Posts by Mary

i am surprised i have not noticed this before, particularly since this is one of the most important statistics, and so have just added the new graphs to watchtower publisher statistics.. the number of bible studies generally trends roughly with the number of publishers on a one to one basis.

however, the number of baptisms has not been rising.

this has resulted in a rapidly falling conversion rate.

Mary

The percentage of Bible studies that get baptised have dropped dramatically, from a high of around 1 in 5 (22%) to now a mere 1 in 32 (3.1%).

Wow! I never realized the numbers were so low! Even a 22% ratio is pretty bad. That means that 78% of all bible studies go absolutely nowhere. I wish we could get some stats on how many of those bible studies are:

a) conducted with children who are born-ins
b) conducted in third world countries where those poor people would grasp at anything that promised them a better life.

I'm guessing that bible studies with potential converts in developed lands are almost non-existant. And when you factor in the billions of hours that Witnesses spend in the coffee shops preaching each year, it really shows how inefficent the door-to-door preaching actually is.

29

There was no "assault" rifle used in Newtown, CT!!!

by Yohan in

http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50208495#50208495.

the bushmaster was left in the car and it was 4 handguns that were used in the massacre!

the media are morons.. .

Mary

so Mary would take hunters guns away from the hunters as well?

If it helped prevent massacres of innocent people? Absolutely I would. Wouldn't you?

Funny, I was just watching an episode of All In the Family where Archie Bunker was dead set against gun-control. (Coincidence that that particular episode happened to be on?) He said he could "end hyjacking tomorrow". How? Simple. Just arm all the passengers with guns before the flight and that'll end the problem. Funny how the NRA's solution to the massacres in the USA mirrors exactly what one of the biggest buffoons in TV history suggested.

29

There was no "assault" rifle used in Newtown, CT!!!

by Yohan in

http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50208495#50208495.

the bushmaster was left in the car and it was 4 handguns that were used in the massacre!

the media are morons.. .

Mary

The Bushmaster was left in the car and it was 4 handguns that were used in the massacre! The media are morons.

Wow. If you think that argument is going to help your 'you-can-pry-it-from-my-cold-dead-hand' argument, it sort of backfired. If 4 handguns can murder that many people in so short of time, then maybe handguns need to banned too.

95

An interesting article on scientific explanations of near-death / out-of-body experiences

by cedars in

jw
friends

i've been doing quite a bit of research into books recently, and i've noticed that the book "proof of heaven" is selling very strongly at the moment.

it's currently no.1 in the new york times bestseller list for nonfiction paperbacks.. the book is by a qualified neurosurgeon who converted to religious faith after going into a coma and having what he later described as an experience of heaven, which he elaborates on in great detail in the book.

he argues that the experience must have been supernatural, because his cerebral cortex was "offline" for the duration of his vision.. .

Mary

The best book I've read on near death experiences is called Science and the Near Death Experience: How Consciousness Survives Death. It's not quite as simple as some like to make out. That it's either a hallucination or 'someone looking to make a quick buck.' There are several cases that cannot be dismissed quite so easily, although to those who already have their minds made up, no amount of evidence will ever convince them of the possibility that something might exist after this physical life.

30

Taking alcohol into the veins (WBT$ illo) - can someone deconstruct this for me?

by punkofnice in

ok. so i've heard that the wbt$ say that having alcohol into the body intraveniously (how do you spell it?

), when the doctor says you shouldn't have alcohol is baaaadddd!

so you wouldn't have a blood transfusion because invisible sky friend jar hoover says it's baaaaaddddddd.. no doubt the illustration is beyond crazy but how is the best way to deconstruct it?.

Mary

Strictly speaking, I'm not aware of any situation where transfusing alcohol into your veins could save your life, but for arguments sake, let's say it could.

If a doctor told someone to "abstain from alcohol" (for whatever reason) and that person suddenly found themselves in a situation where transfusing the alcohol into their vein would save their life, wouldn't it be absurd if the guy refused to do this because his doctor told that he shouldn't drink any alcohol, and subsequently died?

Yet that is exactly what Witnesses are taught to do. It's kinda like obeying the speed limit. If the speed limit is 50 km/hour (about 30 mph), in everyday life, you're supposed to generally obey it. However, let's say one night that you're driving out in the country and you come across someone who's severely injured on the side of the road. There's no hospitals close by and you know time is of the essence if this persons life is going to be saved. You bundle them into your car and you take off. You're going above the speed limit because someone's life is at stake and it's imperative that you get them to the hospital asap.

On the way, a cop sees you speeding and pulls you over. You quickly tell them what's happening and why you're speeding. The cop is not really sympathetic and while he can see that the passenger in your car is dying, he feels that it's a far greater sin to go above the posted speed limit than to try and save this person's life. The posted speed limit takes presedence over everything, even a person's life and if he dies because the cop is writing you out a ticket, oh well---too bad.

This of course, would be outrageous to anyone with 1/2 a brain, yet this is basically what JW's are taught. An obscure dietary law written thousands of years ago is viewed as being far more important than someone's life and if they die because of it---oh well too bad.

I really, truly wish that the assholes responsible for keeping this damn doctrine in place could spend a week with my sister and see the living hell that her life has become since my brother in law died in part due to the ban on blood transfusions. There are just no words for it and absolutely no justification.

21

Nephilim found in the State of Chihuahua

by bats in the belfry in

the broadcaster, july 16, 1925. .

the broadcaster was a four-page, second-class publication, that hoped to reach hundreds of thousands of persons through the mails.

later, this publication was discontinued, because so many failed to reach their destination.

Mary

As soon as I see a sentence begin with the word "Evidently", you automatically know who wrote it.

30

Rare find: WTS endorsed 4-page pamphlet, The Broadcaster. Bet you never heard of it before now!

by AndersonsInfo in

jw
friends

http://www.watchtowerdocuments.com/documents/1920-1949.html.

to see twenty issues of the rarest of the rare wts endorsed pamphlets (or brochures), click on the link above and then scroll down the column on the left of the page to the date 1924 - 1925 where you will find listed the words, .

the broadcaster - wts endorsed-must read *new*.

Mary

Excellent find Barb! Thanks for posting that. I actually came across a stack of old pamphlets and brochures from the 30s and 40s that I had never seen before. One of these days I'll try to upload them on here.

65

It's Official! The Governing Body IS the Faithful and Discreet Slave (Annual Meeting Report - jw.org)

by 00DAD in

it's official!

from the jw.org website:.

november 9, 2012. annual meeting report .

Mary

This is really no surprise as we've been discussing this probability for the last several years on here. With the number of rank and file Witnesses partaking of the emblems, the numbers are going up instead of down which cannot be going unnoticed. Plus, they've never consulted the thousands of other 'annointed' ones on anything and I think more and more people are asking "why not?"

Their easiest solution is to make the F&DS class apply only to the GB. Problem solved.