New Apostate Tactic-Disrupting Telephone Conference Bridges

by CaptainSchmideo 10 Replies latest jw friends

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  CaptainSchmideo

  It was announced last week at my hall that if you have a PIN number for the audio conference bridge, you are never to give it out to strangers.

  This bridge is available for elderly and shut-ins who can't be at the meetings. You dial an 800 number, and enter a PIN for your particular Hall. (This is amazingly high tech AND convenient for the brothers. Amazingly so, considering how insistent the Society is about doing things the old-fashioned and incovenient way...)

  Anyway, someone innocently (so it is believed) gave their PIN number to someone claiming to be a visitor from out of town. Well, it turned out to be one of those troublesome APOSTATES! And he (or they) started disrupting the audio link for the other members, talking over the speaker's part with his information, etc.

  Two things that bother me about this:

  1. Whoever is running this service should be able to moderate the audio remotely, and be able to "mute" all the participants as an option (I know our bridge at the office can do this).

  2, Humor of the situation aside, does it really do any good to terrorize and upset elderly and sick people with this kind of tactic? It's not going to change their minds at this stage of the game, but it will only scare them into believing that the dubs are right, and this is only more persection.
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  J-ex-W

  does it really do any good to terrorize and upset elderly and sick people with this kind of tactic? It's not going to change their minds at this stage of the game, but it will only scare them into believing that the dubs are right, and this is only more persection.

  I agree.
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  mtsgrad

  I actually think is great. What abput cutting out the speak completely and getting minimus or Blondie to give talks instead?
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  NeonMadman

  My initial impression is to doubt that this really happened. It's probably another scare tactic aimed at drawing the wagons just a bit tighter...
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  J-ex-W

  I actually think is great. What abput cutting out the speak completely and getting minimus or Blondie to give talks instead?

  It's not like this would take over the P.A. system for the congregation audience in general...just for the few [handful] of frail ones on the phone. They can simply hang up--and most likely will. Not exactly a captive audience, and certainly not gaining their rapt attention. Much better tactics out there.
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  DannyHaszard

  My initial impression is to doubt that this really happened. It's probably another scare tactic aimed at drawing the wagons just a bit tighter...

  JW urban legend propaganda,just like guards have been posted for years at convention podium access points to "keep deranged apostates from storming the microphone"
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  Gopher

  Last time (in 2000) when I listened in to a Kingdom Hall meeting, I had to call a local number for use only at the hall I attended.

  Is this 'telephone conference bridge' 800 number widely available now, or the standard? Or is it just in some places?

  Just curious.
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  changeling

  I agree that it's probably urban legend. However, if it is true, I agree that it's a waste of time for however has done it and it would just reinforce the idea of how evil apostates are.
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  CaptainSchmideo

  This is not an "urban legend" that I can tell. Basically, the admonishment was, if stuff like this continues to happen, they would have to cancel the availabilty of this service.

  This service is something that can be obtained from a phone company, either as a one time service, or a monthly service. It sure beats the old method of "chain dialing" the three way calling that they used to have to do. The old ones would get confused, hang up on the call, and accidentally disconnect other people "down the chain".

  Anyway, what is amazing is how cheap the Society can be about these things. It would cost them relatively little money to provide the technology that would allow themselves to contol the access, disconnect or mute unauthorized users, provide a private WATS number.

  For such a progressive, always moving forward organization that they claim to be, the Society always seems about 10 years behind any other big religion when it comes to doing things a better way.
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  integ

  JW urban legend propaganda,just like guards have been posted for years at convention podium access points to "keep deranged apostates from storming the microphone"

  I'm sorry, but I personally know a "guard" who was assigned to do just that very thing at the District Assembly last year. It's NOT a myth.