I came to that realization as well recently. It's like hitting a brick wall. Now I feel that there is so much that I want to do that I've put off. I get anxious with every day that passes.
tim3l0rd
JoinedPosts by tim3l0rd
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37
On the realization you will not "live forever"
by problemaddict 2 insomething struck me last week.
i have been dealing with what i can only describe as a fear of death.
i'm not old and not in bad health.
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Why don't you do anything?
by WireRider ini'm not jw, so i see this all standing up and very clear from an outsider perspective (i am still seeking my path).
i joined the blog a few weeks ago.
i dated a divorced jw (jw from birth) for a couple of years recently.
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tim3l0rd
If there really are around 35% disgruntled JWs, I'd love to be involved in an organized walk-out. If 1/3 stood up and walked out half-way through the public talk it would make a huge impression. The problem is uniting everyone. Everyone is afraid of being found out and losing family. Even finding those that disagree with the org is hard enough let alone organize a protest that all could agree on/live with. -
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Watchtower Society: something terribly going on - scenarios
by Gorbatchov inif an (aggressive) real estate fund is stopping it's operations directly,.
and if an publishing house is minimize the portfolio,.
and if a member of it's board of directors is telling the costs are higher then the profits,.
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tim3l0rd
James,
Think about all the expenses that the average JW has: gas for field service, providing hospitality for visiting speakers, travel to conventions and assemblies, greasing the palms of COs, working for free on construction projects, etc. Combine this with lower than average income and increasing cost of living and their disposable income is quickly reduced to almost nothing. It's even worse for pioneers and especially pioneer couples.
I know many JWs who feel that they contribute quite a lot to the "work" by all of the above and so contribute very little through direct monetary contributions.
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How many people are there at Bethel?
by bohm inrumor has it 1600 people are going to be re-allocated to the field from bethel (which i assume refers to the brooklyn complex?).
does anyone know how many people will then remain?
i have tried to find figures for the number of employed people but i am coming up with nothing.
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tim3l0rd
I am becoming more and more convinced it might make sense to create some sort of WT-timeline wikipedia which track key stats and events in the WT history for instance sorted as: doctrinal changes, printing statistics and reduction in staff.
^^^^THIS^^^^
I would love to see this!
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What will you do?
by Defianttruth ini've been thinking, "what if it does fail and there is a mass exodus?".
i have been wronged and damaged greatly by these ones.
every one needs to handle this situation in his or her own way, but as for me if it does happen, i will meet them with open arms.
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tim3l0rd
I agree. Matching unkind words and actions for unkind words and actions only perpetuates the bad actions. I will help and assist any who leave regardless as to how they treated me. Kind words and actions, especially in the face of unkindness, always leaves a lasting impression. -
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I'm a coward.
by cappytan insince the move, it has been so enjoyable to not have jw's breathing down our necks asking why we didn't make the meeting, or having to pretend to be "spiritual" in front of family all the time.. 90% of my week is virtually stress free.
then, my mom calls or texts wanting to talk to her grandkids.
every dang call, she asks about the new congregation, if we went to the meeting, etc.. why can't i tell her to fk off?
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tim3l0rd
I understand your predicament to some degree. While I don't feel that my mother is toxic, I dread the conversation about my fade. I've seen it said before, even by those with toxic mothers, that moms, especially for sons, have a special kind of hold on us.
I hope that your mom eventually gets the idea and lessens the pressure. My mom eventually lessened the pressure on my brother when he faded.
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Any thoughts on the real reasons for droppng the 'school"
by sparrowdown inmy thoughts are.
1. they want to avoid being made to comply with any laws that come with anything classed as a "school" especially a school with children enrolled.. 2. the mid-week meeting has been dying in the ass for years and needs a revival.
i predict happy -clappy-sing-a-longs to be included in the program.. anyone else have any thoughts ??
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tim3l0rd
It's mostly a rebranding of the existing meeting. They are still going to have 3 presentations that will be between 3 - 5 minutes each. I'm sure they won't be entirely scripted and the presenters will have to do some research and adaptation. I think they will still be counseled on various points just like they were on the TMS.
Someone over on Reddit said that it was just announced that the BE book has been translated to ASL and will be released soon. I doubt they would translate it, announce it's release, and then shelve it in just a few months.
The most interesting part of the letter to me is the reduction, yet again, of the WT and Awake. I can't see how most JWs can accept that this is how Jehovah would "speed up the work".
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What is going on
by Aleph infirst of all thank you for the nice welcoming messages i received !.
as you know they are reducing bethel families to the minimum, services etc...here s what i heard from 2 different sources (one from africa, one from europe).. - "official" reason given : "end is now, no more time to build, we all need to preach!"..
- all members are invited to go and support where the need is great in the congregations (not necessary their own), missionaries aren t sent back to their counties of origin.. - i have no info regarding huge kh building program...is it still on?
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tim3l0rd
From what I've seen, there is definitely a lack of incoming funds. Many of their members are young teens that have little or no money (only ice cream money), are elderly people living on a fixed income, are pioneers who rely a lot on assistance from others to even meet their own needs, or are living in third world countries where $100 would be a weeks or even a months worth of pay.
I think the lack of incoming funds is the largest reason for the reduction in printing. Even though the labor is free, the cost of materials, electricity, and maintenance (repair parts, etc.) are not. If they were being truthful back in 1990 that $0.25 per WT or Awake just covered the cost of printing, then today (with inflation) each magazine would cost ~$0.46 and each set would be ~$0.92. If each congregation is receiving well over a 150 sets of the public edition and around 100 of each study edition, each congregation is costing the org ~$184/month just for printing the WT & Awake. Add in the books, brochures, and special order items and that number could easily double.
The amount I have seen collected each month seems to fall short of covering those costs. The fact that several letters have been sent to the congregations asking them to reduce their standing orders and that many congregations (mine included) had their orders (even of special order items) automatically reduced seems to indicate that WTS understands that the printing costs are outpacing their donations.
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35
Watchtower Society: something terribly going on - scenarios
by Gorbatchov inif an (aggressive) real estate fund is stopping it's operations directly,.
and if an publishing house is minimize the portfolio,.
and if a member of it's board of directors is telling the costs are higher then the profits,.
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tim3l0rd
No way 1/3 give $100/month, especially to the org. Having assisted with the accounts many times I can say that most give way less than that per month or divide that $100 between local and the org. Even though some of the money going to the local congregation is redirected to the org, a lot of it is spent on local expenses as well (electricity, water, repairs, etc.). Also remember that many of their members are young teens that have little or no money (only ice cream money), are elderly people living on a fixed income, are pioneers who rely a lot on assistance from others to even meet their own needs, or are living in third world countries where $100 would be a weeks or even a months worth of pay.
I think the lack of incoming funds is the largest reason for the reduction in printing. Even though the labor is free, the cost of materials, electricity, and maintenance (repair parts, etc.) are not. If they were being truthful back in 1990 that $0.25 per WT or Awake just covered the cost of printing, then today (with inflation) each magazine would cost ~$0.46 and each set would be ~$0.92. If each congregation is receiving well over a 150 sets of the public edition and around 100 of each study edition, each congregation is costing the org ~$184/month just for printing the WT & Awake. Add in the books, brochures, and special order items and that number could easily double.
The amount I have seen collected each month seems to fall short of covering those costs. The fact that several letters have been sent to the congregations asking them to reduce their standing orders and that many congregations (mine included) had their orders (even of special order items) automatically reduced seems to indicate that WTS understands that the printing costs are outpacing their donations.
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Elder gossip
by Jumongi ini'll try to keep this short.
my experience at the hall is elders not really engaging in friendship building communication with anyone.
the only time they really communicate with you is to counsel you or tell you where you need to make adjustments.
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tim3l0rd
It's also a byproduct of them being kept so busy that they have very little time outside of the meetings, elders meetings, shepherding calls, and prepping for all of the former. Thus they mostly form relationships with the only people they spend a lot of time with, other elders. This leads to a clique and a better-than-the-rest attitude that just serves to distance them from others in the congregation. This is exponentially worse if the elder is also involved with RBC/LDC, assembly coordination, bethel projects, etc.
If they instead focused on the congregation and forming friendships with all in the congregation, then they would push far fewer out of the congregation. The WTS is too arrogant to realize that their current formula is not working. All the better for those of us who are already awake and waiting for our families to join us!