by Watchtower-Free 52 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
To be fair, as noted above, in many countries there simply are not enough Kingdom Hals for the congregations to meet in.
They meet in shacks, shelters, rented facilities, etc.
Cedars' statements are a distortion of the situation for many parts of the JW world.
in many countries there simply are not enough Kingdom Hals...They meet in shacks, shelters, rented facilities, etc.
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I see no problem with this. It's less expensive for JWs in the long run.
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Real world example: In my area the Circuit used to rent high school auditoriums for $3000. a weekend. The schools are within 15-30 minutes of the congregations using them.
Now: The Circuit has a new WT Ass Hall that cost local JWs $8 million to build, is anywhere from a 90 minute-6 hour drive to get to, depending on where a JW lives, it's in the middle of nowhere (literally), and it "costs" $20,000 a weekend to use it, despite the fact it has no mortgage- it was 100% paid for before construction was complete.
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The same scam works with Kingdom Halls (i.e., Menlo Park).
The rented facilities are a far better deal.
I see no problem with this. It's less expensive for JWs in the long run.
I was thinking primarily of the 3rd world. Many congregations meet in not much more than a canvas "roof" strung up between trees.
Of course, one can debate about what is a higher "need" - a permanent structure for a Kingdom Hall, or economic help for the congregation members who would attend there.
But from the JW perspective, the "need" for 13,000+ Kingdom Hall "projects" is probably at least somewhat legitimate.
Cedars is releasing this info weeks before its to go to the Congo's (May 5).
He's doing a great service to people worldwide.
I agree that presenting information on this board or elsewhere, weeks before the JW general population knows it, is extraordinarily powerful and beneficial.
But misrepresenting the situation to try to make the point more forceful than it really is does more harm than good.
As noted above, a loyal JW could make a legitimate argument against one of the speculative conclusions ("faster than is actually required"), and thus the point of the whole message could be lost.
This point is an important one - there is a fundamental change in how donations are going to be managed by the WTS. The repercussions could be significant. Let's not muck it up by sensationalizing it and drawing conclusions which are not well thought out.
Of course, one can debate about what is a higher "need" - a permanent structure for a Kingdom Hall, or economic help for the congregation members who would attend there.
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Agreed.
Ultimately, I think this really is the point. If JWs are meeting in "a canvas "roof" strung up between trees", there's a reason: those JWs are dirt poor and can't afford a KH. If WT was really interested in JWs as people rather than commodities, they'd see that a brand new KH is probably not the first thing to be addressed.
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But, as long as poor JWs in Third World countries have things like chickens, food from their gardens, and bicycles to sell and then give the money to WT for their new KH, what do the high flyers at headquarters care?
WTF? duplicate post
WTF x 2? duplicate post
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It matters not what they pledge. Let them lose their electrical service. Let them lose their phone. I do not give a fxxx. They need to show me why I am going to get value equal to or greater than what I am sacrificing, and "Because we say you will" or "Trust in joke-hova" is not good enough. And I do not view it as just putting toilet papers in the box.
Instead, I view the sacrifice based on what you could get, right now, with the funds. You might see a 20 toilet paper note, I see an extra ounce of silver I could have when hyperinflation hits. I might also see an extra pack (8 to a pack) of Sanyo Eneloop batteries (AA size). Three of those notes is an extra Fenix LD22 flashlight or similar quality light of whatever brand you find is your favorite. A ten becomes a CREE LED light bulb, 5000 K color temperature (or slightly more than one of 2700 K) and 800 lumen output. You waste two of those notes, you could have had a nice lantern that uses 3 D batteries and runs a week on a single set of batteries, or for around 2 of them, you can get either a 16 bay AA charger (those are slightly more) or a 4 bay charger for C and D (they work on AA and AAA as well). Wasting 7 of those 20 toilet paper notes, I see a Casio color graphics calculator being thrown away. A single toilet paper becomes a single song download. (Or a whole album for 10 of them.)
Now, if people think of whether they are getting the same value out of putting a 20 toilet paper note to damn the human race as sacrificing 8 AA Sanyo Eneloop batteries, they might think twice. Is the donation going to power your flashlight or personal stereo when the lights go out? Or, that flashlight. Is the donation going to help when you are at a big store and the lights go out? Remember, generators have a 20-30% failure rate even in hospitals. A good flashlight should have a failure rate under one in a million. What is the failure rate of the donation?
