Let's assume that the Org. folded overnight (worldwide), and let's assume that whatever revival takes place cannot use the same resources as the former WTS. Word reaches everyone within a few days. The elders hunker down and declare that the Great Tribulation has begun. Elders plan to take each bookstudy as his personal "flock" and any previous efforts made to keep an updated contact list are redoubled. Meetings would continue to be held as normal until the KMs and magazines run out. They would probably be longer than normal, due to "rally the troops" style speeches from the elders, and long, sermon-like prayers. Fringe people take the opportunity to fall away, but everyone else is initially excited to see something actually happen that was spoken about in the literature. Hardcore dubs become more hardcore, and average dubs are now motivated to pore over every magazine left and spend time reading their bible--motivated mainly by fear of destruction at an imminent armageddon! COs and DOs do not vanish; their authority is actually strengthened amongst the loyal. Without direction from the top, however, they are left in the lurch for some time. COs are left with no choice but to stay at their present circuit until some direction tells them otherwise. Funding for COs becomes a haphazard affair, and they are therefore forced to find secular work to stay afloat. Some COs are unable to continue their responsibility. A few COs are able to keep doing as they used to, but most are limited to rare visits, or simply letters. The "special week of activity" is dead. His visits however, do become more personal and exciting because he reassures everyone that "Gog of Magog has attacked, so deliverance from Jehovah must be very near!!" No one remembers the sayings about "Babylon the Great" being attacked first, because they are all busy huddling together and waiting for imminent "delivery." The DOs take the reigns of authority and attempt to organize things as best they can with the COs. Letters from the "branch" now become letters from the DO. Every district now becomes the dominion of the DO assigned to it. Some districts are poorly organized, but some are able to cope to a degree. Any collaboration of DOs that arises affects only the districts in question. People preach more, convinced the end is near, but every remaining piece of literature is hoarded, and not placed until interest is shown on the return visit. Bibles are now the presentation instead of literature, and the remaining ones are only replaced if the current bible is worn beyond repair. The same principle goes for books. As for what would happen after the KMs run out...congregations would simply use another year's KM. I can probably keep going, but I think they could go on for at least a year before people start falling away en masse. Edit: I didn't factor what would happen to the kingdom halls. If they are no longer a resource, then authority falls to the congregation level and the falling away starts sooner.
SirNose586
JoinedPosts by SirNose586
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19
How Long Would They Last Without The Society?
by ThomasCovenant infollowing on a little from 2 topics (xjw critical mass) and (the real reason jw's don't accept blood) sorry but don't know how to show the links, i got to thinking: .
if the society were to finish publishing and closed down because of say bankruptcy from lawsuits, how long do you think the worldwide brotherhood would last?.
i feel this is a good question to ask those still in.would they still worship jehovah without the rigmarole of 5 meetings, personal study and preaching work and the monthly kingdom ministry and other regular literature.
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Jesus said his load would be light, the Witnesses made that load very heavy
by free2beme ini always remember being told that the load jesus expected of his people was not something that should be a burden and basically if you think about the core to christianity, it is not.
basically, jesus said to love one another and to treat others how you would want to be treated and to respect the life you have.
i don't ever remember jesus saying, "have 5 meetings a week, two assemblies a year and one convention.
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SirNose586
Last night we were lectured on not missing meetings. A few examples were read. I expected them to all say, "I was soooo tired but then felt GREAT after my meeting," which they did. One in particular caught my interest. A sister related that she felt "spiritually hindered" whenever she missed meetings. I thought, "Gee, what am I doing? When I miss a meeting I feel GREAT!" But then it dawned on me: this poor woman was probably feeling the guilt of missing a meeting. She had indeed been indoctrinated well.
Of course you can't miss one meeting! You volunteers better not miss one literature selling class!
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What do you think people look down more on, Witnesses or New Age thinking?
by free2beme inmy sister last night was talking to me and saying, "you need to be careful that your son does not repeat the things you say about the new age thinking, wicca*, etc.
as most people are scared of that stuff and he will get looked down upon by others.
" i thought about this all day, and was thinking about something.
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SirNose586
My guess--people from a conservative Christian background are more likely to look down (or be frightened) by New Age thinking, and educated metropolitan people would be more likely to look down on dubs.
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How Many Great Disappointments Can There Be?
by Country Girl inwhere were the followers of charles taze russell on the morning of the great disappointment?
were they also waiting on a hillside somewhere?
i am not sure where in jw history this took place; or if the bible students participated in this; anyone know what stage of jw history this took place in?
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SirNose586
So that's what the Bahai believe, eh? They are right next to our hall. Their parking lot is really nice but we can't park in it.
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September 2006 Kingdom Ministry! MAJOR issue!
by under_believer inthe september, 2006 km is one of the most special and significant publications the society has released in a long, long time.
well i'll tell you.. exhibit a: on page 1, the official announcement about the bethel layoffs.
hint: it's all blamed on "improved technology.".
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SirNose586
Sounds like it's chock full of fun goodies. Good looking out.
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Planting seeds of doubt or helping someone break mind control
by thecarpenter inhelping someone break mind control.
how can you effectively help a witness break the watchtowers grip on their minds?
as a layman, i would think that encouraging someone to examine the history of their beliefs would be one way but many people don't like to do research.
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SirNose586
Today I sent an email to a friend asking him what he thought about the '93 generation article on watchtower.org (see "Bait and Switch" topic). After his reply, I told him I would "really hate to find a topic where they switch back and forth on an issue." If he agrees, that could be a useful opening...
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NEWS ALERT! : The End of The World will be on August 22
by Ms. Whip inthe president of iran will give bush an answer about their nuclear program in two weeks.
august 22nd.
august 22nd is an important day in islam.
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SirNose586
However, in this case, all Fox, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, AP, etc etc. did was pass along a press release by some professor of Islam and Mideast Studies who pointed out the above mentioned significance of 8/22 to Muslims. He is the one who suggested that it would be an appropriate date for some terror event.
A terrorist act I can grant you, but nukes? Iran's got enough enriched uranium to make some glowing watches.
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NEWS ALERT! : The End of The World will be on August 22
by Ms. Whip inthe president of iran will give bush an answer about their nuclear program in two weeks.
august 22nd.
august 22nd is an important day in islam.
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SirNose586
Will Iran Nuke the US on that day? According to Fox News it's possible.
What are you doing watching Fox News?? How in the world can they think that Iran would actually "nuke" the US? It's a ridiculous notion from an irrelevant propaganda mouthpiece.
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Elders or Marriage Counselors?!?!?!?!
by thepackage inits interesting how the wts tries to give marital advice via unqualified elders.
recently a friend of mine and his spouse have been having martial trouble.
he no longer believes the wts lies and maintains a low profile.
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SirNose586
An elder referred my folks to a dub marriage counselor. So if this couple needs advice, at least they should go to someone who is trained in that field.
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Thank you Jehovah for answered prayers
by Annie Over inwhen i got off for lunch today i decided to go to the walmart deli and get something to eat.
it is a huge store, groceries, a bakery, mc donalds, a bank , eye center, beauty shop, a great deli, and a huge garden center.
i had taken back a 80 gig hard drive dvd recorder ( i couldn't figure out how to hook up <smile> and had received 238.00. i picked up a couple of things in the store then went to the deli.
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SirNose586
Good thing you found your purse. I know that same feeling, which is why I'm paranoid about my keys, wallet, and phone (the result of which is, if I should ever lose them in a public place, I find out quickly that they are missing, and stop what I'm doing to go and find them. This rarely happens though, due to above-mentioned paranoid checking of all pockets every 10 minutes).
I know when I find something I've been intensely looking for, I thank God, I thank the Lord, I thank Bob, I thank anybody!!