Good questions Srecko Sostar!

Since the GB, through the February 2017 Watchtower has actually ADMITTED what was so very painfully obvious, with terrible and sustained real world consequences for those that trusted them TO HAVE COMMON SENSE, that they are NOT inspired of God, and are NOT infallible ... what is "spirit directed" ??

It seems to me that anyone with a real, developed conscience that parallels Scripture ... is in fact "spirit directed".

... ANYONE AT ALL !

I am going to make some popcorn ..... the replies should be interesting !

In the entire history of all people ... everywhere .. there have NEVER been any exceptions.

There are none now.

Unfortunately, the FIRST responsibility of Witch Doctors. Shamans, Priests, Clergy, Elders, and THE Governing Body ... is to protect their own jobs, power and authority, real estate, and money.

This is how religions have ALWAYS evolved, once they start accumulating real estate and piles of money ... and start dressing well.

We are NOT the exception.

I am sorry, Grey Reformer, but your text is too small for my 71 year old eyes to read, and I don't need anyone to "review" for your approval what is general and common knowledge. 

When I find my reading glasses, I will try again to go through your material ... but one thing I have learned over the years ... the probability of someone's words being valid and topically important DECREASES with the quantity of words used.

I agree with the need for disfellowshipping ... my objection is to the cruelty in HOW it is practiced, and that there is NEVER, EVER any "extenuating circumstances" that would legitimately call for mercy.

18 minutes ago, Grey Reformer said:

So, let’s bring back the posted question without further deviation from someone’s personal opinion on other matters.

O.K. ... let's do exactly THAT!Are Wrongly Disfellowshipped People Automatically Reinstated?

Answer:

The way that disfellowshipping is handled today has only one purpose ... to maintain the powers structure of the Governing Body.

If a person was disfellowshipped for being right ... he is NOT automatically reinstated ... the fact that he was right makes his crime ESPECIALLY grievous.

This is reality ... where the "rubber meets the road".

The problem is, that Grey Reformer is too lacking in general knowledge of what has been going on around him (or her) to reform anything.

Before you can fix a problem ... you have to know there IS a problem.

Wow ... and all these years I have been drop-kicking them through a hedge ....

I have a Brother Label Maker that makes labels on gummed tape, with which I label things.  I even labeled my label maker with a label that reads "Label Maker", and on the Label Maker's label that says "label maker", there is a tiny label that says "Label".

In the kitchen is a pyrex graduated two cup measuring container with a handle, and on the bottom is a label that says "Urine samples", which my wife did not see, 'cause it was on the bottom.

She wrote a very nasty letter to the Betty Crocker cake mix people.

..... apologies to TBBT, and  Sheldon Cooper

1 hour ago, TrueTomHarley said:

Come come. Don't be so petty. 

Assuming you haven't exagerated the price .....

That entire post was hyperbole, and exaggeration to paint a mental picture of the PREVIOUS post's hyperbole. 

But my guess of the airline ticket cost was based on a business class ticket I once had from Charlotte, NC, to Mosjoen, Norway for a job, which if memory serves, was $9,400,  and I LIKED it!  Very addictive!

... normally I get by with air holes cut in the shipping container.

I mentioned the shoe cardboard , because I used to be heavily invested in cardboard.   I bought in when it was 14 cents a ton, kept six tons in my driveway, where it got rained on, and sold it for 17 cents a ton.

WOOHOO!

( B.L.F.M. = Better Lunches For Me.)

Some people have NO sense of humor ....

With that in mind, I encourage each and ever one of you, from the bottom of my heart,  and yours, to contribute as much as you can, and contribute as often as you can,  to a small charity I manage ... the B.L.F.M,

It is not a recognized charity in the traditional sense, but you can be assured that each and every dollar will be wisely spent to alleviate hunger in elderly people whose circumstances are, like yours, often tenuous and fraught with uncertainty.

So remember, dear Brothers and Sisters, even if you "gave at the office", how about foregoing that fish sandwich, fries, and soft drink at McDonalds after the meeting, or at a mid morning Field Service break ....  and send a few dollars to the B.L.F.M., care of this blog.

Thank You !

JTR

 

Bubba Gump !

( ... cues the cymbalist for a rim shot...)

9 hours ago, Grey Reformer said:

Also, those regular bloggers that contribute to this hatred, and misinformation, that redirect this traffic to their websites will soon be out of a job. That extra income to subside their lavish life’s styles by blood guilt will come to an end. So, no more European vacations.

I suppose I will have to forgo my lavish lifestyle  and European Vacations to buy catfood for my wife and I, and cardboard for the holes in my shoes.

I am getting too old to upend and roll downtown drunks for their loose change, so I will have to put a hand lettered cardboard sign around my neck that says "Will engineer for food", and squat on a freeway off-ramp in sackcloth and ashes, and an appropriately downtrodden, sad countenance.

I can turn my eyes heavenward and at 37,000 feet, watch as a Boeing 767 takes a GB member to a European Assembly in Business Class seating at about $11,000 a ticket.

2 hours ago, Grey Reformer said:

I don’t recall, with your implication, when the Watchtower used Gestapo tactics. However, it wouldn’t have mattered, since Ray took his error in understanding to his grave.

Yes, but Ray Franz left behind two very detailed biographies of his experiences and observations .... which at least one is available on Amazon.com, or, with a little searching, you might be able to get either or both off the Internet for free in PDF or EPUB format. 

You should research these things for yourself, and not rely on others,  whose information may be distorted by being second-hand information.

2 hours ago, Grey Reformer said:

So, let me know when the Watchtower starts to use waterboarding.

Waterboarding is very effective, in most cases, and has the advantage that it does not leave any documentable  marks ....

By not allowing any representation, witnesses, recordings, or notes in disfellowshipping trials, completely secret ... the Society does not need to waterboard anyone to avoid any tell-tale evidence of iron fists in a velvet glove. 

For it's intended purpose, without ever showing mercy of any kind, the system works perfectly, now.

1 hour ago, Grey Reformer said:

Therefore, no one that I can think of has been disfellowshipped for an error in their of opinion they might have.

This is true at the GB level ... except for Ray Franz .... who WAS disfellowshipped, for having lunch with his landlord and employer, back in his home town, and recalled from his" sick bed" to Bethel to be interrogated.

However, at the "bottom", there is a continuous awareness that unless you say exactly the right things, in exactly the right way, with exactly the right words, you are subject to being called into "Room 101", and run through the wringer. (Old WWII washing machine reference.)

...and if you give any expression whatsoever to any legitimate grievance ... it is at best considered sedition ... and at the worst .... treason.

It is ESPECIALLY grievous ....  if you are right.

" Ahl be Bahhhk"

40 minutes ago, Space Merchant said:

Not really, however the funny thing about Wikipedia, it is said anyone can edit the information, or so I've heard. It is also a breeding ground for trolls.

I thought Jehovah's Witness Assembly Halls were where they were assembled, from parts!

Here is another interesting thought ..... With Jehovah on our side ... "bow drawn and arrow set", why have any fear at all? 

Sit back and watch the show!!!

"hehehe )))))))))"

Discussing the deep philosophical and theological implications, and applications of a a scripted drama produced by the Society is like a deep analysis of the DNA of Caleb and Sophia.

Wikipedia is Trump's Fault !!

... or Bushes.

TTH:

I concede that you can worry the horns off of a Billy Goat .... so as a concession to your admirable persistence ....

It's like when God told Noah to build an Ark, and Noah asked why?

And God said "How long can you tread water?"

The Catholic Church has several billion adherents, and they have infiltrated every form of government ... and historically ... especially during WWII ... they acted as Intelligence Services for whatever government they thought was going to win. ( Look up the July 20, 1933 "Holy" Concordat, between the Vatican and the German Third Reich, especially article 16).  They bet on the wrong horse when they were the first to recognize the new Nazi Government, at the time.

At Amazon.com you can get books showing a "paper trail" a thousand years long of child sexual abuse, and child slavery, and child trafficking, the most notable  of course was the "Children's Crusades', where "innocent children" were rounded up, all over Europe, and marched to fight for the "liberation" of Jerusalem, under the custody of Catholic clerics to the Mediterranean  Sea ... where many died of hunger, raiders, and exposure .... to the coast, where they were met by Muslim slave ships, and sold into slavery to the Muslims.

I firmly believe that Jehovah's Witnesses have the LEAST amount of child exploitation of any organized religion, and that we are doing the best we can with the limitations of human frailty and decadence .... but "the road to hell" is paved with the bodies of the innocent, set as paving stones, by the accountants and lawyers of ALL organized religions ... including ours ... to one degree or another.

The REASON is ..... when there is several BILLION dollars of "free money (contributions) at stake, and small cities of Real Estate are in jeopardy .... then equity, Justice, and truth are ALWAYS subverted, to maintain and conserve those assets.

There never has been any exceptions to this rule ... and there are not any now.

That is why Jesus owned ONLY the clothes on his back ... not even a change of clothes.

Can you imagine Jesus with a suitcase?

..... I have been called many things ... but never before a "stone".

.... usually a "blockhead".

... I usually respond well when called to dinner.