Posts by JeffT

7

double standard

by enoughisenough in

i was thinking about the henrietta ??

trust that the org has with the questionable stock in warfare, entertainment, and tobacco among others.

why wouldn't they get rid of all of that?

JeffT

Retired accountant here. I thought I was done explaining the Henrietta O'Reilly trust but I guess not.

The US tax code, enforced by the IRS has a lot of rules regarding trusts. First of all the beneficiary (in this case the Watchtower) has no say in how the trust is managed, subject to what is written in the trust document. Additionally if the beneficiary does not want to accept the trust, he has a limited time to do so, after that they're stuck with it.

My guess is that O'Reilly set up the trust which started sending money to the Watchtower, which didn't pay much attention to where it came from. Now they can't divest the trust.

I'm on the road, my ability to get on this board may be limited. If somebody wants more information on trusts I'll dig it out for you when I get home.

6

Kingdom Services Selling Old Junk

by Chevelle in

what a pathetic state if affairs.. https://used-tools-equipment.com/.

are they really this clueless and desperate?.

most organizations would just toss this stuff in the trash bin..

JeffT

Most organizations would just toss this stuff in the trash bin.

Twenty-six years of real estate industry accounting here. Actually, these sales are fairly common in the construction and development industry. They don't generate a lot of income but it is still better than tossing it into the dump. There are a couple of large auction firms here in Seattle who will come get your stuff and put up for sale. Big stuff gets sold at auction, small stuff ends up in what looks like a big yard sale; nuts and bolts and the like get sold by the pound.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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