Posts by berrygerry

One must remember that Rutherford fully envisioned Watch Tower as a monetary opportunity. Early letters showed that it was always money-driven. There was money to be made in the five-and-dime era.

Things changed significantly for sales-driven religions with the Jimmy Swaggart decision.

Sales would slowly reduce. Tithe-based religions have fared better - i.e. Mormons and Scientology.

Canadian department stores have run a similar course to Watch Tower.

For decades, Canada had three major chains, lowend Sears (the newest), highend Hudson's Bay (the oldest), and middle Eatons.

There were smaller chains - Woolco, Woolworths, and Zellers.

Walmart's foray into Canada in 1994 was accompanied by the purchase of Woolco. (Woolco had made a major strategic error when the GST was introduced. Woolco included the GST in their advertised and rack price, while all other retailers added GST at checkout. So, Woolco's prices were perceived to be higher.)

Even without Walmart, Eaton's could not maintain the challenging middle position. But Walmart was the nail in Eaton's coffin, and it went bankrupt in 1999.

Target tried Canada in 2011, buying Zellers from Hudson's Bay. Target wasted $2,000,000,000 before exiting in 2015.

Which leaves us Sears Canada.

The slow death of Sears Canada is similar to Watch Tower.

Instead of truly adapting, token efforts were made at peripheral changes.

The only thing that maintained Sears Canada was its real estate, and the real estate market exceeding in value far greater than the inflation rate since 1992.

Although that carried Sears for a quite-extended period of time, they were forced to liquidate real estate and consolidate stores, year after year.

All other measures of belt-tightening were exhausted, until the inevitable finally happened this year.

Watch Tower has been on a remarkably similar trajectory, especially over the past five years, although the beginning of the end started around the same time, in 1995 IMO.

They have tightened their belt as much as they can. There are no more cuts to be made.

Kingdom Hall consolidation is in full progress.

Just as there were no Millennials wandering the aisles at Sears Canada, Watch Tower is unable to replace their aging customer base.

There is a death-watch on, and it cannot be stopped.

36

What is the watchtower going to do when

by pepperheart in

what is the watchtower going to do when the money runs out ??

?.

berrygerry

The 2019 Yearbook will speak to this answer.

If 2018 follows 2017, then there will be no growth in the west. Based on reported baptism numbers so far, that looks to be the case.

2019 should show about a .5% decline in the west.

If true, they will run out of money - it will only be a matter of time.

14

RUSSIA (20 June 2017): JW video depicting kingdom hall burnings, raids, and interviews with JWs

by jwleaks in

video published on official jw website:.

https://jw-russia.org/news/17062022-182.html.

.

berrygerry

Does anyone have updates on this?

72

JW`s Lie about Christendom hiding the Name Jehovah.or its equivalent Yahweh

by smiddy in

jehovahs witnesses have been outspoken over the years/decades that christendom have been hiding or obscuring or even eliminating gods name jehovah from the general public.. how true is that statement .?.

1. it was a catholic monk of the 13th century that first coined the name jehovah in the english language.. 2.the roman catholic douay version of the bible does have the name jehovah in it.

about the 16th century.

berrygerry

Skip to 2:09

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjZ_IlP9c5A

10

Feel like I've failed

by Mr Negative in

i need to get this off my chest, as i don't have many people to talk to about it who would understand.. i feel like i've failed my family, as not only have i been unable to get my parents and brother to see sense regarding the cult, but now my sister, who never got baptised but managed to escape twenty years ago, is now seriously considering going back for various "emotional" reasons, and i know that she won't listen to me.. i know they have all made their own decisions (at least, to the extent that brainwashed people can make their own decisions), and i can't really blame myself (even though i was the one who, when only ten years old, convinced my mum to listen to the poor lady on the doorstep out of politeness rather than just shut the door on her - so it is all indirectly my fault), but it still feels like i've failed them..

berrygerry

We are trying to rescue people from A CULT. The problem does not lie with WT being A CULT. The problem lies with the number of people needing or wanting to be inside a high-control group.

http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/fear-cult-mind-control.php

In The True Believer, a book on mass movements, Eric Hoffer suggests at least a third of the population are "true believers." They are joiners and followers, people who want to give away their power, looking for answers, meaning, and enlightenment outside themselves. This type of person is "not intent on bolstering and advancing a cherished self, but are those craving to be rid of unwanted self." This type of person is "eternally incomplete and eternally insecure!" and can easily be transformed into fanatics who will gladly work and die for their holy cause whether politics, churches, businesses or social cause groups. Mass movements generally have a charismatic ruler, and a devil. This type of person is unlikely to be reading this site, they don't want to know. Neither am I convinced that this type of person should stop being a Jehovah's Witness. If they do they most likely will become involved in a similar organization that also uses manipulation to force its members into a prescribed way of life.

103

New Research at AJWRB

by Lee Elder in

the latest research article published at ajwrb estimates the number of jehovah's witnesses who have died from following or being coerced to follow watchtower's blood policy.

the numbers are staggering.

http://ajwrb.org/jehovahs-witnesses-and-blood-tens-of-thousands-dead-in-hidden-tragedy.

berrygerry

What do you want people to sue Watchtower over? Ultimately it is the person's choice if they want to obey that policy or not.

Extremely untrue.

HLC elders have rightly been termed "death squads."

There is no way that they should be allowed to be anywhere near a patient.

There was a post last week of a man whose JW father was going to accept blood treatment if deemed necessary. Elder shows up, father changes mind, and dies.

Do you call that free choice?

103

New Research at AJWRB

by Lee Elder in

the latest research article published at ajwrb estimates the number of jehovah's witnesses who have died from following or being coerced to follow watchtower's blood policy.

the numbers are staggering.

http://ajwrb.org/jehovahs-witnesses-and-blood-tens-of-thousands-dead-in-hidden-tragedy.

berrygerry

Little has been said about the sure-death scenario of a JW severely hemorrhaging during labour.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3496240/

A core belief among members of the Jehovah’s Witness (JW) faith is that they will not accept blood transfusion or its primary components, including red and white blood cells, platelets and plasma, even when such transfusion could be life-saving1. This poses potential problems for obstetric services worldwide because obstetric haemorrhage remains a major cause of maternal mortality and morbidity2,3. Indeed, there is a general consensus that morbidity and mortality rates in association with childbirth are higher in these women than in the general population4–7. In the largest observational study in the USA, Singla et al. reported that JW women were at increased risk of maternal death and that blood loss was the major factor4. In the UK, the largest descriptive obstetric study of JW reported a 65-fold increased risk of maternal death compared to the national rate. In addition, there was significant haemorrhage (>1,000 mL) in 6% of all of Caesarean sections5.

More recently, a study from the Netherlands reported that compared to the non-JW Dutch population, JW women had a 6-fold higher risk of all causes of maternal death, a 130-fold increased risk of maternal death because of major obstetric haemorrhage and a 3-fold higher risk of maternal morbidity because of obstetric haemorrhage6. Other earlier studies support these views, both for obstetric and gynaecological operations7.

2

Jehovah as a Brand

by berrygerry in

imo, one of the most brilliant things that rutherford did was to capitalize on the somewhat obscure, but in many ways legitimate, word jehovah as being the personal name of god.. as jehovah's witnesses (small w) morphed into jehovah's witnesses (capital w), other religions that had previously used jehovah in church names and church worship began to diminish its use.. this in turn only continued to distinguish rutherford's religion.. in addition, the watch tower corp's continued and relentless intertwining of "jehovah" and "jehovah's organization" is nothing short of sheer brilliancy.. search wt library or wol.jw.org for "jehovah" and "organization" together with words such as "please" "obey" "serve.

" the interplay is endless.. in the recent post from a former missionary / co, he states: .

"as far as the organization and jehovah, i was like everyone else.

berrygerry

IMO, one of the most brilliant things that Rutherford did was to capitalize on the somewhat obscure, but in many ways legitimate, word Jehovah as being the personal name of God.

As Jehovah's witnesses (small w) morphed into Jehovah's Witnesses (capital W), other religions that had previously used Jehovah in church names and church worship began to diminish its use.

This in turn only continued to distinguish Rutherford's religion.

In addition, the Watch Tower Corp's continued and relentless intertwining of "Jehovah" and "Jehovah's organization" is nothing short of sheer brilliancy.

Search WT Library or wol.jw.org for "Jehovah" and "organization" together with words such as "please" "obey" "serve." The interplay is endless.

In the recent post from a former missionary / CO, he states:

"As far as the organization and Jehovah, I was like everyone else. I saw no difference between the organization and Jehovah and I used the terms interchangeably for years in my talks and in conversation. I really honestly could not see the difference and until it was pointed out to me I never even noticed it I did it."

The Finished Mystery, 1917, p. 144 - 8:3. And another angel. -- Not the "voice of the Lord," mentioned in the preceding chapter, but the corporate body -- the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, which Pastor Russell formed to finish his work. This verse shows that, though Pastor Russell has passed beyond the veil, he is still managing every feature of the Harvest work. The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society is the greatest corporation in the world, because from the time of its organization until now the Lord has used it as His channel through which to make known the Glad Tidings."

Rutherford was freaking brilliant.