Posts by Doubting Bro

86

Sparlock has a Facebook Fan page!!!

by discreetslave in

jw
friends

for those of you on facebook there is a fan page for the wizard https://www.facebook.com/sparlockthewizard.

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Doubting Bro

I LOVE it!! You know what, the WTS is really a big joke.

29

Who or what are you most angry at, when it comes to your situation in relation to JW Org?

by BreathoftheIndianNose in

jw
friends

i've been receiving very bitter messages from jws i know, mostly my mother, but also others that know how to contact me electronically.

sometimes i find myself mad at her, though not displaying it.

but i know it's really not her or my fathers fault.

I'm angry with myself. I had numerous chances to escape but didn't. I had a co-worker back when I was 20 or 21 years old give me one of Randy's tracts, I think it was "what happened at Bethel in 1980" or something like that. Instead of reading it, I dismissed it immediately. I could have researched, instead I blindly went along with the religion of my family.

Yes, the GB lies on a regular basis, but I really hate the fact that I fell for it. I will never again believe anyone who claims to speak for God.

43

Thank our friends at JW Talk for the Convention Release Scans

by puffthedragon in

well our dear faithful ones at jwtalk have seen fit to provide jehovah's "food at the proper time" earlier to the rest of the world than their governing body sees fit, so to follow are the scans from the convention.. .

dvd front:.

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Doubting Bro

Very creepy! It reminds me of some of the fundie stuff I've seen.

35

Etan Patz Confessed Killer Attends Kingdom Hall

by breakfast of champions in

jw
friends

the etan patz story was huge when i was a kid in the 70's.

very scary, parents didn't let kids out of their sight.

investigators found the body several weeks ago, and now this guy comes forward.. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20120525_neighbors_shocked_that_etan_patz_rsquo_s_confessed_killer_lived_among_them.html.

Doubting Bro

james - that's how I read it as well. As others have mentioned, he'll likely be tied to JWs even if its his wife and daughter that are the ones who are JWs. It will be interesting as the case unfolds.

I wonder what caused him to finally confess?

19

to all those who pretend to be jw's...

by londonlady in

jw
friends

im just wondering,how do you do it?

how do you manage to convice them that your genuine?

how do you manage to keep up that pretense without running screaming from the hall?.

Doubting Bro

So many JWs go through the motions that it's difficult to tell which ones really believe and which ones are only there because the consequences of leaving are more than they can bear.

For me, I rarely go out in service (although turn in a regular report), go with my wife to meetings (but miss as many as I can), comment about once every 4-5 months and give about 4 talks a year (2 of them bible readings).

No elder has ever questioned me.

188

World map showing net reduction in publisher numbers

by cedars in

jw
friends

mp has asked which country has lost the most publishers, and i decided to investigate.

one thing led to another, and i decided to produce another world map, this time showing the net reduction in publishers for each country.. this has been calculated by means of the following equation for each country:.

2011 total no.

Doubting Bro

JW facts calls it percentage that stopped publishing compared to number baptised on his page. I find the breakout by country you did interesting Cedars. Paul looked at a number of different measures on his website:

http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/statistics.php

It's hard to measure but the bottom line trend is not promising for the WTS. If the trend continues, they will enter into a period of net decline. The % increase in publishers is down (growth but less growth), the actual number increase in publishers is down and baptisms are down both in raw numbers as well as % of average publishers.

00DAD has some interesting questions and I'm not sure even the WTS has the answers to those, although I would think they would find it pretty helpful in their retention efforts if they did. I do recall hearing at somewhere around 50% of DF'ed eventually come back but not sure if there's any validity to that. I would say the number who DA returning are practically nil. I would also venture to guess that based on my somewhat limited experience, the ratio of DF to DA is probably like 95% DF and 5% DA. It still is news when someone around here DAs.

I also believe that the number of baptisms as a percentage of publishers took a major nose dive as a result of the 95 generation change. The effect of that on the urgency level of the rank and file JW while sublimal was important since that was the first time many started to realize that they were going to retire and likely die in "this system".

28

Is your 3-day Watchtower Emergency Kit all ready?

by FatFreek 2005 in

have i missed something by not browsing each and every posting here?.

up till very recently, my two sons (one a jw and one, a non-jw) lived in the same community.

the never-baptized son decided to move to a different u.s. state and within a few miles of my home i'm a df'd person as of 33 years ago.

Doubting Bro

There was a service meeting part last week reserved for local needs. Here, they reviewed what was obviously a BOE letter detailing the disaster prep plan. The information made sense because you never know when a big storm or blackout can knock out power for a few days. What I got out of it was that the elders were going to be harrassing the publishers by field service groups to provide contact information. Phone numbers, email, etc. Also, they want out of state contact information in case of a Katrina like evacuation.

There was also a bunch of WT references handed out about what needs to go in an emergency kit.

Here in the US, hurricane preparedness week is either this week or next week and I'm sure the local news will have a little fluff piece on what you need to do. There's nothing special about what the WTS said. The biggest problem I had with it was that the elder giving the part (COBOE) went on and on about how this was life saving information from Jehovah and that we're special that we've been given it. I couldn't stop rolling my eyes.

My company had an internal article a few months ago on disaster preparedness not only for work but what you need to do on a personal level. These are practical reminders that come from many sources. Pretty sure that Jehovah is not the source of this.

I will give them some made up contact info just because it's easier than arguing why I don't want them to have my personal info.

Of course, you know JWs. Many of the crazier ones are going to take this and run with it. Meanwhile, the WTS will use this program as proof that they are performing "charity" work if the IRS questions their not for profit status.

61

I made it!! I'm just so freaking happy!!!

by Rocky_Girl in

jw
friends

as some of you know, i started college 5 years ago for the first time at age 27. i had been out of the "truth" for 9 years at that time, but had just broken free of the mentality.

well, on saturday i walked across the stage with the 130th graduating class at rocky mountain college!.

after 5 years of working several jobs, taking care of two little boys as a single mom, and trying to get the most out of my college experience, i earned my master of accountancy, bachelor of science in business management, and minors in writing and organizational leadership.

Doubting Bro

Well done Rocky Girl!!!! All that hard work will pay off for you in the long run.

23

The Congregation just paid flowers and other expensive for the PO COBE who died two weeks ago?

by life is to short in

i have never in my whole life heard of this being done but at my husband's hall they just asked the congregation to pay about $250.00 to help with the cost of the dinner after the memorial and for flowers.. i was a jw for over 45 years and i have never heard of this.

when my parents died who had been jw's for years i felt lucky fortunate to even be able to use the kingdom hall for their memorial.

i am just speechless at them giving money.

Doubting Bro

Wow LITS. That's pretty dysfunctional even for JWs. What a bunch of jerks. I guess I'm way too much of a hothead because if an elder or anyone spoke to my wife that way, I'd have a private (so it would not have the required 2 witnesses) "conversation" with him warning him that if he so much as looked at you again, an ass whipping would be coming his way.

I'm sorry you've had to deal with such things in the past and understand your bitterness. At some point, such bad behavior is going to come home to roost.

23

The Congregation just paid flowers and other expensive for the PO COBE who died two weeks ago?

by life is to short in

i have never in my whole life heard of this being done but at my husband's hall they just asked the congregation to pay about $250.00 to help with the cost of the dinner after the memorial and for flowers.. i was a jw for over 45 years and i have never heard of this.

when my parents died who had been jw's for years i felt lucky fortunate to even be able to use the kingdom hall for their memorial.

i am just speechless at them giving money.

Doubting Bro

@ carla - LOL - they view fs as a "personal ministry" not as a part of the operation of the kh so no chance on reimbursement locally. However, I have seen some publishers record their mileage used in fs and then claim it as a charitable contribution. I believe the IRS allows that or at least the folks that I know have done it have never been audited. As a taxpayer, that really ticks me off. If you want to waste your time driving around bothering other people, fine but don't ask the government to pay for it!