Posts by OneEyedJoe

30

What are the economics of cart witnessing?

by slimboyfat in

on another thread shepherdless sketched out the past business model of jws and its demise.

until 1990 they were a straightforward publishing business with the tremendous advantage of free labour in production and free distribution agents.

since then they've been relying on donations for literature to keep the old model going.

OneEyedJoe

The only money I see them making on the carts is from the "suggested donation" when they sell the carts to the congregation. A recent article of theirs has stated they've sold over 165k carts, so even if they're only making $10 profit on each one they've made a pretty good chunk of change.

How this balances out with the literature that gets taken from the carts without being paid for, I have no idea. I'd guess they're giving away more literature, but then again everyone talks about how they just sit there and everyone ignores them so maybe not.

33

Creative day 7000 years, is this correct and how did the Org come up with this idea?

by Crazyguy in

any body know?

OneEyedJoe

Yeah they definitely said at one point that the creative days were 7000 years long. I believe the reasoning went that the day of rest was the same length as the creative days, and if we've been here ~6000 years then adding the 1000 year millineal reign you get 7000 years for a day. I could be off on that some but I think that's basically the reasoning.

38

Re: New Songs for Memorial

by pixel in

to all congregations.

re: new songs for memorial.

dear brothers:.

OneEyedJoe

Yes, why new songs on a special holiday? Wouldn't you want some traditional songs that everyone knows how to sing already? To me this is way to make families sing these songs at home. Practicing the song is further brainwashing for parents and children. Many will do it because they won't want the congregation to sound terrible singing a song they have never even heard.

I think you're on to something. They got rid of the bookstudy (for whatever reason, I know there's a few theories on why, none of which actually involve gas prices) and now I think they're struggling to replace the extra indoctrination with something. Sure they've given you the family worship night as a requirement to fill the void, but without the pre-planned content that JWs are so used many don't keep at it. If they give just a little content and "encourage" them to do it during the family worship night (that you're definitely doing regularly, right?) then it gives them more of a push (and a guilt trip) to actually self-indoctrinate more regularly.

63

Watchtower crackdown on anointed expansion - are they reaching for a solution to the expanding numbers problem?

by slimboyfat in

if this has been discussed i missed it.

i think the january study watchtower is a concerted attempt to reduce the numbers claiming to be anointed.

but i love the sneaky way they go about it this time.

OneEyedJoe

I think they also do have something on the publisher card for tracking if publishers profess to be anointed. I don't know if I've seen it on a publisher card, but I know its been on many application forms for serving at bethel, etc.

51

Your Opinion Pleeease

by thankyou in

jw girl non-jw guy.

tenuous boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.

what is more likely to strengthen a relationship?.

OneEyedJoe

I get it... You're a good guy and you want to help but she doesn't want your help at the moment. Your reward is going to be heartache and you deserve better than you've gotten from this girl How hard should you have to work to get someone to let you be there for them? Cult or not she hasn't been appreciative of you and you deserve better.

There's only so much you can do... Eventually she has to do it for herself.

51

Your Opinion Pleeease

by thankyou in

jw girl non-jw guy.

tenuous boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.

what is more likely to strengthen a relationship?.

OneEyedJoe

SBF - look at his posting history... It's not the type of situation that looks promising at all.

I know it's not easy to let go and move on, but I promise it'll be better in the long run, at least in your case from what I've read. You're volunteering for a world of heartache when you have no obligation to this girl. This cult has ended marriages... You trying to stay in touch with this girl that's tried to separate herself from you is not a situation that's likely to work out for you.

51

Your Opinion Pleeease

by thankyou in

jw girl non-jw guy.

tenuous boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.

what is more likely to strengthen a relationship?.

OneEyedJoe

Just let go, dude.

26

What's the status of this org financially?

by megaboy in

soooo... i think the main strength of this group is having the finances to keep this con game going.

i'm hoping that the pedophilia cases are draining them dry so we can be rid of this stumbling block from an organizational stand point.

how is the constant surge of bad news getting out on them effecting the everyday person in this organization?

OneEyedJoe

Personally I think the financial problems are less to do with lawsuits (though those certainly don't help) and more to do with loss of donations as people realize that there's something wrong. Not that there's tons walking up, but I'm sure that there's a lot of people that are tired of the cash grabs, unnecessary renovations, demands that TVs and projectors be installed on the publisher's dime, not to mention the prophetic failures. Lack of funds is the first sign of lack of trust by the r/f

23

JW Version Of Spring Cleaning

by JW_Rogue in

from the january study edition second study article paragraph 10:.

we can use the memorial season as an opportunity to look through our wardrobe, our movie and music collections, perhaps even the material stored on our computers, smartphones, and tablets.if i were going to a place where jesus would be present, would i feel uncomfortable wearing this clothing?if i did wear it, would it be obvious to all that i am a follower of christ jesus?would jesus be entertained by watching this movie or by listening to this music?

if he borrowed my cell phone or tablet, would i be embarrassed by what he saw there?as you consider the subject matter of a video game, ask yourself: would i find it difficult to explain to jesus why i enjoy playing it?

OneEyedJoe

perhaps even the material stored on our computers

Clear your browser history, Jesus is coming!

42

2016 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

by wifibandit in

the 2016 yearbook is now on the official site.

pdf.

it has been added to the archive of all prior yearbooks.

OneEyedJoe

Interesting stats for the US, peak/average

2014: 1,243,387/1,186,598

2015: 1,231,867/1,195,081

So while there was just shy of a 1% increase in average publishers, there was a decrease in the peak publishers by about the same percentage. Since they like to use the peak numbers to declare the number of JWs worldwide, is it fair to say that they're declining in the US? Even the increase in average publishers roughly matches the growth rate of US population, so they're doing an awful lot of preaching to merely keep pace.