Posts by Doubting Bro

the spanish branch office sent a letter to all congregations in spain explaining the governing body's decision to stop all printing, storing and shipping of literature in spain.

the spanish government recently ruled that all bethalites are entitled to a pension after having worked at bethel for many years.

the ruling of the government sent the governing body scrambling.

Wow - thanks for posting the decree and the translation. Certainly no "persecution" since they're including all religious orders. It really makes sense that they participate in the Social Security type program with the only exception maybe if they agreeded to care for all their needs for the rest of the worker's life.

The more I learn about the WTS dealings, the clearer it becomes to me that they could care less about any individual JW. They don't even care about the folks that have spent their lives working for free at the various Bethels around the world. When I was a believer, I always assumed that the uncaring attitudes that I encountered among DO/CO types were just their individual issues. I now realize that while some individuals in middle management (DO/CO/mid-level Bethelites) probably do care about individuals, the majority really don't. But, when you look at the corporate culture among both low level management (local BOEs) all the way to the board (GB), you'll see that the work ALWAYS takes precedence over the individual.

Could you imagine Jesus ordering a branch shut down because they need to pay into social security? Didn't he say something about paying Ceasar's things to Ceasar? Oh, I forgot, the WTS doesn't really concern itself with a book they say is a personal letter from God. It's all about the dollar bills y'all!

42

Letter from Spanish Branch regarding Governing Body's decision

by Lost-In-Translation in

jw
friends

the spanish branch office sent a letter to all congregations in spain explaining the governing body's decision to stop all printing, storing and shipping of literature in spain.

the spanish government recently ruled that all bethalites are entitled to a pension after having worked at bethel for many years.

the ruling of the government sent the governing body scrambling.

Doubting Bro

Dozy - you make a great point. It's only been in the last decade that an African American has been put on the GB despite the fact that according to Pew, AAs make up 22% of the JW population in the US. I think that they will need to put a person of Hispanic decent on the GB soon since they make up 24% of the JW population in the US (according to Pew), not to mention large numbers in other countries.

47

LATEST BIG RUMOR: WTS calls a moratorium on ALL KH construction in US & Canada

by sir82 in

jw
friends

based on an informal conversation this past weekend.... an elder with "connections" to the local rbc stated that he heard that the society was instituting a moratorium on all kingdom hall construction in the us and canada.

any projects for which funding has already been arranged will continue, but as of now, no new kh construction loans are being approved by the society.. there are enough projects in the pipeline that rbcs will still be busy for the next year or 2, but after that....who knows?.

my thoughts:.

Doubting Bro

The Society used to charge 3% interest on loans, but about a year ago they stopped charging any interest at all. No explanation was given.

I must have missed or forgotten about that one. I wonder if the interest created a tax liability? Hard to claim charitable status when you're charging interest. And, if you're not charging interest, then your actually losing money since I'm sure the WTS invests it's cash reserves and holds long term investments like stocks and bonds.

One thing is for sure, it's ALWAYS about the money.

US halls should finance their own remodels/builds. And when US congragations decide to do so, the local congregations will have no say in how the money is spent. RBC will contol the funds and ensure they are used for the project wisely.

But if the congregation wants to over spend on fancy sound systems or decorative features, isn't it their money? I can tell you that in once recent example, the local BOE told the RBC to stuff it when it came to a renovation. We actually found a much better price with a local contractor. I have friends in other places that have similar stories.

If the WTS wants to own the local KH, then they should. If not, then they should allow the locals to do what they want. I understand that if you're giving a low cost loan you get some right to tell folks how they can spend the money, i.e. - in order to qualify for the low cost loan, you must use the RBC. But, if the WTS stops financing they are going to have a tougher time controling how the locals. The only way you could do it would be to threaten to remove the local BOE.

33

So, how many of you stayed single or childless for the sake of the Kingdom? And how many people in your Hall are single or childless for that reason?

by BonaFide in

jw
friends

in my hall growing up, i remember 6 childless couples.

some have died, some are still alive.. i stayed single for the kingdom, hope to change that.. presently in my congregation, there are 4 brothers over 30, two over 40, that are single for the kingdom.

and about 10 single sisters over 25.. three of the five married elders have no children.

Doubting Bro

In one of my old congregations, there's a baby boom going on. In most of these cases, all the couples have been married in excess of 10 years and are in their early to mid 30s. The childless couples I know either 1) had fertility issues but wanted kids. They're older (50s) and didn't have the medical help that we have now or 2) didn't want kids for reasons other than "the truth".

Actually, most of the couples that I know that were remaining childless until the new system are now divorced.

216

No One Should Be Made to Choose..LIES from July 09 Awake

by Hopscotch in

the following quote is taken from the article is it wrong to change your religion?

in the july 2009 awake p29:

no one should be forced to worship in a way that he finds unacceptable or be made to choose between his beliefs and his family.

Doubting Bro

Wow - Every single person who left for doctrinal issues should show this article to their family. It took balls of steel to put that one in print! Do they not think that folks are going to read this????

34

$6,600 Expenses For a One-Day Assembly At a Fully-Paid-Up Hall? WTF!

by Room 215 in

the wife just got back from a one-day special circuit meeting (or whatever they call it) at the regional assembly hall.

it's got a capacity of about 1,200, fully paid for, staffed by volunteers and in use for less than eight hours.

then the guy making the announcement tells the crowd that the one-day expenses for the gig was about $6,600 (?!!!)...

Doubting Bro

There's a cost per assigned publisher + the circuit elders make a "donation" to the world wide work and to the kingdom hall fund. In my circuit, they actually gave the amounts from the last time and I realized that the actual cost for the facility was actually less than 1/2 of the total expenses. If I remember, the total expenses were around 6k but there was 2k given to the www and 2k given to the khf so I think the real expense was 2k.

The WTS started putting pressure a few years ago on circuits to donate a set amount as opposed to just donating the surplus. This way, Momma can count on a steady cash flow.

78

6/15 WT- GB More Powerful than Worldwide Anointed- Don't Judge Partaking

by flipper in

jw
friends

more of the latest from the june 15th " witness only " watchtower.

under the article " the faithful steward and it's governing body " there were some very telling quotes which could indicate how the wt society is tightening the control of it's members - and trying to justify more partaking of the emblems at the memorial since the numbers partaking have gone up from about 8,000 to 10,000 since they no longer feel that the sealing of the anointed ended in 1935.. so first off, notice this quote indicating the importance of elevating the governing body over the rest of the anointed around the earth.

paragraph 16 it states , " are all these anointed ones throughout the earth part of a global network that is somehow involved in revealing new spiritual truths ?

Doubting Bro

Ynot - Your comment about Paul is dead on. They love to talk about how Paul was used, but at the same time, they don't consider him a member of the 1st century "GB". Can you imagine what would happen if a CO or DO (the position I've most heard Paul compared to) were to go off on missions visiting local congregations and writing letters to them after he left giving them direction? He would be df'ed so fast their heads would spin!

PP - I would imagine your conduct is more worthy of being put on a pedestal than the GBs!

19

The "faithful and discreet slave class" - Past, Present and Future

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

iv) believe that jesus christ is mediator for "the faithful and discreet slave".

today, that "slave" is represented by the governing body of jehovah's witnesses.

5. elders.

Doubting Bro

BTTT - Nice summary, love the quotes.