregistration until that case was argued, the Ministry challenged the injunction, and in April 2023, the court removed it.

  As the trial plays out at the District Court of Oslo, Jason Wise, an attorney acting as a consultant on the case for the legal team representing the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Norway, said part of the Witnesses’ argument is that

  1. there is no evidence of harm and

  2. it’s not the place of the state to interpret religious texts.

  The state continues to contend that the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ practices are in conflict with the Religious Communities Act, particularly, they claim, by exposing children to psychological violence.

  Since 2022, Jehovah’s Witnesses have reported an increase in vandalism, harassment and physical assaults in Norway. In September 2022, two Jehovah’s Witnesses in Harstad, Norway, reported that a man screamed at them and repeatedly attempted to hit one of them. That same month, a man in Kristiansand, Norway, reportedly set a Jehovah’s Witnesses mobile display car on fire, and a month later, someone attempted to set fire to a Jehovah’s Witnesses meeting place in Fauske, Norway.

  “What we see now is that the state of Norway is taking a look at my beliefs, saying, we don’t like that, we don’t like that,” said Pedersen. Asking Jehovah’s Witnesses to change their beliefs, he said, is a “violation of my integrity as a person, as a religious person, as a person with a conscience. That’s the core issue of this case.”

  Norway isn’t the only place where Jehovah’s Witnesses’ practices have been under scrutiny. In December, the Belgian Court of Cassation—the highest court in the Belgian judiciary—rejected an appeal of a lower court’s decision, ruling in favor of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ right to avoid contact with former members.

  “Norway is just the tip of another phenomenon,” Fautré said. “That is a source of concern, because we see that there are more and more attempts in Europe by state institutions to interfere and intrude into the teachings and practices of religious groups, which is forbidden by the European Convention. The risk is they would open the door to more court cases against other religious groups.”

  https://www.baptiststandard.com/news/world/jehovahs-witnesses-sue-norway-after-registration-revoked/
• 
  14

  Are You Ready for the Most Important Day of the Year?

  by RULES & REGULATIONS in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  luke 22:14 so when the hour came, he reclined at the table along with the apostles.

  and he said to them: “i have greatly desired to eat this passover with you before i suffer; 16 for i tell you, i will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of god.” 17 and accepting a cup, he gave thanks and said: “take this and pass it from one to the other among yourselves, 18 for i tell you, from now on, i will not drink again from the product of the vine until the kingdom of god comes.”.

  19 also, he took a loaf, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them, saying: “this means my body, which is to be given in your behalf.

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  raymond frantz

  When will the peasants revolt and do away with this abhorrent celebration of denial 😡😡😡
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  44

  2023 Yearly Report UNDER the Microscope

  by raymond frantz in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  https://youtu.be/pi7sn2rnrke?si=lnvklqct6nuayv2q.

  branches of jehovah’s witnesses: 85 (= down one from 86 from the previous year and quite possibly they are referring to the hong kong bethel that closed down recently).

  number of lands reporting: 239 ( =the same as 2022).

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  raymond frantz

  Jeffro

  Indeed, dear friend looks like they create new congregations in countries that have no increase, something tells me this is to fudge the numbers
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  44

  2023 Yearly Report UNDER the Microscope

  by raymond frantz in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  https://youtu.be/pi7sn2rnrke?si=lnvklqct6nuayv2q.

  branches of jehovah’s witnesses: 85 (= down one from 86 from the previous year and quite possibly they are referring to the hong kong bethel that closed down recently).

  number of lands reporting: 239 ( =the same as 2022).

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  raymond frantz

  slimboyfat5 hours ago

  Did you notice which figures they stopped publishing this year?

  Correct they stopped reporting the money spend on pioneers this year is not in the report
• 
  44

  2023 Yearly Report UNDER the Microscope

  by raymond frantz in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  https://youtu.be/pi7sn2rnrke?si=lnvklqct6nuayv2q.

  branches of jehovah’s witnesses: 85 (= down one from 86 from the previous year and quite possibly they are referring to the hong kong bethel that closed down recently).

  number of lands reporting: 239 ( =the same as 2022).

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  raymond frantz

  https://youtu.be/PI7sN2RNrKE?si=lNVKLqCT6nuayV2Q
  

  • Branches of Jehovah’s Witnesses: 85 (= down one from 86 from the previous year and quite possibly they are referring to the Hong Kong Bethel that closed down recently)

  • Number of Lands Reporting: 239 ( =the same as 2022)

  • Total Congregations: 118,177 (=up from 117,960, a surprising increase but nevertheless a miniscule increase of just 0.18% OR 217 congregations. Of course the real metric here should be how many KH's closed down but of course they won't release this information. Is it possible that they artificially increase the number of congregations to show an increase? Quite possibly)

  • Worldwide Memorial Attendance: 20,461,767 (=up from 19,721,672 a 3.75% increase OR 740,095 more attendants. They managed to get 3 quarters of a million people to deny Jesus' s ransom by denying the bread and the wine. A real success in Satan's report for 2023 but not a critical indicator for the success of the religion)

  • Memorial Partakers Worldwide: 22,312 (=up from 21,150 a 5,49% increase OR 1,162 more Partakers and potential candidates for Tony Morris' seat in heaven who was removed from this position last year. Again not a critical indicator more like a doctrinal nightmare for the Watchtower according to which these people should have died a long time ago)

  • Peak of Publishers: 8,816,562 (=up from 8,699,048 OR 1.35% increase. They are just about treading water but still a critical indicator that shows a minimal increase and can only be down to a natural increase of children of Jehovah's Witnesses joining the cult as Publishers, more like an inhouse increase. If they were sincere with their reports they would show how many left the religion in 2023 as they used to do in previous years but of course they are not going to do that and we know why)

  • Average Publishers Preaching Each Month: 8,625,042 (=up from 8,514,983 from the previous year, 110,059 more publishers OR just 1.29% increase from last year and a critical indicator of the moral of the religion. This is quite worrying since this is a miniscule increase and considering the fact that in 2022 we were still experiencing restrictions on ministry engagement due to the pandemic. Is is possible that this weak indicator has prompted all the recent changes in making reporting hours non mandatory and a silent admittance that the average Publishers per year will fall in negative numbers soon? They only know since they only have the true numbers)

  • Percentage of Increase Over 2022: 1.3 (=UP from 0.4 OR almost 1% increase, which is massive but can only be contributed to poor reporting in 2022 and natural growth from jw youngsters joining the religion or people getting baptised in 2023 because it wasn't possible last year due to pandemic, more like a backlog of baptisms from 2020-2022 )

  • Total Number Baptized : 269,517 (=up from 145,552 in 2022 , a massive 85.15% increase from the previous year OR an additional 124,045 baptised members. Of course this is not a reliable indicator since in 2022 we were still coming out of the pandemic and quite possibly many postponed their baptism due to lack of open venues or assemblies taking place in 2022. So if you want a more realistic number we need to go back to pre-pandemic numbers in 2019 were the ones baptised were 303,866. So compared to this number they are down almost by 35,000 baptisms OR 12.75% which is a massive decrease and crucial indicator that far less people are committing themselves to the religion by getting baptised)

  • Average Pioneer Publishers Each Month: 1,570,906 (=Up from 1,489,252 OR 5.5% increase, not a critical factor and not indicative of the success of the religion. Quite frankly considering how much they have relaxed the requirements to be a pioneer in recent years this number shows how little success this had, people are not so inclined joining the pioneer ranks as they did in yester years)

  • Average Auxiliary Pioneer Publishers Each Month: 738,457 (= UP from 381,310 from last year OR almost doubled from last year. This is not a critical indicator of the success of the religion and more likely an artificially inflated number since they decreased the requirements for pioneers in recent years)

  • Total Hours Spent in Field: 1,791,490,713 (=Up from 1,501,797,703 in 2022 but down from 2,088,560,437 in 2019 a decrease of 297,069,724 hours or a MASSIVE 14.22% decrease from pre pandemic levels!!! This is a critical indicator of the morale of the publishers and maybe even how happy they are with the current GB members since they are not as inclined to engage with the message of the society to the world. I

  • Average Bible Studies Each Month: 7,281,212 (=Up from 5,666,996 last year OR a 28.48% increase but compared to pre-pandemic 2019 figures of 9,618,182 Bible studies they are actually down by 2,336,970 Bible Studies or a massive decrease of 24 3% in Bible Studies!!! This is a critical indicator for the future of the religion.Even if you take into account that most of these Bible Studies are jw children still it shows that far less people are inclined to study in order to join the Witnesses in 2023)
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  3

  The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Religion.

  by LostintheFog1999 in

  1. social
  2. current

  i spotted this article on an irish news channel's webpage and thought you might have something to say about the idea.

  perhaps in the future jws will replace their robotic elders with actual robots, what do you think?

  we could consult with ai jesus to see what he thinks about the idea.

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  raymond frantz

  I'd say you're on to something ,and I don't mean idea, I mean substance👍😂
• 
  73

  Lloyd Evans Patreoff Pool February 2024

  by DerekMoors in

  1. social
  2. humour

  happy new year!

  time to give us your vote for lloyd's fall from grace this month.. december 6th he was at 406. as of today, january 3rd, he's at 388. that is exactly, on the dot, where he was january 3rd of last year!

  he's lost all gains from his begging videos and reminders and tin cup waving and etc.. so, fire up the shrooms and let us know where you think flab boy will be on february 2nd.

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  raymond frantz

  369 please
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  19

  A City Having Real Foundations.

  by LostintheFog1999 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  someone asked me recently when did i start to have doubts as an elder about what i was teaching from the platform.. i have given it a lot of thought and i can say that it was when i was delivering a public talk about the book of hebrews.

  so i paused and read it again.. i looked at the audience and said to them let's look at the cross-reference for this verse which is hebrews 12:22 and i read that verse.

  after which i remember saying "and this is how the outline puts it.... " and i read from the outline verbatim.. abraham was not looking forward to an earthly kingdom hope.

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  raymond frantz

  @ElderBerry

  JWs are the only ones who think Michael is Jesus, their reasoning is only that “who else could be powerful enough to battle with Satan and his demons and throw them out of heaven.”
  

  By all accounts Jesus is Michael of the Old Testament, don't fall for the Trinity nonsense, another cult like the jws, that use name calling and mental gymnastics to prove the Trinity.

  The same people who take offence in Jesus being the Michael the Archangel are the same people tgat believe that Jesus was the "angel of the Lord" in the Old Testament