yeah in the section on attending the convention, you will find this gem:.
"therefore, we should give attention to our dress and grooming while in the convention city, including when we check in at the hotel.
arriving in shorts and a t-shirt would not reflect dignity.".
I wonder who on the GB is so obsessed with how JDubs dress themselves? I thought it was he who shall not be named (Ted Jarez) but clearly someone else has a lady shoe obsession as well.
Seriously, the Sister in the "innapropriately dressed for a bethel tour" photo is wearing a smart jacket, dark trousers and medium heeled shoes - Surely that is appropriate 'business' attire! Normal people would think that "overdressed" to tour a factory!
The control is crazy.
I'm in London, so we could drive or take public transport to the DC. I'm surprised that the brothers and sisters actually use the overpriced hotel's 'on the list'. For international conventions I kind of understand it, but really, if you can stay 3 nights for $300 dollars in an approved hotel, or 3 nights for $200 arranged by yourself - who would choose to spend the extra $100? Doesn't make sense to me!
whenever i talk to a jw when i rarely see one i bri g up the laws in the ot, like raping of virgins in deut being ok and forced to marry the rapist.
it seems they just are not aware of these laws or any in depth the history or customs of the ancient jews.
is the wts ashamed of the ot and the truth about the jews ?.
They aren't ashamed of the 'Hebrew Scriptures' at all!
This is the societies attitude:
Genocide? - The damn Caananites et al deserved it.
Slavery, Polygamy? - God was just making allowances for how society was back then.
Marry your rapist? - Well, that was a loving provision because no-one else would have wanted her and she would never have had children otherwise, which was a worse fate than having to marry your rapist.
Stoning apostates? - Shame we can't do that today.
Judah using prositutes? - God hadn't banned it then.
Lot offering his daughters to be raped? - We don't really understand the oriental mind set back than, but it would have been worse for him to violate hospitality principles. Besides 1)he knew the crowd didn't want women 2) he know the angels would save them.
Job losing all his children for someone elses bet? - UNIVERSAL SOVEREIGNTY & DONT ASK QUESTIONS!
when literature used to be sold d2d, i remember how the society never missed an opportunity to trash other religions for "peddling god's word for profit" while boasting about how the watchtower only charges for the cost of the paper and ink.. in the book "witnesses of jehovah", the author mentioned that randall watters used to be involved in print cost analysis and determined that, while we were selling wt & awake mags for 20 cents door-to-door, it was really only costing the society 4 cents per copy to produce.
that's a whopping 400% profit!.
obviously, things have changed... the paper is different, as well as the ink and printing methods in general.
BTT - some good aditional stuff from Randy on here.
when literature used to be sold d2d, i remember how the society never missed an opportunity to trash other religions for "peddling god's word for profit" while boasting about how the watchtower only charges for the cost of the paper and ink.. in the book "witnesses of jehovah", the author mentioned that randall watters used to be involved in print cost analysis and determined that, while we were selling wt & awake mags for 20 cents door-to-door, it was really only costing the society 4 cents per copy to produce.
that's a whopping 400% profit!.
obviously, things have changed... the paper is different, as well as the ink and printing methods in general.
Iconoclast - you're right, the GB members don't have mansions or genuine 'millionaire' lifestyles. It took me ages to accept what Randy has been saying for years, but all the money, all the contributions, kingdom hall remodelling scams are all for one purpose:
The primary purpose of the organisation is the survival of the organisation.
I believe everything the society does is to ensure the organisation survives. They will cut the printing business to the bone, they will 'simplify' or cut any department that makes a loss.
Personally I think the 'Service' dept is next on the chopping block now they've lost their protector Ted Jarez. Watchout for simplified Circuit Overseer arrangments, declining special pioneer appointments etc. I think there used to be an unwritten rule, or expectation, that if you had completed 30 years in full time service i.e. circuit, district, special pio or missionary you could be taken into bethel for your old age. That arrangement will dissapear due to healthcare costs if it hasn't already.
if you've been to the meeting when the letter was read, what was jw reaction????
just curious if it was just another sign that the end is nearer or did any wake up for a second to realize the corporation is downsizing due to costs..
Basically the society has gone from producing 128 magazine pages a month to 64 per month over a few years.
They have actually halved their content output.
Hail the theocracy ever decreasing!
Does this mean more redundancies in the writing and printing depo's? - What is Bethel for anymore?
if you've been to the meeting when the letter was read, what was jw reaction????
just curious if it was just another sign that the end is nearer or did any wake up for a second to realize the corporation is downsizing due to costs..
It was very quiet in my hall during the announcement. I purposefully looked around at some of the old timers, some looked dissappointed, some looked sad. Nobody else really cared. Some of the younger ones wondered if we'd be allowed to do online witnessing.
wifey attends the spanish cong, so when we ran late in our errands, she started to get upset that she was going to miss the special talk.
i told her again, and i reminded her that we already talked about this topic.
the special talk is just a new outline.
Cedars - it was a bit different to that, your loved ones should have been in a good mood with you!
The talk bit about inactive ones was, and I'm quoting; "inactive ones are still part of our family and we still love them and Jehovah still loves them".
I though that 'inactive ones who still believe' are being set up for some love bombing.
true story ........so i was standing in line at the hardware store yesterday, picking up some garden stuff and happened to catch the conversation in front of me.
the man in front of me was buying a no soliciting sign.
the checker asked "who is this for, girl scouts?
You must have heard wrong. This is how the experience will be written up:
A brother who had allowed 'anxieties of life' to 'crowd out' his service to Jehovah had become inactive.
One day he went to a hardware store where he overheard a conversation between the store owner and and another customer:
"I see you're buying a no soliciting sign, who is that for?"
"Jehovah's witnesses, they've called at my home two times in three weeks!"
"I know, they've done that here too - still you have to admire their persistance!"
"Oh I've never thought of it that way, I must say they always look well dressed"
"And their children are so well behaved!"
"Maybe I wont put up this sign yet, I'll give them a chance to explainwhy they call so often next time"
Cut to his heart by this conversation, Andre our inactive brother called the co-ordinator of the body of elders at his old hall and asked for a Bible study to help him gain the love he had at first. After a few months Andre was back sharing in field service, and one morning he just happened to call on the customer at the hardware store! He related his experience to the householder and now both are serving together as happy witnesses of our loving father, together with all their families!
the more i'm reading and thinking about what i have previously learned it just opens a whold new can of worms.. my husband and i have been reading/comparing the nwt, diaglot, reference bible, etc.
and i saw where the society added words, changed meaning, even added an entire sentence without ().
i have seen where they have emphasized sayings in the watchtower that are not in the bible like "paradise earth".
I've not welcomed you yet, so howdy!
My only advice is study and take it slowly so you're sure any decisions you make you are confident in.
BUT, talk to your sister - you may gain a 'new best friend'.
xx
