@Incognito
No they are the same length.
The old school and service meeting was 1 and 3/4 hrs when you included the three songs and two prayers.
So is the CLAM meeting but it just feels like it goes on forever.
Posts by freddo
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21Is the Mid Week Meeting shorter or longer than before they stopped doing the book study at homes?
by Iamallcool inany takers?.
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21
Is the Mid Week Meeting shorter or longer than before they stopped doing the book study at homes?
by Iamallcool inany takers?.
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freddo
@Landy
Typical meeting programme:
Pathetic Song
Same old help us listen prayer
"Treasures from God's word" comprising:
10 minute talk about how Jehovah loves us but we will probably die if he has a hissy fit.
"Digging for Spiritual gems"
8 minute Q&A except the Questions and source material are printed so you can parrot the answers.
Bible Reading (4 mins)
Where some stuttering fool or ex-elder (also often a stuttering fool) with a penis reads from "God's Word".
"Apply Yourself to the Ministry" meeting
Initial call (2 mins) Hi buddy - do you think God cares about us - no.
Return Visit (4 mins) Hi buddy, I called yesterday afternoon and we discussed how God will wipe out wickedness. Did we? Oh right let me know more (eye roll).
Bible Study (6 mins) Here look at this stupefying skit on my tablet. Oh how wunnerful! Blah jwdotorg blah see you next week.
"Living as Christians Meeting"
Crappy dirge of a song
(15 minutes) crappy video trumpeting organisation and reminding of donation opportunity. If local needs then leave your willy alone and don't wank to porn like red faced brother we haven't named but who you all know who we're talking about because of the Public Reproof from last month or the elder that blabbed and now you all know anyway.
If upcoming Convention then reminders not to save seats, wear tight trousers, knock over granny on her zimmer (walker) frame and follow attendants instructions. Oh and use our hotels so we get free luxury en-suite rooms with 100 TV channels and drinks gratis.
Congregation "Bible" Study (30 mins)
Kingdom Rules Book "How we worship the Governing Body but don't really and how our prophecies weren't prophecies but always nearly came right despite millions now dead who thought they would be alive rubbish crap lies including new light."
Boring Review of crap just heard plus Preview of next week's crap (3 minutes)
Dirge to guilt trip us and remind us how wunnerful the GB are.
Closing prayer about how we serve shoulder to shoulder as we serve soooooooooo deeeeeeep in the time of the end awaiting your grand promises.
Run for door before keen Secretary asks about your blood card being signed.
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21
Is the Mid Week Meeting shorter or longer than before they stopped doing the book study at homes?
by Iamallcool inany takers?.
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freddo
It is very boring.
The first of the month doesn't even have real people doing the demo items - you get shadow figures usually with sickly sugary accents and demeanours asking sickly sugary unrealistic questions receiving sickly sugary unrealistic answers.
And as mentioned above adding the revisionist history err ... book study at the end makes it seem as long as a watchtower study even though it is half the length.
Interminable crap, the lot of it.
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21
How much money people usually donate to WT ?
by Bardamu ini grew up in the org and never got baptised, however i was wondering recently about how much money my family and old friends are wasting in all that.
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i remember of course never talking in amounts, that it was important to give from what you can not what you have etc but i admit i have no clue how much the average witness gives (say in % of their income).. i'm sure it varies greatly, i'd love to hear what you guys have to say..
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freddo
That is spot on Crazyguy.
We had a few older widows, often who outlived their unbelieving husbands who when alive unwittingly "kept" them able to go on the ministry, drive a little car, give them a pension from their jobs and then the ubm would die and the widow had complete control over the finances.
A few years later the widow would die and occasionally a bequest would go to the congregation or WT - even when there were surviving adult children and grandchildren alive. Such is the nature of dependency upon cults.
Most of these have shuffled off the mortal coil and the next group coming through (now in their sixties and seventies) won't be so financially independent.
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21
How much money people usually donate to WT ?
by Bardamu ini grew up in the org and never got baptised, however i was wondering recently about how much money my family and old friends are wasting in all that.
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i remember of course never talking in amounts, that it was important to give from what you can not what you have etc but i admit i have no clue how much the average witness gives (say in % of their income).. i'm sure it varies greatly, i'd love to hear what you guys have to say..
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freddo
About five years ago i was asked to do the congregation audit and in the past way before that have been the Secretary and before that the Accounts bod.
In our hall, besides what went in the box at the back about a dozen folk had a monthly standing order so that tax on their donations could be reclaimed as per jean-luc picard's post above.
Their monthly amount ranged from £10 per month up to about £100 per month. The vast majority were in the £20 - £25 per month range.
The cash from the box amounted to low £100's and so about £600/£700 went to hall upkeep but only about £100/£200 went on literature although this must be dropping acutely.
Then there would be special drives for decorating or repairs and thousands would pour in. We never struggled financially but didn't seem to be awash with so much dough that we could send large sums off to "Mother".
Occasional bequests came through - usually in the low thousands but in our circuit I heard that an old brother owned an old Rolls-Royce (serviceable runner worth about £10K) and he left it to the congregation to be sold in his will for their benefit.
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9
Shun Glasses
by Tallon insaw this on another exjw site and had a good laugh.. hope you get a kick out of it too ;).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb2wzmfccdq&feature=youtu.be.
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freddo
Absolutely hilarious!
That brought a little Shunshine into my life.
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Birthday Wishes Welcome!
by LifesNotOver inmany of you don't know me or won't remember me.
i left the jw's and my husband and my home last september - forging a new life in a new town.
i haven't posted here for many months, but have been reading most days.
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freddo
71 is the new 21! Congratulations.
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Australian Royal Commision round 2
by no-zombie inround two of the australian royal commission into institutional child abuse has all the makings of a very damaging event for the organization, if what is going to happen to the catholic church is any indication.. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-03/royal-commission-most-catholic-archbishops-to-give-evidence/8240208.
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freddo
Having heard this (darkspilver's video of Archbishop Mark Coleridge) and the Salvation Army leader's video from some weeks back I now wonder what the Jehovah's Witnesses will put up in their video prior to their final hearing ...
Tumbleweeds ... ?
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144
2.16.2017 NJ Star-Ledger Ad: "Were you sexually abused by the Jehovahs Witnesses?"
by breakfast of champions inmy wife found this 1/4 page ad on page 2 of yesterday's nj star-ledger, probably the biggest newspaper in nj.
pretty telling.. .
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freddo
Richard Oliver, you think this will be a "tough mountain to climb"?
Looks like their are several parties of climbers making for the summit.
Perhaps you might phone all of these law firms to express your concerns to them? Such an undertaking would seem to be an increasingly uphill struggle too. Are you up to that challenge Richard?
Perhaps you might let us know how you get on?
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78
The handling of child abuse allegations
by Landy inthere's a lot of criticism surrounding the jw's handling of chiild abuse within their ranks with a lot of it being well deserved.
but i'm interested to know how people on here think child abuse allegations should be handled.
there's a few scenarios below, the first couple are easy then it gets a bit more complex.
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freddo
In the UK, you (a person who is aware of child abuse allegations) can always contact the social services and have a confidential conversation with them about your concerns.
I have done this when I believed there may have been child abuse (in one case possible serious neglect, in another two cases - involving allegations of child abuse). In the UK the Social Services will listen confidentially and they can act to get (in an emergency) even without prior police or court involvement.
Also if it is a case of possible sexual child abuse they will often discuss your options in a reasonable way. If what you tell them is serious enough in their opinion then they can go to the police and importantly they can get court orders, safeguard children, remove children without having a conviction in court which may never even happen.
I have sat with social services staff to provide information and ask advice on three separate occasions and I have been to the police in two of those cases after a discussion with them. One case I went to the police because I had evidence of child abuse available to "help them with an investigation". In another I had simply an opinion that someone (a jw) was being fitted up by a spouse (also a jw) eager for a more favourable divorce.
So I have never been afraid of the social services or the police and after a couple of dealings with the (anonymous idiot wankers - sorry was that unprofessional of me?) "brothers" on the service desk I simply ignored them as they hmmmmed and haaaaawed and tried to dissuade me from imparting information to the proper authorities.