respectful_observer

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Posts by respectful_observer

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  40

  Memorial attendance in the USA a DROP of 59,404 from two years ago

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  according to the september 2013 kingdom ministry, the memorial attendance in the usa this year was 2,504,114. this is a drop of 59,404 from two years ago!

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  respectful_observer

  Glad to see all the invitation distribution by the 30-hour aux pioneers really paid off!! It's a clear sign of Jehovah's blessing!!

  Oh wait, never mind.
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  28

  So Jw's are allowed to celebrate baby showers, but not birthdays?? huh??

  by nolongerconfused in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  perhaps, one of the most arrogant and contradicting behaviors of jdubs.... what is the difference between celebrating a baby shower and a birthday?...they both have ancient origins, from pagan people, including egyptians and the greek.... have you guys noticed any other hypocrite celebrations/behaviors jdubs engage in?.

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  respectful_observer

  We have a passive-aggressive tradition where, when giving a baby gift at the hospital or at the shower, we use a "Happy Birthday!" card. It can be any type; the joke tends to get funnier (for us)/more awkward (for them) when it's a card that has a year on it. For example:

  Happy 5th Birthday! or "Happy 40th!"

  We then "X" out the year with black marker and write "0".

  The look on people's faces are priceless when they see the card. A momentary look of fright/puzzlement crosses their face, and that's when we say: "We're here to celebrate his/her birth, right? Enjoy it, it's the last time you'll be able to officially celebrate his/her birth!"

  They agree, laugh, and the party goes on. We've never gotten blow-back from doing this repeatedly.

  We just bask in the bright light of irony while the rusty gears in their brains try to turn.
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  28

  WTS soliciting donations in Southern California

  by turtleturtle in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just talked to an older jw in my old hall.

  he said there was a special 2 hour elder's meeting recently in southern california spanning many counties and areas.

  apparently, due to the massive jw growth, the rbc or wt (he didn't know which one) will be announcing they they are asking each family to contribute $10/month toward new construction of kingdom halls in the southern california area.. .

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  respectful_observer

  It's funny how Jehovah is always short of cash

  Hahahaha!!! I almost spit out my coffee on that one!
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  43

  New Zealand headquarters: Witnesses sell, Elim buys

  by Fe2O3Girl in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/manukau-courier/9124458/witnesses-sell-elim-buys.

  it was the national headquarters for the jehovah's witnesses for 30 years.. but the 7.5ha wattle downs property has now been sold to elim church and could soon house a new christian college.. jehovah's witness minister george gray says advances in technology mean the property is no longer needed for running the church's new zealand and south pacific activities which will now be administered from australia.. elim church bought the property for its growing south auckland congregation and volunteers helped transform the site in just a matter of days.. pastor boyd ratnaraja says the congregation moved in on a sunday straight after morning services at their much smaller weymouth rd premises.. "they have done a superb job of setting up," he says.. the church will hold services for its 450-strong congregation at its new home as well as running counselling sessions and operating an op shop and a weekly soup kitchen.. "we believe in reaching out to the community.

  we want this to be a centre of hope.

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  respectful_observer

  as well as running...a weekly soup kitchen.

  A weekly soup kitchen...hmmm, just like little Caleb learned to do in the "Giving Makes You Happy!" video that just came out. Oh wait, never mind. Caleb was only taught to "give" to his J-dub family members.

  Caleb in 20 years: "NO SOUP FOR YOU!!"

  
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  66

  If you were to protest an Assembly what would you put on your placard ?

  by Finkelstein in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  since this topic of protesting assemblies recently came up, i was wondering .

  what would be the some of the most proficient and perhaps strongest message.

  to place on a placard to show as the people arrived at the venue.

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  respectful_observer

  I think any message that criticizes the Org would be immediately dismissed as "apostate proganda and lies". I think the reaction and the resulting thought process would be quite different if all the signs displayed were images from WT publications.

  Logically, what on earth could a JW complain about if someone is quietly and respectfully standing there with a large-scale image of something published by the WTS if the placard contained no 3rd-party commentary at all, with the exception of "jwfact.com" or something.

  I often wondered what would happen if someone paid for a billboard near the convention facility and displayed only embarrassing or contradictory WT quotes. Because there's no "apostate" standing there, the fear of eye contact, etc. isn't there, and the person's less likely to look away in fear and stare at their shoes as they walk by.

  During the DC this year, I imagined what would happen if someone had, ahead of the convention, snuck into the arena and hidden a HUGE banner rolled up in a black tube and attached it to the dark rafters where the catwalks, lights, curtain apparatus all sit above the stage. Then at some strategic point in the middle of a long talk a remote control trigger lets the banner drop for all to see. The banner simply has WT-published images and quotes (similar to my last post). I can only imagine the all-out panic that would ensue.

  - Would the speaker stop mid-talk?

  - Do you evacuate 5,000+ people so no one is forced to stare at it for the 30 min-hour it would take to get something like that down?

  - Do they make some announcement like "Don't look at the 75' banner above the stage full of WTS quotes!!!?

  Between tracking down facility personnel, getting up onto the catwalks and figuring how to get it down safely, I'm guessing it would take close to an hour.

  Afterward, one of the speaker (maybe a GB member?) would HAVE to at least mention it as an emergency "Special Needs" mini-talk. What can they say, "Uhh....mentally diseased apostates are demostrating their hatred of Jehovah and his earthly organization by....um....showing quotes from our publications. That is all."
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  66

  If you were to protest an Assembly what would you put on your placard ?

  by Finkelstein in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  since this topic of protesting assemblies recently came up, i was wondering .

  what would be the some of the most proficient and perhaps strongest message.

  to place on a placard to show as the people arrived at the venue.

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  respectful_observer

  I wonder what would go through the minds of JWs who saw either of the following:

  The cover of the 1968 Awake! issue "Is It Later Than You Think?" side-by-side with an image of the 2012 Special Talk invitation of the same title (sorry, can't easily find a scan).

  

  On the bottom of the placard it would simply read:

  44 years. Is It Longer Than You Thought?

  jwfacts.com

  -and/or-

  
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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).