Driving Force

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Posts by Driving Force

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  172

  May tv.jw.org program

  by zophar in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the may broadcast on tv.jw.org.

  we need money!.

  http://tv.jw.org/#video/vodstudio/pub-jwb_201505_1_video.

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  Driving Force

  Didn't Abba have hit in the seventies.

  "Money, Money, Money"
  
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  20

  (Not)Preaching advice

  by paradisebeauty in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  having recently had an "awakening" - not from reading awake .... i realize i can not preach doctrines i do not believe anymore .

  but i do not want the elders to start following my every move, because i also have plans to check other christian denominations.. so i am thinking, should i chat for an hour or two with an old visit and report the hours, should i tell the elders i have some doubts and i do not want to preach for now or should i just stop reporting and avoid the elders attempts to talk to me?

  what do you think is the best sollution to get away with this?

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  Driving Force

  Just reporting 1 hour a month messes up the congregation statistics and lowers the congregation average, even if you do more.

  I stopped suddenly reporting, and was badgered by the elders for a whole month for my report. Then I explained that I did go in service (which I did), but was not reporting because I considered it to be a man-made rule and not biblical. They left me alone, now I am a fader, attend neither meetings nor go in the ministry.
  
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  172

  May tv.jw.org program

  by zophar in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the may broadcast on tv.jw.org.

  we need money!.

  http://tv.jw.org/#video/vodstudio/pub-jwb_201505_1_video.

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  Driving Force

  @freemindfade

  You forgot one point, we turned over the deed of the property to you anyway.
  
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  20

  Prayer with my son before lunch. Your advice / experiences needed!

  by Daniel1555 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  dear friends,.

  i would like to hear your comments or suggestions on the following:.

  a little background info.. i managed to fade completely.

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  Driving Force

  I still pray with my family using the name Jehovah and in the name of Jesus.

  Considering that Jehovah is not the name of the most high god of the bible, it does not really matter, keeping up appearances to keep that contact with your family is important.

  Addressing a prayer to Jehovah, is effectively addressing a prayer to nobody.

  The first time the name Jehovah appears in any written records was in 1270, this can be checked in the organizations own literature. In the old "Aid to bible understanding", in the last paragraph on page 884. However you will not find any reference to this in the Watchtower library or the index. (I wonder why?)
  

  I still pray, but on my personal prayers I address the prayers to our heavenly father.

  I have not got that far as to not believe in god, it may come, it may not.
  
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  172

  May tv.jw.org program

  by zophar in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the may broadcast on tv.jw.org.

  we need money!.

  http://tv.jw.org/#video/vodstudio/pub-jwb_201505_1_video.

  1. 
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  Driving Force

  Well I managed to watch the broadcast for 26 mins before I had to puke up.
  
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  30

  Does the GB really care if the organization collapses?

  by Driving Force in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i am sure that the gb does not care about the r&f jw.

  it does not care about the organization collapsing overnight.. why do i say this?.

  in 2013 the organization declared that the "faithful and discreet slave" consisted only of the seven member of the gb.

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  Driving Force

  @done4good

  You are right they cannot share the cash between themselves, this would be illegal.
  The non-profit organization can be dissolved, but the assets need to be distributed to other non-profit organizations, decided upon by a plan made up by the directors of the organization in this case the GB. So assets are then distributed from one non-profit organization to other non-profit organizations which is legal as you said.
  If the organization does collapse, because members leave, what then?

  What if the organization realize that they may well lose their status as a non-profit organization, they really then need to dissolve the non-profit organization, and distribute the assets.

  Considering their record of dishonesty over the years, and the many child-sex offenses they are having to defend, I am sure they do have an agenda.

  And as you have pointed out, they do go to great lengths to protect the organization, and they will continue to do that as long as possible, but at some point they will have to do something, maybe because they lose too many members, maybe because they fear losing their non-profit status, distributing the assets to other non-profit organizations is not really so absurd.
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  30

  Does the GB really care if the organization collapses?

  by Driving Force in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i am sure that the gb does not care about the r&f jw.

  it does not care about the organization collapsing overnight.. why do i say this?.

  in 2013 the organization declared that the "faithful and discreet slave" consisted only of the seven member of the gb.

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  Driving Force

  @ Finkelstein
  
  naive and gullible ... population
  
  

  Over the past couple of months I have read a great deal about "undue influence", "thought control" and how cults operate.

  Unless someone is aware as to how a cult operates and how they use "undue influence" and "thought control" it is very difficult to recognize that such methods are being used. What we have is a problem with society and the education system. Our children are taught many things in school and college, but they are never taught anything about "undue influence" and "thought control. Even if just a couple of hours are spent during the whole schooling on these topics, it would equip them to be aware of cults and to recognize these things.

  But I do agree with you the population is naive and gullible.
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  30

  Does the GB really care if the organization collapses?

  by Driving Force in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i am sure that the gb does not care about the r&f jw.

  it does not care about the organization collapsing overnight.. why do i say this?.

  in 2013 the organization declared that the "faithful and discreet slave" consisted only of the seven member of the gb.

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  Driving Force

  @ LostGeneration

  No appologies necessary, you were right in challenging my assumptions.
  This shows that we are free to think for ourselves and no longer under the chains of thought control
  
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  30

  Does the GB really care if the organization collapses?

  by Driving Force in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i am sure that the gb does not care about the r&f jw.

  it does not care about the organization collapsing overnight.. why do i say this?.

  in 2013 the organization declared that the "faithful and discreet slave" consisted only of the seven member of the gb.

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  Driving Force

  @ Lostgeneration
  I spent a long time on this, and this was something that helped me wake up.

  There are 115,416 congregations in the world (yb2014). Not every congregation has its own kingdom hall admittedly.

  About 70 000 of these congregations are in industrialized nations, where property is not so cheap. I have traveled through almost all European countries, Scandinavia, US and Canada. Certainly the properties are quite valuable in these lands where most of the assets are.
  

  Take whatever average value you want per KH, take whatever percentage of congregations have their own KH and do the math yourself. You will come up with a large figure. The WT does not make any kind of financial statement, so any figure is speculation. We know that the buildings in NY alone are worth over 1 billion dollars.

  How much cash did the Watchtower fleece from the congregations in addition to taking the buildings?
  How much are all the branch offices worth?
  How high is the investments in hedge funds and other investments?
  What value does all the inventory in the branch offices have?

  Using the same figures for congregations, what is the annual income for the building fund? Just take the figure from your own congregation or the last congregation you belonged to, (you know the brothers you can estimate), and multiply that up. Take into consideration that almost all labor is free for the organization, and that is a vast amount of money that will never be spent on KHs and maintenance.

  My figure of US$50 billion, is only a calculated guess, but I did spend a long time considering this and the possible financial situation in the industrial lands. I do not think that one of the pathetic buildings the organization builds for the brothers in a poor African land is comparable to anything built for the brothers in the US.

  If this figure disturbs you, it disturbs me as well. I will not make any excuse for an organization that took 28 years of my life.
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  30

  Does the GB really care if the organization collapses?

  by Driving Force in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i am sure that the gb does not care about the r&f jw.

  it does not care about the organization collapsing overnight.. why do i say this?.

  in 2013 the organization declared that the "faithful and discreet slave" consisted only of the seven member of the gb.

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  Driving Force

  I found this quite interesting.

  http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=35951450