Posts by Incognito

48

Latest JW.org Statistics Are Confusing & Lack Context

by steve2 in

earlier this week a new post on this forum announced that the 2017 worldwide annual service report was available on jw.org.

wow - that's earlier than the statistics for the 2016 service year which appeared in the 2017 yearbook last january!

good effort, jw organization!

Incognito

No, it includes only baptized and unbaptized publishers. There is no practice of counting those who do not turn in their field service reports. - Dreary

Alright then ... the point being, the Fast Facts box in Darkspilver's post on page one, specifies New Zealand's population divided by 'Ministers who teach the Bible', to arrive at the ratio of JW's to population.

'Ministers who teach the Bible' appear to include not only baptised publishers but also un-baptised publishers, to arrive at the ratio of JW's to population. My and Diogenesister's comments relate to the prospect of WT counting all publishers, not only those baptised, to calculate the 8+ million active JWs currently throughout the world.

34

Strange

by Jrjw in

a couple of times at the meetings this year we've been told that in the future we might get some strange directions from the society that might not make any sense to us.

then they've said will we show our loyalty to jehovah by still obeying?

seems a rather unusual thing to say.

Incognito

That is, they would say that the Israelites were told to do something that looked crazy: go down into the dry Red Sea with the waters held back supernaturally. - Careful

Did Moses state he is imperfect and not inspired when he gave those instructions, or.did God visibly prove he was using Moses as his messenger?

48

Latest JW.org Statistics Are Confusing & Lack Context

by steve2 in

earlier this week a new post on this forum announced that the 2017 worldwide annual service report was available on jw.org.

wow - that's earlier than the statistics for the 2016 service year which appeared in the 2017 yearbook last january!

good effort, jw organization!

Incognito

No doubt, the start to reporting less information. I suspect less info will be reported next year, and less the year after, until the report is eventually phased out.

With regard to number of congregations, I wonder how they are counted??

If the 'North' congregation is forced to combine with the 'West' congregation which forms a new congregation called 'North West', is that reported as 3 congregations in that service year?

I realize not all merged congregations are given a new congregation name, but I expect many of you will get my point regarding how the numbers maybe being counted.

Are they implying the 'Ministers who teach the bible' reported number is the number of JWs in that country? If that number is actually comprised of 'Peak' publishers which would include unbaptised publishers who report 1X, then that would help to explain the increasing reported number of JWs.

52

Royal Australian Commission - Recomendations for Jehovahs Witnesses

by curiousconfused in

the report is finally out.......... ————————.

recommendations to the jehovah’s witness organisation.

recommendation 16.27. the jehovah’s witness organisation should abandon its application of the two-witness rule in cases involving complaints of child sexual abuse.. recommendation 16.28. the jehovah’s witness organisation on should revise its policies so that women are involved in processes related to invesation and determining allegations of child sexual abuse.. recommendation 16.29. the jehovah’s witness organisation should no longer require its members to shun those who disassociate from the organisation in cases where the reason for disassocia on is related to a person being a victim of child sexual abuse..

Incognito

I understand the ARC's report, is really intended to be recommendations to the Australian government, not recommendations to the various institutions that were investigated.

The ARC was implemented to investigate how large a problem child abuse is within institutions. True, the ARC cannot implement laws and ensure enforcement, but it had authority to report cases which it learned about. The problem within Australia was found to be so prevalent, the ARC needed to be extended to 5 years. The commission's final responsibility is to provide recommendations to government (law makers) on how these problems can be prevented or at least be reduced, and what should occur when there is suspicion or an allegation of child abuse.

With the ARC submitting its report to government, it then is the government's hands to review the data and to hopefully adopt or better the recommendations so that new requirements and laws are enacted.

55

Very Lost

by Jrjw in

hi i've been a jw for 12 years and got married 2 years ago.

i'm now separated.

my husband hid from me that he suffered from depression, extreme anxiety issues and a personality disorder.

Incognito

Welcome Jrjw!

What others in the congregation think of you, you can't do much about. Don't waste your time worrying about or trying to change other people's perceptions as they will continue to believe what they want. Fiction is usually more exciting than fact.

Other JWs, while they can be friendly and welcoming, are conditional friends at best. If a JW does not fully comply with the religion's dictates, they will often find themselves criticized and/or shunned by the very JWs they thought were their closest friends.

It sounds as though you have come to realize and accept what needs to be done with your marriage, but you are conflicted by the WT position against divorce and remarriage.

Notice I said WT position as opposed to JW belief. Consider, if WT stated tomorrow that divorce and remarriage is now a personal decision, how many JWs would no longer hesitate to divorce their spouse, to find someone else.

In addition to being responsible for yourself, you have 2 children to raise and to teach. Show them you are a strong woman who respects herself, who will stand-up for herself and for their welfare.

Don't hesitate to immediately take action when needed. Inaction will usually be regretted, often for the remainder of a person's life.

9

How and Why the ARC into Child Sexual Abuse In Institutions Came About.

by smiddy3 in

a program is to be aired on abc tv tonight called : "undeniable :the advocates and agitators who fought for justice" to be shown at 9:30 pm aust.eastern daylight saving time in victoria.. while it doesn`t show anything from what i can gather, about jw`s ,it mainly concentrates on the catholic and anglican churches and if you want to make a comparison the abuse in the jw`s pales by comparison as an institution .. having said that their were some/one champions of jw child sex abused that made sure by their arguments that the jehovah witness religion should not be excluded from this royal commission as they wern`t initially included in this enquiry.. the full/final report of this arc is to be handed down later this week..

Incognito

the JW`s pales by comparison as an institution

In addition to Phizzy's comment, also consider, which religion continues to be less cooperative to making policy and procedure changes to support victims, and in immediately involving authorities when an incident occurs.

6

Do those leaving a legacy leave it for their congregation or the World Wide Work?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

i'm trawling through the uk charity listings for congregations, and of those who added additional financial information, i am seeing a lot of congregations receive legacies.

in the years 2015 and 2016, a lot of money left to the congregation was donated to the world wide work/ibsa.. i realize the letter from 2015 was read out asking congregations to donate excess reserves to the branch office but is this what the testator really wanted?.

consider gloucster kingsholme congregation.

Incognito

While there can be certain conditions before the beneficiary receives a gift, once that gift is transferred to the beneficiary, it is no longer under the control of the testator, their will or their executor. Once given to a beneficiary, the gift then belongs to the beneficiary who can do with it as they wish. If the gift is to be used in a particular way specified by the testator, that may be a moral issue for the beneficiary, not necessarily a legal one.

However, wills can specify the timing of the gift (when a beneficiary reaches a specified age). - Steve

In this country, that would be called a Trust. The gift would remain within a trust created by the testator or their will, and under the control of a Trustee whose job is to administer the trust as specified by the testator.

114

the watchtower is starting to crumble

by pepperheart in

for the december monthly broadcast instead of jws from around the world waving to you and items of how to shun people we will have to make do with repeats of of old gilead videos that have been on the jw website for a good while.

Incognito

Too bad everyone here is in disagreement. Dammit! Can't we all get along?

But unlike the Kingdom Hall, we can have a discussion, express our personal opinions which are often not always the same, agree to disagree, and yet, we usually can still 'get along'.

29

Will The Watchtower Ever Give Up Mandatory Shunning Of DF'd Members?

by Brokeback Watchtower in

i think the wt will never give up this practice unless forced to by the courts, even if they are financially failing terribly they will keep it because the moment they do get rid of it the whole thing will collapse even faster and they know it(or afraid of it happening).

they have painted themselves into a corner of financial ruin.

.

Incognito

I agree that elimination of DF'ing is not likely to happen.

Even if specific wording us not used, WT have a long history of saying things without actually stating so verbally, and even less so in print. Any JW that has been a JW for a length of time, fully understand WT's indirect statements.

While there are some JWs that don't want to shun that will look for any technical reasons not to shun those they don't wish to, there are many other JWs who will shun anyone, including their own family members, based on nothing more than hearsay.

114

the watchtower is starting to crumble

by pepperheart in

for the december monthly broadcast instead of jws from around the world waving to you and items of how to shun people we will have to make do with repeats of of old gilead videos that have been on the jw website for a good while.

Incognito

with no threat of shunning id be free to speak my mind on the shit.

Unfortunately, shunning does not always need to be dictated for it to occur. People can shun as a matter of choice, even if not 'required' by WT.

Not only does WT have a history of saying things without directly saying it, people also take exception when something they don't like is said about something they hold dear or wish to believe in, whether those beliefs are justified and valid or not.