Posts by JeffT

167

Anthony Morris the III has been FOUND

by Terry in

jw
friends

note: photos can be found on the blue envelope channelhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nakezkhqbmtony and susan morris are living in lumberton, north carolina.

a real estate document on the robeson county website is filed:.

the religious order of jehovah's witnesses has provided a "life estate" for them.they can live in this townhouse until they are deceased or choose to move away and in either case the ownership becomes entirely the property of jehovah's witnesses.

JeffT

As others have noted, I think they learned something from their handling of Ray Franz. They can't keep him from testifying in court if summoned, but they can keep him from writing a book. Giving him a house and whatever he might need, contingent on keeping his mouth shut is doable.

I'm also guessing that where they hid him was in a residential rehab facility. If he really did have a drinking problem, getting him dried out would be a priority. The last thing they want is a raging alcoholic GB member giving press conferences. They also can't give out details of his health problems (HIPPA) but they can say he is being treated. When the time comes they could try to sell all of this to the rank and file as an example of Jehovah taking care of the flock.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

JeffT

I have long maintained that if the WTBS disappeared a sizable portion of Witnesses would just join some other group that would be happy to tell them what to think.

Back in 1988 when I was leaving I read a book called "Apostles of Denial" by Edmond Gruss. His basic theme is that JW's defined themselves by what they are not, and what they do not believe. "No trinity, no hell fire, no holidays" etc. He said if other religions all disappeared JW's would be unable to describe theirs.

I think we are seeing a mashup of these two lines of thought. Those leaving the Watchtower are finding a community that defines itself by what it isn't. We aren't the Watctower!!! We don't do what the Watchtower says, even if we'd be better off if we did!!! (Note: I don't know what that might be, but the super x-dubs will be proud of not doing it.)

I see this trend among those still listening to Lloyd, I see it on Reddit, I've seen it here, although it gets shot down pretty quickly. Personally, I'm not going to be defined by what I'm not.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

JeffT

A question about the Patreon numbers, my inner accountant suddenly got interested after the thread about his month-end total. I think we are missing some information, or I can't find it on the website.

Are the end of month numbers we see every month just a report of the number of contributors he has at that point in time? Or can we see the additions and subtractions? In any business these are critical pieces of information, usually referred to as customer retention. Let's say you have 500 customers and 499 of them terminate their subscription. If you sign up 499 new subscribers your total is still at 500, so the lost customers don't show up in the numbers. But these are all new customers, lacking any history or commitment to you.

Cycling customers like this is a sign of a business in trouble. You want repeat business, if you can't keep customers coming back, your problems will eventually sink your business.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

JeffT

Derek, here you go:

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6300463796846592/observation

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

JeffT

but I think the subscriber model for direct support of a content creator will still exist. However, it requires a steady stream of content produced on a regular schedule, and Evans seems to be struggling with this at present.

His problem is that he hitched his wagon to a dying horse. Take a look at Pontoon's thread about the decline he's noticed in the WTBS. Lloyd built his initial following based on refuting WTBS propaganda. The Watchtower is not producing new material at anything like its old output. Therefore there is nothing to comment on.

14

Observation

by pontoon in

haven't been to a meeting in 13 years.

family that lives 1300 miles away doesn't know.

just visited them and here is what i observed.

JeffT

My wife and I left in 1988, and we have noticed the decline of the org since then. We were both converts, brought in during the build-up to '75. For me, the main attraction was emphasis on what seemed to be deep Bible Study. When we left, I thought the organization was running out of things to say. I remember thinking that I had not seen or heard "new light" in years.

Today's Watchtower Society would bore me to tears in about five minutes.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

JeffT

Let’s make it go beyond epic!!

New motto for the board: "Ad Epicus et Ultra"

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

JeffT

I'll just leave these here, results of a quick google search.

https://www.michaelnugent.com/atheism/atheist-songs/

https://reductioadabsalom.com/top-40-atheist-songs/

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsxOhszLWkHH80xAgpxk3amdVwKqfjGDl

1

Fun with numbers

by JeffT in

jw
friends

i thought of posting this in the 1914 thread, but the apologists are already hijacking that.

when i was writing "armageddon's disciples" i wanted to set it within an apocalyptic religion struggling with failed prophecy.

as the books evolved i kept updating the dates for that failed prophecy.. one early version went this way: .

JeffT

I thought of posting this in the 1914 thread, but the apologists are already hijacking that.

When I was writing "Armageddon's Disciples" I wanted to set it within an apocalyptic religion struggling with failed prophecy. As the books evolved I kept updating the dates for that failed prophecy.

One early version went this way:

The trampling of the nations began in 617 BCE when Jehoiachin was taken captive to Babylon. That started the 1260 days (or years) which ended in 643 CE, this year being marked by construction of the Dome of the Rock. That started the 1290 day (or years) which ended in 1933 which was supposed to be the end of the world but turned out to be the year the Disciple religion started.

Over the years I tinkered with the numbers and eventually decided you could make anything sound prophetic.

Then I ran up against this quote from Mark Twain: “The only difference between reality and fiction is that fiction needs to be credible.” A member of my writers group told me in dead seriousness, that readers simply would not believe people were dumb enough to follow a religion that predicted the end of the world thirty years ago. As published, I left out the calculation and just noted that the failed prophecy took place "a few years ago."

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

JeffT

That's what I mean though - it's not really self-sustaining. It relies on both donations and donated effort from others. No one will do these things unless he keeps acting like a performing monkey.

Lloyd's little empire is also dependent on a constant stream of "new light" from the Watchtower. If they don't come out with something new, he can't come out with something new; and the GB can go months, maybe years, without publishing a new thought.

So the WTBS recycles some old crap and Lloyd recycles his commentary on the recycled crap. Clearly,he did not consider this when he put together his business plan (such as it is.)

P S Simon Cowell had an established name in the music industry when he broke into the big time. I don't think of Croatia as the kind of place where that happens.