Posts by Chaserious

22

Does Anyone View You As A "Prodigal Son" With The Hope You Will Come Back To Jehovah?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i know some have thought that about me.

my family used to but i think that hope is dwindling now..

Chaserious

Probably my mom. A while back she sent my wife a copy of the WT article in the mail about 607 BCE (addressed to my wife since she's only faded, not DF'd like me - apparently good ol' Mom might jeopardize her everlasting life ™ if she wrote her own son's name on the envelope) since she knows that's one of the things that "stumbled" me.

I used to hear various witnesses say that 90% of DF'd witnesses come back. I specifically remember the 90% figure used. I wonder where they got it from or if they just made it up. I don't think it's ever been in print, and I doubt it's true, although just based on my own personal experience it seemed like people were always getting reinstated and at any given time there were always a couple of DF'd people at my hall who attended.

95

What was it about Bethel that woke you up?

by cognisonance in

jw
friends

one the how many exbethelites thread it was mentioned that some think one either leaves down the path towards apostasy or as a 100% true believer.

i'm curious what experiences did you face at bethel that woke you up (or started to at least)?.

.

Chaserious

Awesome thread. Thanks to all who posted - I didn't know a lot of these things about Bethel. My father was at Brooklyn in the 70's before my siblings and I were born, and now that I think about it, I always asked him what it was like at Bethel, and he never really had anything substantive to say. He would say it was a good experience, and he would talk about some of his friends from Bethel, but I can't remember a single thing that he ever said he enjoyed other than (in my words) being the closest he came to getting the college dorm experience.

I also lived in Cobble Hill this past summer and I would go jogging in Brooklyn in the morning and would usually run through the promenade. A few times a saw young Bethel-looking guys walking all alone along the promenade, kind of sad looking, gazing out over the river. I wondered if maybe they were new Bethellites from somewhere far from Brooklyn talking a walk before or after morning worship, wondering what they had gotten themselves into.

29

10 things that happened in 2012 - my review

by cedars in

jw
friends

last year i did a review of 2011 for the forum.

this was more of a review that focussed on some of the awful stuff that was printed in the literature that year - the first year of my awakening.. 2012 has been more interesting from the point of view of things actually happening outside the literature.

i thought it might be nice to take a look back and put some of these events in chronological order.... .

Chaserious

The deaf masturbation video just isn't the same after you gave it away earlier.

19

If Cash Flow Ends, What Then?

by metatron in

jw
friends

it's worth thinking about - what will they do if their cash flow virtually dries up?

would they "turn on" the friends and try to "punish" them by threatening to close assembly halls and drop the awake completely?.

could witnesses in western nations fade away from the "ministry" if there is almost nothing left to offer at the doors?.

Chaserious

I wonder how smart they are with organizational planning and investing. If they are smart, I would imagine they'd have something like $2 Billion in investible assets, from the sale of real-estate and surpluses in WWW donations. I imagine, well invested, they could get around a 10% return, tax free. If they're that well prepared, and refuse to spend money they don't have coming in, I would think that no matter how much contributions dry up in wealthy countries, they could shrink HQ to a small size, cut back on global projects, and run everything almost in perpetuity on $200 Mil a year in investment income plus whatever donations they are still getting.

158

Circuit Accounts Servants Confesses how the SCAM WORKS!!

by JT in

jw
friends

yes, i too have wondered how an assembly that is held in a fully paid for assembly hall, with no food service, could possibly have $10,000 in expenses.

i suppose the bethel speakers have transportation expenses - maybe $1000 or so.

as for rent on the assembly hall, well you have already paid for it once, why pay again?

Chaserious

They might not be rolling around in a Rolls Royce, but someone has to pay for those Bethel heavies' trips to Bora Bora so they can write an article for the Awake about the local customs, the flora and fauna and how it's all a marvel of creation.

7

It`s hard to comprehend most of my peers still beleive this religion is the truth

by smiddy in

jw
friends

i have from time to time attempted to contact former" freinds" in the truth ,sometimes the initial contact was excellent ,great to hear from you / good to catch up etc.

and even some who couldn`t even remember me .

some of these people i would have thought had a greater iq than what i gave them credit for ,otherwise why would you stick to this religion .ok i appreciate some may want to hold on to family so keep their mouth shut , but i have opened up to them and they cut me off.

Chaserious

We were all in the religion at one time... did we all have a tiny IQ? I second what leaving said.

17

Circuit Assemblies - Do they make money? Convince Chas

by Chaserious in

i have seen a number of posts here stating that the wts turns a profit off cas (and das for that matter) as if it is an established fact.

i tried searching for prior threads on this, in case maybe there is evidence i'm not aware of (such as inside sources), but the search function is not too advanced so i didn't find anything.

in any event, about 4 years ago when i used to attend them it seemed that the expenses they would announce for a 2-day ca would be around $10k, and for a 1-day it would be $5k.

Chaserious

Well, I still do think that all of the things in my OP do cost money, not just utilities and repairs. And I would guess just utilities cost somewhere from $50k-100k per year. I would imagine it costs $50k a year to support the caretaker couple, and I think that's legitimate to pass on. But I see now how the WTS skims some money off the top, so thanks to all for explaining how it works.

56

Is The Book of Revelation All About Me & My Generation?

by ClubSandwich in

jw
friends

jws believe the book of revelation offers an account of what is to come in their lifetime.

but the problem is that every generation for the last 1900 years has thought the same thing.

and, every generation has been wrong, even though each new one thinks it will be about me and my generation this time.. most reputable bible scholars believe that revelation, also called the apocalypse of john, was not written to describe the future for people living today.

Chaserious

Is The Book of Revelation All About Me & My Generation?

Well, obviously the answer depends on what you mean by "generation." Do you mean the era including the people living when you were alive, overlapping with the last people who were alive at the same time, overlapping with the people before that, and so on back to the Apostle John? It's got to be for somebody in that generation, right?

17

Circuit Assemblies - Do they make money? Convince Chas

by Chaserious in

i have seen a number of posts here stating that the wts turns a profit off cas (and das for that matter) as if it is an established fact.

i tried searching for prior threads on this, in case maybe there is evidence i'm not aware of (such as inside sources), but the search function is not too advanced so i didn't find anything.

in any event, about 4 years ago when i used to attend them it seemed that the expenses they would announce for a 2-day ca would be around $10k, and for a 1-day it would be $5k.

Chaserious

Thanks St. George. They don't have publicly available information on non-profits available like that in the U.S. I did take a look at a few of the accounting statements in the UK. That is really interesting that you can see all of the accounting records for even the local congregations. It seems some of the Assembly Halls do quite well. So the Assembly Corporations then don't make a direct contribution to the WTS in the UK? I see that the only category where that might fit in would be "Cost of holding meetings" which would not be entirely accurate. In fact, in the U.S. I think it would be a violation of accounting standards to call a donation to a global nonprofit the "cost of holding meetings."

17

Circuit Assemblies - Do they make money? Convince Chas

by Chaserious in

i have seen a number of posts here stating that the wts turns a profit off cas (and das for that matter) as if it is an established fact.

i tried searching for prior threads on this, in case maybe there is evidence i'm not aware of (such as inside sources), but the search function is not too advanced so i didn't find anything.

in any event, about 4 years ago when i used to attend them it seemed that the expenses they would announce for a 2-day ca would be around $10k, and for a 1-day it would be $5k.

Chaserious

Interesting... when they have the elders' business meeting do they list the expenses in detail to the elders? Or just tell them the amount and get a vote? And who decides the amount? The assembly overseer, the CO? Or does the WTS suggest a certain donation?