Posts by sir82

28

How many here believe the WTS really has has 8.5 million followers / 8.5. million members

by Hotpepper in

i think it's closer to 5 million with all the selling of kingdom hells and branch bethel's all over the world.

it's even hard to get a hard copy of the lastest craptower or afake mag now in new york city..

sir82

The numbers don’t add up where I live.

The 8.5 million is the global number.

I don't see how you can determine whether there is still growth in Brazil, Botswana, or Bolivia because attendance is down at the 3 or 4 Kingdom Halls you are familiar with in your small corner of Canada.

The WTS is scrupulous with their numbers. There are definitely 8.5 million persons who "turn in a time report" every month, which is what the number represents.

How many of them "really" believe it? How many of them are engaged in "secret wrongdoing" that would get them disfellowshiped if exposed? How many are trapped and just going along because they don't want to lose family, friends, business contacts, or pretty much the only way of life they have ever known?

Those are different questions, of course. "True believing" JWs are certainly much less than 8.5 million, but there is no accurate way to measure what that number would be.

But 8.5 million "turning in a field service report"? Certainly true.

31

Watch Tower's Popularity

by dydeonwl in

watchtower has been named as world's most published and circulated magazine in us.

amazing.

source:.

sir82

Watchtower has been named as world's most published and circulated magazine in US.

In an odd and easily overlooked footnote, the Watchtower was also named "the magazine most likely to be accumulated in stacks of several hundred in the back of a JW's closet" and "the magazine most likely to be pitched into a dumpster within seconds of being passed on from a JW to a non-JW".

24

Will God resurrect our beloved pets? What do you think?

by Pallbearer in

the watchtower doesn't hold out any hope for us ever seeing our beloved animals again.

i find it very difficult to believe that god -- a god of love -- would refuse to resurrect an animal that we had become so attached to.

over the years i have bonded with no less than four (4) dogs, all of which were/are like family to me.

sir82

Resurrecting animals?

Don't know about you, but I think I wouldn't want to live on a planet or 40 or 50 quadrillion resurrected cockroaches....

15

Australian Bethel propose building a media complex

by Listener in

there's a post on exjw reddit stating that the ibsa are planning on building a media operation at the sydney bethel.. the estimated cost is $10 million aud and this in spite of the fact that they still have not joined the redress scheme or attempted in any monetary way of assisting abused victims within the organization.. the link below includes detailed plans.

they will be converting part of the current printery into a media complex.. they also propose to build a theme park in the form of a historical biblical site, including a man made mound and what one person suggests is a temple.. its not surprising that a bunch of old men in new york has dreamed all of this up - film sets in new york, england and now australia.

they are bonkers but it's a novel way of getting money from their followers.. https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/ernz3y/new_media_centre_at_the_australian_sydney_bethel/.compact.

sir82

If the Society really believed Armageddon was imminent they would be bunkering down
( no pun intended ) and simplifying things , just as they are always telling the rank & file to do.

They've said more than once in their broadcasts that they expect all their buildings to "survive Armageddon".

8

Proof for 1914

by Vanderhoven7 in

i'm not sure who wrote the following article, but it bears repeating: (please take the credit if it was you.).

solid proof for 1914.

"as evidence of their falsehoods, look at the timing for armageddon.

sir82

You can prove it with pyramidology.

Pyramid inches! Another good WTS ret-con to make sure that their deduction of "1914" was correct.

Just think - if Princip would have missed his shot and the war hadn't started until, say, 1916, we'd all be talking about how "Babylon conquered Jersualem in 605 BCE".

38

Flood over everest

by road to nowhere in

meeting part comment on how the flood covered everest.

that is even more ignorant than mountains being pushed up and eroding in a few thousand years.

and it wasnt cold either.. i should have commented on the bristlecone in the awake that survived the flood.

sir82

The WTS could get around 90% of the impossibilities and logical absurdities of the flood being a literal [100% of the earth's surface underwater for a period of a year] thing, if they just took the tack that it was a large but localized event, and that the "world" referred to in Genesis carries the same meaning as what they teach about Colossians 1:23 - the expression "all creation under heaven" means merely the "known world".

But they've dug their heels into Biblical literalism for so long they just simply can't bring themselves to do that.

14

Ever notice no pictures of any JW get togeathers?

by JimmyYoung in

i remember when i was a kid in the early 70s that we always had a baseball game or picnic where they would get together and bring a dish to pass.

every summer there was one or more.

we had canoe picnic parties and camp fires ect.

sir82

get a pair together alone and they'll be humping for sure....

Oh lord don't get me started....

Once, a lifetime or 2 ago, I was slated to lead Sunday morning field service (meeting was in the afternoon). Just one other sister showed up - 20 years older than me, not particularly attractive, and definitely a bit "off" upstairs. The point being, she didn't have to worry.

But, she insisted on driving...separate....cars. In field service. To make return visits.

'Cause, you know, 2 people of the opposite sex in a car, any car, any circumstances, and humping will inevitably occur, just as sure as the sun sets in the west.

So, yeah, we spent the whole morning following one another in our own cars. She's follow me to my return visit, I'd follow here to hers, and so on.

39

Only One Destiny for All Christians

by cofty in

the following is an extract from an article i wrote when i left the watchtower 25 years ago.

it may be helpful in reasoning with a jw about the anointed/great crowd distinction.. --------------------------------.

to divide people into those with a heavenly hope and those with an earthly one is not a biblical concept.

sir82

Wait, wait, wait - we're having an argument about whether Jesus took a dump?

Holy $#!+.

14

Ever notice no pictures of any JW get togeathers?

by JimmyYoung in

i remember when i was a kid in the early 70s that we always had a baseball game or picnic where they would get together and bring a dish to pass.

every summer there was one or more.

we had canoe picnic parties and camp fires ect.

sir82

There are occasional photos of small groups gathered together - invariably, there are bowls of fruit and/or glasses of orange juice available, and a JW is playing his guitar, and the JWs are singing Kingdom "Melodies". There are never more than 8 or 10 JWs at a time in these illustrations though - the clear implication is that anything more than 2 or 3 families is a "large gathering" and as the GB likes to emphasize, "large gatherings" will inevitably lead to drunkenness, debauchery, fornication, cats and dogs, living together, etc.

182

Major congregational quake in Southern California

by Hecce in

this notice is not official yet and it should be confidential until released thru the proper channels.

a friend of mine told me about a huge elders meeting in southern california.

the subject was the relocation and dissolution of some congregations; it seems that this is the result of some project that has been going on for some time and is going to be implemented right now.. please let me know if this is happening all over the country?.

sir82

Many of the brothers affected by the changes are very unhappy, most of them are just
complying against their will, a few are adamant and will be going to the Congregation of
their choice. The elderly are the ones mostly affected by this situation.

Just as I predicted, in various earlier pages of this thread.