by R.F. 45 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
lots have left from my old congo - 7 from one group of 22 alone over 1 year - 'travellers' (mostly from Australia) do move in, so that affects the overall figures.
the good news for us and bad news for them is that the oddballs don't stand out anymore - normal ones do.
child. Others, on the other hand who came later in life are not allowed to be appointed.
It is difficult to comprehend how judicial action can be taken against those who willfully commit tax-evasion or corporate fraud, but none is taken against adults who willfully violate immigration laws (such as working "under the table" without paying certain taxes). The JW are breaking the law full stop. I can't understand how in go faith any of the witnesses that go to the hall can sing praises to Jehovah in one breath and condon this blatant tax fraud. I'm sorry for the ones that came as a child, and others that are illigal should be told to go back they have halls in their country, how can they study, get baptised and continue to be a cheat. Bring on the judgement to the tower.
I remember when I first started attending meetings. They had a congregation split 4 ways, and we averaged more than 100 people for the public naptalk. This was in the late 1980s. Attendance below 100 was rare for these napsdiscourses. The weekday meetings were thinner, but they used to average in the high 80s and higher.
Then, about the mid 1990s, I began to notice a change. I think about 1991 or 1992, it became quite normal for the Sunday meetings to have well under 100 in attendance for a congregation of about 85 publishers. The Theocraptic Misery School (?) averaged sometimes less than 60 in attendance, and I have seen the second school cancelled because there wasn't enough people to support it. There would be a great big cavity in the front as people sat near the rear. This pattern was static, as there were attendance figures averaging in the high 50s and lower 60s for most meetings.
The bad news is that field service attendance has been stable. When I went out, I hoped no one else would show up and I could go back home. I did not notice any trends toward this, but I did notice a spike during the summer months and late in the month for no-shows. There would always be this auxiliary pioneer with a van sitting there, with the van still running, when I got there (usually about 15 minutes early). Most weekday mornings, there would be an average of 7 or 8 people out. This was stable through the 1990s.
More bad news. Starting about 1999, our congregation experienced regrowth. The numbers would climb back toward 110 for Sunday (when I did attend, I could see the attendance slips posted on the bulletin announcement board. They also had about 15 average for our book study (there were 5). The other congregation sharing the Hell saw some decline in membership: In the late 1980s, they had an average of 130 on Sunday; by 2002, it was down to 60.
I think my ex-congregation has a problem with poor education levels. The lead hounder and his typical JW family are all adamant for the Tower--which is probably why visiting them was so boring in hindsight (and I would rather go to the dentist than go back there). They all act as if nothing outside the Tower meant anything. No wonder education is being banned again! Those with better educations are leaving, and the poorly educated are replacing them. I doubt that anyone of those has Internet, or if they do, it is for spamming people that have been missing a few meetings.
Ahhh if only we could see the day that it's gone forever... I would be throwing one big party for all of you :)
But honestly I think it will splinter, shatter into hundreds of small groups.
Well, some 60+ years left for me to find out...
Regards,
Deus Mauzzim
Changeling:
It does not surprise me that a religious organization that is against higher education, doesn't respect secular work, thinks money grows on trees, is losing members and has many who are receiving benefits of one sort or another would look the other way about this issue. They don't care who their members are as long as they are loyal.
How can you possibly expect that a cloistered group of people who are not contributing taxpayers and who are themselves clergy-like and expecting a handout would care about the detrimental effects to taxpaying citizens?
These people aren't in the real world and don't feel the effects of anything, so why would they care? I still don't think they are crumbling any time soon. They will continue in some form or another.
LHG
Trust me! Changes ARE on the way in the WTB&TS. Keep watching the news. It IS a S-L-O-W process!!
Can you give us any hints Mr. Kim? I was sooooo disappointed about the lack of media coverage on the abuse settlements, what a wasted opportunity for mass media coverage regarding probably the "dirtiest little secret" about this cult. Very disappointing!!
Q
Can you give us any hints Mr. Kim? I was sooooo disappointed about the lack of media coverage on the abuse settlements, what a wasted opportunity for mass media coverage regarding probably the "dirtiest little secret" about this cult. Very disappointing!!
Q
Every now and then, someone comes along who genuinely believes that a "new" piece of information about the Watchtower Society will cause some kind of spiritual earthquake of monumental proportions for the organization. What nearly always happens is little more than a feeble dribble. Look at the anticlimax after Barbara Anderson came up with the big stuff on blood. The Watchtower won't suddenly crumble. There won't be a sudden mass exodus. It will slowly fade over the decades as a religious organization that at one time commanded a lot of attention.
No one but us and JW's themselves care a bit about JW's.
Pope
No one but us and JW's themselves care a bit about JW's.
Pope
AMEN Pope!
They care because the organization at it's very core is based on delusion.
We care beacause we were prisoners on that rock.
They are irrelevant and insignificant to the rest of the world.
