in my area i know of four congregations dissolved in one circuit, so that leaves eight weeks a year empty for that circuit overseer's calendar.
dissolving congregations is happening more than in my area, so i believe we can assume other c.o.s have open time.
it appears that c.o.s are visiting with a companion c.o.
In the old days CO's would occasionally - once or twice a year - have DO's come with them to "shepherd them" and observe etc.
Nowadays "a more experienced CO" does the riding shotgun thing from time to time. They sometimes go in on the more difficult congo's, but often it's just a scheduled thing.
i hate to say this, but given my own experience as a jw for almost 3 decades, i am beginning to believe the average jw will continue to look to and be guided by the gb regardless of whether they are right or wrong.. despite all the scandals and negative media attention the watchtower organisation is receiving, life seems to go on as normal in jw land.
it's truly bizarre!!.
clearly, the gbs tactic of mostly hiding away from the media is clearly working for them.
Sad but utterly true Unshackle ...
i am translating jwfacts to spanish.
i am doing the "statistics" section.here are two graphs that show that the statistics have never been worse for the watchtower:quantity of hours required for 1 baptism: note how low it went in 1974-1975, and note that 2016 is much higher than the slump of 1978... about double, to be exact.
2016 was a historical record in this statistic (higher is worse for watchtower).. this stat is the baptisms as a percentage of the publisher average.
I go with the internet exposing them.
But it has come a few years after the "generation change" which has dampened spirits, and easy access to smartphones has come along to accelerate that.
1995 was actually the end of the "two horned wild beast" aka 1975 and the generation that saw 1914. This was really one doctrine with 1975 being the first disappointment and 1995 being the writing on the wall that the whole thing was a crock of shit.
But keen dubs could still hold on to the generation doctrine in their heads. My old study conductor actually said to me in about 1996/7 - "the generation doesn't really pass away until 2000 or even 2014 - I'll wait and see." Sadly he died in 2012.
So the generation change started a twenty year gradual disappointment for some older born-ins. That hope pretty much died in 2014 with the big hoopla conventions.
After 1975, there was still the "old generation teaching" going strong for another fifteen to 20 years and so a bounce back occurred. After 1995 nothing of urgency (except "soon") replaced it.
Internet.
The internet came into many homes on a PC in the early 2000's. Then laptops and then from the late 2000's handheld devices. (Remember the advice to have your PC in the family room so you couldn't privately access stuff?)
So I believe that in the west most folk got private use of the web from about 2005 and especially so since the late 2000's. This is increasing yearly even now and encompassing second and even third world countries.
Internet's effect on non-jw's who might have otherwise been interested.
All except the most emotionally damaged will quickly, after a visit from two nice ladies or an encounter at the trolley cart, check out JW's on line. When they do they will be met with jw.facts, child abuse headlines, shunning, blood and other negative stuff.
Only the slack-jawed wrecks will come in from the outside. This is why if you look round your KH you will see the dregs of society. The dubbies will say they are those sighing and crying. I say that they are the only ones left who cannot see this cult for what it truly is.
Born-ins - as evidenced by the newbies on this forum will also see the negatives and the poor kids will be stuck between losing their families and losing their sanity.
this poor girl was baptized at 9yo.
.
she isnt old enough to buy alcohol, to vote, to decide her own medical treatment, to buy a pet, to travel alone... yet she was deemed old enough to dedicate her life to a religion that will cut her off from her family if she ever leaves.. here she is applauded for shunning her own sister who tried to keep in contact with her after waking up.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yzgnfda8ki.
"Smiddy"
I think Vin the Tool said he'd never heard of "Theocratic Warfare" not "shunning".
Now about the video ... almost Nazi Germany.
I can well imagine Artur Axmann interviewing a Hitler Youth member at a parade who has denounced his family for anti-Hitler sentiments.
At least they would have been dressed more smartly.
the song is supposedly about marveling at god's creation but instead includes over the top adoration of the elders, conventions, and family worship.
lol getting a brother who sounds like a wannabe josh groban only adds to the cheesiness.
https://youtu.be/tzxf25gvs_m.
was just thinking about the practice in wt (and i believe some other religions as well) to call your fellow female (baptized) jw a sister, a brother if it is a man.
children call older people aunt or uncle.
so, at home, i can call my wife by her first name etc.
In the UK.
The only time brother and sister are used is (e.g) when asking the Q's like during the WT study or when the school overseer (CLAM overseer nowadays) announces you up to the platform or gives counsel.
Occasionally if for example the visiting speaker (e.g C.O.) wasn't known to you and you were chairman and went up to address him to ask if he would like a glass of water or offer expenses or if he was okay to close in prayer you might address him as Brother _________ especially if you were a young MS acting as chairman.
Children - in their own KH they call older ones Uncle or Auntie (first name) as a mark of respect. With the aged they may even continue this into their late teens or even their early 20's.
the uk are tightening up their data protection laws to make it easier for individuals to get hold of the information organisations hold on them and to get it deleted.. i think paul grundy (jwfacts) went through this with wt once and found it very time consuming and difficult.. will wt now abide by the law and hand over or permanently delete the records it keeps when requested?it would mean every uk exjw could have their report card info, personal file with age, sex, baptism date, judicial information, appointment/deletion/disfellowshipping dates, letters of disassociation, letters of recommendation when you move, phone number and address permanently removed.
anyone acting for the wt (elders) who retain this information, eg your phone number in their phone or the secretary keeping your historical monthly report details, will be in violation.
failure to comply will incur a fine.. expect a letter to all boe's any time soon explaining why this does not apply to them.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-40826062.
I would happily pay the £10 as I wouldn't view it as a donation but as a reasonable charge for the time and materials taken to produce the stuff.
I believe but cannot be certain that you will get your stuff but that any reference to anyone else will be redacted. Here's a tongue in cheek example ...
Original letter from your elders to the branch ...
Bro. Emperor admitted acts of porneia with Sister Lucy Nuff and Sister Lilo Lil. This was done as a "threesome" for which we asked complete details so as to determine the low sink of debauchery that Bro. Emperor sank.
We have also included by way of a copy of this correspondence the Judicial Committee of the "Outer Fumbuck" congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses where these sisters were serving until the outcome of their recent judicial meetings conducted by Bros Dick Thasher, Moe Lester and Phil McAvity.
Bro. Emperor does not appear to show fruits befitting repentance and we uphold the decision of the original committee but we are mightily jealous as Sister Lucy Nuff is gorgeous and Sister Lilo Lil has a body to die for.
We remain your brothers,
Joe Kerr, Ben Dover and Mike Litterus
Redacted version ...
Bro. Emperor admitted acts of porneia with [Redacted]and [Redacted]. This was done as a "threesome" for which we asked complete details so as to determine the low sink of debauchery that Bro. Emperor sank.
We have also included by way of a copy of this correspondence the Judicial Committee of the [Redacted] congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses where these sisters were serving until the outcome of their recent judicial meetings conducted by Bros [Redacted x 3].
Bro. Emperor does not appear to show fruits befitting repentance and we uphold the decision of the original committee but we are mightily jealous as [Redacted] is gorgeous and [Redacted] has a body to die for.
We remain your brothers,
[Redacted x 3]
i'm proud to say no greater than ten minutes in my whole life.
and i'm not giving them any more.
i do look at the video posts on here with their latest bullshit but being entertained by these clowns longer than necessary is unproductive..
My main source of JW doctrine is a 2014 CD-ROM which I believe was the last one that doesn't get "updated". So I only use jwborg if I need to check what they are saying in more recent stuff.
I rarely use jborg - usually only use it to compare things I "know" were taught back in the day and which they spin and lie about now.
there is a plethora of convention photos on my instagram this morning.
(a lot of my jw friends have forgotten i'm on their followers list) .
smiling faces standing next to convention posters with comments like 'nope, i'm not giving up.
Glad you were entertained DY. Were your ears tickled in the process?
this is a proof for 1914!.
enemies, .
https://archive.org/stream/enemiesbyjudgerutherford1937/1937-enemies#page/n11/mode/1up.
Judges chapters 19 through 21 tells me differently.
