Posts by traveb

47

2012 DC Program

by blondie in

jw
friends

digital publications.

books and brochures.

http://www.jw.org/index.html?option=qryqcsvrglbbx.

Oh man, this is going to be a painful one to sit through this year just by reading the titles of those talks. For sincere JWs this is going to be one gigantic guilt-trip. It isn't enough that you aren't doing anything bad, but now you have to question your "heart". Ugh

This reminds me, I have a friend who always gets wound up by these assemblies. Without fail, he'll call me up after the convention and tell me how he threw out a DVD or video game or whatever the talks told him to do. That will last for a couple months then he'll go right back to doing whatever he was doing before. I wonder how long the effect from this new convention program will last?

322

My son was murdered today

by truman in

i have been on this site daily, almost from its beginning, since i left the jws in 2001, but i have been more of a reader than a poster, as you can see from my post count.

i know few here know me, although i know many of you through reading your posts.

maybe it is not right to ask for support, when i generally stay quietly in the background of this forum, but i want only to speak a human misery of the deepest kind.

traveb

Wow, that is absolutely shocking. I read about this tragedy in the local paper and had no idea it was a JW who was murdered.

I'm not sure how to best express my thoughts about this, but I'm so sorry for your loss.

72

Menlo Park KH - Elder Tells All - and more

by Juan Viejo2 in

i've published part one of a three part series about the menlo park kh scandal.

http://ex-jw.com/menlo-park-elder-tells-all-1.

this has been a tough one for me.. the original federal case was dismissed in january.

traveb

Reading through the transcripts posted in Part 2 should leave no doubt in anyone's mind that the WTS is now for all intents and purposes a real estate holding company on a vast scale. If a JW who perhaps isn't completely enamored with the Society's direction but still likes to donate to the "local" fund to help out with congregation expenses, they are unknowningly still funding the WTS indirectly due to the bylaws that have been added to most local corporations.

The way the Menlo Park elders were treated by the CO and the WTS should really give people pause. It turns my stomach just thinking about it.

61

New Rumor: Downsizing Circuits/Assemblies

by metatron in

jw
friends

heard a new rumor that:.

the borg is going to phase out big district assemblies - so they can fit 'em in assembly halls.. they will reduce the size of circuits.

they will synchronize c.o.

traveb

Here in the Bay Area we started attending DC's at the Santa Clara convention center last year. This was a big change because for years we had previously always gone to the Cow Palace in San Francisco. From what I read JW's signed a 5 year deal with Santa Clara so they'll be going there through at least 2015.

84

BEARDS: Why JW men don't have them

by 00DAD in

i know this has been dished over before, but when i was doing some research i discovered a couple of interesting points.

as far as i can find, there is only one wt article that implies that jw men should not have beards.

*** w75 8/15 pp.

traveb

I believe the most recent mention of facial hair is in the "Benefit from Theocratic Ministry Education" book. In chapter 15 it says this:

"For men, a neat personal appearance may include being clean-shaven. In areas where mustaches are widely viewed as dignified, any who wear these should keep them neatly trimmed."

So although technically not a rule, it's basically a very strong suggestion that facial hair other than mustaches are frowned upon.

35

Closing down of all non-native congregations in The Netherlands

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

this weekend serious sources told me that in the netherlands the society is closing down all non-native congregations.

because of the mixed population of this country, there are >100 non-native congregations like english, france, dutch-caribian, arab, chinese, italian, russian, spanish etc.. my source was backing the dissision of the society because "these non-native congregations are islands on their own, with group-thinking and not allways listening to the society..." and concluded "these non-natives has to learn dutch instead of we are learning their language".. strange: some years ago many jw's learned a foreign language (like arab or chinese!

) and now they are all closing down.

traveb

This would be an interesting development if it turns out to be true. I would love to hear other people confirm this.

Here in California non-English congregations are a big deal. Huge in fact. The truth is though they can be a drain on English congregations as Saphhy pointed out above. I've asked other JW's about this and it makes for uncomfortable conversations because no one wants to admit it. I've seen it first-hand. Typically, the most zealous pioneers/elders in English congregations get bored with their non-productive English territories and move to an "exciting" foreign-language congregation. The English congregations lose publishers and are left with the non-motivated indivduals.

Often these foreign-language congregations are made up of mostly native English speakers. ASL congregations are an extreme example of this, only a small percent (less then 10%) of the publishers are actually deaf.

40

It's official, the internet IS the Watchtower's nemesis!

by cedars in

i have been inspired recently by some of the comments on this forum regarding the society having reached a "tipping point".

it's been observed that, despite the overwhelming weight of evidence that the society is nothing more than a damaging cult, the number of witnesses continues to increase, albeit gradually.

the latest figures i have available are those in the 2011 yearbook, showing a global 2.5% increase between 2009 and 2010.. as we all know, the internet is steadily rising in accessibility (or "penetration") around the world, and it provides a wonderful resource for those who are curious about joining the faith, helping such ones to quickly identify precisely how warped the teachings of the watch tower society really are.

traveb

I'm surpised western European countries like Spain and Italy have less then 50% Internet penetration.

78

Do you sense that the Watchtower will implode?

by AK - Jeff in

since leaving the organization 8 years ago, there have been more significant changes in the actual, physical activities of the organization than occurred in all the 40 plus years i was 'in'.

bethel closings.

bethel layoffs.

traveb

I think the WTS will be okay. They're in the middle of a reorganization right now due to the decline of paper literature and donations, but they'll adjust. They should be able to survive off real estate investments and whatever their future donation stream is.

My prediction is that once tablets are ubiquitous and cheap enough most publishers will transition to digital publications. This will save the WTS a ton of money. Imagine how expensive it is to print and ship literature around the world. Heck, the new Amazon tablet just announced will be $199.

Selling magazines door-to-door is also becoming archaic (not to mention expensive), so perhaps they will encourage publishers to focus on just using the Bible and a tract that points people to the official website if they want to download magazines or get more information. Most people do that now anyways so this should be an easy transition.

The only way I see an implosion is if there some sort of huge scandal that gets a lot of press. It would have to involve high-ranking WTS officials or GB members and be something really outrageous, like a child porn ring, a Bernie Madoff-sized ponzi scheme, or something crazy like that.

27

City Overseers discontinued immediately 9/16/11

by Gayle in

letter dated 09/16/11 to all boes about city overseers being discontinued effective immediately.. this is from a very reliable jw anonymous source.. .

traveb

My understanding is that since subscriptions were discontinued, the main duty of city overseers was to coordinate relief efforts in case of a disaster.

71

Overlapping generation segment on the new Circuit Assembly program

by traveb in

jw
friends

so there i was at the circuit assembly sunday morning with my eyes glazed over as usual when all of a sudden, bam!

a demo with two brothers talking about the new overlapping generation teaching.

the reason it took me by surprise was because it occured during the second talk of the sunday morning symposium, "sanctify god's name by your speech".

traveb

Thanks for the link, Wannabefree. It sounds a little different from the demo I saw but the major talking points are the same.

What surprised me so much was that they rarely, if ever, talk about core doctrines or teachings at the 1 and 2-day assemblies. Usually the talks and skits cover life issues, like family stuff, young people, materialism, etc. There's always a talk encouraging full-time service. Typically the vibe I get from these assemblies is that the speakers are just trying to encourage the brothers and help them with day-to-day problems. Normally core doctrines, prophecies, and "new light" are saved for the district conventions.

Regarding assembly demos, my impression (from talking with the actual speakers) is that they are not scripted. The speakers are given a rough outline and have to write out the actual dialog. Of course they are always rehearsed in front of the CO and DO so nothing makes it to the stage without being vetted first.