Like with most religions, the general rule is that contributions are mostly from those who can least afford to contribute. Not surprised to see a flimsy donations in a wealthy area. California is probably the worst for this. No one gives anything from the prosperous areas!
simon17
JoinedPosts by simon17
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86
A little example of how severely the contributions for the Society are drying up
by sir82 injust a little tidbit from the congregation i attend..... the congregation has approximately 120 publishers.. well over 1000 magazines per month are picked up, not to mention all the books, brochures, and tracts that are picked up.. there was a "local needs" part on the service meeting recently, asking for more contributions.. it seems our congregation has averaged just about $300 per month contributions to the "worldwide work" over the past year.. .
assuming 1500 magazines / month, that's just 20 cents per magazine - and that completely ignores all other literature that is picked up.. the last price the magazines had, 20+ years ago, was 25 cents per issue.
with inflation that would have been about 50 cents each now.. just another sign of how severely the contriutions to the society are drying up..... .
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Tebowing in the Kingdom Hall... Funny? Not funny?
by oppostate intebowing is defined as "to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different.".
http://tebowing.com/about.
here's tim tebow in full tebowing stance:.
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simon17
I wonder what will happen during losing streaks... prostrating himself and ripping of garments? Perhaps a chalice?
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Thanking God For Food?
by dontplaceliterature inhave you ever considered the fact that by implication, when we thank god for food (if you do), we are also saying that he is responsible for the lack of food in the case of others who are not as fortunate as we are?
if you are acknowledging that it is god who is responsible for your physical well-being, and that you don't have plenty because of your own sensibility and hard work, then what about those who are not physically well?
what about those who do not have enough to eat?
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simon17
I rememeber a few years actually listening to prayers (others and my own) and about 90% of the the things said in prayers are pure nonsense if you think about it. The other standbys: "Please watch over the brothers worldwide", "Please be with xxxxx dealing with xxxxxx". THink about these things for a sec. Does God need our prayers to watch over his servants? If he did, that would be ridiculous, if there was some critical mass of prayers before God decides to help a brother out. And if not, there is no need to ask God to do something that will be done either way, based on its natural goodness. "Bless out efforts in the ministry." What? Does our prayers make God allow the people to listen to us? Is their free will determined by our praying for our own success in communicating the message? Nonsense.
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evolution question
by outsmartthesystem init has taken me almost 2 years to get to the bottom of the watchtower society rabbit hole.
being fully convinced that i was duped....i am still a little ashamed of myself for being so narrow minded.
i have vowed never to close off my mind like that again.
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simon17
Of course science is ostensibly based on experience, so one would imagine that the experiences be repeatable and verifiable by others. To date, not even one thought experiment has demonstrated how this random walk purportedly at the base of the novelty we see can defeat the inexorable laws of chemistry and physics as these operate in accordance with the mathematical probabilities observed.
I'm not sure what you're even saying here. Plenty of experiments and observations have shown examples of speciation and also of the mechanisms of evolutionary change. Examples of species which have diverged from a common ancestor are numerous, just look them up. The E-Coli experiment shows the process of evolution in work before ones very eyes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._coli_long-term_evolution_experiment). Of course, is this macro-evolution? No, we've only been observing things for a 100 years or so. Macro-evolution doesn't happen on that time scale. If you don't accept genetic, chemical and physical evidence that this DID happen, in spite of evidence of every sort of predicted micro-evolutionary mechanism, then you're a lot like someone who doesn't accept continental drift. "Sure" you may say, "continents tend to move 6 inches here or there, but has anyone shown any actual evidence of continents moving across the entire globe? I didn't think so!".
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Do Movie Ratings Make Any Sense to You?
by TD inmy wife and i have a "movie night" once a week where we watch two movies.
she picks one and i pick one.
here's the two movies we watched tonight and their ratings.. .
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simon17
All the Presidents Men I think was PG and it had F-bombs all over the place. I never understood that one, especially since its like 30 years old.
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Woolly Mammoth to be cloned
by glenster inwithin 5 years, a woolly mammoth will likely be cloned, according to.
scientists who have just recovered well-preserved bone marrow in a. mammoth thigh bone.
japan's kyodo news first reported the find.
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simon17
What would you do with a wholly mammoth? Put it in a zoo? Repopulate it and see what wild effects it has on local ecosystems?
Personally I'd start a little smaller.
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HOW MANY BORN-INS or almost born-ins, WOULD HAVE BECOME A JW IF SOMEONE CALLED AT THEIR DOOR?
by PaintedToeNail ini know i would have never, ever been interested if someone would have come to my door as a jw.
i guess i really don't feel like i've ever had a real spiritual side to me.
the 'truth' would have never interested me, nor would i have ever accepted a bible study with anyone who came looking for a sheeple.
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simon17
Even when I was under their power and a MS and trying very hard to be spiritual, I remember a service cargroup debating what they would have become of them had they not grown up in 'the truth.' Most seemed pretty convinced they would have found the truth eventually, another person said they'd probably be drawn to some other religion. They asked me and I said "I'd have been an athiest." That kinda quieted everyone. Ballsy answer actually. Even though I had no dots connected back then, I still knew logically where I'd end up I think. Rationality simply must win out in the end.
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Pose THIS QUESTION and watch JW"S REALIZE they have been DUPED!!
by foolsparadise ini told a current longtime jw friend who hasn't been to a meeting in months now :) this statement:.
"if jw's were so honest and this was the true religion that they really and i mean really believed was the truth, how come they never tell any of their return visits or children before babtizim that if they ever choose to think differently and believe differently and decides they no longer want to be one of jehovahs witness, they will be shunned by all former friends and last but not least family??!!
do you really think if they were told this "disclosure" at the time of studying they would continue?
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simon17
Devil's advocate for you:
"Of course they know that leaving the true religion would mean leaving God and a disaproved state. Disfellowshipping it something that studies who have progressed for months are aware of. Sure we're not going to give them an hour long story of the worst case scenerio. Besides, that is a loving arrangement that disfellowshipped people even are aware of is for their benefit. And if they really rebel agains the congregation, they must be cut off from the congregation and have proven themselves unworthy of the kingdom of God."
Circular reasoning
Thought-blocking maneauvers
and Misdirection.
That would work to protect them from doubts and probably just annoy you and get you nowhere.
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Variance On College
by metatron inthere seem to be some more upscale congregations in which the college thing is no big deal as long as the witness kids live at home and at least pretend to be witnesses.
this includes bachelors degrees in tech subjects, not just 2 years of nursing.. there might be some realization that, in rich areas, congegations aren't viable without education.. metatron .
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simon17
This is true. When I would travel to congregations in richer areas, be it in certain areas of california or florida, I was always surprised to find out how many of the elders and ministerial servants made healthy livings and had college degrees. But in more rural areas, education is a sign of weakness.
+1, where I live, going to college was not universal but it was pretty normal as long as you lived at home and didn't totally slack off. We got the 'education' talk from basically every talk during the circuit assemblies but in the congregation level it was not discouraged at all.
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How to silence family/elders, and not be labeled apostate, prove the 1,000 year reign understanding is false....
by EndofMysteries inmy reason for leaving or fading is because after actually reading the bible, i began to gain understanding and seeing everywhere what the bible teaches is not what jw's teach.
there is no need to bring up 'apostate' material, the history of jw's, etc, as that sets up a mental block (if you ever were a strong jw you may remember yourself it wouldn't work).
the foundation of the faith is that the bible is the final authority, the bible trumps everything, and that only jw's follow the bible everyone else twists it to their traditions and customs.
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simon17
There are so many presuppositions and vagueness that anything in the Bible like this is open wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide to interpretation. Yours probably makes as much (or as little) sense as anything else about an overall ridiculous concept logically.
My point is: I dont think you're changing people against the WT organization. They are just going to accept the WT interpretation of events.