let's be honest, there's a stigma to the name jehovah's witness.
if they are going more mainstream.
i imagine the first recommendation was a name change.
I kind of think some sort of name change is not out of the question or I wouldn't be surprised. The religion identifiers of the past are long gone. They don't even have to explain their faith and doctrine in the field. They just show them the website.
I'm still so curious about what my old friends think about it all.
i think the gb needs to expand publishers' volunteer activities beyond door knocking.. gb has shifted away from door-knocking to more varied forms of witnessing and no longer counting time for publishers.
my prediction is that the gb will start encouraging jws to participate in broader community volunteer efforts: clean-up drives, food banks, senior citizen support, and other non-proselytizing activities.
this move could help them gain goodwill with government agencies and the public.. expanding volunteer activities could significantly shift how jws are perceived by the wider community.
I don't think they would provide that sort of social service unless it was monetarily beneficial to them. It's not their way, ever.
I still think these dress code and time reporting changes are a goodie tossed at the flock to keep them obedient and loyal. It's still a very closed community.
The WBTS et al are takers, they are not givers...in the community or to the flock.
Edited to add: Plus their goals are investments for the corporations, the real estate/studios/museums/org./teaching facilities are their write-offs, expenses. Outgoing $$ to needy have never been in the business plan.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/512321/jehovah-s-witness-church-takes-case-over-abuse-in-care-ruling-to-court-of-appeal?fbclid=iwar0ipoxydannpkym0rbwj-0ffxcmauhknchpvhql2l0azq4-garjfiihsqa.
the court of appeal has reserved its decision in the jehovah's witness church's case challenging the abuse in care inquiry.. in wellington on thursday the church appealed a high court ruling that dismissed its claim to be excluded from the investigation.. the public gallery was packed with members of the church and abuse survivors.. lawyer sarah jerebine began the appeal by challenging the royal commission's decision to extend the inquiry's scope from institutional care to trust-based relationships between authority figures and children.. "it becomes a person with authority, not authority to care but just authority, can assume responsibility for a trust-based relationship.
we say that is something quite different to what was intended and understood by what this commission would be looking at.".
Interesting. Thank you for sharing.
during lett’s announcement that beards are now allowed he elaborated at some length how brothers ought to feel and react to the change in policy.
he warned brothers not to resent not being able to grow beards earlier if they had wished to do so.
he also warned brothers who supported the old policy not to allow themselves to wonder what the point of doing so was now that it has changed.
the things that have really got them talking are the changes in dress and grooming. The othe stuff goes by with hardly a word .
Exactly the intention IMHO. Give them something shiny and distract them from everything else going on. And really, in the big picture of what this corporation is and does, the grooming is small beans for them if they can keep the flock engaged. The bone might keep most loyal through the cognitive dissonance that I "think" some must be feeling at some point.
It is a social community, and it works for most. Now it is just easier. My brother is an elder and has struggled off an on with his communication with me through the years. He's older now and told me yesterday a serious illness has returned. I have been dreading the circus that surrounded our mother's JW memorial when that time comes. Just awful. Nobody is DF, but it was strained all the time. Now it will be less so, which I welcome.
My hatred for the corporation has not lessened one bit. Loosening these rules makes them no less a cult as they pull the strings on the R & F and they comply.
you heard me correct, this is not a joke, and it is not april fools day!
the asl portion of the governing body updated #2 (march 2024) has been released a bit early and someone caught it.
summary: .
I also think this is a shiny thing for the R&F as other bigger changes are coming. Pants and ties and beards mean nothing in the big picture really to a multi million $$ corporation. Keeps the flock grateful for this little bone that makes it easier for them to be in the club.
This corporation is in real estate as stated on one of their tax filings. Rebranding to protect their assets I see would be its goal, at some point. It already started with JWdotorg. Which was really brilliant IMHO. These simple freebies to the followers keeps them distracted.
I was talking with an exJW, this all must be a head scratcher for thinkers. But it makes it all easier for them to stick with it through the cognitive dissonance some must feel.
you heard me correct, this is not a joke, and it is not april fools day!
the asl portion of the governing body updated #2 (march 2024) has been released a bit early and someone caught it.
summary: .
Oh if I could be a fly on the wall...
A JW relative let me know today they watched the update video and lots of changes coming.
Thanks
you heard me correct, this is not a joke, and it is not april fools day!
the asl portion of the governing body updated #2 (march 2024) has been released a bit early and someone caught it.
summary: .
Every single decision they make is about money...continued revenue stream and keeping it.
The old guard cared what the followers looked like. New guard needs to keep the money coming so they can keep their jobs and real estate.
Also they want to play down the cult appearance as the court cases mount.
i used to be here a lot.
every single day almost.
and then i wasn't.. well let's start with a before.
Hi Lee - what a wonderful list of accomplishments. I always appreciated your guidance and input on the board.
I've read through some of the resurrected threads and love seeing the names and comments from years gone by. I, like many when we were brave enough to dive deep into the discussions back then, am so very grateful for this board. I have friends to this day from those days.
Life for me since leaving has been complicated, but all in all good. After hearing most of your life you were not going to graduate high school/won't live past your 20's/30's/40's/50's in this "system"(TM), I am mere months away from retirement. I am sooo ready.
Thank you again Lee for sharing.
https://www.fox5vegas.com/2024/02/09/1000-jehovahs-witnesses-reach-out-super-bowl-fans-las-vegas/ .
1000 lit-up carts at 50 strategic locations near the stadium and on the strip.
.
My city hosts the Long Beach Grand Prix with 190K in attendance. I didn't go last year but the year before the JW carts were everywhere. They were literally in the middle of the walkway into the entrance, on the corners where thousands of people are waiting for lights to cross a boulevard. The carts in the walkway made the crowds split to go around them. It really was the stupidest thing.
Nobody wants to talk to them when they are trying to get into attend an event. Nobody talks to them anyway.
They are only relevant in their own mind.
the book reasoning from the scriptures was released in the 1980's, and it was used at virtually every meeting for service, every service meeting, and every theocratic ministry school meeting thereafter.
many jws had copies bound together with their bibles.
it was huge in jw land back then.. at that time, with the reasoning book, jws were trained to keep conversations going in spite of objections, to almost stick their feet in people's doors to keep conversations going, to defend "the truth," to argue doctrine, etc.. compare the situation today with that of the 80's.
I've hung on to some, including my original Paradise book from the 50's. But, I'm working on downsizing to a tiny home for retirement, and they are not going to make the cut eventually.
Lots of memories though.
