Posts by SAHS

36

WHY DOES THE WTBS HOARD CASH

by Happy Guy :) in

they must have billions...annual revenue alone was almost a billion last year.

they must have close to 10 billion in assets and a large chunk of that is cash.

if the world is going to end any day that cash is useless.

SAHS

Much of that reported Revenue for the N.Y. WT is cash that has been transferred from WT worldwide. Of the two countries outside of the U.S. that I have seen finacials for, it appears they are transferring the bulk of annual revenue to presumably WT in the U.S. In other words, I suspect that this 951 million U.S. denominated dollars is probably an aggregate of worldwide revenues.

This shows how much of the worldwide revenues are being funnelled into Brooklyn. It seems that the vast majority of this cash flow is not so much from non-profit sales of the literature itself but from donations by publishers?who donate for their own literature as well as any literature that may not get placed, in addition to regular donations for the local Kingdom Hall . . . as well as the ?worldwide work.? So, the WT ends up receiving funds for the literature from basically three angles: from the householder in the territory who buys it, from the publisher who adds his/her donation for his/her own monthly order of literature items, and from all congregation members who donate to the local Kingdom Hall and the ?worldwide work.?

Multiply this procedure for all the congregations around the globe, and it doesn?t take long for that grand total to get up there. You can certainly see how it is in the WT?s best interests to keep expanding into as many countries as possible to increase their ?customer base.? Actually, it?s kind of like a ?pyramid scheme? when you think about it (no pun intended?as in the number of steps down into the Great ?Pyramid? of Gizeh used by Charles Russell to calculate the years until Armageddon).

All these funds, of course, get funnelled into the central location of Brooklyn?kind of like how in outer space gasses, dust, asteroids, planets, and even stars get sucked into a black hole, thereby adding to the black hole?s mass and thus increasing its gravitational power.

The ?theocratic warfare? continues.

?SAHS

29

I couldn't believe this email I just received from a JW friend.

by codeblue in

jw
friends

1. avoid riding in automobiles

because they are responsible for

20% of all fatal accidents.

SAHS

. . . only .001% of all deaths occur in worship services . . . Therefore, logic tells us that the safest place for you to be at any given point in time is at the Kingdom Hall!

I guess the above statistic doesn?t take into account all the men, women, and even children who have been arrested by the Gestapo while attending meetings in a makeshift Kingdom Hall in World War 2 Germany, butchered in Kingdom Halls in Malawi, Africa during the 1970s (no doubt because of the political party card issue, relating to the WT?s policy at the time), and, more recently, beaten up with iron crosses in Kingdom Halls in Georgia (Eastern Europe), not to mention numerous other such incidents of persecution in different places at different times while . . . . you guessed it?being in a Kingdom Hall!

(Like my dad says, ?Figures don?t lie, but liars always figure.?)

?SAHS

48

Do you like to get drunk???

by Confucious in

jw
friends

been going through a lot lately.

feeling the depression creeping in every once in awhile.

who here likes to pound back a few beers???

SAHS

?Confucious?:

I'm good at like 4 or 5 beers.

5 beers. 6 tops.

Are you referring to 12-ounce bottles of beer or 20-ounce pints of beer? That makes a bit of a difference.

I used to love having about six 20-ounce pints of beer in one evening at the old bar, but only on Fridays. A few years ago, I would order the same amount of beer but in the form of two 60-ounce pitchers. (They were brought separately, of course. There?s laws here, eh.) I would only drink that one evening a week, and basically never on weekdays.

I would get, let?s say, feeling fairly good, but not puke. (I must have developed a bit of a tolerance.) The most I ever had at one time was a ?mickey? of whiskey (I think it?s around 12 or 13 ounces), which I did around three or four times when I was in college but never did, or wanted to, since.

I had to stop my drinking because it was starting to be a bit of a problem, and, of course, was being noticed by my folks. (Dad?s an elder. Not a good situation.) Anyway, I can most certainly see where you?re coming from.

?SAHS

14

Did you have time for a hobby when you were in the Org?

by JH in

jw
friends

most witnesses are too occupied to have a hobby.

with all the meetings and field service and work, there isn't much time left for a hobby.

and if you did find time for hobby, i'm sure the elders would have pressured you to use your spare time for the kingdom, not hobbies.. did you have a hobby while you were in the org, or did you develop one after leaving?

SAHS

Actually, I?m still going to meetings and field service on Saturdays (have to for now?still living with JW parents), but I can still have my hobby: the JWD board at http://www.jehovahs-witness.com . . . . I just can?t dare tell anyone about it!

?SAHS

41

Bizarre Assembly Seating

by metatron in

jw
friends

once again, brothers try to strangely compensate for reduced attendance by roping.

off sections and compressing everybody into a smaller area.

is this nuts or what?.

SAHS

This is a nice little issue here that illustrates the high
control aspect of Jehovah's Witnesses.

This certainly seems to be the case, especially when you look at the latest rules regarding not being allowed to go to any food stand or restaurant at lunch time, and having to pack your lunch. (As if you can really order adults around like that.)

You have to wonder just what?s next! . . . . maybe an approved list of foods you can bring in your lunch bag (e.g., grasshoppers and locusts are okay, but not meat from any animal that splits the hoof but doesn?t chew its cud, and no seafood that doesn?t have scales?so, no pork and eel stew!).

?SAHS

45

IF YOU CAN'T SAY SOMETHING NICE . . .

by Corvin in

jw
friends

.

say something kind about someone else on this board.

try to pick someone you don?t know as well as the others and focus on what it is about them that appeals to you.

SAHS

If only there was more time to think about all the positive aspects of different people on this board because there are just so many. So, I will do the next best thing by saying that it sure is good to have a board like this where people at different ?levels? in the WT group, in different unique ?situations,? and at different stages of their own personal ?journey? can come together to get the insight and support they need that would otherwise not be so available.

I think that Simon has done an excellent job in providing such a ?place? where everyone can feel safe and free to explore their common experience, and express their unique perspective. This board is a means by which a person still in the WT can sort of take the ?pulse? of the organization by finding out just exactly what others there really think, and also how they feel about it?and of course allows someone to ask questions that they wouldn?t dare ask out in the open in the congregation.

There?s far too many people on here to provide a response to this thread that is anywhere near comprehensive (especially since I still don?t know very many user names at all, let alone the actual people ). Off the top of my head, I would say that I always enjoy those famous ??minimus? threads? because the opening post is brief and succinct yet always gets us thinking.

?SAHS

30

Why did Jehovah act more in ancient times than he does now?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

in ancient times.... .

jehovah punished adam and eve for their disobedience.

destroyed an ancient world.

SAHS

Often the depictions of people thought to be ?heroes? at the time change as speculations are entertained and embellishments are added, so that over a long period of time the historical accounts take on an almost fanciful, Walt Disney aspect. Here?s something to think about:

If it?s considered logical by many people today to believe in the evolution of the biological life forms currently on our earth, then why not consider that there may have also been a sort of ?evolutionary? process involved to formulate and expound on the literary works we now know as ?holy books,? including the Christian Bible? It seems far more plausible to hypothesize the ?natural selection? of words in scrolls or books than that of protein molecules in DNA.

In other words, the Bible as we know it today may have originated as more or less ordinary, uninteresting ?accounts? of people, either factual or purely speculative, and then went through a slow but steady process of change (sort of like the ?broken telephone? game) until at some point ?miracles? started being thrown into the text.

Could it be, say, a few thousand years from now, if the Watchtower is still in the writing business by then, that Charles Russell will be written about as having been able to walk on water? (Maybe by using his magic radioactive radon belt.) Or will Franklin Rutherford be written about as having tapped his magic walking stick on the sandy ground in San Diego, California causing a lovely mansion called ?Beth-Sarim? to instantly emerge right out of the ground? What fanciful ?miracles? could appear in the text of writings thousands of years from now based on the rather ?plain? accounts forming the WT history of today?s era (like the Proclaimers book)?

Could people in the year, say, 4000 C.E. be writing a posting in a discussion board like this one asking why God (as he would then be know, perhaps under the name ?Russell? instead of ?Yahweh?) was so active back in the year 2004 C.E. as opposed to then? People then could be wondering why there were so many so-called ?miracles? in our time?and if they were really true.

?SAHS

31

I'm Off To Vote! Let's see how long it takes them to DF me.....

by SixofNine in

jw
friends

i'm going to guess 2 hours and 35 minutes from right now, unless the anouncements run long.

SAHS

?SixofNine?:

If the elders give you any flack about voting, which I believe is really a conscience matter, then you can show them the following from the WT?s own material:

In accord with the way they understood matters then, however, the selection of elders, and of deacons to assist them, was made by congregation vote. Each year, or more often if necessary, the qualifications of those who might serve were considered, and a vote was taken. It was basically a democratic procedure, but one that was hedged about with limitations designed to act as a safeguard. All in the congregation were urged to review carefully the Biblical qualifications and to express by vote, not their own opinion, but what they believed to be the will of the Lord. Since only those "fully consecrated" were eligible to vote, their collective vote, when guided by the Word and spirit of the Lord, was viewed as expressing the Lord?s will in the matter. Although Brother Russell may not have been completely aware of it, his recommendation of this arrangement was perhaps influenced to some extent not only by his determination to avoid any semblance of an exalted clergy class but also by his own background as a teenager in the Congregational Church.
?Jehovah?s Witnesses?Proclaimers of God?s Kingdom, chap. 15, p. 206-7

Then, tell them that if you were in the WT organization at the time of its founder, Charles Russell, then you wouldn?t be committing a sin by voting?you would simply be doing the same as their own congregational procedure.

?SAHS

42

What Made Things Finally "Click" With You To Know This Was Not The Truth?

by minimus in

jw
friends

for me it was the realization that there was no "faithful & discreet slave", that all the prophecies "proving" that jehovah's witnesses are the only religion approved by god is bogus and the realization that this is a "cult" and there is no real normal sense of love and affection in the "truth".

SAHS

There was/is I believe a black GB member.

I think his name was probably Brother Token Blackguy. Although, I think he was a fictitious character who the GB, like their doctrines, made up.

?SAHS

6

Would you buy a baseball for $800,000???

by Confucious in

jw
friends

the bonds hr ball just went for $800,000 (number 700) .

if you had the money, would you buy a ball like that???

i wouldn't buy bond's ball, because frankly, i think the guy is an a-hole.

SAHS

Would you buy a baseball for $800,000???

If I knew that it would bring me everlasting life, then yes, I would buy it. I don?t have anywhere near that kind of money, but I would see if I could somehow arrange to get it on credit. I mean, I would have forever to pay it back, wouldn?t I?

?SAHS