" To know where we are going, we have to know where we have come from"
What a stupid thing for a GB member to say.
Dont they realize that the reason so many are " going" , is because they found out"where they came from?"
Good to study JW past .... New "Writing Archives" under direction of the Writing Committee
by wannabefree 85 Replies latest watchtower bible
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JonathanH
Work load is never an excuse for an organization of millions of volunteers, especially a billion dollar corporation that lives on volunteer work. Even if it took five years for a group of bethelites to go through the library book by book, it would still be an immensely cheap project. And even if they had to host a WHOLE gigabyte of material on the internet, that would be chump change to a billion dollar corporation. It's not a matter of ability or practicality, it's a matter of willingness. It's the information age. Getting information out is ridiculously easy. Keeping information in, however, is a difficult task. They are attempting the latter, while doing a poor job at appearing to do the former.
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Teary Oberon
As the great economist Milton Friedman once said: nothing is free.
Expanding the library is a very large undertaking and dedication of resources like that would need a legitimate REASON. But right now Teary just can't think of one. The old books are still right there in the Hall for anybody to read (even if they willingly choose not to), so there is techically no pressing NEED to expand the library (othe than apostates whining that they want old publications). The "we aren't allowed to actually use the physical library" excuse is moot as well, because Teary used the physical libraries of several Halls for years whenever he wanted to, and he saw many others doing the same with no problems.
p.s., Bethel headquarters isn't just full of a bunch of lazy slackers that wait around all day waiting for somebody to give them a project -- they are there to accomplish specific jobs in the most efficient way possible. They only have as many people as the work merits and no more. The Society's resources are also uses as efficiently as possible and yet there is still constant need (such as the 100+ million dollars a year they have to spend to support missionaries, special pioneers and such in addition to RBC projects, publishing costs, ect.). So to say that they could just click their heels together and magically have an expanded WT library is silly. Remember, it is not just as simple as taking a book and scanning it -- all of the text and scriptures from every publication would have to be integrated into the existing indexing and referencing system. Far more difficult than just putting together a normal book -- it would take a few years at least even if they did see a need for it.
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sd-7
Again, not saying that would be easy, just saying they could do it if they wanted to. Evidently, they do not. Which isn't particularly relevant anyway, as that stuff's easy to check out online if you know where to look.
I just think it's odd that they wouldn't incorporate it into a CD-ROM, given how much they reference stuff from the pre-1950 era. But...whatever. Also, Teary should avoid talking to DF'd people on the Internet, unless Teary is unaware of the spiritual dangers of it as stated in the July 15th, 2011 issue of The Watchtower...
--sd-7
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factfinder
Teary makes a good point- the wts is under no obligation to provide information to ex-witnesses.
I have been very frustrated over the years trying to find about things that interest me regarding the amount of printing done each year. If you check the ybs from the 50's and 60's you will see a 3 year production chart-they used to provide detailed information about what was printed. In the 70's and more so in the 80's this information was presented less and less often, now- it has not appeared in the yb in a very long time. I have written to the society several times over the years for such information and the answer was frustrating:' We hope you can appreciate that we do not have the resources nesesecery to do the research you require and it would take time away from more important bussiness."
I did not like this response-but the wts is under no obligation to provide me with the information I requested.
I stopped making any donations to the worldwide work after that.
My point is- the wts has its own agenda and they do not have to answer to ex-witnesses. They are a privatly owned corporation and are under no legal obligation to provide information they choose not to publish.
It is unrealistic to think with their workload that they would be willing to produce a complete wt library cd and while I may have space for it on my computer I would not be interested in wasting my space with the older writings.
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transhuman68
I think the Watchtower Society has an obligation to everybody- Witness and ex-Witnesses- to open up their archives and hold their publishing history up to the light for scrutiny. The Soiciety should be accountable for it's history, and that history should be available to everyone who has been affected by the Society's appalling record of misleading millions of people, destroying lives and breaking up families- now and in the past.
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JonathanH
You're right teary, you reiterated what I said. It wouldn't be free (though given their resources it would be a drop in the bucket), it's just a matter of they don't want to. Letting anyone from academics, to witnesses, to apostates freely peruse their library doesn't benefit them one iota. And that is exactly what it's about. Will this benefit them, hurt them, or be a benign benefit to those that seek more information? Unless it's the first one, they won't do it. What will benefit them, however, is to give brief snippets of historical documents that they can put into whatever context they want (kind of like the bible.) It wouldn't benefit them at all to just put up all the information for all to see without them providing spin, context or explanation. And they aren't going to do something that doesn't directly benefit them. I mean what do we think they are, some kind of religious charity? It's a corporation after all.
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factfinder
Commercial publishers put out much information on cds-but you have to pay for it and they charge alot for them.
I agree with teary- there is no reason for the society to undertake such a project and I doubt they care what ex-witnesses think about it. You cannot demand ANY publisher (especially one you do not pay) to publish its vast archives of over 100 years of thousands of publications simply because you want it. And in what language( languages.)? This complicates it even further- these publications were published in hundreds of languages.
Teary is correct- the Bethel staff are there for specific assignments only. They don't have people there who can take on extra work.
I do not like that I can't get the information from Bethel that interests me, but I'm not ranting or complaining about it!
And if Teary chooses to talk to us on jwn, that is his decision. My jw brother cut off communication with me because I do not limit my research to only what the w or km says I can go to. And I am not disfellowshipped or disasociated. I was in good standing-I just did not want to continue going to a cong that was unfriendly to me, so I stopped going.
I disagree that the wts has an OBLIGATION to provide access to the public beyond what has already been released.
I am amazed that there are ex witnesses who would make such a demand! And do you really think the GN will give in to you? No way!
It would have to benefit the wts to undertake such a project.
I seriously doubt the gb cares at all what I or anyone else on jwn thinks they should release.
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factfinder
sd-7- the wts posting the literature on their OWN website serves a very usefull purpose to witnesses and ones like me who want to read the publications but will not go to meetings to get it.
How can you say they should stop posting what they want to on their OWN website!