Posts by JWoods

113

More Society cutbacks - Society says "screw you" to the publishers yet again

by sir82 in

jw
friends

at our service meeting it was announced that there is a change in the manner in which magazines are now to be delivered to the congregations.. up until now, magazines were sent to each kingdom hall via ups.

in years past magazines were sent to each congregation po's home address via ups.. going forward, magazines will be sent only as far as the assembly hall.

it is the responsibility of each kingdom hall to send brother(s) twice a month to drive out there, pick up the magazines, and return.. this of course saves a little bit of money for the society - shipping larger packages to fewer addresses will cost less.. however, what about the expense to the local congregations?.

JWoods

Is it possible that we are seeing the complete decline and fall of paper publications as the cornerstone of the Watchtower religion?

Think about it:

Awake cut in half to once a month.

Watchtower (for public) cut in half to once a month.

Watchtower (for the witnesses) metered out by the congregation elders.

Watchtower subscriptions no longer available.

Brooklyn printing facilities pretty much in early stages of abandonment - (old Watchtower logic was that the printing had to be done there because of the ready shipping facilities)

Most important: The old system of selling the magazines door to door for a specified contribution is dismantled due to sales tax issues.

Is it possible that the new leadership does not care about the printing presses any more?

59

Isn't This Just Too Cute?

by snowbird in

.

this type stuff will make you empty your pocketbook in a hurry!.

lol.. syl.

JWoods

What's cute about footwear? It's just an inanimate functional thing. Does anyone even look at other people's feet?

Women do. In the book "Dressed for Success", the author states that even the most common street woman can instantly size you up by the quality and condition of your footwear. Of course, I think he was in the clothing sales business.

I do not pay any attention, myself.

59

Isn't This Just Too Cute?

by snowbird in

.

this type stuff will make you empty your pocketbook in a hurry!.

lol.. syl.

JWoods

JWoods ...

Tough love, Sylvia. You asked for my help earlier today and that is part of the process...

59

Isn't This Just Too Cute?

by snowbird in

.

this type stuff will make you empty your pocketbook in a hurry!.

lol.. syl.

JWoods

Sylvia, it is nice to see you taking my advice and moving on past the John Doe thing.

Sadly, it may well have been this very kind of thread that drove him away -

OK - I take it back. Spend money on shoes, it is good for the economy.

14

A journey of a 1000 miles begins with a single step....

by QuestioningEverything in

jw
friends

a little over two years ago-june 2008- i began a journey of epic proportions.

i didn't know at that time that my life would forever change.

i came across this website while looking up jehovah's witnesses and 1975. at first, i was very nervous.

JWoods

Excellent post, congratulations.

25

Captives of a Concept

by dgp in

i'm reading "captives of a concept", by don cameron.

cameron holds that the one thing that keeps jehovah's witnesses prisoners in the watchtower is the idea that they are in "god's organization", and, therefore, the right thing to do, in spite of what one sees, is to stay within it.

cameron also says that those jehovah's witnesses who become convinced that the watchtower is not god's organization eventually leave.

JWoods

Basically, the WTS never directly names an individual or organization from 100 to 1879 A.D., only that one must have existed. And most jws would not even question this.

Most JW teachers that I knew believed that there were non-catholic "true congregations" all the way from 100 A.D., but that their identity had been "lost history" because they were suppressed or killed out by false christians.

It is pretty obvious that if they actually identified one or more of these pockets of true worship, they would also have to establish their own lineage to them. And the only legitimate lineage they have is to the Millerites.

Pretty convenient that American freedom of religion came along when it did - just in time to allow Russell to get started.

31

Imagine a WT Paradise Earth with over 100 Billion People- Not!

by moshe in

for years the wt has claimed that only 20 billion people have ever lived on the earth- in 1988 they claimed that there would be 1/3 hectare of every person who ever lived, which they said was enough to grow all the food that was needed.

a more realistic number by the population reference bureau is over 100 billion.

life in the wt utopia would resemble living in third world slums with just one bowl of food a day.

JWoods

JWoods, I too, never considered the short life expectancy of ancient people when I originally studied the WT's population figures. It wouldn't surprise me, if 500 million people have died since the little blue Truth book was released.

And so if you add this all up using realistic data, we are back to various "hand-waving" explanations of how "Jehovah will just take care of everything" - maybe crops will make 10 times as much food as before, maybe people will not have to eat as much, maybe O2 will just come out of the rocks, maybe - maybe - maybe...

Anything to avoid the obvious - it is all BS.

22

End of Pioneer Assist - real reasons?

by freddo in

i reckon that the sentence at the start of paragraph two of the letter to elders that says "in view of the good results and for other practical reasons, it is now felt that the pioneer assist others program has accomplished its purpose.

" (italics mine) is legal cya because if a pioneer goofs up and injures (while driving?

) or molests an assistee then there is a direct link to the wts because a pioneer is society appointed.. follow the dollars ....

JWoods

I wondered if possibly this was an effort to REDUCE THE INFLUENCE of the pioneers in favor of the local elders and the CO/DO.

Maybe they had gotten a little too big in the head with all this responsibility? (especially SISTER pioneers???)

31

Imagine a WT Paradise Earth with over 100 Billion People- Not!

by moshe in

for years the wt has claimed that only 20 billion people have ever lived on the earth- in 1988 they claimed that there would be 1/3 hectare of every person who ever lived, which they said was enough to grow all the food that was needed.

a more realistic number by the population reference bureau is over 100 billion.

life in the wt utopia would resemble living in third world slums with just one bowl of food a day.

JWoods

In any case, life was short. Life expectancy at birth probably averaged only about 10 years for most of human history. Estimates of average life expectancy in Iron Age France have been put at only 10 or 12 years. _____ Thanks, Moshe. The above is a very important factor that I have never heard a witness mention: With short life expectancy, the NUMBER of persons to be brought back and live on a new earth could well be close to an order of magnitude greated than what we might imagine by using modern life expectancy. Well, it really makes the physical new earth look increasingly unsustainable as a JW doctrine, doesn't it? Not to mention that nothing scientifically indicates that the solar system is in any way everlasting and other obvious physical difficulties.

24

In Remembrance of One-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless

by snowbird in

jw
friends

.

syl.

JWoods

I will tell you again Sylvia - GIVE IT UP and MOVE ON. (This is how we used to counsel people when we were elders)...sensitive as we were.