Posts by traveb

49

The Predictions Thread

by cedars in

jw
friends

i thought it might be interesting and fun to have a "predictions thread", where we set out our predictions for events to unfold concerning the watch tower society (or jehovah's witnesses in general) over the coming years/decades.. it strikes me that so much has happened in the last ten years, most of which has defied expectations.

here's just a few of the developments that i can think of:.

the abolishment of group book studies in favor of a "family worship evening"the creation of a "study edition" watchtowerthe halving of monthly magazine printing commitmentsthe unprecedented closure/merging of branches (16% reduction in branches last year)the menlo park scandal, a body of elders removed for resisting a refurb of their kingdom hallthe lawsuits in victoria, australia - the society taken to court concerning child protection lawscourtroom admissions about the faithful & discreet slave and similarities with the catholic churchincreased hate speech against "mentally diseased" apostatesastonishing lapses of judgment, such as the "selma and steve" study articlethe ditching of gilead as a school for missionariesambitious construction plans for a new world hq (with or without jehovah's blessing!

traveb

In my opinion, I think the WTS will ease up on it's dogma rather than clamp down harder as other posters have guessed. I realize they talk tough in the magazines, but most of the actions they have taken in the last few years have made things much easier and less time-consuming for the average publisher.

The WTS has to recognize the declining growth rates. If the decline in baptisms like we saw last year continues they'll make changes to encourage people to convert and stick around. Basically, "mainstream" the religion so it's not so weird. This could include:

Phase out blood transfusion restriction (they're already doing this silently)
Ease up restrictions on talking to DFed family members ("Shunning Lite"?)
Stop bashing higher education in every other article
Make field service somewhat voluntary by not requiring time slips be turned in every month

This is just off the top of my head. In typical WTS fashion they actually don't have to come out and actually say they're changing a policy, they just stop talking about it. People will get the hint and elders will be relieved because they don't have to enforce it anymore.

I think in general most JW's love the social/family aspect of the religion, but absolutely dread or despise going out in field service. How many more would stay with the religion or be encouraged to get baptized if they didn't have to do field service? Perhaps hand out a tract every couple months and let the hardcores pioneer.

Doctrinally, the only change I think the WTS WILL have to make is changing the idea of 144,000 to being a figurative, not literal, number. Just like they were forced to change the generation doctrine in 1995, time will force their hand in changing the 144,000 doctrine.

47

2012 DC Program

by blondie in

jw
friends

digital publications.

books and brochures.

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

traveb

"Guilt trip yo-yo", I like that phrase! Describes my friend exactly. I feel sorry for people like that, but unfortunately there's not much you can do for them unless they decide on their own to get off the guilt trip express the WTS puts people on.

I copied and pasted a few of the talk titles that sound particularly guilt trip inducing:

Do You Have a Balanced View of Yourself?
Symposium: Beware of Dangerous Heart Conditions!
“Cunning of Heart” (Proverbs 7:10)
“Double Heart” (Psalm12:2)
“Halfhearted” (Psalm 119:113)
“In Want of Heart” (Proverbs 7:7; 10:21)
Avoid Testing God in Your Heart

No obvious references to Facebook, porn, or vampire movies in any of the talk titles but I'm sure they will slip them in somewhere.

47

2012 DC Program

by blondie in

jw
friends

digital publications.

books and brochures.

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

traveb

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.