Posts by adjusted knowledge

21

Interesting Pew Stats on JWs--Alarming Trends for the Borg

by Cadellin in

someone may have linked to this already, but the this interactive page in the pew religion study is pretty interesting, especially when you look at the trends for jw between 2007 and 2014. here's what it shows:.

jws are increasingly non-white.

in fact, the percentage of white jws has decreased from 2007 to 2014 by 12%, while hispanic jws have increased by 8%.

adjusted knowledge

I didn't see this post, and started one. I will just copy and paste here.

The Pew survey I've been reading is quite lengthy, but filled with interesting information. It really explains a lot of the social issues. Impact of little education, donation issues, the issues of women finding marriage partners. It is a nice snap shot of the JW world.

http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/
I thought back in the 90's when I was active that JW made up about 2% of the population. However they only make up .8%. I could be wrong but I thought it was more twenty years ago.
My main comment is that in the last 20 years the racial composition of the religion has dramatically changed to minorities. This could help explain the money shortage they claim. A huge rise in black and Hispanic membership which are traditionally lower income in American society, will impact donations. I know it varies from congregation to congregation but historically the two growing demographics (Blacks & Hispanics) are in the lower income bracket. This information is just for America, so when you factor in the growth in poor countries (Philippines, Mexico, Africa...) the bleed for the Watchtower could be larger now than it was 20 years ago.
I know it has been mentioned the average income level of JW is low, and this just compounds the issue.
"Differences in income across religious traditions largely mirror the differences in educational attainment. Jews and Hindus are among the groups most likely to report an annual household income of $100,000 or more (44% of Jews and 36% of Hindus). By contrast, large shares of members of the historically black Protestant tradition (53%), Jehovah’s Witnesses (48%) and people who say their religion is “nothing in particular” but that religion is at least somewhat important in their lives (47%) report household incomes of under $30,000 a year." - Pew Research. America's Changing Religious Landscape. May 12, 2015
No wonder "sisters" have problems finding marriage mates inside the Watchtower.
"Roughly two-thirds of Jehovah’s Witnesses are women" - Pew Research. May 12, 2015.
Wow, 66%? So a young JW woman has to compete for low income, non-educated, and perhaps much older men.
Hmm, If I was a JW pioneer, that would be my advertising message to guys..

14

2014 Pew Research on US Religion

by adjusted knowledge in

jw
friends

the pew survey i've been reading is quite lengthy, but filled with interesting information.

it really explains a lot of the social issues.

impact of little education, donation issues, the issues of women finding marriage partners.

adjusted knowledge

The Pew survey I've been reading is quite lengthy, but filled with interesting information. It really explains a lot of the social issues. Impact of little education, donation issues, the issues of women finding marriage partners. It is a nice snap shot of the JW world.

http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/

I thought back in the 90's when I was active that JW made up about 2% of the population. However they only make up .8%. I could be wrong but I thought it was more twenty years ago.

My main comment is that in the last 20 years the racial composition of the religion has dramatically changed to minorities. This could help explain the money shortage they claim. A huge rise in black and Hispanic membership which are traditionally lower income in American society, will impact donations. I know it varies from congregation to congregation but historically the two growing demographics (Blacks & Hispanics) are in the lower income bracket. This information is just for America, so when you factor in the growth in poor countries (Philippines, Mexico, Africa...) the bleed for the Watchtower could be larger now than it was 20 years ago.

I know it has been mentioned the average income level of JW is low, and this just compounds the issue.

"Differences in income across religious traditions largely mirror the differences in educational attainment. Jews and Hindus are among the groups most likely to report an annual household income of $100,000 or more (44% of Jews and 36% of Hindus). By contrast, large shares of members of the historically black Protestant tradition (53%), Jehovah’s Witnesses (48%) and people who say their religion is “nothing in particular” but that religion is at least somewhat important in their lives (47%) report household incomes of under $30,000 a year." - Pew Research. America's Changing Religious Landscape. May 12, 2015

No wonder "sisters" have problems finding marriage mates inside the Watchtower.

"Roughly two-thirds of Jehovah’s Witnesses are women" - Pew Research. May 12, 2015.

Wow, 66%? So a young JW woman has to compete for low income, non-educated, and perhaps much older men.

Hmm, If I was a JW pioneer, that would be my advertising message to guys..

9

New Life form discovered Lokiarchaeota - cross between eukaryotes and prokaryotes

by cantleave in

jw
friends

this discovery is a major step in our understanding the diversification of life.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-32610177.

adjusted knowledge

I will have to read latter. It will be interesting if they talk about the subject of how eukaryote cells gained organelles. One theory that I've read is prokaryote cells devouring other life forms that eventually served as organelles. The mitochondria was believed to be a prokaryotic cell at one time.

7

Waking up from the JW dream... The biggest loss for me, was the idea of justice.

by adjusted knowledge in

jw
friends

being a jw you're able to ignore bad things to some level.

it's the lazy way of saying, "jehovah will deal with it soon".

but when i loss my faith, the biggest gut wrench was the idea that true justice was just an illusion.

adjusted knowledge

Being a JW you're able to ignore bad things to some level. It's the lazy way of saying, "Jehovah will deal with it soon". But when I loss my faith, the biggest gut wrench was the idea that true justice was just an illusion. That bad people in this world, and many of them, never face justice for their bad actions. I think of the man who held those three young women captive for a decade. I wonder in our world how many sick men and women are out there like him. They never have to answer to their evilness.

As a witness, I never worried too much. I was glad a just God would set all things right.The tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands of people is another mind blowing event that sadden me as a non-believer. It just showed how meaningless really we are. No more important than microbes in a Petri dish. I was told as a witness that God would intervene if the world was to face utter destruction (for example stopping a nuclear war, or diverting a planetary meteor). Anyone else was ever taught that as a JW? Yes, the religion made it easy at time not worry about such things, but focus on the really important stuff like getting those 10 hours in field service.

Facing reality is a hard thing to do. Another good reason religion and the Watchtower will be around for a long long time.

21

All Seeing Eye on WBTS Video!

by Alan Forbes in

i was on the jw.org website today and decided to watch a video entitled 'respect jehovah's authority'.

to my surprise approximately 3mins 25secs into the video, as the opening title began to fade, a symbol of the all seeing eye (eye of horus) appeared on the screen.

the scene was not set in egypt, but in a hebrew tent in the wilderness where praise was being sung to jehovah!!

adjusted knowledge

Alan,

I season my speech with lots of salt; you're a buffoon. I hope that wasn't too salty for your taste.

17

I Was Looking At Old Photos of My Daughter's And All Her Friends Left The T

by minimus in

jw
friends

adjusted knowledge

When I was 18 and left the kingdom hall, there were 15 youths between the ages of 8 and 22. Through facebook and contact with my mother, only 6 remain. Of those 6, two have been disfellowshiped multiple times for fornication, one is currently disfellowship and five of the six are siblings/cousins. So basically only one family children stayed in and probably had very little choice. In fact the two daughters have been disfellowshiped four times each from 1993 to now. They are a horny family and just screw get disfellowship wait the 2 to 3 years and get reinstated.

With that being said, I wonder who holds the record of the most repeated disfellowshippings?

26

Pacquiao vs Mayweather

by Clambake in

i have a ton of filipino friends and this is huge.

manny is a huge underdog but it is literally good vs evil.

go manny .

adjusted knowledge

I wouldn't call him a sublime boxer. He fought the best boxer in the sport.

26

Pacquiao vs Mayweather

by Clambake in

i have a ton of filipino friends and this is huge.

manny is a huge underdog but it is literally good vs evil.

go manny .

adjusted knowledge

My wife is Filipino, and i have to buy it. Her sister and other Filipino friends are coming over.

I think Mayweather will win. I'm rooting for Manny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYQ6mAZXq9E

184

Why are people burning their city to the ground in Baltimore? How doe Looting and Mob Violence Help?

by PokerPlayerPhil in

it's hard enough for businesses to enter these areas the government once had to offer up tax breaks to service them.

in watts, california it took decades for city residents to get a grocery store after the thugs burned their businesses to the ground.

you can see the insanity taking place, when you allow mobs and fools to burn building down nothing good comes from it.

adjusted knowledge

" If you make 25k, you are not middle class. You may have been 15 years ago, but if your wages haven't risen and inflation had, you're poor, folks! And to add insult to injury, your CEO has made even more in relation to inflation."

When I was 18 yrs old my goal was to make 50k and thought I would be set. I'm sure plenty of people can budget better than me but I make quite a bit more than 50k, and I have difficulty thinking I'm middle class at times. I've worked in retail my entire career, and cognitive of prices. Food prices have double and triple in the last twenty years, and wages have not. In addition to food prices doubling in price, the actual size of the containers have shrunk. I had so much difficulty at 18 trying to survive at $9 an hour. That was twenty years ago. It is impossible to do it now without government assistance, or roommates/family.

64

The poor and deprived life of JW children.

by Esse quam videri in

i find it hard to believe that adults on this forum make such a big deal about not celebrating birthdays, x-mas, easter, halloween, etc, etc, etc.

i grew up as a jw kid and it actually made me feel good, being different from the other kids in school.

we went to meetings.

adjusted knowledge

I was five years old when I celebrated my last holidays. I was a child who was told in advance that this was our last year. I still remember looking at my Pac Man mask knowing it was the last night I would do Halloween. As a child I was sad, but not too depressed about it.

What was depressing is how I was treated at school. I was the child that never said the pledge allegiance. This angered several teachers. They took their anger out on me by inciting my classmates against me. I was the child who would go to the library while the class celebrated birthdays, and other holidays. I went to a very small school system. My graduating class was 43 and most of them I knew since kindergarten. I never formed one friendship with any of them. I wasn't allowed. I was very lonely, but I was lucky that my peers weren't hateful. I just didn't exist to them. I never attended Prom or any social event, except Jdub weddings and funerals.

I began giving talks like the OP, I was around 8 years old. I did all my parents asked, which was hard since my father wasn't a JW, but he enforced their rules. I never played in band or anything for that matter. I so much wanted to do field and track. I was not good at sports except long distance running. I had good endurance and loved to run. I was never allowed. My story is actually better than others in my former hall. I know many that never were allowed to go to school. I can't think of a single one that went to college, and barely any of them make a decent living. I have them on facebook, and they lament about their current life.

I'm 38 years old now, and have a 18 month old daughter. As messed up as it may be, I plan on living through her things I never was allowed to do. I had so much fun watching her open xmas gifts.