I heard the same thing about Nassau coliseum raising their rates. I like the stanley, I may catch one day.
thecarpenter
JoinedPosts by thecarpenter
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20
My District Convention Is Being Held At An Assembly Hall
by enlightenedcynic inif this topic has been discussed previously, i apologize, but next week i unfortunately must attend the dc which is being held at the local assembly hall.
there are benefits to this as i don't have to rent a car or room for myself and family.
the downside to this is that it will now be harder to miss segments of the program or an entire day without being scrutinized.
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Cognitive Dissonance and WT downsizing
by Lady Lee inthere is a discussion on the board new jwd members on the horizon!
that suggests many of those who were pushed out of wt headquarters will leave the wts and some may find their way here.. i hope that is what happens.. but i have a sinking feeling that the opposite might happen.
in leon festinger's book when prophesy fails he states:.
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thecarpenter
The struggles described after leaving Bethel service seems the same as the post exit syndrome experienced by institutionalized prisoners upon their release. Now many institutions prioritize a phase out, follow up program, so these people don't disappear through the cracks and have a bad outcome.
Well as this past weeks watchtower brought out, we do have a support system (the best in the world) to keep the friends safe in the congregation and from falling into the cracks, the local body of elders. They are trained from the scriptures and from the GB (the best training in the world) to handle all sorts of issues whether the problem be marital (the best marriage counselors), psychological (the best therapist in the world) or whatever (the best whatever in the world). You can be confident under the direction of the GB and the local body of elders, you will have the best outcome in the world.
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Cognitive Dissonance and WT downsizing
by Lady Lee inthere is a discussion on the board new jwd members on the horizon!
that suggests many of those who were pushed out of wt headquarters will leave the wts and some may find their way here.. i hope that is what happens.. but i have a sinking feeling that the opposite might happen.
in leon festinger's book when prophesy fails he states:.
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where in the bible god choose the WT and the GB ?
by z intomorrow im going to see my jw friend we all the time argue about the cult and must of the time he have no answer, and i think he is not too happy with the cult (he is ms) he is 41yr old and married no children (was virgin 28yr wtf).
about two weeks ago he was called to the back room why?
because he had some misunderstanding with ex alder the claim he doesnt have love for him lololol.
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thecarpenter
Well, the WT intreprets the scriptures as pointing to them, they are self appointed.
They point to several scriptures and say it applies to them (Russell and Rutherford made this into a science). What might help is to point out the failures and show that they are like every other imperfect religion, having both successes and failures. I like the warnings Jesus gave in Matt 24:23-27; Mark 13:21-23 and Luke 21:8 (drew sagan used this approach recently). -
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SHUNNED FATHER'S LAWSUIT UPDATE
by SHUNNED FATHER ini realize that alot of xjw's are hurting financially, especially if they have been fighting the watchtower.
what they do not grasp is that we can defeat the watchtower if we are united and help each other.
it is similar to a war.
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thecarpenter
been following the case, I'm doing my part with a donation.
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Overheard at the June 4 2006 Watchtower Study
by under_believer inso, even back when i was a true believer i noticed this... .
this watchtower study today, i just got back from, was all about how great the elders are.
what always wigs me out about these things (because they trot this stuff out in a wt study every year or two) is how the elder conducting the study is up there talking about and praising the elders in the third person, saying how great they are, when he is an elder.
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thecarpenter
I think I have to side with IW, there are many good people who are elders and are honorable people. The scriptures have said that those who preside in a fine way should be reckoned worthy of double honor. I think many mean well but are indoctrinated with Society viewpoints that are a bit extreme in nature. I think the fault lies more with the societies interpretation of the bible than with these men. I was disfellowshipped without a written or scriptural charge, because of my stand against the org regarding the NGO Partnership thing. the whole body of elders was aware of the situation. Didn't matter. I have dozens of friends that were elders, and not ONE has contacted me ONE time to either find out what happened or to offer condolences.
They couldn't call you uninformed because they are instructed not to call disfellowshipped ones and you know that. The problem lies again with the societies interpretation of how to treat disfellowshipped ones. You accused them of worshipping the society and I think that is incorrect. They are instructed to trust the society even if that goes against their better judgment or common sense, and many do just that. Plus they feel that this is what Jehovah wants them to do so they are obedient to a fault (even overlooking real mistakes and unnecessary hardships pushed on the brothers)
.I have also run into immature and weak men who were appointed elders and it is very difficult to remove them. Many elders have confided in me that certain appointments were mistakes. Some brothers reached out for the office, put on their best behavior when in the hall and also became chummy chummy with some of the elders and were wrongly appointed. Also their were case of nepotism and so on. That happens everywhere, in the business world, other churches, even in families with children.... people are people.
The society isn't always upfront or honest about what they do (UN NGO fiasco for example) but what can you do. Sometimes it is better to step away for a while.
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Do I need to be Readjusted in my thinking?
by enlightenedcynic ini am sure that the topic i am going to introduce has been discussed here many times before but i personally need to a.
) vent a little and b.
) get feedback from some logically thinking individuals.. here we go...... the kh i attend is going to renovated.
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thecarpenter
That 3% I believe is not considered interest, but the rate of inflation. It would, in fact, be considered without interest.
I hate to burst some balloons but a 3% interest rate is pretty much the average interest rate in the US for the last what?, 50 years? So the society lending out a loan at 3% is in line with inflation (as for a adjustable mortgage, it is just a lot easier to have a fixed rate without having to reconfigure it every time the federal reserve meets to jack up or lower rates.. The only problem I have is why the kingdom hall fund needs to be paid back at all, wasn't it all donated in the first place through the kingdom hall fund? What happens to all this money when it is paid back? The rate of growth has slowed down and now what about all this money coming in every year from these loans?
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One person got baptized at Circuit Ass. today (powerhouse circuit)
by thecarpenter injust got a call from a friend who told me only one person got baptized today in a ciruit assembly in nyc.
this is in a powerhouse circuit that had tremendous growth 10~20 years ago but is now seeing a steady decline to the point that congregations are starting to merge because so many are leaving.
what could be the cause of this decline?
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thecarpenter
Spoke with the brother and he said it wasn't a teenager, so it probably was someones bible study. In any event, since it is in NYC and it was once a area thriving with activity and growth, it seems that there is a real slowdown taking place. Alot of the english congregations have pityful attendence, to the point that more are continuing to merge. The foreign language groups continue to grow though (I guess most don't have internet connections) But even so, there seems to be more of a drain than people coming in.
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One person got baptized at Circuit Ass. today (powerhouse circuit)
by thecarpenter injust got a call from a friend who told me only one person got baptized today in a ciruit assembly in nyc.
this is in a powerhouse circuit that had tremendous growth 10~20 years ago but is now seeing a steady decline to the point that congregations are starting to merge because so many are leaving.
what could be the cause of this decline?
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thecarpenter
Just got a call from a friend who told me only one person got baptized today in a ciruit assembly in NYC. This is in a powerhouse circuit that had tremendous growth 10~20 years ago but is now seeing a steady decline to the point that congregations are starting to merge because so many are leaving.
What could be the cause of this decline? hmmmm... -
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What is the Future of the Watchtower Society?
by jwfacts inafter reading comments on this site for a while and looking at what happens to other religions i feel the watchtower society has a long future in front of it.
this is bad news all round, sad for us waiting for our families and sad for witnesses waiting for paradise.
the reason i say this is that any organisation with 6 million members, billions in assets and little to spend their money on would find it very hard to go out of existence.
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thecarpenter
By the way, just found out tonight that the memorial attendance for this year is 500, 000 less than last year. One of the elders in my congo mentioned this to me. (don't know if this is just the US or worldwide)