TrueTomHarley

This is ridiculous. Yes, of course you can find some who have espoused the same, but given where we are in the stream of time, it's a bit late to be still meeting in a Quonset hut under the direction of a pork chop preacher. It's a bit late not to have made serious headway in preaching the Matt 24:14 good news, and nobody else is doing that. You don't have to go to the archives and search the journals of religion. You just have to look around you.

I was a sleeping JW for the last 8 hours or so, but now I have awaken. I don't believe in answering questions like this because there is no way for you to check. I could tell you I am a circuit overseer. I could tell you I am disfellowshipped. How would you know? To the extent you are interested, judge for yourself by what I have written. Seriously. That is your best guide. You may say that you are not that interested to do it. That's okay, too.

The article will be different than you imagine. It will start - and maybe finish - its own thread.

I think you will take it more to heart after I post an certain article - not my own - tomorrow.

When I say 'right reasons' I am not speaking biblically. I am simply speaking of reasons that are not hypocritical. Things you have flagged are not the right reasons, imo. The GB has done flip-flops on doctrinal things? They've never said otherwise. What is 'the light gets brighter' or 'tacking' if not an admission that positions are being revised? But they are all on superfluous things. They are all trimmings on the tree, and not the tree itself. The essential doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses that distinguish us from anyone else have been bedrock for over 100 years - teachings that the Trinity is false, for example, and that the soul does not live on after death. These are the the important points that one should focus on. No one else figured it out. You didn't. I didn't. The GB did. We should cut them slack for that reason. If they have all become villains, as some people here seem to think, then God will make them all drop in their tracks. He's God. He can do things like that. 2 Timothy 4:10 tells us that Demas left Christianity because he 'loved the present system of things' One may not agree with his decision, but it is not hypocritical. That's what I meant by the 'right reasons.' John wrote (1 John 2:19) that many had left because 'they were not of our sort.' Again, one may think their actions unwise, but they are not hypocritical.

It is fine to leave Jehovah's Witnesses if one wants to. Why not? But one should leave for the right reasons, not exaggerated or made-up nonsense.

Nobody ever said that that would not happen. And if they ever did, they changed it.

Pretty flimsy 'evidence' upon which to rest one's central doctrine, imo. The internet is inherently the land of the liars and you are silly to take it too seriously. You cannot possibly know who's who. This is not to say that he is. Perhaps I am. Or you. Some on the internet are geniuses. Some on the internet are absolute morons, but because they can make letters of the alphabet appear onscreen, they are perceived as smart. I don't put him in either category. I haven't figured him out. He weighs in, more or less, on the side I think is correct. That's enough for me. I don't screen every word. Why anyone would debate at length with someone ambiguous is beyond me.

Actually, I meant 'spinning' that might not translate, for in the U.S. it has only been applied to political matters in the last decade or so - perhaps that new definition has not caught on with other lands. Spin (from thesaurus.com) Synonyms for spin noun circular motion spiralstar twiststar circuitstar gyrationstar revolutionstar rollstar rotationstar turnstar whirlstar None of these words apply. 'Spin' the way I have used it is slanting or interpreting data one way or another according to one's bias.

It is also American. I'm not sure it translates well.

He is the founder of Guelph Ontario, where my wife and I visited not long ago.

How many bytes do you think I have here?

Have you removed yours yet?

As far as I can see, that is how theocracy works. When they need an expert at Bethel, they reach into the ranks and get one. It is the same as 1922 when they had a pile of printing equipment that nobody knew how to use. They found a lifelong printing professional in the ranks and he taught them all they needed to know. It is probably how the Bible translation was accomplished, or at least aided. The reason it all works is that Jehovah's people do not hoard their knowledge - they regard it as their gift to bring to the altar.

Of course. Nobody produces a translation and says "our translation sucks." I'm amazed people expect that should happen. Translators anywhere defend their translation and laud it's virtues. To a large degree, that's why I started blogging. 'Why should scoundrels own the internet?' I asked. I don't even fear going a bit over-the-top at times - though I hope not routinely. Heaven knows, they do. Of course, they always will own the internet, just as you-know-who owns the fence. But here and there perhaps one can poke a hole through the wall. It need not be monolithic.

Sooo....you are trying to figure out Mr. Smith, are you? Good luck on that! He is our secret weapon - I think.

So. Every time a collection of three is mentioned, we are to infer that they are equal? I think not. The statement remains: "Imagine: The only direct mention of a Trinity [the 1 John 5:7 insert] is either fraudulent or inept."

"He was probably giving you your highest chance of success, for the Bible is more respected in the country than is the JW religion. Attach your refusal to the highest cause possible if you want to maximize chances of success." Why should anyone try to spin a 'good' as a 'bad?'

If that were the case, they would have been pardoned after the war. Instead, they were exonerated. Their convictions were reversed.

To a degree, maybe. Having said that Let us assume this statement is true. Does this increase or decrease his qualifications? Most would agree it increases them. What if he finds the translation so good that he sides with the people who have produced it? Suddenly his qualifications vanish? What if DeBuhn became a Witness? Is he suddenly a moron? It is like reading Consumer Reports and selecting the best make of car. Suddenly you are unqualified to comment on that car? Admittedly, reviews like @JW Insider mentioned are a bit much. Our people can get funny on the internet. But even that is excusable, for anti-Witness trolls come out of the woodwork at any mention of JWs and they feel they ought to weigh in to counter that. On a personal note, 'Survival into a New Earth' was one of my favorites. To the extent things there were billed as anti-types (if they were - I don't remember) they have been swept aside. To the extent they were "this reminds us of that" they are brilliant.

No. I do not think your take is correct. There is no way proscecuting authorities are not going to know what religion you came from, and this will make "problems" for them regardless of what you say. That is especially true when young men of that religion routinely refuse military service as they come of age. It won't matter what they say - the fact that they come from a certain religion will cause problems for that religion in the eyes of YU government. He was probably giving you your highest chance of success, for the Bible is more respected in the country than is the JW religion. Attach your refusal to the highest cause possible if you want to maximize chances of success.

Try JTR.com

That sounds like good counsel to me. My father-in-law was born in Zagreb. My son has been to Belgrade many times. I have never been imprisoned. I do not know if I would hold up well or not.

While we may represent ourselves this way, few in the world take us up on it. Instead, they view us as a church whose members "have to" go door to door. The typical Witness in their eyes is a church member, not a person of the clergy. Anything done can be done better. Anna pointed to new policies that offer improvement. Was it irresponsible not to have done it before? Who can say? There is nothing to compare it to. No other religion attempts what Witnesses attempt - investigating wrongdoing for the sake of meting out discipline and protecting the worldwide congregation and presenting to God "a [clean] people for his name."

Please supply a few examples of church members, not clergy, who have been so identified. Then do a search for the last 20 or 30 molesters arrested by police in your area. Tell me how many are identified by religion. It's a little work, but do it, if you maintain that a molester's religion is routinely reported.