Γιαννης Διαμαντιδης

I think the question is not so stupid. Ask any Jehovah's Witness in Greece and will tell you that the voting was forbidden in the past. And even now some brothers and sisters advertise in the preaching work that we go to vote but we vote with a white paper... and of course the people answer:... then why go voting in the first place.... because in Greece the winner takes all neutral votes... so is like voting the winning party. Anyway I think God will not be displeased if I will vote a good mayor who will fix the road in front of my house over a mafioso who will go to elections for mayor just to steal people's money. I mean there is no connection between my mayor and God's kingdom.

I think the question is not so stupid. Ask any Jehovah's Witness in Greece and will tell you that the voting was forbidden in the past. And even now some brothers and sisters advertise in the preaching work that we go to vote but we vote with a white paper... and of course the people answer:... then why go voting in the first place.... because in Greece the winner takes all neutral votes... so is like voting the winning party. Anyway I think God will not be displeased if I will vote a good mayor who will fix the road in front of my house over a mafioso who will go to elections for mayor just to steal people's money. I mean there is no connection between my mayor and God's kingdom.

Tough to build Jehovah's Witness sex-abuse case
Without documents, says plaintiff, he can’t get justice
By Dorian Hargrove, April 24, 2016
On Friday, April 29, an attorney for Osbaldo Padron will ask a judge to impose severe sanctions on the Jehovah's Witness Church for refusing to turn over documents. The documents allegedly show the church was aware of sexual abuse committed over decades by a San Diego–based church leader on young boys, such as Padron.
The request for sanctions is the latest development in a childhood sex-abuse scandal that has rocked the church in several countries in recent years. In San Diego, the case is the ninth against church leader Gonzalo Campos; seven settled out of court.
In 2013, according to a 2014 article in the Union-Tribune, a judge ordered the Jehovah's Witness Church, also known as the Watchtower, to pay José Lopez $13.5 million for covering up sexual abuse he suffered at the hands Campos. In Lopez’s case, he was seven years old in 1986 when Campos sexually abused him in a bathroom during a Bible-study outing.
Campos’s history of molestation of young boys went beyond the eight victims, according to Padron's 2013 lawsuit.
In 1982, then–18-year-old Campos allegedly tried to have sex with his 12-year-old roommate. The boy fought back, hitting Campos multiple times with a bat. The boy told church leaders and they promised to investigate. Four years later, Campos was again accused of molesting children, including Lopez and the other seven people who later filed lawsuits.
In 1987, Campos joined the Playa Pacific Spanish Congregation of the Jehovah's Witness Church. According to the lawsuit, leaders of the congregation were aware of the accusations against Campos. Despite this, he was continually promoted to a leadership role for the congregation.
In 1994, several more complaints surfaced against Campos. In April of that year, an alleged victim’s parents wrote to church leaders asking for an investigation. Months later the letter was forwarded to church officials at Watchtower headquarters in New York. It was at that time that Campos was allegedly molesting then-seven-year-old Padron.
Padron filed his lawsuit in September 2013. Since filing, says the recent request for sanctions, church officials and their attorneys have stonewalled in turning over documents, despite a March 2015 court order requiring them to do so.
Among the documents requested is a March 14, 1997, "Body of Elders" letter that was sent to congregations throughout the world requesting detailed information on alleged sexual abuse by church leaders. The letter, and subsequent responses generated during the following years, would show that leaders at the New York headquarters and throughout the church were aware of childhood sex abuse by church elders. But the church has refused to comply. And even when doing so they have turned over heavily redacted documents.
"...Watchtower produced documents that redacted the names of victims, elders, perpetrators, congregations (as well as the addresses and contact information of the congregation), towns where abuse occurred, law enforcement agencies that investigated claims, and other material," reads a newly filed court document. "The redactions are so extreme that Plaintiff cannot make use of them. Plaintiff submitted a sampling of these redacted documents to the discovery referee and this Court, who each agreed that the redactions are so broad as to undermine Plaintiff's ability to use them.
"This court determined the requested documents were relevant, unprivileged, and that production would not be overly burdensome. This court also specifically addressed third party privacy, stating: ‘all personal, identifying information pertaining to any third party/victim should be redacted from the documents to address any privacy concerns.’”
In a court motion, Padron's attorney, Irwin Zalkin, says the court must get tough with the church and issue terminating sanctions compelling church leaders and their attorneys to follow orders. If granted, terminating sanctions would impose fines on the church for each day it fails to turn over the documents. If the documents are still not produced after a reasonable amount of time, the judge could order dismissal of the case and render judgment against the Watchtower, the Playa Pacific Spanish Congregation, and Campos.
The motion, as well as a request from the Playa Pacific Spanish Congregation for summary judgement, will be heard in department 75 at 9 a.m. on Friday, inside the San Diego Superior Court building downtown.
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2016/apr/24/ticker-tough-build-jehovahs-witness-sex-abuse-case
Osbaldo Padron is also being represented by Irwin Zalkin.
Case Number: 37-2013-00067529-CU-PO-CTL
9:00 a.m. 2016-04-29
330 West Broadway ,San Diego,CA,92101
Dept.C-75:
Judge: STRAUSS, RICHARD E. L.
http://www.sandiego.courts.ca.gov/portal/online/calendar/D_SVCAL5.HTML#C-65

Yes exactly. This is what I cannot understand. We can celebrate the birth of the child as a fact BUT NOT as the day. When it comes to marriage then is ok to celebrate it as a day and not as the  fact that it happened. Because we don't celebrate it as the fact of marriage only once, but the day again and again every year and we call it anniversary.

All posts tagged 'Geoffrey Jackson" 
Brother Jackson started pioneering in February 1971 in Tasmania, the island state of Australia. In June 1974, he married Jeanette (Jenny). Shortly thereafter, they were appointed to serve as special pioneers. From 1979 to 2003, they served as missionaries in Tuvalu, Samoa, and Fiji—island nations in the South Pacific. While in the islands, Brother and Sister Jackson also contributed much to the work of translating Bible literature. Beginning in 1992, Brother Jackson served on the Branch Committee in Samoa, and from 1996, on the Branch Committee in Fiji. In April 2003, he and Jenny became part of the United States Bethel family and began to work in the Translation Services Department. Soon thereafter, Brother Jackson was made a helper to the Teaching Committee of the Governing Body. (See w06 3/15 p. 26) Tragically, Geoffrey's wife Jenny lost her battle with cancer and died 22 December 2009 at the age of 54. Geoffrey has since remarried. He is one of the youngest members of the Governing Body, born in 1955.   Recent news:
Geoffrey Jackson testifies at the Australian Royal Commission 

Governing Body member Geoffrey Jackson Declines to Appear Before Australian Royal Commission and then is ordered to appear on Friday August 14th at 11:00am Australian time.
 
Milshon Masara (L) posing for a picture with guest speaker Geoffrey Jackson and his current wife, Loraini Jackson. 

Taken at the Zimbabwe 2014 International Convention - They came, saw and made Zim richer.
 

Geoffrey and Rae Jackson

Loraini Jackson is from Tazmania according to this talk: 
Related Items:
Talks by Geoffrey Jackson
When Is Armageddon Coming? - Encouraging clip of a talk by Geoffrey Jackson of the Governing Body

Talks translated into Spanish
Enseñe a sus hijos a amar el Reino de Dios - Teach your children to love God's Kingdom
Geoffrey Jackson knows how to dance and party!


Books by Geoffrey Jackson available for sale on Amazon.com
 

International delegates running into Geoffrey and Loraini Jackson in Harare, Zimbabwe.   

According to local newspaper Geoffrey Jackson was 57 when he married his second wife Loraini aged 30 in Jan 2013.
Geoffrey William Jackson, 57, Loraini Rokoloma Michell Sikivou, 30, Brooklyn, N.Y.
(http://www.knoxnews.com/news/l...
According to JW.ORG (https://www.jw.org/en/publicat...
Fact 1: Jehovah has blessed me with another beautiful wife, Loraini Sikivou. Loraini and Jenny had worked together at Bethel in Fiji, and Loraini too was a translator.
Fact 2: Sadly, my dear wife Jenny was not there with me. She had died in 2009, after fighting cancer for ten years. We were married for 35 years.
Fact 3: In 2003, Jenny and I were transferred from the Translation Department in Fiji to Translation Services in Patterson, New York.
Fact 4: Then, in 1996, we were assigned to the Fiji branch, where we helped with the translation work being done in the Fijian, Kiribati, Nauruan, Rotuman, and Tuvaluan languages.
The facts gathered from the article in JW.ORG, Jenny and Loraini would have worked together sometime in 1996 to 2003 before moving to NY. In that case, Geoffrey Jackson would have been introduced to Loraini between the age of 13 to 20 when working with Jenny as a translator.
Hmmmm.....

""Fact 1: Jehovah has blessed me with another beautiful wife, "" - So brothers ...if your wife aint beautiful .......you know why ! 

The Memorial Season ..............the Easter Season ....................the Xmas Season ....................
Crisis of Conscience and In Search of Christian Freedom are excellent reads .........But not if "your boat" has doctrinal holes in it of course !

I highly recommend "Crisis of Conscience", and "How to Combat Cult Mind Control" as some memorial season reading. Both are great books that offer perspective and food for thought for current jehovahs witnesses.

Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Vote? I have seen this question hundreds of times on many forums.
I remember this was big change for me back in 1999. Historically speaking, voting was a definite “no-no” for one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Many brothers and sisters are still reluctant to vote due to our old tradition of not permitting witnesses to vote.
Remember to not judge your brother or sister if he or she decides they want to. I have seen many faces and comments from some toward those that even talk about voting.
I will add this to the comprehensive Timeline of New Light
Agape!
 
 
 

Just thought I'd weigh in. I read through the entire exchange on Saturnalia with Ann as it was happening, before and after various edits and deletions and commentary about those edits and deletions. I believe that Ann is being very accurate in the way she described it when she says:
You rehashed Hislopian misconceptions, tried to pass off fiction and fable as historical fact, and copy-pasted any old bits of nonsense off the internet in a vain attempt to add weight to sensationalist, unverified claims about ancient Christmas practice.
In fact, she might be being just a bit too generous and kind with that characterization.
Other than that, I agree that the date is not as important as the Memorial itself. The scriptures speak about passing and partaking of the bread and wine, but they are quite vague even about how often. The evidence shows that many early Christians preferred yearly, and this makes the most sense. Even the original Passover could be celebrated a month late according to the Mosaic Law.

And the point, JWTheologian, of your contribution to this topic about the Memorial with stuff about Saturnalia is ... ?

I would agree, but the Org likes to pride itself on getting the date and time 'just right.' If it's not important to have The Most Important Day of the Year on the right day, then why not use western Christianity's dating system?
'Erred view'? Lol, I think your memory might be tricking you. You rehashed Hislopian misconceptions, tried to pass off fiction and fable as historical fact, and copy-pasted any old bits of nonsense off the internet in a vain attempt to add weight to sensationalist, unverified claims about ancient Christmas practice.  
To aid your recall (and for anyone else who might be interested), here's a link to the thread:
http://www.jw-archive.org/post/135927951593/how-was-christmas-passed-down-to-us-in
 

*** w13 12/15 p. 23 ‘Do This in Remembrance of Me’ ***

MEMORIAL 2014

  "The moon circles our earth each month. In the course of each cycle, there is a moment when the moon lines up between the earth and the sun. This astronomical configuration is termed “new moon.” At that point, the moon is not visible from the earth nor will it be until 18 to 30 hours later.

  "During 2014, the new moon nearest the vernal (spring) equinox will be on March 30, at 8:45 p.m. (20:45), Jerusalem time. The following sunset in Jerusalem (March 31) will come about 21 hours later. It is doubtful that the first sliver of the moon will be visible then. More likely, the first sunset when the initial crescent of the moon can be seen in Jerusalem will be on April 1. By the method the ancient Jews used, that will be the day when the first month (Nisan 1) will start, at sunset.
 
"Hence, congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses around the earth have been informed that Nisan 14 will begin at sunset on Monday, April 14, 2014. That will be about the time of the full moon.—For more details on calculating the date, see The Watchtower of June 15, 1977, pages 383-384."
 
Part in blue: 
Correct date - new moon was on March 30.
Wrong time - new moon was at 21:45 Jerusalem time. The researcher hadn't factored in Daylight Saving Time that came in on March 28 for Israel.
Part in yellow:
Miscalculation of crescent visibility. Three astronomical programs calculated that the new crescent would be visible with the naked eye from Jerusalem on March 31. Granted, the crescent would be toward the limits of visibility criteria, but still would be theoretically possible to see according to,
the Planetary, Lunar and Stellar Visibility program (free download online) http://astro.ukho.gov.uk/moonwatch/index.html http://torahcalendar.com/MOON.asp?JDN=2457458&TDAY=1&MNFLG=0 Screenshots can be provided if you are that interested.
The Moon's crescent was indeed sighted in the vicinity of Jerusalem on March 31 as reported by this website.

Therefore, sunset March 31 was Nisan 1, and sunset April 13 (not 14) was Nisan 14. So JWs celebrated the 2014 Memorial on Nisan 15.
 

Is it scripturally correct to press the brothers in the congregation to remove all facial hair (beard) except the mustache?

Also:
*** ka chap. 16 p. 296 par. 7 Completion of the Foretold “Sign” Nears ***

"Counted from the year of Jesus’ prophecy on the subject, the Jewish system of things had thirty-seven years yet to go, less than a generation with a life-span of forty years." 
 
*** it-1 p. 540 Wilderness Wanderings of Israel ***

"This brought Jehovah’s swift judgment: Forty years would pass before the nation would enter the Promised Land. By then, the faithless members of that generation would have died off."
So the questions are, 
Could there be a flaw in the Org's eschatology? If so, what is it? Could there be more than one flaw? This would be a fruitful research project for you, Sarah. 
 

Very interesting EOIN , Instead of answering with a yes or no (like a Christian), you chose to answer like a Greek philosopher?
Anyway...
According to John, Jesus died before the festival began at sundown...the “day of Preparation for the Passover” (John 19:14).
So my question still stands. Maybe Jesus made the memorial with unleavened bread...
Please take in consideration that when Jesus gave Judas to eat.. gave him bread  after he had dipped it (John 13:26). For those who know about  matzot, they know also that there is no reason to dip a bread like this, because they cannot absorb moisture by dipping. they need many time in order to absorb liquids.

Also,while the narrative in the synoptics situates the Last Supper during Passover, the fact 
remains that the only foods we are told the disciples ate are bread and wine the basic elements of any formal Jewish meal. If this was a Passover meal, where is the Passover lamb? Where are the bitter herbs? Where are the four cups of wine?

Thanks a lot. Now I understand !

I agree. I still suspect there had to be a leap day adjustment especially since the "empty" moon was astronomically tied to March 28, 2017 in Jerusalem, so there is no way the first crescent would not be seen by March 29th. The full moon is on April 11th.
Note the article on wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Days_of_week_on_Hebrew_calendar
Finally, in a regular year the month of Adar has 29 days, while in a leap year Adar I of 30 days is added before the regular Adar, which becomes Adar II of 29 days. The result is that the period from 1 Tevet to 29 Cheshvan is fixed, except that in a leap year Adar one of 30 days is added; and all adjustments are made using 30 Cheshvan and/or 30 Kislev.
The period from 1 Adar (or Adar II, in leap years) to 29 Cheshvan contains all of the festivals specified in the Bible - Purim(14 Adar), Pesach (15 Nisan), Shavuot (6 Sivan), Rosh Hashanah (1 Tishrei), Yom Kippur (10 Tishrei), Sukkot (15 Tishrei), and Shemini Atzeret (22 Tishrei). This period is fixed, during which no adjustments are made.
The result is that all dates from 1 Nisan through 29 (or 30) Cheshvan can each fall on one of four days of the week. Dates during Kislev can fall on any of six days of the week; during Tevet and Shevat, five days; and dates during Adar (or Adar I and II, in leap years) can each fall on one of four days of the week.
 
 

No, the first full Passover day is April 11.
There must be something really basic I'm overlooking ...
 

Yes, the Memorial is on April 11, 2017, but Passover is listed by multiple sources as beginning sunset April 10, which I can't find a reason for if the new crescent is first visible in Jerusalem on March 29.

I see it now. They are listing the first full day, not starting from the evening before which would make our date on the equivalent of the start of Nisan 13. Probably the difference is because of the leap day adjustment so that Passover doesn't start on one of the three "forbidden" days of the week.

The 2017 Memorial is on April 11 not 10th. This is another year when our Nisan 14 is the Jewish Nisan 15. 
See http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/?year=2017&country=34
Don't know why chabad.org appears to be off by a day, perhaps it's not set for the time in Israel/Jerusalem.

Don't forget that the Jews are counting lunar months (29 or 30 days long each month). JWs are counting Gregorian calendar months (28/29 or 30 or 31 days long) and just pay attention to the lunar cycle for one month only - for calculating their equivalent of Nisan 14. The timing of the (approximate) full moon after the spring equinox serves to offset any major drift between the JW method and the Jewish one - about a month's difference at worst. 

Giannis has piqued my curiosity about the 2017 Passover. Why April 10? By my reckoning, that would be Nisan 13. Hmm.