by Billy the Ex-Bethelite 141 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Some secretaries are dumb at math. I knew one who would take 15 minutes and punch .15 into the calculator (instead of .25).
This reminds me of another point. Totals of all the slips makes a congregation report that is sent in to WBTS. No need to post to the individual pub cards. Most Secretaries post cards later. The individual cards are for monitoring and control purposes only. No need to track individuals....just send in a congregation summary.
"I too stopped with the incessant starting and stopping of my FS time and just started rounding it. Go out 3 times in a month, just multiply by three hours each time. Voila! 9 hours of FS. Dump a bunch of old mags at not at homes and suddenly I placed 20 for the month. Its the attitude of 75% of the flock these days"
And somehow I was convinced that God was directing and blessing such efforts.
ditto - my numbers were fudged for as long as could be bothered reporting
note - maybe the number fudgers are more likely to end up apostates on JWD....
I might have faked on the hours, but I would NEVER choose to fake on Bible studies. There's no way I would ever allow the "higher-ups" to begin thinking that field service might ACTUALLY accomplish something. Sure it does for a few people, but i certainly wouldnt add to it. :)
Thank You, Billy!
For the longest time I have been exasperated by these contrary trends: publishers go up and everything gets cut. It makes no sense.
So, what do we have? Self-reported stats from Witnesses eager to please elders and their peers versus a deepening trend of cutbacks all over the place suggesting that Witnesses aren't donating $$$$. The self reported stuff is impossible to confirm but the lack of cash flow is hard core.
Who to believe? I believe the cash flow over the other claims. Witnesses will act zealously and obey Watchtower rules as long as someone is looking. This facade is supported by observations about blood transfusion cases. Get somebody there to monitor the sick and dying and discreetly get them to die for the blood issue. Also, notice how Circuit Overseers will upbraid and "encourage" meeting attendance and get abundant crowds during their visits, only to have attendance fall off immediately afterward.
metatron
note - maybe the number fudgers are more likely to end up apostates on JWD....
I resemble that remark.
It's surely possible that the numbers are fudged at the top to make them look better because as you point out, they are certainly fudged by ordinary Witnesses on the ground.
Wasn't there a well known case where Fiji (or some other Pacific island) reported fantastically good figures for a number of years. So much so that the governing body arranged a zone visit to see for themselves what was going on, only to discover the reports have been grossly inflated. I am sure it was mentioned in a yearbook somewhere, and the numbers in the annual report also show a big drop one year when the governing body told the local branch to stop lying about their figures.
I have known assembly attendants who fudged the seat counts, let alone the time slips from ordinary JWs...
Hah, that is sooo true! I remember the time a DO by the name of Bartell insisted on the attendance figures being too low. He called for another count. The section captains went to their assigned attendants and told them to meet, they were told to count any one and every one in sight, especially babies because sometimes they're on their parents' laps or they're in a carrying seat in the isle and hard to see, and he winked for a lonnnnggg time.
Sure enough the numbers from just about all attendants reflected higher numbers... unfortunately the new count was now way up high, by several hundred.
As a pioneer, I was always 100% honest on my numbers. But I was counting time for stuff that, while it could technically be counted, had almost zero chance of bringing anyone into the "truth." Driving around to every convenience store in the county for hours starting at 4AM and dropping off tracts and back issues is pretty much a lost cause.
I made my time the first year, went to Pioneer school, and then was removed a couple months later when I messed around with a "sister." I can't remember ever being more relieved than when I realized I wouldn't have to make 1000 hours that year. Yep, that dates me a bit. :)
The reports of their increases are numbers of their own fabrication.
Facinating post, Billy. Your argument makes a whole lot of sense from a psychological perspective.
-Sab
