slimboyfat

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Posts by slimboyfat

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  2910

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  uh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.

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  slimboyfat

  Jeff his sales have plummeted since the scandal broke. Before that his book was often number one in the JW category and it was hovering around 10,000 sales rank overall on .com and .co.uk. That implies a few sales on each site a day, multiplied by 5 years (2017 to 2022). That’s without even considering the hype and bump in sales at the beginning and preorders and so on.

  Take a look at the number of reviews his book has got. You have sold 1,397 books (that’s pretty good by the way) can I ask how many reviews your books have got on Amazon? The point is that only a tiny percentage of buyers bother to leave a review on Amazon as you must know. LE’s book has nearly 600 reviews on Amazon. Do the math. The only ex-JW books that beat that (as far as I know) are Crisis of Conscience with over 800 reviews and Leaving the Witness by Amber Scorah with 900 reviews.

  A very rough estimate of 20,000 copies sold is reasonable. It might be more; I’d be surprised if it was much fewer.
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  32

  Will recent dress-code changes affect the WTS negatively?

  by Wonderment in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in a span of a few months time, we have had many unexpected changes announced by the jw organization.

  some here have expressed the belief that a great number of witnesses will leave the religion.

  in fact, there is a great probability the opposite will be true.. yeah, ancient hardliners will have a hard time assimilating these changes, but the younger generation will likely welcome these changes.

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  slimboyfat

  I am aware of the range of meanings of the word “college”.
  
  The point is that in the UK “going to college” most often implies precisely not going to university but doing a short course at a small institution instead. (“Johnny didn’t make it into university, he’s doing a college course instead.”) So when Watchtower told young British JWs not to go college but that they could do short vocational training instead it sounded like they were saying they should eat apples but not eat fruit. The Watchtower made no effort to acknowledge the confusion this terminology could cause British JWs.
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  54

  If the org. Is being advised by consultants, is a name change in the works?

  by nowwhat? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  let's be honest, there's a stigma to the name jehovah's witness.

  if they are going more mainstream.

  i imagine the first recommendation was a name change.

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  slimboyfat

  If they dropped the name Jehovah altogether I think it could actually be enough to cause some sort of split. Their hierarchical structure strongly inhibits the sectarian tendency to splinter but dropping God’s name might just be enough to do it.

  But what could they come up with that still includes the name Jehovah?

  Christian Witnesses of Jehovah? - Uses the word “Christian” which the NWT says was adopted by divine providence in Acts

  Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses? - They’ve used that a couple of times in the past

  Witnesses of Jah and Jesus? - Greg Stafford might have got there first

  The Way of Jehovah? - Sounds even more culty

  I don’t know. 🤔
• 
  54

  If the org. Is being advised by consultants, is a name change in the works?

  by nowwhat? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  let's be honest, there's a stigma to the name jehovah's witness.

  if they are going more mainstream.

  i imagine the first recommendation was a name change.

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  slimboyfat

  Surely not. For crying out loud.

  But I wouldn’t put it past them.

  Perhaps the only thing likely to stop them is they lack the imagination and creativity to come up with a viable alternative.
• 
  2910

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  uh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.

  1. 
  2. 
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• 

  slimboyfat

  Jeff you make many valid points, but at the end of the day he has sold tens of thousands of copies of his book. How many copies have you sold? So who is in a position to teach who, what here? Not trying to be mean, or a LE defender, but in terms of what he wanted to achieve - money and influence - his book was a roaring success. I’m not disputing it’s a rubbish book. I’m sure it’s complete crap. So are many of the bestsellers: Da Vinci Code, Fifty Shades, many self-help books, misery memoirs, pseudo-history and so on, fail to meet the standards of their genre yet generate huge incomes for authors who couldn’t care less if you, or any other expert, thinks a memoir should be under 400 pages.
• 
  32

  Will recent dress-code changes affect the WTS negatively?

  by Wonderment in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in a span of a few months time, we have had many unexpected changes announced by the jw organization.

  some here have expressed the belief that a great number of witnesses will leave the religion.

  in fact, there is a great probability the opposite will be true.. yeah, ancient hardliners will have a hard time assimilating these changes, but the younger generation will likely welcome these changes.

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  2. 
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  slimboyfat

  What does its etymology matter? It means nothing to a British person. I’d literally never heard the word before. Maybe that’s just me? I guessed what it was from the context but did a google search to make sure.

  Watchtower have highlighted once again that while they can translate their message into a thousand obscure languages, including creoles, for some reason accommodating British English is either not worth the bother or is beyond them.

  Another nontrivial example is the fact that “college” was denounced for English speaking JWs on both sides of the Atlantic despite the term having a somewhat different meaning in the UK compared with the US. Little effort was made from the Watchtower, local elders were left to make sense and mop up the confusion locally.
• 
  32

  Will recent dress-code changes affect the WTS negatively?

  by Wonderment in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in a span of a few months time, we have had many unexpected changes announced by the jw organization.

  some here have expressed the belief that a great number of witnesses will leave the religion.

  in fact, there is a great probability the opposite will be true.. yeah, ancient hardliners will have a hard time assimilating these changes, but the younger generation will likely welcome these changes.

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  2. 
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  slimboyfat

  The new rules allow for people who want to keep dressing the way they’ve always done. Many JWs will choose to do so. I don’t think it should be such a problem from that point of view.
• 
  32

  Will recent dress-code changes affect the WTS negatively?

  by Wonderment in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in a span of a few months time, we have had many unexpected changes announced by the jw organization.

  some here have expressed the belief that a great number of witnesses will leave the religion.

  in fact, there is a great probability the opposite will be true.. yeah, ancient hardliners will have a hard time assimilating these changes, but the younger generation will likely welcome these changes.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  I was at the meeting when they played the Sanderson video. I’d describe the mood as sombre as he outlined the new shunning rules and the new dress code. I don’t know what I expected the reaction to be but it did seem a bit eerie. And can I underline how odd it is to hear Sanderson repeatedly refer to “slacks” as if we in the UK are supposed to know what he’s talking about. Personally I’d never heard the word before this.

  There were no sisters in the KH wearing trousers and all brothers still wore shirt and tie, so far.
• 
  2910

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  uh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  I can’t stand his sanctimonious attitude in his writing as if he’s got everything figured out and he’ll tell you what’s what. This from somebody who treated his family like dirt. I don’t know how anyone can read a whole book of that stuff. 🤮
• 
  2910

  It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars (continued)

  by Simon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  uh oh, looks like the mega thread gave up the ghost, so while i investigate / fix it just continue the discussion here .... it's been a long 9 years lloyd evans / john cedars.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  slimboyfat

  An elder told me that blatant DF offences that 90 days doesn't apply thus you can't just screw around, repent and get reinstated after 90 days.
  Supposedly more direction was given to elders.

  If the new relaxed rules don’t apply to fornication or apostasy, then what’s left? Doesn’t that account for 90%+ of cases?