eyeslice

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Posts by eyeslice

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  71

  PO said automation and declining contributions reason for Bethel layoffs

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  last week at the meeting, the po, who has very close connections to bethel, said that he never thought he would see the day that bethelites were being sent home.

  he said that the biggest two reasons he thought bethel were cutting back, was automation and a massive decline in contributions.

  looks like you're right metatron about the contribution aspect being their achilles heel.

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  eyeslice

  The WTB&TS is, as its name suggests, a publishing organization.
  All organizations today are under pressure to reduce costs. And so surely the WTB&TS is the same. With modern type setting techniques, publications like the Watchtower can be translated and electronically typeset in one location and then transferred via the internet to remote locations and printed off in relatively small runs and distributed locally. There are dozens of other ways they can save costs - afterall, wit free labor, they have been a fairly wasteful organization.
  I am not surprised that they can make savings.
  The issue is about how they go about it and how they handle teir people.
  If they were to say we are going to save the equivalent of 1,000 manual bethel workers over the next couple years but re-invest in people trained to provide basic health care in the third world, people who will spearhead poverty and deprivation in inner cities in the developed world, etc. then I could buy into that.
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  38

  Will there be a time when NO ONE will be able to become a JW anymore?

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  the witnesses always said that at some point in time, it will be too late to join, the doors will be closed.. do you believe that will happen, or is it just to scare the witnesses?

  and what would trigger the watchtower to decide, it's too late?

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  eyeslice

  Sure, that is what THEY would like you to think. One of the features of the control that the Society has over the rank and file is the fear of being cast outside of the congregation. The idea that a time might come when people are barred from the congregation because it is "too late" backs up this idea.
  Eyeslice
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  47

  Has being a Jehova's witness totally shattered your faith?

  by Silvia Plath in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  just because the watchtower society is wrong doesn't mean that there is no god, nor does it mean there is a god.

  it would interesting to now how former members have adjusted thier cosmology, or whether they are now atheists and why.

  i personally see religion as a more personal matter, rather than belonging to an organization.

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  eyeslice

  No not shattered completely. However, after a lifetime in, religious life on the outside has been hard. I am still seeking to fine a new spiritual home, whether that been in Christianity, Budhism, Hinduism or nothing. Not sure yet.
  Eyeslice
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  16

  Will your congregation exist in 50 years?

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  fifty years is a long time.. do you think your congregation that you did/are associating with will exist then?.

  the probability may exist that for congs.

  of elderly publishers, they will either have to merge or disband.

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  eyeslice

  I once tried to work out the average age of the publishers in our congregation (so the figure does not include children who are not unbaptised publishers). At the time, (about 5 years ago) I estimated that the average age was late 40s. Now it will be mid 50s - as very few youngs come along and the remaining ones age.
  I think the trend will continue. JWs will become like many other mainstream churches where the main support are from older people, typically pensioners.
  Eyeslice
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  28

  Brooklyn Says they Need 40,000 qualified Brotheres

  by drew sagan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just mentioned this in another post but thought i would start a new thread about it.

  my wife reminded me a few days ago that the bethel speaker at our convention stated that "the organization is in need of more than 40,000 qualified brothers to take the lead".

  this basically means that brooklyn is saying that every congregation in the world is down 1 - 1.5 qualified brothers(?

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  eyeslice

  I can understand where they are coming from. I am from the old school (in my mid 50's) belonging to the generation who thought the mid 70's would bring the big A. We were at that time very enthusiastic for the 'truth'.
  However, since that time there has certainly been a dropping off of the zeal we had.As a result, very few young men left in the congregations appear to have the same drive as we had back then. When I was an elder I was disappointed not to see young ones reaching out as we did.
  Is it the beginning of the end? Perhaps not but it is a sign of continuing weakness.
  Eyeslice
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  80

  Be Honest: Did You ACTUALLY Report Accurate Field Service Time?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i bet most people did not.

  i think nearly everyone counted time spent on breaks.

  or sitting in the car for an hour and a half while the elders did a "shepherding" call.

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  eyeslice

  Yes, I think I was fairly accurate.
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  40

  Prediction of large drop in JW numbers in 2014

  by VM44 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am going to make the prediction, here and now in mid 2006, that there will be a significant drop in the number of jehovah's witnesses in the year 2014, the one hundredth anniversary of 1914.. the only way this drop in numbers might be avoided is if the watchtower society can think up some way to stir up the rank and file and get them motivated to do more, like they did with the 1975 fiasco.. .

  i doubt very much that the watchtower magazine is going to proclaim loudly in the year 2014 anything about the "generation of 1914" not passing away.. --vm44

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  eyeslice

  I am not so sure that I agree with that '1914' will be quietly required.
  The whole 1914 thing is still very much at the fore in the literature and in what is taught from the platform. If this is going to happen, then watch out for subtle changes over the next couple of years.
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  54

  What Bothers You The Most About Jehovah's Witnesses?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for me, i think it's their hypocrisy.

  they lead (the vast majority) a double life.

  and ultimately they look down on anyone not a jw yet they won't even wn up to it.

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  eyeslice

  Their judgemental attitude. How un-Christlike!
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  11

  How much JW do you have left in yourself?

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  say something that jw's preach that you still believe in.

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  eyeslice

  Personally, I am still very much influenced by my JW past. Like many here it is difficult to leave all that stuff behind after many years, perhaps decades, in.
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  11

  How much JW do you have left in yourself?

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  say something that jw's preach that you still believe in.

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  eyeslice

  Personally, I am still very muched influenced by JW past. Like many here it is difficult to leave all that stuff behind after many years, and in many cases decades in.