slim: OrphanCrow I think you are right that the GB don't want growth in third world countries
Slim, I didn't say that.
In "fact", I said the exact opposite
i have to make a token appearance at the k.h.
once a month or so and this week went to a different hall.
and believe me they are all still totally oblivious to all the negative news about the pedophiles and shunning that have come under scrutiny by the media and other governments.
slim: OrphanCrow I think you are right that the GB don't want growth in third world countries
Slim, I didn't say that.
In "fact", I said the exact opposite
i have to make a token appearance at the k.h.
once a month or so and this week went to a different hall.
and believe me they are all still totally oblivious to all the negative news about the pedophiles and shunning that have come under scrutiny by the media and other governments.
Oh. I didn't know that, Coco. I appreciate the feedback.
I have a confession: every time I type a post here, I am so conscious of my diction and my grammar, etc! I know you scrutinize and it makes me both nervous and pleased. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
i have to make a token appearance at the k.h.
once a month or so and this week went to a different hall.
and believe me they are all still totally oblivious to all the negative news about the pedophiles and shunning that have come under scrutiny by the media and other governments.
I have been thinking...about Slim's comment:
Facts don't speak for themselves. That's why I assemble them and deploy them in a pleasing and compelling fashion
So I thought it might be fun to take the same liberty and rearrange "facts" in a compelling fashion
Here is a theory (heehee...yeah, just a theory, no conspiracy about it...a compelling theory, you might say)
I imagine being one the dudes at the top. On the top of the WT heap and I look down from my lofty perch and see the unruly masses. So many of them. Too many that are misbehaving and too many that you could certainly do without.
What if, Slim, the "decline" in membership is deliberate and wanted by the powers who be? What if the org has decided that it is best to pare down and get rid of those who aren't loyal (true believers only) and those who will donate more more money ( true rich believers only need apply)?
And here is something else. We don't know what is going on elsewhere but we have hints. We do know that the org has literature going into school systems in a third world country. What if that is happening is several 3rd world countries?
We also know that JWs in African countries are petitioning their governments for money to put into their publishers acting as literacy teachers. Is the huge printing plant that was recently built in South Africa still operational? What is happening there?
And speaking of Africa...what a fertile ground for bloodless medicine. Huge potential there. Huge. The JWs who are high up in the world of patient blood management have been grooming Africa for years. What a great hook up. That great big continent in need of blood so bad. And China - again a country groomed by JW bloodless guys. And India...and South America.
Is the org collapsing?
I doubt it
Will there be a mass exodus soon?
Not a mass exodus but a decline for sure. And maybe an orchestrated decline - 8 million is a lot to keep a handle on. A decline in the Western world at least. Not in developing and 3rd world countries. Growth there. Potential galore.
i have to make a token appearance at the k.h.
once a month or so and this week went to a different hall.
and believe me they are all still totally oblivious to all the negative news about the pedophiles and shunning that have come under scrutiny by the media and other governments.
morph: Again, dont be fooled by slims amswer today, crow (i feel like a broken record)
Sokay, Morph. I am being entertained
Slim is the consummate postmodern poster - you get a different version dependent upon, like you said, the weather
It's this part that is worth a chuckle at the same time that it is revealing:
Slim :Facts don't speak for themselves. That's why I assemble them and deploy them in a pleasing and compelling fashion
Yeah. I know. What you do is twist the facts, massage them, and put your own spin on them. Commonly, that is called deception and manipulation. Facts do not require compelling language. Compelling language conveys emotions, not facts.
Fact turned into fiction
Good news though, you can copyright fiction
i have to make a token appearance at the k.h.
once a month or so and this week went to a different hall.
and believe me they are all still totally oblivious to all the negative news about the pedophiles and shunning that have come under scrutiny by the media and other governments.
slim: And as a matter of fact the Catholic Apostolic Church collapsed despite being rich because of its end time doctrine. It still has assets but no members.
Ah. And here we have a clue.
So, Slim, your definition of "collapse" then, is simply "loss of all members"
Well, now don't I feel silly? Here I have been assuming that you have been using the vernacular definition of "collapse".
Is that a post-modern collapse that you are arguing for, then?
Can you share with us what this impeding (or maybe, already happened) "collapse" is going to look like?
If the WTS/org loses all members but still has assets, does that qualify as a postmodern collapse?
*pssst - the Catholic Apolstolic Church collapsed because they didn't build doctrine around the end times not coming. The WTS/org has done that. They do organizational planning for the future. There were no overlapping apostles in the CAC
i have to make a token appearance at the k.h.
once a month or so and this week went to a different hall.
and believe me they are all still totally oblivious to all the negative news about the pedophiles and shunning that have come under scrutiny by the media and other governments.
That’s a stupid argument, if I may say so
You may say so but that doesn't make you right
The evidence indicates that the org has experienced far worse growth/membership decline in the past, not once...not twice...but at least three times
I would say that is fairly good evidence that the org has resources that keeps them from collapsing
In order to use other religions that have collapsed as examples, you would have to show that those same religions had the same resources as the org does. You can't do that. So your examples are wasted. Your sense of extrapolation is skewed
i have to make a token appearance at the k.h.
once a month or so and this week went to a different hall.
and believe me they are all still totally oblivious to all the negative news about the pedophiles and shunning that have come under scrutiny by the media and other governments.
Morph: Try to keep up
Lol!
I am trying
I am of the opinion that even if the JW religion closed all their Kingdom Halls and just stuck to online content and broadcasts...that the Watch Tower Society would still exist
so lloyd evans will shortly be releasing his new book how to leave the jehovah's witnesses.
i do enjoy his rebuttals and the stuff he manages to get hold of and leak.
but i'm struggling to understand what he could possibly write to merit a whole book.. all info on how to leave is right here on this forum.
pale emperor: But I still haven't read his first book The Reluctant Apostate due to it being £23.99.
I didn't read it because I can't imagine sitting through 802 (!!!) pages of material that has already been covered by other authors. I can't imagine what would be new and exciting about Lloyd's book
I like long books and I like reading but I think I can spend my time better reading other authors who can organize their material better, and who have better academic credentials and reputations
One of the most comprehensive books I have read exposing the org is James Pentons' Apocalypse Delayed and it is only 584 pages long
i have to make a token appearance at the k.h.
once a month or so and this week went to a different hall.
and believe me they are all still totally oblivious to all the negative news about the pedophiles and shunning that have come under scrutiny by the media and other governments.
Slim: ...outside of the prophetic failures in 1914, 1925 and 1975
And did the WTS collapse then?
No, it didn't
It changed it spots but it didn't collapse in spite of losing (in the late 20s) over 75% of its membership. And it didn't collapse when it showed a decline in members after 1975
A slow down in growth (not an actual decline in reported numbers) in reported membership numbers does not translate as collapse
in the most recent assembly there were several heavy hints about not drinking alcohol at all.
saying that it doesn't give a good witness or would stumble others.. is this a new "unwritten directive?.
undercover: They've always preached the evils of alcohol.
Sort of. The org occasionally warns about over indulgence of alcohol but drinking alcohol is not a disfellowshipping offense like smoking is.
Which is odd when you consider the blood ban.
Long term use of alcohol can (and often does) lead to cirrhosis of the liver which in turn, can lead to internal hemorrhaging.
So smoking is banned but drinking alcohol isn't
You would think that if the org really had the JWs' best interests at heart (like they claim with the smoking ban) that they would have also have banned alcohol because it increases the risk of facing a blood transfusion
http://www.alcoholabuse.com/info/effects-of-alcohol-abuse/can-get-internal-bleeding-alcohol-abuse/