Posts by sir82

Indeed, "normal" JWs from relatively wealthy countries are in general leaving, and being replaced, and slightly more than replaced, by thousands of new recruits from very poor countries.

Result?

The numbers look decent, but contributions continue to dry up, hence the near constant drumbeat to give more, give more, give more, along with branch closings, less literature than ever before, and congregation consolidations allowing for the sale of Kingdom Halls.

35

10 Year Growth Chart

by HiddenPimo in

here are some visuals to help show what is going on with the jw numbers game.

i am not a numbers guy and there maybe a few errors (info directly from grand total pages on jw.borg).

.

sir82

Interesting - 2015 was a really bad year, then things started improving.

Wasn't 2015 when they started JW Broadcasting?

For all the criticism it (rightfully) gets, it does seem to have at least contributed to the rebound.

Oh, and others have noted dozens if not hundreds of times on other threads - it is probably misleading to contrast "number baptized" vs. "publisher growth". There are many hundreds of thousands of "unbaptized publishers", and probably a significant portion of them never progress to baptism (mainly bored teenaged kids of JWs just counting the days until they can leave).

And even ignoring that, keep in mind that the "deficit" includes people leaving in any form - disfellowshipping, fading, and death.

29

JWs: No Infant Baptism! (just children)

by neat blue dog in

here's a new article that came out:.

do jehovah’s witnesses baptize infants?no.

the bible does not endorse infant baptism.

sir82

I've noticed a trend lately that they announce the age of the youngest one baptized at an assembly, and I've also noticed that the younger the age, the greater excitement in the voice of the speaker and the louder the applause from the audience.

13

Would you be OK with someone removing "Jesus'" name from the New Testament?

by Wonderment in

would it be all-right with you if a translator removes "jesus'" name completely from the new testament and replaces it with a substitute, like "master" throughout?.

sir82

Your question makes no sense.

Every ancient manuscript of the NT - 100% of them - contains Jesus' name, over and over and over to the 100th power over again.

To remove the name "Jesus" would be at best, gross mistranslation, and more properly characterized as textual vandalism.

In contrast, no ancient manuscript - 0% of them - contains the name "Jehovah". They. Just. Do. Not. Exist.

Inserting "Jehovah" into the manuscripts to replace "Lord" or "God" is quite simply, a mistranslation. There is no documentary evidence to support it.

It is a point worth debating to consider whether some ancient manuscripts contained "Jehovah" in places where direct quotations from the Septuagint were made. There is no direct evidence of it, but it is within the realm of possibility.

But that is of course has nothing to do with the absurdity of the OP. The writer is either incredibly stupid or incredibly deceptive - either way not worth any more time.

38

No Need To Preach In Every Country Anymore

by pale.emperor in

speaking to a pimo from my hometown yesterday.

he told me that in the watchtower study (10 nov 2019) regarding “the great tribulation” the elder on the platform said that there’s no need for jws to preach in every country in order to fulfil the prophecy, and therefore the org has already fulfilled that prophecy.

and that there’s nothing else left to wait for now but for “the great tribulation” to come.. gasps of delight came from the audience.. has anyone else heard this?

sir82

what is properly termed “collective punishment” I.e. the punishment of a whole community for the crimes of a few
,or its leaders.

Yes, this is what the WTS uses when pressed about the impossibility of everyone receiving a witness, and the absolute unfairness of God annihilating someone for failing to act on a message they never heard.

I'm pretty sure there was at least one "Questions From Readers" on this back in the 60's or 70's.

It's also what is used to justify the recorded genocide carried out by the Israelites in Canaan. It was entirely "proper" and "loving" to slaughter thousands of infants and babies because their parents were doing "pagan" stuff.

It is of course perfectly nuts, and as noted, exactly what every regime which has engaged in genocide has used.

38

No Need To Preach In Every Country Anymore

by pale.emperor in

speaking to a pimo from my hometown yesterday.

he told me that in the watchtower study (10 nov 2019) regarding “the great tribulation” the elder on the platform said that there’s no need for jws to preach in every country in order to fulfil the prophecy, and therefore the org has already fulfilled that prophecy.

and that there’s nothing else left to wait for now but for “the great tribulation” to come.. gasps of delight came from the audience.. has anyone else heard this?

sir82

Dingbat elder's personal opinion.

He's realized the impossibility of proclaiming a "worldwide witness" (my rough estimate is that at least half of the world's population has never so much even met a JW, much less "received a witness"), so he has taken it upon himself to tell the congregation "here's what Jehovah really means to say".

I suspect he did it to experience the reaction you describe - to hear excited gasps of approval. It feeds his ego, makes him feel important and special for a few minutes.

I'd bet he makes such important proclamations in nearly every part he is assigned.

49

If I was still PIMI, I'd be terrified

by neat blue dog in

just looking at the pictures in tomorrow's wt study makes me think of the nightmares i used to have as a child.

and nowadays the pictures are sometimes more realistic, so for any who are truly mentally in, this has a terrible effect on them and even their life choices.

looking in as a pimo or pomo it seems almost comical that adults would believe in this sci-fi bible fan-fiction, but it's not funny when we remember that all ages of the r&f are being manipulated by the gb by these cheap and evil means.. .

sir82

That "warroom" illustration always kills me.

Like ol' bumblehead Herd is gonna be on the "10 most wanted" list of....well, anyone.

"Red alert! Code zebra alpha foxtrot! The geriatric black guy is heading down to the commissary to get more of his Little Debbie stuffed cookies! Call out the SWAT team!"

Sheesh.

25

JW.org's new miserable picture

by neat blue dog in

in the new article about the international convention in manila, the picture of the crowd is pretty telling.

they look so drained and miserable!.

.

sir82

Love the guy in the black coat in the first picture. Looks like he's about to hock a loogey.

6

Assembly day cleveland ohio Willoughby ass hall

by nowwhat? in

thought i was done going but want to keep family happy.

anway they found away to make the theme about love as dry and monotone as a corporate board room meeting.

932 attendance.

sir82

There is a fixed amount, $ per publisher, for each person belonging to a congregation assigned to that assembly. Last I remember it was $10 a head.

What most likely happened is that they shuffled the circuit around a bit. Likely there were 1100 - 1300 publishers assigned to that assembly in the past, but now the number assigned is around 800.

Add in kids who are not yet publishers and you get an attendance of 932.

By the way, the $10 (or whatever) per publisher is supposed to be a hush-hush, top-top-top secret. So you didn't hear it from me