i thought it might be interesting and fun to have a "predictions thread", where we set out our predictions for events to unfold concerning the watch tower society (or jehovah's witnesses in general) over the coming years/decades.. it strikes me that so much has happened in the last ten years, most of which has defied expectations.
here's just a few of the developments that i can think of:.
the abolishment of group book studies in favor of a "family worship evening"the creation of a "study edition" watchtowerthe halving of monthly magazine printing commitmentsthe unprecedented closure/merging of branches (16% reduction in branches last year)the menlo park scandal, a body of elders removed for resisting a refurb of their kingdom hallthe lawsuits in victoria, australia - the society taken to court concerning child protection lawscourtroom admissions about the faithful & discreet slave and similarities with the catholic churchincreased hate speech against "mentally diseased" apostatesastonishing lapses of judgment, such as the "selma and steve" study articlethe ditching of gilead as a school for missionariesambitious construction plans for a new world hq (with or without jehovah's blessing!
I predict that the WT will destroy all records containing references to paedophile behaviour and will explain to the Elders as theocratic warfare. No records will be maintained thereafter so that no-one can prove a confession was made.
In the meantime they will modify their rules and will get new light regarding the two witness rule such that only the witness of a single man will be required.
The WT will modify its structure to move assets further from the reaches of the courts.
on a lighter note, several of us were talking about a family that had moved into our congregation and that the wife was a 4th generation dub.. i made the comment that i used to refer to myself as a 3rd generation dub but i can't do that anymore since my life over-lapped with my grandparents so i am really a 1st generation dub.. it was funny to see the strange look on several of their faces.
one even said, "wow, i have to think about that.
" another said, "well, i never really looked at it that way.".
Awesome :D
i've been giving some thought to the recent development in which the judge has ruled that the society is barred from completing any property transactions until the appeal is over, which could take up to two years or even more.. i've submitted an article to randy at freeminds in which i basically argue that it is no longer in the society's interests to appeal this case.
if i correctly understand the restrictions placed on the society by the judge, then the governing body has far more to lose by appealing than they could conceivably gain.. think about it.... by appealing, they buy themselves time in which to formulate a long-term strategy for dealing with the fallout of this case, but will be barred from liquidating $1 billion in property assets at a time of global economic uncertainty when their donations are dwindling.
there is also no guarantee that their appeal will be upheld.by dropping their appeal, they take a hit and pay $23.8 million but retain the freedom to see through their real estate projects; retain their financial flexibility to respond to dwindling donations, and get to pretend to their followers (as with the un scandal) that it never happened.of course, i am only saying that dropping the appeal would be the only intelligent option for the society, assuming they are aware of how legally precarious their child abuse policies are.
Is it all their assets or just the Brooklyn ones?
If they are really smart they will appeal to the congregations and institute tithing..
i've been giving some thought to the recent development in which the judge has ruled that the society is barred from completing any property transactions until the appeal is over, which could take up to two years or even more.. i've submitted an article to randy at freeminds in which i basically argue that it is no longer in the society's interests to appeal this case.
if i correctly understand the restrictions placed on the society by the judge, then the governing body has far more to lose by appealing than they could conceivably gain.. think about it.... by appealing, they buy themselves time in which to formulate a long-term strategy for dealing with the fallout of this case, but will be barred from liquidating $1 billion in property assets at a time of global economic uncertainty when their donations are dwindling.
there is also no guarantee that their appeal will be upheld.by dropping their appeal, they take a hit and pay $23.8 million but retain the freedom to see through their real estate projects; retain their financial flexibility to respond to dwindling donations, and get to pretend to their followers (as with the un scandal) that it never happened.of course, i am only saying that dropping the appeal would be the only intelligent option for the society, assuming they are aware of how legally precarious their child abuse policies are.
If they fight it and lose they save face with the congregations - if they give up and pay they lose internal consistency. If the JWs honestly feel that they should not be held accountable as an organisation then they should fight it. If they don't they lose far more than a mere 20 million dollars in my mind.
i was bitterly disappointed that the times only ran a dinky ap article rather than a nyt staff reporting article.
the difference is night and day.
ap articles appear to be cobbled together press releases with no context or history from a neutral source.
Is there a facebook group about this? Seems like it would be good if anyone searching for 'Jehovah's Witnesses' on facebook should be greeted with this group as an option. As long as it was simply an information page for the ongoing trial findings rather than an open group then I can imagine people woul dclick in to see what the news is?
when 'this' means 'that', 'you' means 'someone else' and 'shortly' means 'so far in the future you will be long buried and forgotten'.
"so he groaned deeply with his spirit, and said: 'why does this generation seek a sign?
truly i say, no sign will be given to this generation.
Excellent op.
, don't you want me?
You know I can't believe it when I hear that you won't see me
Don't, don't you want me?
You know I don't believe you when you say that you don't need me
It's much too late to find
You think you've changed your mind
You'd better change it back or we will both be sorry
30 minutes ago i just got off the phone with some important players in this case, and some things were relayed to me concerning a lot of details of the outcome of the last two days of court.
i am passing this on.
cynthia hampton, one of the main players in the candace conti case (and a close friend of 28 years), just informed me of a further, far more powerful move by the state of california against the watch tower bible and tract society of new york, inc.. by order of the superior court of the state of california - county of alameda (see documents below), until the watch tower's appeal, which won't begin until august 13th and will take up to two years to settle due to due process of law, has forbidden the watch tower to sell any more of its $1 billion in assets in the borough of brooklyn until the appeals case is finished, to assure they won't shelter their monies in the light of this most huge and devastating sexual abuse scandal ever to hit the watch tower society, and perhaps any other single-victim lawsuit.
Let's hope this is a significant wake up moment for many people. I have a JW friend on Facebook and I want to post this (for my LDS friends and family) but I'm unable to click the buttons....aahhhrrgg social constraint, so alien!
30 minutes ago i just got off the phone with some important players in this case, and some things were relayed to me concerning a lot of details of the outcome of the last two days of court.
i am passing this on.
cynthia hampton, one of the main players in the candace conti case (and a close friend of 28 years), just informed me of a further, far more powerful move by the state of california against the watch tower bible and tract society of new york, inc.. by order of the superior court of the state of california - county of alameda (see documents below), until the watch tower's appeal, which won't begin until august 13th and will take up to two years to settle due to due process of law, has forbidden the watch tower to sell any more of its $1 billion in assets in the borough of brooklyn until the appeals case is finished, to assure they won't shelter their monies in the light of this most huge and devastating sexual abuse scandal ever to hit the watch tower society, and perhaps any other single-victim lawsuit.
They will treat this as kindling to their belief that the world will finally turn against them. They will be the happiest they've ever been.
..don't use IE. Chrome ;)
