Strange. The two JW funeral services I went to in the last couple of years were quite balanced. They had a range of people getting up and giving experiences about the persons life, including one or two non-JW relatives, but there was also some preachy stuff. The focus was on the person with some stuff about the resurrection, etc, thrown it, because that was what the person believed and would have wanted everyone to hear. The preachy stuff certainly wasn't the main part of it. Seemed fair enough.
Maybe it varies from region to region.
Sorry to hear about your bad experience.
yaddayadda
JoinedPosts by yaddayadda
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30
Attended Memorial Service, disgusted...
by Wasanelder Once inout of loyalty to a friend that died i went to his memorial service today.
get this, in 30 minutes of service his name was said 3 times.
three times.
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yaddayadda
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Paris Hilton headed to prison
by Elsewhere ini wonder if she will do a "simple life - prison style"... of course it will be one of those "women in prison" movies that are shown on late night cable.
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(not that i would know anything about such movies .
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yaddayadda
Serves the tart right!
She's nothing but a snooty, spoilt, super-rich brat. The media is absolutely obsessed with this stupid tart. What on earth has she ever done to deserve all this attention besides being Mr Hilton's brat daughter! Makes me sick. -
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ALERT: All Child Abuse Lawsuits have been settled. Millions cashed out???
by What-A-Coincidence inre: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/8/116108/1.ashx.
a bethel insider in the know told me that all of the child abuse lawsuits where the watchtower bible and tract society was one of the defendants were settled back in the beginning of this year.
i questioned it and called napa myself and they were absolutely settled back then.
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yaddayadda
So how come the Catholic Church has been dragged over the coals in the media numerous times over this issue but the Watchtower Society gets off scott-free? Surely the Vatican has been prepared to settle just like the WTS has?
I'm amazed that none of the claimants declined to settle so they could see the Watchtower Soc hauled through the courts and suffer public humiliation. Obviously they had a very good claim for the Society to offer to settle. Why has it just boiled down to money for these claimants? Why weren't they anxious to see the Watchtower Society brought to their knees on this so they are forced to change their policy? Don't they care about all the other victims out there, past, present, and future?
Something smells fishy about this whole thing. -
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Plucking rafters from thine eye...
by Crumpet inokay anyone got a cure for styes - i'm not sure it is a stye - just my eye is twitching and its really annoying.
anyway i can stop it short of pegging my eyelid?
i am not going to america with a twitch - you'll think all us english folks have that problem.. .
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yaddayadda
A badly twitching eyelid is a sign of a significant calcium deficiency. Try an organic, bioavailable source of calcium, such as unsulphured blackstrap molasses, coral calcium, etc.
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upcoming convention titles
by MR. BORN AGAIN incan someone please let me know what the upcoming convention titles are?
i think that someone posted them in the past.
i just want to know so that i will have somewhat of an up and up after my family members are full on all the wt spiritual food?
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yaddayadda
Here are a few talks to be given at this year's DCs:
Do Not Follow False Teachers
Do Not Follow False Stories
Keep Following The Lamb Wherever He Goes
My Sheep Listen To My Voice ... and They Follow Me
Help Them Return To The Flock -
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NEARLY HALF-WAY INTO 2007, AND THE END THAT WAS TO OCCUR WITHIN THE 20TH
by nvrgnbk incentury is no where in sight!.
what the hell happened?.
nvrgnbk.
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yaddayadda
Oh didn't you hear it was a misprint. They meant the 21st century! Do more til 2094!
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anyone seen the new Spider Man movie?
by veradico inthe movie is full of action, gymnastic feats of superhuman dexterity and strength, humor, interesting characters, etc.
all one could ask from a comic turned into a movie.
the ending will leave one with a bad impression.
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What is driving change at WTS? What is the GB? Has it failed the flock?
by yaddayadda ini have been wondering a lot about this lately.
what drives changes to policy and interpretations?
what processes are in place, if any?
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yaddayadda
All those persons who attend the memorial but don't commit to the organisation, what is holding them back? Most of them don't commit because they don't want all the pressure and responsibility that goes with being a JW, such as the pressure to attend all the meetings, the pressure to go door-to-door and report your time, the pressure to join the TMS and give talks, and because they are bugged by certain fanatical policies and teachings, such as shunning, no birthdays/Christmas, etc.
The Society is sitting on a goldmine with all these memorial attendees who are just sitting on the fence. It's been this way for years and years. Millions of persons who attend the memorial each year (and a few other meetings) but won't do anything else. They are attracted to the JW message but don't want to commit for the reasons mentioned above (because they are not stupid enough too).
All the Society needs to do is remove/amend the distasteful policies and teachings that are keeping these people away. Make it easier for them to join. It's their best immediate strategy.
They need to innovate. They have nearly exhausted the scale of their market - They are in every country in the world yet publisher growth is now definitely slowing down, being only a few years away (10-15 at the most) from going into the red. Their strategy must now be on the products (scope), no longer on the scale. They have to improve the recipe and rebrand some products to make them more palatable.
The GB - as nothing more than a religionised Board of Directors dominated by legal, financial, managerial considerations rather than genuine, humble concern for alignment with scriptural truth above all else - will show its true colours very soon and start compromising on its fanatical, hardline policies and teachings. It HAS to in order to meet its prime goals: money, publisher stats, growth - all remaining in the black. -
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Can you be HALF a witness?
by RollerDave ini have an ex (my 1st), who is still a true believer in spite of her penchant for smoking, drinking, sleeping around and whooping it up with the lowest of lowlifes she can find.. (yes, moxie, i know you are reading this.
you're a beeyatch and claim to be proud of it, so stop smirking and sign up if you want to refute the above!).
she is one of those people who accept it as "the truth" mostly from the outside even though such acceptance means they better put butter and jelly in their pockets 'cuz they're gonna be toast in the big a.. she has a plan tho, she intends to 'get in' by pretending to comply long enough to get baptized, but still do pretty much as she pleases!.
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yaddayadda
She may get away with it for a while, but not for long. JW's are great at two things: gossiping and judging. They have an uncanny knack for sniffing out double-lifers in the congregation and treating them coldly. They live for dirty laundry.
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What is driving change at WTS? What is the GB? Has it failed the flock?
by yaddayadda ini have been wondering a lot about this lately.
what drives changes to policy and interpretations?
what processes are in place, if any?
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yaddayadda
I think you are right Mary. But I would also add a prime goal is to keep publisher numbers increasing, no matter how small the annual percentage. Those are the dominant motivating forces behind the GB's actions. It is all about control and money and statistical growth rather than being 100% concerned about teaching pure scriptural truth. So their vision, their mission statement and overriding objectives, are flawed, corrupted, right from the off.
The problem is that the money is drying up. All indications are that they are running into cashflow problems and are desperately rationalising in order to cut costs (laying off Bethel workers, cutting back magazine production, selling Brooklyn properties).
So why is the money drying up? Because the 'consumers' are much more savvy about the 'product' they are buying into. People get onto the internet and check out what they are 'buying' into. The internet exposes many of the 'products' (teachings and policies) to be way past their use by date. They are stale, defective, out-of-date. So the once loyal consumer turns away and the prospective new consumer never buys in. Hence the statistical/publisher growth is slowly drying up.
What to do about this? Easy. Simply get rid of the rubbish products that are turning away the consumers! Dump them from the product line. Dump the shunning, dump the blood policy, dump the fanatical prohibition on birthdays, etc, etc. Scrap them or drastically overhaul them.
Problem! Dumping all these crap 'products' creates a dilemma, a conflict: the GB lose some control.
So the GB's objectives, money and control and publisher growth, are in conflict with each other. In order to keep all their control they cannot afford to dump any teachings (products), however, unless they do so then the money and consumers will shrivel up. It is clearly happening; the trend is there for all to see.
The GB must surely be aware that their prime objectives are in serious conflict. They can no longer enjoy all three - money, control, and growth. Something has to give.
If the rumour is true that some GB members recently called for a change to the shunning policy then this is very telling in terms of what the future strategy of the GB will be:- change the product mix. Dump or drastically re-invent some dodgy teachings (the defective, out-of-date products) that are ruining the Company brand, or new customers will continue to dry up and the existing, loyal customers will leave in greater droves. It's simply good business sense, and that's what the GB is all about: good business.
Strategic prediction: expect a lot of 'new light' (revamped products) to be coming out in the next few years.