respectful_observer

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Posts by respectful_observer

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  10

  Are congregations shrinking?

  by logical1 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i haven't been to a meeting in 7 years but i have cruised through the parking lot of about 4 kh's now during peak meeting times and been surprised to see 20 or less cars in the parking lot.. it always seemed when i was younger that the parking lot was a lot more full..

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  respectful_observer

  In my expererience, the shrinking or growing of any congregration is mostly due to either geographic migration of existing JWs or the ever-present "congregation shoppers" who tend to flock to the most popular congregation of the moment. The latter seems to occur in waves-- either lots of young people all want to hang out together, or pioneers move into a particular hall because there's lots of support, so the numbers bump up over the course of a few years, level off, then slowly trend downward as people move on to seek greener pastures.

  R_O
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  9

  This is the link that got me 'Unfriended' on Facebook...

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  yep.

  jw's don't like to hear anything negative about the organization and this got me unfriended from a few of my jw friends.

  this was the start of our enlightenment:.

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  respectful_observer

  Haha, I'm not surprised! I don't have the b@lls to post negative news items about the Org on FB, etc., but even in conversation they don't want to hear about negative news items. When the Conti case verdict first got announced, a group of us was talking about it. After about 10 minutes discussing the actual policies of the wTS and the ins and outs of the Org's procedures in handling abuse claims, somebody in the group finally stood up and said, "I don't think it's right for us to be talking negatively of the Organization."

  When someone responded "We're not, we're just talking about how the jury obviously felt about the WTS' policies and procedures. We're not saying anything negative about how the WTS handled it."

  "Well, it doesn't matter. Even if it happens to be true, if it's paints the Org in a negative light, we ignore it and not talk about it."

  (I just kept my mouth shut; I didn't want call attention to myself. I could tell that what he said didn't make sense or sit well several people in the group, but because of institutionalized fear of being seen as negative toward the Org, everyone kept their mouths shut and moved on to another topic.)
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  24

  Help needed: JC standards/questions for "Drunkenness"

  by respectful_observer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'm hoping those of you in the jwn community may be able to help me out.

  an acquaintance (of legal drinking age) may soon be sitting for jc under the charge of "drunkenness".. to those of you who have direct experience either serving on a jc, or being the subject of a jc related to the misuse of alcohol:.

  - could you provide a list of questions that were asked of the accused?.

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  respectful_observer

  shameless bump...
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  24

  Help needed: JC standards/questions for "Drunkenness"

  by respectful_observer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'm hoping those of you in the jwn community may be able to help me out.

  an acquaintance (of legal drinking age) may soon be sitting for jc under the charge of "drunkenness".. to those of you who have direct experience either serving on a jc, or being the subject of a jc related to the misuse of alcohol:.

  - could you provide a list of questions that were asked of the accused?.

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  respectful_observer

  Thanks for the responses so far.

  This person received counsel years ago (when they were served alcohol when underage, but married, in their own home ), but no warning specific to alcohol since then-- however, the elders are telling them that since "several warnings" have been given, it is now a JC matter (even though my friend cannot think of when these other warnings ever occurred). They have not had a drink in months.

  Needless to say, this area is no stranger to liberal use of alcohol (by EVERYONE).
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  24

  Help needed: JC standards/questions for "Drunkenness"

  by respectful_observer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'm hoping those of you in the jwn community may be able to help me out.

  an acquaintance (of legal drinking age) may soon be sitting for jc under the charge of "drunkenness".. to those of you who have direct experience either serving on a jc, or being the subject of a jc related to the misuse of alcohol:.

  - could you provide a list of questions that were asked of the accused?.

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  respectful_observer

  I'm hoping those of you in the JWN community may be able to help me out. An acquaintance (of legal drinking age) may soon be sitting for JC under the charge of "Drunkenness".

  To those of you who have direct experience either serving on a JC, or being the subject of a JC related to the misuse of alcohol:

  - Could you provide a list of questions that were asked of the accused?

  - Considerations that the committee took into account when deciding to DF or reprove?

  - Are there standard printed questioned that are asked?

  - Does the KS-10 "Flock" book have a section on "Drunkenness" either on its own, or part of the JC procedures? Any excerpts/quotes would be greatly appreciated.

  - Does the accused have the right to ask the accusers name(s)?

  - Does the accused have the right to hear the accusation directly from the accuser (in person) and ask follow-up questions of them?

  Any other advice or personal experiences related to alcohol-related JCs would be appreciated.

  Thanks in advance!

  R_O
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  16

  Advertising the District Assembly on the Radio

  by RubaDub in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  is this just a local practice to south florida or is it done in other areas too?.

  i'm driving to work last week and on one of the most popular radio stations (primarily talk and politics) they were advertising the district assembly in west palm beach florida for next week.. it was about a 30 second spot and was the typical "everyone is invited ... no collections taken" .... etc.

  etc.. is this common in other areas ???.

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  respectful_observer

  What just struck me as a bit odd (but maybe rather clever) was that is was advertised on the most political talk station down here ... talk and mostly politics 24 hours a day. It may be good to advertise on talk stations since people who tune in to them are generally there to actually listen.

  I'd be surprised if they were that targeted in their approach, but sterotypically a larger percentage of political talk radio listeners are more conservative on social issues (gay marriage, abortion, etc.). At that point the Org would only have to convice them that they should be politically neutral!
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  16

  Advertising the District Assembly on the Radio

  by RubaDub in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  is this just a local practice to south florida or is it done in other areas too?.

  i'm driving to work last week and on one of the most popular radio stations (primarily talk and politics) they were advertising the district assembly in west palm beach florida for next week.. it was about a 30 second spot and was the typical "everyone is invited ... no collections taken" .... etc.

  etc.. is this common in other areas ???.

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  respectful_observer

  I've never heard a radio ad in my area.

  Silly thing is, that one 30 second radio ad you heard was probably more effective and was noticed by more people than all "special invitations" left at empty houses by all the dubs in the county. Good thing the door-to-door work is still "our primary way of reaching interested ones TM !!!"

  R_O
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  78

  Something odd just happened when I logged on!

  by tornapart in

  1. forum
  2. tech-support

  i typed in my name, password and the captcha, expecting to see my name come up in the top right corner and what i actually saw was someone else's name!

  (the name was another member of this board).

  i looked at it for a few seconds feeling a bit puzzled and not sure what to do about it and as i looked it automatically changed (whithout me doing anything) back to my own name.. has anyone else had this happen to them?

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  respectful_observer

  Maybe it was the demunz....
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  120

  Why do the GB need a new Bethel compound if the end is so close? Here is the "official" answer

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as most of us know, the society is spending 10's of millions of dollars on a giant, state of the art, secluded bunker country club headquarters in very remote, isolated warwick ny.. the question that "some" have is, why?

  if armageddon is coming "very soon", why go to all that time & effort & expense?

  why have thousands of jws dedicating their time to this massive effort instead of the "lifesaving ministry"?.

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  respectful_observer

  Maybe they finally realized that once Armageddon came, no significant construction project would be able to even start without "This System's TM " infastructure (power grid, transportation) or industry (mining, steel mills, microprocessor manufacturers, plastics makers, oil refineries, etc., etc., etc.).

  The RBC may be able to build a Kingdom Hall over a few weekends, but I wonder how successful it would be at mining the ore, smelting, casting and machining all just to get a single drill bit. Or make the glass from sand to construct double-pane windows. Or refine crude oil to make plastics for the light switches, and on, and on, and on.

  R_O

  (I suppose instead of Jehovah covering the ground with Manna every morning, every JW could wake up to go out and collect construction equipment and building materials..."Look Mom, I found a table saw this morning!!! That's even better than the 20 lb box of finish nails I found yesterday!!!)
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  120

  Why do the GB need a new Bethel compound if the end is so close? Here is the "official" answer

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as most of us know, the society is spending 10's of millions of dollars on a giant, state of the art, secluded bunker country club headquarters in very remote, isolated warwick ny.. the question that "some" have is, why?

  if armageddon is coming "very soon", why go to all that time & effort & expense?

  why have thousands of jws dedicating their time to this massive effort instead of the "lifesaving ministry"?.

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  respectful_observer

  I see the Manhattan skyline, and I know that it is all going to be utterly destroyed.

  That reminds me of Anthony Morris speaking at a DC a few years ago. He kept going on and on about how he looked forward to standing of the roof at Bethel and "looking out and seeing the entire Manhattan skyline in flames." He was literally cackling with anticipation and glee at the idea. My better half looked at me and said "does he realize that there are people here who had friends and relatives that died on 9/11? How insensitive can you be? And HE'S on the Governing Body?"

  Why not build far away from there, and we'll have beautiful buildings which we can continue to use after Armageddon?"

  Doesn't he mean "...and YOU'LL have beautiful buildings which YOU can use after Armageddon?" After all, he'll be comfortable in his new heavenly assignment by then. (I wonder how many Bethel points you would need to be next in line for his old room?)

  R_O