Shiwiii

I disagree. 
 
All of you who are a part of this org has that power.
 
You just have to do it, fire them, stop giving them your mind and money.
Then Poof, they no longer have that power over you. 

I get it, it isn't real easy when that has been your whole life up to this point.  The reality of it though is that it is quite that simple and easy. 
 
I'm sure you can relate if you put it in perspective. When you were a young child in school, I'm sure you noticed the different clic's, the group of rockers, the cowboys, the preppy kids, jocks etc. When figuring out your niche, you tried to fit into a group that you thought was "you", only to find out that it wasn't worth trying to please the group and become someone you just weren't. You left hat group and continued through life without much thought. You took with you some things you liked of the group and moved on and developed your own character. We all do it, have done it.  This clic, the wt, is just like that. Take from it what you choose and drop the rest. You have the power and ability to control your own life, without excess baggage. Does this mean "leave Jehovah and make him sad" ? Quite the opposite,  it means taking control of your own life and pressing into God with all of the knowledge you have gained thus far. I mean, the gb has already stated that they are not inspired and can very well screw up with what they force the rnf to accept. Why not allow the Bible alone to guide you WITH the knowledge you have taken from the clic? Unless you truly believe that by studying the Bible alone will lead you into darkness in a matter of months? 

Thanks for the insight.  I never thought of it that way.
The Baptism is an outward symbol of a dedication ALREADY MADE IN IT'S TOTALITY.
Whatever you dedicated to Jehovah God is between you and God, alone ... and what the GB has done is try an "control the narrative", and add to that.
I wonder what would happen if after Baptism at an Assembly, where you stood up with many baptismal candidates that said "YES", and you did not affirm the questions asked you.  I doubt they examine the videos to make sure you did, or have someone watch to see if you did, taking notes.  Then, after perhaps several years of faithful life, casually mention that your immersion was as public as you needed, and that you never said "Yes" like all the others did.
What you had resolved in your heart to do was sufficient, and nothing needed to be added.
It's obvious that you were not there to soap up and bathe.
Or ... let's say you were on a camping trip beside a lake, and you turned to your Bible Teacher and said "What's to prevent me from being baptized ..." quoting the Ethiopian Eunuch, and you both went down to the lake, and your teacher baptized you.
As far as I know, it only takes ONE other person present to be a public expression of your dedication, and it would in actual fact be quite valid.
That brings up the next consideration .....
When you got back to your home congregations, relating the events of the camping trip, how much crap would you have to put up with from the Elders ... or would it be none at all?
 

I'll give you one rude word for that comment James, Bullshit. I do not normally swear on here but your comment is just an excuse. 
The comment also shows a lack of faith in Almighty God. 
Remembering that the JW Org is nothing like the Nation of Israel. In that Nation most people were born into it and had to live under the LAW.  In JW Org most people are NOT born into it, they are volunteers. They, supposedly, want to be there. 
So what you should have is 8.5 million people willing to serve God properly in what SHOULD BE an inspired organisation, led by inspired Anointed brothers. 
By saying that the GB / JW Org / Watchtower Soc 'are operated beyond their design capacity,'  you are saying that it is not God's organisations and not inspired or even guided by God's Holy Spirit. 
So how does it make it 'the only game in town', when it's not even in the running ? 
It would have to be God's chosen Organisation, being inspired / guided / run by God's Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ, who would be operating through willing, humble,  God fearing, true, honest human servants.  
Oh dear multi fail by JW Org. 
 

I am not Pearl Doxsey, but I work with her.  Wow, you went to her blog, defying the rules and regulations of your organization, not to seek out, "apostates".   

Yes. In fact WHY they have to call Legal Department for advice on - to call or not to call - if Bible PRINCIPLES and GUIDANCE of holy spirit are powers SUFFICIENT for Elders when making decisions? :))

Those at the top should have firstly refused to keep it all quiet. And should have demanded a meeting to do Bible based research to see where the scriptural backing came from. Of course there was no scriptural backing so the whole thing should have been turned around immediately.
If the top brass were too scared to take action then the Elders of the congregations should have seen through it, and totally refused to carry it out. If the Elders were as you pretend, being guided by Bible principles, then how could they keep such disgusting things, dangerous things, unloving things, things that dishonour God, secret ? 

I'm a JW but not the common one anyways it does amazed me how we had 6 months of Australia Royal Child sex commission founded by the government to investigate all child abuse cases and nothing was published or was announced or made public of the outcome in the JW org. Shameful indeed. Is like nothing happened. And the worst was the answers given at the royal commission by the elders and one GB who had to give testimony. 

Poor old @TrueTomHarley has to try to group people together. Even though he adds 'as individuals', he still starts with a group of people all of one type. 
I don't know Srecko's personal information and I would not ask him, but as for me, I have a wife and a son that live 'at home' with me. They are enough company for me thanks. I do not need to surround myself at home or online with a group of people.
I've just bought myself a new MP3 player with the biggest 'cans' (headphones) I could get, and I go walking along the riverside and then along the seafront all on my own. I walk past people as if they are just obstructions, I dodge round them all. People here in the UK are also fat and they get in the way, but I squeeze my slim body past them all.  
As for the idea that "Witnesses as a people have a much greater diversity of friends as regards race, social-economic, nationality, & educational letters, then do non-Witnesses."   That is probably wishful thinking. 
Witnesses do not seem to actually have any friends, just brothers and sisters. A friend is someone that can be relied upon for support and help, no matter what the circumstances. Not so with the bro's and sis, who desert people at the slightest whim. 
The fact that the JW Org is earthwide does not make all those people your friends. That's a bit like having a million friends on Facebook, they are not real friends. 
Poor Tom is still living in that dream world of his, and he won't back down, which is funny as he condemned me for not backing down on things. 
If you treat things as typical patterns it is because you don't want to 'see' the individual.  You are frightened to think of individuals having a mind and thoughts of their own, because JW's are not allowed to have a mind and thoughts of their own. 
 

This had become a kind of cliche for experiences given from the assemblies. You would always hear someone say that they were learning about the truth, but that they had a beard and didn't like to dress in a suit and tie . . . and then . . . voila! . . . one day this person will show up at the Hall, and to everyone's surprise . . . he will be clean-shaven. The audience would even clap at this point, as if it were a bigger turning point than their baptism.
Wow brainwashing at its best. 
Um, Jesus said about cleaning the inside of the bowl or dish first. Shaving and putting on a suit and tie mean nothing, it just impresses naive people.
It matter not if a person wears and open neck shirt and casual smart trousers. And it matters not if a man has a beard. And in fact it matters not if a lady wears trousers designed for ladies, because they are not men's clothing. Lots of ladies here in UK congregations now wear leggings under dresses in fact.   
But in the JW Org its all about dictatorship. It's not about showing God, as God sees into your heart. It's all about pleasing the Elders and the higher ups.. 

Does wearing a badge determine if one is on the path of righteousness?  Do you remember the cross and crown on the early Watchtower magazines?  It is a Masonic symbol that can be worn as a pin.  Would wearing it show you were on the path of righteousness when it was used by the Watchtower; and, would you wear it today, or is it not acceptable jewelry  for those who desire to remain on the path of righteousness?  If not, who is the apostate?  Wouldn't the apostates be your brothers and sisters from years past, who treasured this symbol as representing their "organization"?
You say, "those who leave Jehovah's organization..."  Is God and the organization inseparably linked?   Isa 46:5

 

Did you never heard how WT Society speaking about JHVH as Husband and His Zion Organization as Wife? This Mother has "children" around the world - congregations :))) in fact many JW brothers and sister consider Earthly Image of God's Kingdom aka WT Society as their "spiritual mother".  
In Legal terminology and Business issue,  WT Society had formed many "sister companies" under various and different names around the globe. Each congregation is separate Legal Entity too, and in short jargon way i said how WT Society is "Mother" in both ways, spiritually and legally. :))

no need to search, they are banned in Russia as well
 
you forgot to quote the part where I said " so what". 
 
The fact that they named each kingdom hall means nothing. The broad statement of banning the jws is sufficient to get the point across. I think the added mention of each and every kh is just hype for jws to get their persecution hats on. Since there are more religions being persecuted in Russia than just jws It must mean that mormanism and scientology are the true religions also. Don't cha think? 
 
 

does this apply to an org that states, no beards, no blood, no birthday? 
does it apply to an org that says they are the only means/way for salvation?

oooh, please explain this blasphemy, is it against the gb or the wt as a whole? 

One day while out in Service with probably the smartest, most well educated Brother and Elder I have ever met .... he was driving, I was shotgun, and there were two in the back seat ... I mentioned to him that even though I had tried to understand it, I just could not understand the "Overlapping Generations" explanation ... and I asked him if he understood it, and could explain it to me..
He got real quiet, thought for about 15 seconds and said "I think they are trying to do the best they can ...."
I have talked to several Elders, asking about that, and NONE could give me an explanation, and did not even want to talk about it ... and I did not push it any further.
It makes no sense whatsoever .... it's almost like a test, to see if they can say the sky is bright red, filled with flying elephants, and see if everybody will believe it.
AND BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE IT, THEY ALSO WILL SEE IT!
I realize they are grasping at straws, trying to defend the totally indefensible .... that they were 100% wrong for over a hundred years ... but do they so transparently have to publicly play all of us for complete delusional fools?
 
 

Perhaps it is. I appreciate the references but I have a more than sneaky feeling that we just do not know what the mechanics of this transference of life really entail. I have no problem at all in accepting the fact that these things have occurred or will occur, but the attempted explanations of how I find inadequate.
There are a number of instances.
Enoch's transference so as not to "see death". The materialisation of fully fleshly human bodies by spirit creatures The restoration of life to a corpse The transfer of Jesus from heaven to earth, from spirit to human form The resurrection of Jesus from human death to spirit life The 3rd heaven experience of Paul The resurrection of humans from human death to spirit life in the heavens The instantaneous transference of humans from human life on earth to spirit life in heaven The resurrection of humans from death to human life on earth across the passage of time The releasing of Satan from the abyss. "Above my pay grade" is the best I can do with these matters up to now. And I am happy with that. 

Dear Queen Esther, he is quoting (not all is verbatim) what the organization has written - its history...and your history, as a JW.
 
They both together, promise eternal life.  
‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me."  John 14:1
~~~~~~~
"Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing His work."  John 14:1
~~~~~~
Then they asked him, ‘Where is your father?’ ‘You do not know me or my Father,’ Jesus replied. ‘If you knew me, you would know my Father also.'    John 8:19
~~~~~~~
And yes, he can promise eternal life by our believing in him.
After Jesus said this, he looked towards heaven and prayed:  Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die"  John 11:25
~~~~~~~~
‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."  John 17:1-3
~~~~~~~
"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life."  John 5:24
~~~~~~~
He then brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’  31 They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.’  Acts 16:30,31
Jesus is
‘“the stone you builders rejected,
    which has become the cornerstone.”
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.’  Acts 4:11,12
~~~~~~~~~
"So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.  Heb 9:28
~~~~~~~~
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 1 Cor 15:22
 
 
 
 
 
 

Or.....they would make damn sure they never got caught. But yes, I agree, report all child abuse to the relevant authorities, clergy privilege or no clergy privilege.

This is the ideal procedure. I have never been able to think of an alternative. 

As a matter of fact, Billy ... I do have a perfect plan (almost) than CAN be implemented.
 
Some parents can .... and do.
Happy thoughts will not make it happen.
A Brother who was later convicted of raping another Sister, and who is now in prison, backed off from pursuing my daughter because she told him " ... my Dad will kill you ... yes, he will go to prison, but you will be dead!", and he knew that was true.
In a similar manner, if the Society had a global non-negotiable policy of  "All reports or suspicions of child sexual abuse, without exception, will be reported to the Police, and all  other Civil Authorities.", and use the two witness rule for internal deliberations .... the threat of certain punishment would deter almost all of these potential cases, except for the retarded or insane.
You wanted a real answer that would actually work.
There ... you have it ....  in one sentence.

does this apply to an org that states, no beards, no blood, no birthday? 
does it apply to an org that says they are the only means/way for salvation?

does this apply to an org that states, no beards, no blood, no birthday? 
does it apply to an org that says they are the only means/way for salvation?

does this apply to an org that states, no beards, no blood, no birthday? 
does it apply to an org that says they are the only means/way for salvation?

1. why the need to count the number of hours, there is no biblical mandate to do so, however there is a mandate about boasting about your works.
2. How many of those hours are just standing next to a cart and having your default witness as...'go to jw.org'.
3. How hard can it be just standing there next to a cart?