Watchtower Business Model

by little witch 25 Replies latest jw friends

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  little witch

  Bem,

  Been there, saw that. Yes indeed. On the congregational level, I think most of us experienced this. I hold my opinion that it is encouraged as being a "strong christian" to behave in this way. Perhaps some are just too darned embarrassed to admit it, but I think it is true. That was my perception.

  Our congregation was totally paranoid about each other. There were perhaps five families who attended meetings, and boy could we spread out! We carefully seated ourselves away from the "questionable" ones. Ones who in our opinion were not as "spiritual" as we considered ourselves. Shameful, but true.

  And boy would we (and others) put on a show when the CO came around. Full parking lot, on those evenings I tell you.

  So my point is, are we evil for doing such things? Surely such nonsense would be condemned by the authority of the watchtower...But no. Not only is it not condemned, it is ENCOURAGED. It is taught and promoted from the gb.

  Of such was the point of my post. Thanks for your comments BEM.
• 

  bem

  Good point LW,would we be evil? I always felt uncomfortable wanting to be a good little dub felt like all were acting and putting on a show one of those nagging things that left me with bitter heart for the overseers.Uhm one of the beginings to the end of jw life for me.

  bem
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  Terry

  Little Witch,

  I have failed! I didn't write clearly!

  I think the Borg is as evil as Hitler and Stalin combined. I was being merely academic and fell into a trance. What I really wanted to say (and obviously faild to do) is that there is a sinister and hidden agenda the Watchtower is REALLY about that we cannot find out because we do not have access to the money trail.

  Those guys are as crooked as a dog's hind leg (raised to pee on the congregations).

  I lament I did not make myself clear.

  Thank you for pointing out my failure.

  Terry
• 

  shotgun

  Your lucky Terry....the one time she misunderstood me she burnt down my whole town with a flamin arrow.
• 

  bisous

  Terry, I think the bulk of LWs post was aimed at "Excuse" as in "XQsThaiPoes". That is my take anyway.

  *note to self anyways regarding Little Witch carrying bow, arrow & lighter fluid*
• 

  jgnat

  As a business model, I would not call the Watchtower Society efficient. They may be big and wealthy, but they are not efficient. To be efficient is to produce the maximum profit/product for the minimum labour. They show the same symptoms of inflexibility and inability to adapt to change that a large, ageing organization with a top-down leadership structure has. Here are some examples of inefficiency:

  • In 2003 took 4,700 hours of preaching work per baptism. At ten hours a month, the new convert would need to go door-to-door for 39 years to recoup the investment of time.
  • With those kind of statistics, there must be many witnesses who do not bring in a single convert in their lifetime.
  • It takes a single Judicial Committee to lose someone to the society. It doen't take them six years to boot somebody out. So the society is "bleeding" members almost as fast as they come in. This is bloody inefficient. If you are working 4,700 hours per baptism to bring people in, work on retention!
  • "Cold calls", or door-to-door work is the least efficient method of bringing in sales, unless your product is so poor you can't sell it any other way. The most effective method is word-of-mouth, or, convince your satisifed customer to tell ten of his closest friends of his great deal. This second method, I believe, is much closer to Jesus' original command.
  • Constant slogging to cold calls wears on people, and their enthusiasm gradually wanes.
  • Since time, not results, is counted, this creates dysfunctional behavior. The Witness with the most time counted, "wins". It does not have to be productive or useful time, just counted. I think this explains the Jehovah's Witness sidewalk shuffle.
  • If top-down leadership reacts by "encouraging" its' members to "do more", it will simply accelerate the slowdown. People are not machines. If you want more out of the same group of people, review your processes and change them.
  • The LDS model is a much more effective use of youthful vigour. Encourage them to put in two of their most naive and energetic years, then allow them to marry and conduct a relatively normal life. Each generation creates a whole new crop of energetic youngsters to keep up the work.
  • The Watchtower model creates discouraged seniors, who had banked their whole life on producing results. Now that their old bodies (they were never supposed to grow old!) can't keep up, they feel useless. The WT articles vainly remind them of their continued value.
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  bem

  Little Witch you'll never get away from those flaming arrows...LOL
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  Undaunted Danny

  Watchtower $ociety 'creed of greed'.

  Danny sez: The WT$ fairy follows the money trail and sprinkles the "new light" fairy dust along the path. Click the 'ca$h cow' learn more about WT$ creed of greed: $ 200 billion in WT$ real estate a$$et$
  
  » Theologically,Jehovah's Witnesses are a cult of Christianity.The oppressive organization does not represent historical, Biblical Christianity in any way. Sociologically, it is a destructive cult whose false teachings frequently result in spiritual and psychological abuse, as well as needless deaths. Watchtower Whistle Blower www.DannyHaszard.com

  New! Get the latest news on jehovah's witnesses with Google News Alerts.
• 

  little witch

  Terry,

  Bisous is correct (and I pm'd you since my last writing) It wasnt you who was unclear...was me...sorry bout that.

  Jgnat,

  Very good points. But really, the watchtower (as compared to many other religions) are not big at all. They are big money wise, but not people wise. They do darn well financially with what few members who actually stay and put up with all the non-sense. I am convinced that only hard core members remain and contribute to the watchtower, and that consist mainly of older members and what family they are able to blackmail emotionally to stay in.

  I have to ask myself, " why chase off members when numbers mean so much to the tower"? The only conclusion I come up with is financial. The snooping that goes on into peoples private lives makes no sense to me otherwise, as I just dont believe that elders have an interest in such things. I think they do it because they are forced to. Disfellowshipping members over trivial things doesnt make much sense if a persons spiritual welfare is envolved. That would better be dealt with using patience and forgiveness, counselling and love....

  But that is not what happens in a judicial commitee from the accounts I have heard and read. Instead, the elders dig and pick until they come up with a reason to give the member the boot.

  I think why they do it is because a person who smokes is wasting money that should be given to the tower.

  A woman with marital problems who is on the brink of divorce is facing a financial crises and will have to work full time to support her children, rather than be in service making money for the borg.

  A young man who needs to slow down in the door to door work in order to free up some of his time to attend college is a liability for the next four years.

  It is obvious to me that the borg is not concerned with the needs of the flock, but strictly to the needs of their financial empire.
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  little witch

  BTTT Because I have questions not answered as to why ordinary members are booted for issues that every human being goes through....

  Why do churches truly encourage suffering members while jw's do not?