Posts by steve2

98

Awake Moving To Monthly Publishing

by Valis in

i just recieved this note from one of our faithful and discreet slaves... keep an eye out for the march 2005 km.

word is that the awake will only be published once a month starting in january 2006.. sincerely,.

district overbeer.

steve2

Armstrong's magazine was called "The Plain Truth". Notice how every idea that is in doubt seems to call itself "the truth".
Anyway, after he retired, his son took over, and thereafter fell victim to numerous scandals of the sexual and financial nature. The organization has since gone mainstream, eliminating most of the goofy doctrines foisted upon them old Herbert W. (whose teachings interestingly mirrored the Society's very closely). They have now lost around 85% of their members, but are a fairly normal Christian group. If they can survive in the short term, they will be OK for a long time.

hey thanks running man. How could I forget that amusingly overly-emphatic magazine (crammed as it was with italicised important points and dogmatic assertions)?

I notice that being "true" to a fundamentalist end-times doctrine and remaining "on the scene" as an organised religion are two totally different things. I dare say that the watchtower will definitely keep going in one form or another, but whether it remains as crankily anti-world is another story altogether.

I agreed with Justickledpink: In Westernised countries so much information is so readily available and education levels are generally higher than elsewhere. Any religion's "cranky" and "irritable" claims can so easily be challenged. steve2

98

Awake Moving To Monthly Publishing

by Valis in

i just recieved this note from one of our faithful and discreet slaves... keep an eye out for the march 2005 km.

word is that the awake will only be published once a month starting in january 2006.. sincerely,.

district overbeer.

steve2

You have to be freakin Brilliant to pull that one off. The best we can do is continue to expose them to people looking to join and help ease the dissillusioned in their ranks. They aren't going away any time soon.

I have another view of this: History is replete with dooms-day religions that have pretty much adapted to the uncomfortable fact that the end still hasn't come. Look at the various Adventists groups and the Mormons who, in the early stages were singularly focused on end-times teachings.

In more recent times, there was an organisation called the Worldwide Church of God that had a vast printing empire. I can't remember the name of the magazine they used to send - often unsolicited - through the post. They claimed there print run was in the millions. The founder was someone by the name of Armstrong. He was a very emphatic man who made a lot of confident predictions about when the end of the world would come. Like the Witnesses, with whom he shared many similar beliefs, his heyday was the 1970s. Since his death, his empire just folded.

I wouldn't be surprised if, despite the JWs longevity, the organisation loses steam quite quickly. There's no rule that says because a group was tenacious and persistent in the past, it will take longer to fade away. The tenacity and persistence may have been common feature in decades past, but anyone who has rubbed shoulders with the current breed of JWs will be less easily convinced that they have what it takes to persist in the face of a world that refuses to end.

13

Name the cuts the WTS has made in the last decade to save $$$

by Winston Smith :>D in

.

in light of the well placed speculation of the awake going from bi-monthly to monthly publication, all arrows seem to point to the wts attempting to consolidate their operations to save $.. as metatron has stated, it looks like a death spiral for the wts.

maybe that's overstating it, or maybe it's closer to the truth.. here are some items i can think of that the wts has done in the last 10 years to save $no more subscriptionselimination of food service at assemblies and conventionshardcover 192 page books moved to softcoverprinting more items [name badges, dc programs, etc..] in two color instead of 4 color processselling the furman building in brooklyn heights.

steve2

Didn't the WT branch office or printery in India down-size or shift operations? I read this somewhere recently but can't remember where. Any corroboration of this?

14

end of time

by sugarbritches in

jw
friends

hi although none us know- how many of you think that we are really living in the last days as the jw's and many other religions believe?sugarbritches

steve2

I recently saw a documentary on Pompeii. In the aftermath of the eruption and massive human toll, the populace expected the whole world to end.

Also, in the 14th Century during the Black Plague, end-of-the-world rhetoric predominated.

Didn't Charles Russell originally believe that the French Revolution signalled the beginning of the time of the end?

I believe that the reason Winston Churchill believed so strongly that World War 1 was the most significant world event ever was because it marked the zenith of his own military power and involvement.

When we're up so close to world events, we can become very convinced that this time it's really the end. I've had a lifetime of JWs crying "Wolf!" every time a big event unfolds.

They've only got themselves to blame that they mostly get an apathetic response nowadays, and from the rank and file as well.

steve2

14

end of time

by sugarbritches in

jw
friends

hi although none us know- how many of you think that we are really living in the last days as the jw's and many other religions believe?sugarbritches

steve2

I recently saw a documentary on Pompeii. In the aftermath of the eruption and massive human toll, the populace expected the whole world to end.

Also, in the 14th Century during the Black Plague, end-of-the-world rhetoric predominated.

Didn't Charles Russell originally believe that the French Revolution signalled the beginning of the time of the end?

I believe that the reason Winston Churchill believed so strongly that World War 1 was the most significant world event ever was because it marked the zenith of his own military power and involvement.

When we're up so close to world events, we can become very convinced that this time it's really the end. I've had a lifetime of JWs crying "Wolf!" every time a big event unfolds.

They've only got themselves to blame that they mostly get an apathetic response nowadays, and from the rank and file as well.

steve2

98

Awake Moving To Monthly Publishing

by Valis in

i just recieved this note from one of our faithful and discreet slaves... keep an eye out for the march 2005 km.

word is that the awake will only be published once a month starting in january 2006.. sincerely,.

district overbeer.

steve2

Gosh! What unkind people you are. Here we are facing the prospect of a significantly reduced frequency of receiving the wonderfully upbuilding Awake! magazine, and not one of you has mentioned one single word about the neccesity to acknowledge the very real feelings of loss and grief we must all be experiencing as we contemplate this terrible change.

There are roughly four stages of grief and I'm just too caught up in the first stage (shock and numbness) to continue this post. You must excuse me...I feel myself about to pass into the second stage: anger over this significant loss. I'm so angry that the lovely magazine will only be half what it used to be.

98

Awake Moving To Monthly Publishing

by Valis in

i just recieved this note from one of our faithful and discreet slaves... keep an eye out for the march 2005 km.

word is that the awake will only be published once a month starting in january 2006.. sincerely,.

district overbeer.

steve2

Will subscribers either get their money back or be offered extended subscriptions?

31

fear tactics

by sugarbritches in

jw
friends

hi- as a jw- what were most afraid of?-- sugarbritches

steve2

Commiting the unforgivable sin. Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and Again ,masturbation somehow comes to mind, or for those concerned with political correctness,...self abuse!

Hey that's me circa 1966-1981! A pure ongoing living hell. I was convinced that I had committed the unforgivable sin and that I could not access Jehovah in prayer. I was so tormented and the brothers were so completely out of their depth in trying to help me with my ego-dystonic homosexuality. In fact, their comments often made matters worse.

I lived in absolute fear that the great tribulation would strike because I had homosexual desires (which, Jehovah knows, I tried to stamp out) and could not stop masturbating (I later learned that there is a connection between anxiety states and seeking comfort through sex - if only someone had understood).

I tried to prove I was normal and okay by pioneering. Looking back I have such compassion for the young tormented man I was. I'm so pleased I got out alive and was not among the six or so young local JWs who killed themselves over the years! steve2

33

What JW belief do you think is correct?

by JH in

jw
friends

.

what biblical belief do you think they have correct compared to other religions?

steve2

All said though - the bible is crap, the watchtower is crap, everything the Watchtower Society has ever said is crap - grow up you loosers saying otherwise - you don't need any of it

Phew! Such dogmatism and finality! Sounds very much like old Judge Rutherford's style: He made such emphatic pronouncements that left little, if any, room for alternative views. steve2

33

What JW belief do you think is correct?

by JH in

jw
friends

.

what biblical belief do you think they have correct compared to other religions?

steve2

The belief that we shouldn't knock on peoples doors before 9:30 am.

Or after as well - just to be safe?