I went to the one in Myanmar and paid for the Society's full trip. The airfare alone cost AUD$900 more than if I'd booked through Thai Airways direct or even the travel agent down the road. The figures are ridiculously inflated, and even as a JW in 'good standing' as I was at the time, I wondered why they needed to charge so much more, more than even necessary to subsidise the bethelites who came with us. Two hundred Australians paying an extra $900 on airfare = an extra $180 000 for the WT, far more than needed to ferry 6 bethelites over. That's not including the $1500 for the FIVE day tour, and $700 for other stuff.
"Pst! You CAN go to an international convention even if you're poor, but don't tell everyone!"
by cedars 27 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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OnTheWayOut
Even as a faithful gullible JW, I knew it was cheaper to just book your own trip at your own schedule. You would save money and have time to see the place you are visiting. No wonder they discouraged that, but people did it anyway.
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snare&racket
What a con!
how many red flags and alarm bells do people need in order to realise this is a sham and has nothing to do with a creator of the universe! Its like a dodgy 80's company!
So I have missed most of this, is there letters being read in KH's that international conventions are being held and only those that can afford it can attend? What if ou live near by? What if you are happy to sleep in a tent and drive there?
I don't get it?
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Julia Orwell
When they read the letters they very explicitly instruct you to sit down and work out if you can afford it before you apply. I think what has happened in the past (and I was one of these people once) people applied, got accepted, made their deposit, then had to pull out and get their deposit back because some expense came up unexpectedly (as in my case) or they only realised after they'd accepted that they couldn't make the exorbitant payments. So in order to avoid having all these people get excited and put their hand up only to pull out and need to get replacements for them at the last moment, they really emphasize "only apply if you really really know you can afford it."
I see Melbourne is down as a venue. That will mean every JW in Australia will be expected to go to Melbourne. Last time they had an International was in 2003 in Sydney. Fifty-five thousand people went, most of the JWs in Australia. Others who couldn't afford or make it to Sydney for whatever reason were 'lovingly' given the option of going to a smaller DC in Cairns in the Far North or Tasmania. Poorer families and old pensioners and that will have to save for a year.
55 000 JWs going to Melbourne...I'm sure as hell keeping away from there at that time.
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snare&racket
But theydontsay this about 'normal' conventions, so why now? Do they charge entry? If you can get to the venue yourself can ou attend?
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frankiespeakin
Ithink they offer some type of package deal for international conventions for those that want to travel to a foriegn country, because they said money won't be refunded if you loose your status as exemplary christian(get df'd or pr'd and not allowed to go.
“If an individual selected to attend a special convention loses his exemplary status and is no longer qualified to attend, the delegate should be thoroughly informed of the reason for your decision. Such a person would be fully responsible for any financial loss associated with his abrupt disqualification as a delegate, even up to the time he was supposed to depart.”
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frankiespeakin
Their mistreatment of members knows no bounds it seems. If a person has paid out a rather large sum of money and gets demoted to a catagory of less than "exemplary" status they forefit the money paid and don't get to go. How cruel is that, the Governing Body is cruel and getting crueler.
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The Quiet One
Pm for Cedars
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rebel8
Are you guys thinking this is a new situation?
I swear I can remember this being in place in the 80s, talking about it with my ~19 yr old pio friends, dreaming we would meet some hot foreign bro, our parents freaking out about us going to another country. (Of course I didn't meet the qualifications.)
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VIII
Why isn't any of this passed on to the media? Especially about the infirm and people in wheelchairs, etc. This is the type of discriminatory stuff the news media would love to make into a story. Especially on a slow news day.