Posts by Sapphy

10

COST CUTTING IDEAS, STOP SENDING THE BIG GUNS TO TWO DAY CONVENTIONS. YOUR IDEAS?

by AvocadoJake in

it can cost up to $3,000 to fly a sister and her husband to give a part on the circuit assembly, wine and dine, and house in a nice hotel.

the district conventions are not cheap, nor are they really productive, the message is lost so quick.

there has to be a way to get more bang, for your buck!

Sapphy

Merge the public Watchtower and Awake! So the monthly ministry offering would be "The Watchtower - Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom, incorporating AWAKE! magazine". That would result in cutting monthly production by half but they could keep the 'popular' YPA and watching the world articles and alternate with the regular WT life story features.

Eliminate the 'congregation book study' and cut the mid week meeting by 30 mins. Would be good for those with kids for the meeting to finish earlier, but would also reduce the pressure on the society to produce new books if they're not needed for new book studies. Books would only then need to be produced when the old ones are blatently old light.

Outsource printing to cheap private firms.

Make the magazine servant responsible for priniting one study watchtower for each publisher - downloaded from a pdf. - That would save about 10 million mags per month.

Cut 3 day conventions to two days

Close local bethels and have one mega bethel per continent (are they doing this already?)

Phase out and retire missionarys and DO/COs before they complete 30 years full time service (or whatever the cut off is) so the society is not liable for a growing number of old peoples health care.

20

Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 11-06-2011 WT Study (YOUR SHARE)

by blondie in

jw
friends

.a revelation by jesus christ,...to his slave john, .

comments.

Sapphy

iclone "He then turned white as a ghost and said “well that’s where faith comes in”.

LOL, if he hadn't've changed the subject you could have asked him "faith in what, exactly?". It always comes down to having faith in the society. Not Jah, Jesus or the Bible.

Blondie, thankyou so much for continuing to do these reviews. I read everyone you write & it's fair to say your reviews were what helped switch on my mind to critical thinking.

82

What really ended the book study in private homes?

by Alfred in

it's been over 3 years since the book study in private homes was discontinued and some jws are still scratching their heads over it.

although a letter was read to all congregations explaining that "book study night" would now be "family worship night", there was still much speculation among jws as to the real reason behind this decision (the great tribulation was about to start, jehovah was simplifying the lives of jws, to lessen the burden of poor jws who had no money for gas, etc.)...

but as we all know, decisions like these from the gb invariably have some ulterior motive behind it... and discussion boards such as this one usually finds a way to dig up the truth for all to see... but after reading several threads on this subject, i'm really not sure we've uncovered all the facts yet.... so i have to ask... what do you believe really ended the book study in private homes?

Sapphy

It was the worst attended meeting of the lot. It was so easy to skip the hour & stay home. I think the attendance must have plummeted when the revelation book was studied for the 4th time. It was a drag for the Congregation Book Study Overseers to prepare for and take. More and more times at the group the working men would skip it & you'd have the elder taking it with Brother Can't Read Good ploding through the paragraphs as quickly as wading through concrete in iron boots, or a Sister would have to read (shock and shame).

I think it just died through neglect - maybe the society thinks eliminating the group will allow them to reduce the number of new books they have to produce. And, speaking as someone who suffered through studying the interminable "Isaiah prophecy" books thank goodness! I hope they simplify themselves and their precious org out of existance!

43

Is There A Nice Way To Say, 'It's Dying?'?

by metatron in

jw
friends

i got into one of those extended conversations with relatives i haven't spoken to in ages.

it was full of things unsaid and careful avoidance of saying too much about the organization.

lots of nice social hypocrisy, so nobody gets upset in the fairy-tale world of watchtower-ism.. is there any discreet, tactful, inoffensive way to tell them, "the organization is dying"?

Sapphy

& stuckinamovement - great list!

Just wondering, of the 1.5 billion hours reported, if you take off travelling time, coffee break, sitting in the car waiting for others, time spent at the field service group & pure fake hours I think the society would be lucky to end up with 500 million actual preaching hours.

If you were to knock off family study and placing the magazine with your worldly family route route calls you'd get fewer than that IMHO

43

Is There A Nice Way To Say, 'It's Dying?'?

by metatron in

jw
friends

i got into one of those extended conversations with relatives i haven't spoken to in ages.

it was full of things unsaid and careful avoidance of saying too much about the organization.

lots of nice social hypocrisy, so nobody gets upset in the fairy-tale world of watchtower-ism.. is there any discreet, tactful, inoffensive way to tell them, "the organization is dying"?

Sapphy

There's a number of reasons. It's a side effect, but the simplification programme of the past 20 years has reduced the joy that used to be had in some activities. Simply eliminating the food service at conventions meant that young people had a greatly reduced oppotunity to meet and speak.

Cracking down on large gatherings means that often the congos now play it safe, and don't organise any social events at all.

In the 80's, the org was more family oriented, the pioneers of the seventies, in many cases, settled down and had kids. These 2nd or 3rd gen kids of the 80s have grown up with computers & modern technology. They are in their 20s or early 30s now, and do not have the attitude that they will sacrifice everything for the society. They see their true believer parents growing old with not much provision for their old age and won't let the same fate happen to them. They do not have the "this generation will by no means pass away" imperative of earlier witness generations. (I use the word generation here in it's classical, actual sense) This generation treats the society as a social club. If they're in a cool clique and find a partner they're set! They are cultural or nominal Jdubs, in that they dont let the religion interfere with their lives. Sure they'll do a bit of service on a Saturday, sure the boys will do the mikes but they will not continue pioneering like their parents did - if they ever started. They'll politely ignore the council on higher education, often tactitly supported by their parents, and they'll work full time and not 'reach out' like their Dads did.

To tell an old Jdub that the org is dying is a hiding to nothing, but to ask them why the young people arent as zealous as they were a few years ago, "and why is that?" can lead to some interesting conversations, especially if you ask what could be changed to help them

167

Repent because God's Kingdom has drawn close!

by Kosonen in

here on this forum there are so many sinners, many here are doing things that will bring god's wrath upon themselves.

consider yourself if you in some aspect fit the description in romans 1:28-32:.

and just as they did not approve of holding god in accurate knowledge, god gave them up to a disapproved mental state, to do the things not fitting, filled as they were with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, badness, being full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malicious disposition, being whisperers, backbiters, haters of god, insolent, haughty, self-assuming, inventors of injurious things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, false to agreements, having no natural affection, merciless.

Sapphy

prefer coffee & walnut cake if you're offering Mrs J. I'll do proper english tea if you'd like.

167

Repent because God's Kingdom has drawn close!

by Kosonen in

here on this forum there are so many sinners, many here are doing things that will bring god's wrath upon themselves.

consider yourself if you in some aspect fit the description in romans 1:28-32:.

and just as they did not approve of holding god in accurate knowledge, god gave them up to a disapproved mental state, to do the things not fitting, filled as they were with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, badness, being full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malicious disposition, being whisperers, backbiters, haters of god, insolent, haughty, self-assuming, inventors of injurious things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, false to agreements, having no natural affection, merciless.

Sapphy

Why are you all talking about bacon fat, turkey and commas when the issue is The Kingdom Is at Hand and we havent decided if universal health insurance is a Good Thing yet?

41

Was it the doctrine or the control that woke you up?

by Evidently Apostate in

even though i knew some of the doctrines were so convoluted they couldnt be genuine, every prophecy mentioned in the bible was simplistic and direct i still felt it was the best place to raise a family.

i felt like i could ignore the hypocrisy, manipulative and fake personalities and still have true friends and unbreakable family bonds.

even though my concience would bother me i would always try to forgive.

Sapphy

The doctrine woke me up, the control issues are encouraging me to leave.

I could cope with the control if the doctrine was true. But as one poster on here said 'they p!ss on your back and command you to believe it's raining'

22

Do you remember being warned off about soaps?

by highdose in

i mean tv soaps.

i remember for a while they were a sign of a deeply unspirtual person ... all that time that could have been spent door to door instead!.

Sapphy

Totally remember. I recall one brother saying he was reading directly from the public talk outline, and the line was "soap operas serve Satan's purpose".

It was in the context that soap operas minimise the effects of adultery and teach women it's OK to leave their marriage if they're not happy.

32

Do You Believe It Is Wrong To "Discipline" Your Child In A Physical Way?

by minimus in

jw
friends

my grandkids were being mouthy and they learned a new phrase, "shut your mouth".

it could be directed to their parents, grandparents or anyone who said something they didn't like.

they are 2 and 4 years old and beautiful children.

Sapphy

I am completely against corporal punishment for children. I am glad most european countries are toughening up laws against striking children