i just came across this gem on "the chatanoogan"... it was an ad/article about the 2013 dc at the nw georgia trade & convention center arena .... what i found most interesting was the fluff at the end of the article.... fast facts - jehovah's witnesses worldwide.
6 - new congregations formed each day30 - people baptized each hour on average239 - lands where jehovah's witnesses currently preach595 - languages in which they publish bibles and bible-based literature111,719 congregations worldwide7,538,994 - ministers who teach the bible19,000,000 - people who attend their meetings or conventions179,000,000 - bibles published by jehovah's witnesses in 116 languages20,000,000,000 - pieces of bible-based literature published by jehovah's witnesses over the past 10 yearsare you kidding me?
6 congos formed each day?
30 per hour is 720 per day.
Each day 370.000 babies are born and each day 150.000 persons die, a net increase each day of 220.000.
Each day that Armageddon is delayed, an additional 219.280 persons will have to be killed, assuming JWs only make it.
The ANNUAL increase in numbers of JWs is not much more that the DAILY increase of people on this planet.
Further this figure is inflated, as it doesn't take all the leavers into account.
the jw's must not trust their members or at least don't have too much faith in them when it comes to being alone around member of the opposite sex.
i can remember one time in particular from when i was a teenager that still makes me laugh today.. when i was younger i used to go out in service on a regular basis during the week when i had summer break.
one time when i met for service there were only two other people that showed up.
Reading all these amazing stories, I wonder if this is mainly USA focused. Living in the Netherlands, my wife and I never had a chaperone while dating - while we both already lived on our own. We also drove a lot in the car together and never got even one comment about this. I can also honestly not recall any other dating couples having chaperones. Can any non-USA members, preferably European comment on this.
over the years i have had to deal with this problem personally and as a attendant covering my section at various convention centers.
i had people who were suppose to be decent jehovah witnesses pick up all the books, bags and coolers belonging to brothers and sisters who arrived at the appropriate time and picked them up and dumped them all at the end of the seating row.
so here is what goes down, the sister runs up to me panicking and saying "dear brother, i had all those seats reserved for my family and now look!
And to think that these people are convinced that they are cherry picked by God himself. Well, they can have all the seating they want now - All of us will be enjoying some form of recreational activity and the real life - while they can enjoy the mind-contolling talks. I too had my stuff removed loads of times over the years - but the one time I remember best was when I had a bible study with me and our stuff was put on the ground our seats taken by this family who said something along the lines of tough luck we are sitting here now. We found other seats but my study changed his mind about coming the other days and stopped the study shortly thereafter. Guess they did him a favor!
in a recent talk that i heard, a brother tried to comfort those whose family members have left jehovah's witnesses.
he did so by saying that only "incorrigibly wicked" people will be destroyed at armageddon.
i found his line of reasoning refreshing, especially in comparison with the usual fear-mongering in wt publications.
Two Watchtowers articles, three months apart. The top one the public edition, the bottom one the private edition.
*** w08 4/1 p. 31 Where Will the Battle of Armageddon Be Fought? *** Lovers of Jehovah God and his Son, Jesus Christ, need not fear Armageddon. God’s battle is directed solely against those humans whom God judges to be incorrigibly wicked. His war will be selective in its destruction. “Jehovah knows how to deliver people of godly devotion,” says the Bible. (2 Peter 2:9) A heartwarming promise at Psalm 37:34 says: “Hope in Jehovah and keep his way, and he will exalt you to take possession of the earth. When the wicked ones are cut off, you will see it.”
*** w08 7/15 p. 5 par. 10 The House-to-House Ministry—Why Important Now? *** The importance of the house-to-house ministry can be seen from a vision given to the prophet Ezekiel. In that vision, Ezekiel sees six men with weapons in their hands as well as a seventh man clothed in linen with a secretary’s inkhorn at his side. The seventh man is told to “pass through the midst of the city” and “put a mark on the foreheads of the men that are sighing and groaning over all the detestable things that are being done in the midst of it.” Following that marking work, the six men with the slaughtering weapons are commanded to execute all those who do not have the mark.—Read Ezekiel 9:1-6.
so after the district convention was over, i asked my wife what her overall impression was.
she said, "maybe something has changed, or maybe it's your influence that i see things differently now, but a lot of those talks sounded more threatening than anything.
not loving, not really hopeful, just threatening.
Great news - keep us posted. Ask her if she can remember a part on "the fruitage of the spirit" or whether there was an article on "the compassion and fellow feeling of Jesus and how to develop such Christlike qualities". This was paramount for me - I still keep track of the literature and it still is void of such articles
looking at the bible narrative now, with open mind, the talking snake and all, it is a poorly contrived story.
all these clever people picking up and adding to the thread, the fabric its intriguing, certainly a valued literary work.
fiction.. using this story wt has woven another, parallel account that you would expect to harmonize with it, and hopefully attempt to connect with reality.. in your thinking, where did wt become unhinged, drifted off into total detachment?.
As an Atheist now, I would have to say they were never right. But as let's say a community trying to make the most out of life - togetherness, Christlike, Fruits of the spirit - I would say there are two points were they really went off track.
The first was the hostile takeover by Rutherford - when it became a faith focussed on WORKS.
Second was the witch-hunt in the late 70's early 80's - when the few persons in for the right reasons were cast out and a loveless pharisee organization left.
my never-a-jw dad told me today that mongrel jws who turn on me were never truly my friends and i'm better off without them, so why worry if i get disfellowshiped?.
i fear being disfellowshiped because my name will be dragged through the mud.
i also think it might be a good idea to da or get dfd because then the link is broken and the fade is over.
Have a DA letter for should they pursue the issue - write it and make it good. Keep in as an ace up your sleeve. Try to continue to fade for now, if that does not work you can hand the DA letter - not while emotional state. Good Luck!
my never-a-jw dad told me today that mongrel jws who turn on me were never truly my friends and i'm better off without them, so why worry if i get disfellowshiped?.
i fear being disfellowshiped because my name will be dragged through the mud.
i also think it might be a good idea to da or get dfd because then the link is broken and the fade is over.
DA - "You can't fire me, I quit!" Huge number of examples available that allow you one last opportunity to show them where they are wrong, but even if it doesn't hit them - it contributes to closure.
i wanted to say hello.
i knew i was gay.
i wanted to study and learn about everything i could.
Amazing and inspiring story - thank you for sharing. Impressed with what you have accomplished.
do you know of any cases where brothers didn't get to be elder for a stupid/bogus reason even though they otherwise qualified?
do you think some/most appointments are politicially motivated?
how much do you think politics plays in the appointment process versus merit?
I handed on average 8 hours each month in. The elders encouraged me to increase this to 10 and suggested that I could count 4 hours a month for studying with my kids. I said that I viewed that as a responsibility as a parent and would therefore not count this time. (According to their rules I was actually making 12 hours)
Well they commented that if I continued to refuse to count my children's time and remained short of 10 hours, they would never appoint me as elder.
I refused to go against my principles and did not make it beyond MS.
On hindsite they did me a big favor.
