Dark - I don't buy 300 DFed people turned up and were given badges at the Liverpool convention.
I buy that security may have been more rigorously applied at the venue than elsewhere but 300 DFed ones? Really?
Over 300 DFed apparently went to a northern U.K R.C!
by Isambard Crater 68 Replies latest jw experiences
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konceptual99
Just a side point.... at Brighton last year there was a big whoohar made in the final talk about ONE person who turned up with an invite. Surely THREE HUNDRED people turning up, DFed at that, would not be lauded from the platform like it was Jesus himself riding up on a giant blue unicorn?
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darkspilver
Dark - I don't buy 300 DFed people turned up and were given badges at the Liverpool convention.
Sorry, I was going on your comment that : "I don't believe they even would have 300 lapel badges on hand to give to randoms turning up."
I understood we had moved on from the rather misleading thread title when the OP admitted that they actually meant DF'ed and inactive people - seemingly the hotch-potch of people who rarely attend congregation meetings, but then always seem to pop up at assemblies and conventions.
https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5994169686294528/_post/5853432197939200
Granted security is different at different venues - but at Liverpool I don't think even pale.emperor got into the actual Arena like he said he was going to....
Just a side point.... at Brighton last year there was a big whoohar made in the final talk about ONE person who turned up with an invite.
haha that might be more a reflection on Brighton, than Liverpool
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berrygerry
at Brighton last year there was a big whoohar made in the final talk about ONE person who turned up with an invite.
Ditto here. I calculated that our district distributed about 1,000,000 invites. Once every 3-4 years they would relate that so-and-so received an invite and is here with us today.ClapClapClap.
Seriously?
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konceptual99
mmm - Fair enough if we are talking about the general hodge podge of submarine attendees then there would be a bigger figure possible but I am still dubious of the number.
Having said that if there were 10k attendees (for sake of argument) then 300 ppl with no badges might be reasonable I suppose.
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dozy
It isn't exactly high security - we aren't talking about getting into Fort Knox here. The badges are downloadable online on numerous sites - all anybody needs to do is put a random name and congregation & assuming they don't look like a total crazy , they will just get nodded through. eg http://rmovideo.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/download-free-dont-give-up-2017-regional-convention-jw-badge-card.html
Maybe 30% or so come back - I found that often people would get DFd because of a bad attitude and either dissing the elders or not bothering to co-operate with them and then got re-instated once they had calmed down , done the "repentance" act & got back in a few months or a year later. Very few , in my experience , came back in out of genuine heartfelt repentance - it was just a kind of process to go through.
And , as others have mentioned ,there is what we used to call "spiritual submarines" type , often 2nd / 3rd /4th generation JWs and/or marginal members of society without much of a life who come & go as the vagaries of life affects them. Every congregation has a few of these people hanging around the edges.
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Confusedalot
I'm starting to think that "the end is near" that JW's are preaching is not about the end of this system but the end of Jehovah's Witnesses(without them realizing it).
Rev 18:4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues.
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Ruby456
In London too people who do not have badges are being asked why they do not have them. they are saying security is tighter this year because of terrorism.
on the issue of how many go back both sides can claim that the other side is lying if there are sufficient numbers that do not go back and sufficient numbers that do go back. My own updated view as I have already explained is that about 55% go back and this is based on scholarly research and then with this I turn to the yearly figures and find more evidence there as even if I have a healthy dose of skepticism I have to pay attention to published figures
I think that those who are disfellowshipped for immorality often seek re-instatement as soon as they can. Apostates I think are the least likely to go back but even here I have seen people return. whether or not this is for family reasons and is seen as unauthentic it does mean that the individual wants a more community lifestyle.
As to sincerity - I think people have a variety of motives but the chief one is to do with hope for a better future rather than just that of dying at armageddon. Hopes for more justice, for peace, for sickness to end etc etc (Atran, In God's we Trust, last chapter) and dying at armageddon can be put on a back burner.
thirdly I think that science literacy is important and when one leaves and does not develop these skills they find that their trusting natures are taken advantage of in very personal ways and this generates a desire to be among people who do not take advantage of them according to how they understand it and obviously not how I see such things.
great article here re science literacy under subheading how to make friends in second para
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steve2
From keeping the congregation clean to keeping the congregation moving through the revolving door.
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Ruby456
yes Steve - such is the messiness of life - here is a coffee for you as we are all busy waking up here in the UK unless it is well past your bedtime?