Posts by dozy

16

Article: HOLY SMOKE: LONDON SITE OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESS HQ TO BE MOVIE STUDIOS

by AndersonsInfo in

jw
friends

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/london-site-jehovahs-witness-hq-movie-studios-netflix-b947841.html.

evening standard, july 26, 2021. london.

holy smoke: london site of jehovah’s witness hq to be movie studios.by .

dozy

So they simply sold the Office block and a bit of the surrounding Land for 50 Mill ? I presume the rest of the Site was sold to a developer for more ?

Yes - the Society divided up the main Bethel sale into 3 lots - IBSA House ( small factory & large offices ) , Watchtower House ( main factory , smaller offices & residential ) & Millhill Kingdom Hall.

Watchtower House ( the former "Bittacy Hill" factory conversion ) was sold to another property company ( link below ) - price unknown.

The onsite MillHill congregation Kingdom Hall there is now under offer ( see below ). It was marketed as a "conference centre" ( the main asset there is the land - there is a big field there , but the Society were unable to get planning permission as it is "Green Belt" land with restricted development ).

Most of the numerous flats and houses the Society owned in the vicinity and used mainly for accommodation for Bethel "heavies" have been sold now. All told - I would guess the Society have raised around £200 GBP million with zero capital gains tax liability for the whole property portfolio which considering it was built with ( effectively ) slave labour is a huge gain. Doubtless they will do the same with the new Bethel in Chelmsford in 15-20 years time and rinse & repeat....

Links...

https://ibsaproperty.com/properties/watchtower-house/

https://ibsaproperty.com/properties/conf-centre-and-open-field/

https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/ibsa_house_report.pdf

19

Gee-hovah does this and Geehovah does that for me!

by Overrated in

jw
friends

did you ever had a over zealous brother/sister with tales that where even told from the platform on how gee-hovah did things for this person at nausea.

just made you sick.

an insult to one's intelligence.

dozy

I remember a self righteous JW family in our congregation were like that - everything was "how wonderful Jehovah is helping me" - even in trivial things. The types to boast about it in assembly experiences etc - how Jehovah they miraculously found them a flat or job etc or directed them to knock on someone's door who became a study. Even some of the somewhat similar JWs in the congregation got a little annoyed.

Then the father had a horrific quad bike accident which left him completely paralyzed. I often wondered how they could reconcile Jehovah seemingly micromanaging them and helping them in really minor things yet he passed on that one.

16

Article: HOLY SMOKE: LONDON SITE OF JEHOVAH’S WITNESS HQ TO BE MOVIE STUDIOS

by AndersonsInfo in

jw
friends

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/london-site-jehovahs-witness-hq-movie-studios-netflix-b947841.html.

evening standard, july 26, 2021. london.

holy smoke: london site of jehovah’s witness hq to be movie studios.by .

dozy

I wonder how much they sold it for and what will happen to the money?

LDN Investments bought it for £50 million a couple of years ago - I assume they leased it to Purpose ( who in turn are leasing it out to Sky , Netflix etc ). This was well above the asking price ( which I think was guide price 35M - 40M ) and I know that the Society were really pleased with the proceeds for what frankly is basically a really dreary large office block.

Ironically - probably it would go for £70 million plus now - property prices outside central London are rocketing as post covid people are decamping to the green belt & Mill-Hill is changing from a dull but worthy suburb to becoming a really trendy place with a kind of "Notting Hill" vibe.

The sale presumably is in the 2020 accounts which lists total property sales as 70 million GBP ( which would square with the proceeds of IBSA House & other sales. ) The money presumably is being used to bankroll the Chelmsford development - the Watchtower Society is basically a tax exempt real estate development & trading company masquerading as a religious sect these days.

Links:

http://www.ldninvestments.com/properties/mill-hill-3/

https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-search/-/charity-details/216647/charity-overview

7

Do the WT lawyers now dictate what the GB now do and say ?

by smiddy3 in

after all that has been happening these past years and changes that have been made on many fronts in the religion ,beliefs ,practices ,policies child abuse ,shunning ,etc, and different countries now taking a closer look at the religion ,i just wonder if the lawyers are now pulling the strings on how the organization functions and operates.. what are your thoughts about this ?.

dozy

I always used to think the lawyers and accountants ran the Society but I think things have changed in recent years. I think Pistolpete ^^^ nailed it. If you just listen to David Splane's current convention talk , the lawyers must be cringing. There is no way that this has been cleared with the lawyers beforehand and some of his comments will be used against the Society in the future in child abuse and similar cases.

I'm guessing the current lawyers are as sycophantic as most of the Bethelies and don't have the input or influence ( especially with the more prominent , arrogant GB members like Jackson & Morris ) that they had before with older and perhaps wiser GB members. The lunatics really are running the asylum - and that is worrying.

6

2021-June Announcement--Lapel Cards--Notebook--Ramapo Documents!

by Atlantis in

jw
friends

a variety of stuff for those interested.. english--announcement june 4, 2021. spanish--announcement june 4, 2021.

english--powerful by faith convention lapel card.

spanish--powerful by faith convention lapel card.

dozy

So are the Societies instructions that you expected to sit there as a family in your living room dressed in your Sunday best clothes and pin on a lapel card to watch the pre-recorded segments on your TV on JW broadcasting? Like - huh?

156

Remembering Rutherford

by Sea Breeze in

he seems to me to be the angriest and most ill-tempered of all the wt presidents, especially after his stint in prison and failed prophecies.. “regarding his misguided statements as to what we could expect in 1925, he [rutherford] once confessed to us at bethel, “i made an ass of myself.”” watchtower 1984 oct 1 p.24.

rutherford died at beth sarim on january 8, 1942, at the age of 72.

[220] cause of death was...carcinoma of the rectum..."[21] .

dozy

I always found it interesting that Rutherford did not participate in the required ministry. His excuse was he was too busy running Watchtower business. Do as I say and not as I do. - Rutherford

Rutherford is no different to most higher-ups in the Org. It's actually quite surprising how little ( if any ) actual door knocking is done by the prominent ones in the Society. Ray Franz mentions in his books that most of the GB and other higher-ups did very little actual ministry.

I worked in London Bethel for a while and was struck by how little ministry was actually done by anyone - they were supposed to go out on Sunday but very few bothered ( in fairness , most of them were pretty depressed and knackered - back then it was 5 1/2 long days a week , getting up at 6am - much of the work very boring and mundane ( such as cleaning or working in the printing press or laundry ).

Where I lived there was a house where Bethelites used to stay almost every week on vacation ( a JW living abroad had it as a holiday home & allowed free accommodation for Bethelites ) and they very , very rarely even did a token hour of ministry all week ( or 2 weeks ) they were there. Many times they didn't even turn up at a single meeting even though the Kingdom Hall was five minutes drive away ( my wife was a keyholder and we would often clean the house so we knew when people were staying ).

58

Has anyone still in or otherwise heard anything about JWs think we only have 12 months before Armageddon?

by blablabluh in

i’ve noticed a change in family attitude recently, like there is just something extra on their mind.

i even had to call my brother to check if he was dying and too scared to tell me.

anyway, i saw a video last night my saying jws think we only have 12 months left before armageddon so thought maybe this is the reason for changes attitude.

dozy

I remember years ago on the ministry one old householder telling me a JW had knocked on his door and assured him that Armageddon was coming within a couple of years "100% sure". He remembered the year of the visit clearly because England had just won the soccer World Cup (1966) .

It's just a simple marketing trick really ( just like the never ending sale at your local carpet warehouse - "must end soon" ) - but it is amazing how the Society are able to sustain it to the rank and file while at the same time making long term building plans.

12

Watchower and BMG agreed confidential settlement ?

by keinlezard in

i just read that watchtower pennsylvania and bmg music ave agreed to a confidential settlement .

about "listen,obey and be blessed" by aled jones ?

anybody have more information ?

dozy

It's not exactly a Platinum selling album - the type the gas stations take out of storage every Christmas, dust down and throw in the 99p "special offer" clearance box every year. A couple of bottles of Macallan for Tony's cellar should suffice. To be honest , the Society should be paying Aled's record company. Any wordly "artist" ( I'm using the term somewhat generously! ) singing one of the Societies ghastly saccharine coated songs should be paid to do so.

12

Birthdays

by Mufasa in

i have an honest question, so i hope someone will explain this to me to the best of their ability.

i'm fascinated with learning about religion!

and i've been looking for a place to ask this, believe me it wasn't an easy find.

dozy

With regard to the poster's initial question , there is some irony that the Society condemn "Christendom" and "Worldly" ( ie all non JW ) sources of wisdom , yet see no problem in quoting church scholars or academic sources as authorities when it pleases them. These quotes often tend to be cherrypicked - particularly evident in references ( quite often misquoted or out of context ) in creation / evolution or doctrinal matters such as the Trinity.

Regarding birthdays , from my experience and many private conversations with JWs over 40 years , a lot of JWs , especially those with young children , in reality aren't really comfortable with the Societies teaching and many skirt or blur the prohibition in various ways. I remember an elder in my congregation annually inviting my own kids to a childs party which "coincidentally" was always about one week after his daughter's birthday - it had cake , presents and essentially was her birthday party but just held a few days later.

For an interesting analysis of the Society birthday prohibition , see https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/birthdays.php

22

Degree of Effectiveness of JW Letter Writing Form of Witnessing

by Disillusioned JW in

a newspaper article quotes a jw as saying "every (letter) i put in the mailbox, i feel, 'ah, this could reach somebody.

'" the article also quotes her as saying "we are accomplishing even more now than we were door-to-door because this way everybody in the house gets a chance to pick up that letter and respond to it.

it just feels good.

dozy

Remember , JW activity is largely not designed to be productive - it is just really a "make work" scheme to qualify as "theocratic activity". This applies to all facets of "service" to the Society , be it all aspects of the ministry , building projects for future flipping , meetings etc. In one of Franz's books , the GB allude to this in one meeting when discussing the ministry and one of the GB members bewailing "What will the brothers do , then?" when discussing the lack of biblical basis for the preaching work.

I remember our congregation had an "assignment" every six months to do garden maintenance at an Assembly Hall. We would hire two minibuses and 20 - 30 of us or so would travel 2 and a half hours to get there , spend a couple of hours weeding etc which included at least 30 minutes ( probably more ) eating our packed lunches in the garden and then we would travel back home.

I was the "responsible" elder who organised things for a few years. I made sure that we always pulled into a McDonalds or KFC off the motorway on the way home and everybody enjoyed the day. For some of the older ones and single sisters etc who were lonely and weren't in the usual congregation cliques it was a real social highlight of the year and for the younger ones it was a chance to have a bit of a laugh with their mates and score a few easy spiritual bragging points.

Frankly what we actually usually "accomplished" in terms of work on the garden could easily have been done by a couple of local ( to the Assembly Hall ) volunteer JWs in a day , or a single professional landscape gardener. On a couple of occasions it was raining hard and all we did was basically sit in the Assembly Hall and had our lunches. From an efficiency angle the whole arrangement was a total waste of time in terms of what was achieved and spent in terms of coach hire , gas , time spent etc. But the whole point was that we thought we had done the "Lords Work". The letter writing is exactly the same as this. 100%.