Btw, the idea that this younger generation of GB is "anointed" is total bull shit on their part and a naked power grab. I thought I was anointed for a day, I really did, after my attacks in Africa. I was just upset and trying to attach meaning to it. These guys? Total yahoos. And now they're stuck with a declining publishing cult that was dependent on printing for their income. Be careful what you wish for...
AllTimeJeff
JoinedPosts by AllTimeJeff
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56
One reason behind the slow steady decline of JWs
by AllTimeJeff inhello first of all to those that remember me.
i'm doing well, 10 years since my missionary trip to cameroon.
i've met a couple of goals.
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56
One reason behind the slow steady decline of JWs
by AllTimeJeff inhello first of all to those that remember me.
i'm doing well, 10 years since my missionary trip to cameroon.
i've met a couple of goals.
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AllTimeJeff
Good points everyone. I'd like to stress that Knorr was a dick unless you were in his inner circle. As in all business, knowing how to network pays big, and some in the JW business did it a lot better than others. Who you knew and how you portrayed yourself was more important than who you really were.
It seems such a silly point to discuss WT leadership, but it's a huge reason why they are where they are. I agree with you Dunedain, this is 20 years in the making. Like all businesses and organizations, the last decade introduced disruption. And I often wonder whether GB 2.1 has realized (and perhaps even admitted within their circle) that all of Franzs stuff was wrong, he really was a false prophet, and now they are stuck on the wrong side of the bell curve. Do you selfishly ride it our and make sure you're taking care of, or do you admit that "we were wrong?"
The latest attempt at explaining the word "generation" probably provides the answer.
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My first post
by thewalker inhi, i just joined the board and wanted to present myself.. i'm active, in fact very active in congregation activities serving "where the need is great" in a foreign language congregation somewhere in western europe.
as a young brother, i'm seen as an example as i'm doing all a good witness should do.. i had doubts years ago but i decided just to ignore them and move to another congregation to preach more.
that worked for some years but i'm now at the exact same point.
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AllTimeJeff
Good post. Thanks for sharing. Just don't be afraid anymore. Fear is what keeps the flock in line, not love.
In today's crazed instant on world, if JWs were really about love, they'd get a lot of publicity for it. They're not. They're known for door knocking, shunning, and now, allowing pedophiles to run amuck. You're free to judge whether any of that adds up.
Don't be scared to do what's right for you either. Though a romantic thought, you don't need to stay around for others unless that's a real calling. If it isn't, and you truly want to claim a life of your own, that isn't selfish. That's smart, and you'll find that your example will help more than you realize.
Live. Well. 👍🏻
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56
One reason behind the slow steady decline of JWs
by AllTimeJeff inhello first of all to those that remember me.
i'm doing well, 10 years since my missionary trip to cameroon.
i've met a couple of goals.
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AllTimeJeff
Good thought OTWO. Knorr was a man of his time. There really is no "man of this time" for the GB to rally around.
Magnum, thanks for the updates. It is definitely not the cult I remember. 😂 My only thought on all the recent changes is, they're running out of money. Sucks to be them.
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Creepy things jw's have said to you
by purrpurr inhere's mine: i'm 14 years old, just baptised and a old boy married elder of about 60 odd comes up to me and says " ooooooooooh!
"purrpurr"!
your getting such a lovely figure on you!
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AllTimeJeff
PS. That was creepy to me because it was the first time I sensed higher ups didn't believe this shit. I realize that's not the point of this thread.
As far as "creepy" stuff, I can think of elder meetings and JCs where "what were you wearing at the time" and "Were you penetrated in any way" were asked of poor scared women who were indoctrinated to believe that we elders had their best interests at heart. So disgusting what these dirty old men got away with, and the harm that was inflicted.
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Creepy things jw's have said to you
by purrpurr inhere's mine: i'm 14 years old, just baptised and a old boy married elder of about 60 odd comes up to me and says " ooooooooooh!
"purrpurr"!
your getting such a lovely figure on you!
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AllTimeJeff
Lawerence Bowen. Gilead instructor to class 119 in 2005, when giving homework for the next day on the first 2 chapters of 2 Kings. "Tomorrow, you are going to learn about the modern day fulfillment of these two chapters that you will find.......... fascinating."
It was the way he said it. He didn't believe it at all. Almost smirking as he previewed it. Sure enough, that next day, when I was "taught" that Elijah was the prophetic modern day type of Rutherford, and that Knorr equated as a prophetic type to Elisha, and that this was what the first two chapters of 2 Kings was really about, it was then, in class, that I uttered to myself for the first time "This isn't the truth." (Still went to Africa anyway, confused as hell)
I wonder if in 10 years, GB 3.0 will say that 2.0 was prophecied as Judas... That'd be a fun WT study...
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Jehovah's Witnesses May Have Peaked in Membership at 8 Million (+/-)
by OnTheWayOut ini don't have all the details of their new "service year" numbers, but i have read enough on jwn to state my opinion pretty strongly.. memorial attendance for 2015 was down.while they kept saying they were going to build a bunch of new kingdom halls, and everybody is still in recovery from watchtower taking all the local money away, they say pretty much that there isn't enough money to build new kingdom halls.putting gb members on the videos at jw .
org has allowed people to really put a face and personality to these guys and remove the mystery of how they should be such deeply spiritual serious men.
instead they see silly thoughts about tight pants and, really everything that comes out of lett's mouth is delivered ultra-goofy, along with the money reports.. the gb lost credibility a little more with every new light that shone down, with the strangest one being "overlapping generation.
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AllTimeJeff
Great topic. I would like to draw attention to a couple of key bad points in time for the governing body.
1975 came and went and nothing happened. People left. But the bills were still being payed.
The Internet happened in the mid 90s. Slowly but surely, money has dried up. While it is true that what happened and the slowed growth after 1975 was masked because of all the growth in non-Western countries, it is clear that the governing body has been in its death throws since the Internet. All that is happened lately is that momentum is gaining and growing faster and faster. ( oh yeah, they also lost their biggest pedophile case in court. That cooked their goose. )
What's amazing to me is, after all the demonization that the governing body has gone through to make sure that their flock doesn't research them on the Internet, now they have completely done a 180 and asking everyone to get all of their information from the Internet. It is this kind of "leadership" that demonstrates just how far gone the governing body really are from being viable.
Nothing demonstrates more that the witnesses are indeed a business than the fact that printing is dying. Clearly that was the source of their income. The other source of wealth for the witnesses has always been their properties. Which is why you see the sale and consolidation of branch and kingdom hall properties. All the governing body is doing right now is panicking. They are hoping to buy time and settle all of their lawsuits. It seems reasonable to predict that at the time when this storm passes, you will likely see an admission that previous prophecies were in fact wrong, there will be some fake humility, and at that time they will consolidate and run their business as a smaller version of themselves, so long as they can still run it and live off the donations of their flocks.
What they have been trying to do is hold onto the bloated memories of what they used to be in the 1960s and 70s. Clearly, they are realizing that times are changing, and that they are way behind. Less meetings. Less printing. All things lead to the website.
All things lead to the website?! Don't they realize that information on Jehovah's Witnesses is a Google search away? Of course they do. By now they realize that that the Internet is not going away. For the sake of their survival they will change, because they can no longer hide. When they do that, it will be the ultimate admission of their hypocrisy.
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My new Religion is The Truth.
by LAWHFol inwhat exactly is religion?
why all of the pain?
you either love religion (usually the one you call home), you hate it.. or you're somewhere in between, and you say "let bygones be bygones".
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AllTimeJeff
I am not optimistic that the West will figure this out. In times of stress and crisis, it seems that fear rules, which turns off brains. When brains are turned off, one needs a person or group to do their thinking for them. Enter, "Religion", stage right.
Btw, religions aren't being "persecuted". They're being called out and held accountable. If one chooses to believe that they'll spend eternity with Jesus in heaven, that's their choice. Just don't stand there and expect to not be called out on it. And please don't whine about it. Your rights are not going away at all, save one: God willing, you'll no longer be allowed to inflict your beliefs on others in the name of the law. Your "rights" to hijack, define, and inflict your preferred meanings on words like "love" and "marriage" are gone. That's not persecution. That's taking away your "rights" to persecute others. Sounds fair to me.
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One reason behind the slow steady decline of JWs
by AllTimeJeff inhello first of all to those that remember me.
i'm doing well, 10 years since my missionary trip to cameroon.
i've met a couple of goals.
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AllTimeJeff
Hello first of all to those that remember me. I'm doing well, 10 years since my missionary trip to Cameroon. I've met a couple of goals. One of the most important being that I no longer am up on the latest with JWs and the GB. For my part, every month and year away continues to erode the programming.
Reading a a couple of topics here got me thinking about an issue that, though subtle, continues to rot the GB from the inside. In short, GB 2.0 (or is it 2.1 now) never learned to lead.
Putting their bat shit crazy beliefs aside, one of the most important reasons why JWs grew was Knorr. He was the factory overseer, and learned through many years how to get work done through other people, an important factor for any business. (Which of course, JWs are)
When I read of the continual, face palm worthy moments of the current GB, (and having met most of them) I am reminded of the fact that most never got their hands dirty in real work. (Yes, their hands are very dirty for other obvious reasons) Most were missionaries and pioneers. None of them ran anything other than a congregation or circuit. Their ability to inspire and galvanize, and yes, lead, is something that their backgrounds never gave them.
Being able to give "good talks" is not leadership. Parroting the current, CYA company line while enjoying the smell coming out of all orifices insults the intelligence of their flocks. Amazingly, I think they are just coming to terms with the fact that the general Western membership does know about them. They do read up on the Internet. Being a JW used to have real purpose and identity, now, more of the West goes to the KH the same way others go to church. Friends and family are there, and the rest is just window dressing.
Say what you want about the Knorr years (which in my view finally died out with Henschel) That group led and got things done. GB 2.1 likes their glass tower. Good thing, they'll have a great view of the slow, continued demise of their fruity little cult.
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The Watchtower 11/15/2014
by wifibandit inhttp://bayfiles.net/file/1jpu5/qhxxxl/w_e20141115.pdf.
select "premium download".
(thanks breakfast of champions).
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AllTimeJeff
That picture is horrible. i know what the GB wants the emotion of the girl looking back to be. "Will you be here? I'm scared, but I'm here." What that little girl is really thinking; "That JW photographer is a real dick!"
Hey GB, if you want persecution, be an African American in Ferguson Mo. Spare us your pious bullshit. Noone really cares anymore. They never did. Hell if the Tea Party really takes over, JWs will likely be welcomed.