respectful_observer

Joined

• started 28 topics
• posted 1,004 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by respectful_observer

• 
  85

  jw.org cart days numbered?

  by jookbeard in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  reading a report of an elder in a friends cong has been hiding and spying on the pioneers who seem to have a practise of dumping the cart and finding a local coffee shop, i've noticed that they do this in my local high street as well but this week they seemed to be all huddled around the cart, they've clearly been warned, a vast percentage of the time i see they seem to be more interested in fiddling with their mobile phones and gossiping, is just seems these carts are a means for the pioneers to turn in "easy time" i wonder what sort of figures show how much literature is being taken by the public?

  i bet its very minimal.

  naturally the gb would say they are a phenomenal success , we clearly know they are not.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  respectful_observer

  If the carts are found to really not be that effective in the end, why on earth would they stop.

  Heck, if effectiveness was the measuring stick, they would have stopped door-to-door 20 years ago.

  http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/statistics.php

  Hours Preaching per Conversion

  In 1969 there was one baptism for every 1,983 hours of preaching. During the 1980s it had risen to 3,000 hours. From 1990 to 2011 the number of hours preaching required per baptism increased from 3000 to 6000, an increase of 100%.

  

  More significant is the number of hours required for an additional publisher. Due to the large increase in Witnesses leaving the religion, the number of hours preaching required for an additional publisher doubled from 4,000 in the early 1990's to over 8,000 in 2000. The difference between 4000 hours in 1995 and 12,000 in 2014 is a change of 300% in just 20 years.
• 
  85

  jw.org cart days numbered?

  by jookbeard in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  reading a report of an elder in a friends cong has been hiding and spying on the pioneers who seem to have a practise of dumping the cart and finding a local coffee shop, i've noticed that they do this in my local high street as well but this week they seemed to be all huddled around the cart, they've clearly been warned, a vast percentage of the time i see they seem to be more interested in fiddling with their mobile phones and gossiping, is just seems these carts are a means for the pioneers to turn in "easy time" i wonder what sort of figures show how much literature is being taken by the public?

  i bet its very minimal.

  naturally the gb would say they are a phenomenal success , we clearly know they are not.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  respectful_observer

  @insidetheKH. Thanks for your posts, I always appreciate content from all perspectives.

  There are so many extremes out there (and here), so your perspective fills in a vital blank and helps find the median in complex issues.
• 
  13

  JW NFL Player Retires

  by Barrold Bonds in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is news to me, despite somewhat following the steelers.. http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2015/03/11/steelers-free-agent-jason-worilds-announces-his-departure-from-football/stories/201503110155.

  with all the surprises that were delivered around the nfl tuesday, jason worilds has pulled another.

  the steelers free agent linebacker announced early this morning that he was leaving football.. and the steelers believe he means it.. steelers sources told the post-gazette today that they believe worilds, who became an unrestricted free agent on tuesday, is serious about walking away from football at the age of 27 to work for his religion, jehovahs witnesses, and that there is no hidden agenda involved in his decision.. i appreciate all of the interest from the organizations that have reached out to us the past few days, worilds wrote on twitter.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  respectful_observer

  Jehovah's Witnesses- Scientology for famous black people. (Especially musicians and athletes.)

  Isn't that weird? Seriously almost all semi-famous people that are JWs or connected to JWs are black or non-white.

  Michael Jackson and family

  Williams sisters

  Prince

  Naomi Campbell

  Nelson Mandela's ex-wife

  Sherri Shepherd

  Donald Glover

  Michelle Rodriguez

  Notorious BIG

  Ja Rule

  George Benson

  Wayan brothers

  Larry Graham
• 
  19

  New WT property for A/V production

  by respectful_observer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so the wts just bought yet another corporate building in upstate ny.

  this time it's a building to house a/v production a few minutes from patterson.

  why they just don't build what they need on property they already own, i don't know.. http://www.loopnet.com/listing/17829130/39-mt-ebo-road-south-brewster-ny/.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  respectful_observer

  So the WTS just bought yet another corporate building in upstate NY. This time it's a building to house A/V production a few minutes from Patterson. Why they just don't build what they need on property they already own, I don't know.

  http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/17829130/39-Mt-Ebo-Road-South-Brewster-NY/
• 
  35

  Behold the face of indoctrination! My moms guilt tripping letter to me.

  by BU2B in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i wish i knew what it was like to have an unconditionally loving mother.

  i know she loves me and cares about me, but only within her narrow wt spectrum.

  if i do not meet her narrow expectations, i am a failure to her.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  respectful_observer

  I've been reflecting on the spiritual inheritance I have recieved from grandma. I appreciate her love and effort to help her 7 children to learn about Jehovah and how to serve him.
  Your father and I have been able to pass that inheritance on to you.

  I guess she was paying attention at the WT Study two weeks ago!

  LOL...putting scriptures in handwritten letters. Are you sure you and I aren't siblings? My mom does the exact same thing, and as far as she knows I'm a good J-dub!

  I've come to just laugh it off inside. I know she'll never change. This is who she is and she's happy with herself, so I'm not going to criticize her for it. If she wants to live in constant stress under the fear that all her kids will "fall out of the Truth", that's her choice. She's an adult. I just love her for who she is.
• 
  12

  Simon Cowell gets a new JW New World Translation Bible

  by dozy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  could he be the next "celebrity" jw?

  :-) .

  https://www.facebook.com/jwmediawatch/timeline.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  respectful_observer

  It's so funny that JW avoid being considered "part of the world", but the moment someone famous walks into a KH, assembly, accepts literature, or becomes a JW, the witnesses fall all over themselves to be seen with them, take their picture, post it all over Facebook, etc.
• 
  25

  Memorial Question?

  by naazira in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  over the years, i've come to notice that some of the friends will not touch the plate with the bread or the cup of wine ,when the emblems are being passed around.

  i remember a row of 3 people told the brother to skip over them.

  every year i have noticed this behavior.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  respectful_observer

  Like, somehow, the fact that the servers have touched the plate or cup a couple dozen times while "serving" somehow "doesn't really count". They have to be seated and someone has to hand the plate/cup to them.

  I'm pretty sure they're also supposed to wash up to their elbows beforehand. At least that's what the Pharisees tell me...
• 
  49

  JW.ORG advertising on game/app review program.

  by WHATSGOINGON in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i don't know if any of you have seen the video posted by mike and kim regarding jw.org advertising on a thailand computer game review television show.

  its interesting - check it out.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57nigmnim18.

  the show is called game show social - i looked at a few of the videos and jw.org is on a lot of them.. at first i thought that it was a review of a jw.org app but when you look at other videos jw.org is on a lot of them as a sponsor as well as dell lg and others.. wgo..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  respectful_observer

  "That was one of the points I was trying to make, but I didn't do a good job at it. Anyone with computer skills can lift the logo and place it in that spot.

  • An apostate could have faked the entire thing just to rile people up online.

  Haha...those people on JWtalk are beyond paranoid. They see apostates hiding behind every news story, clip, meme, picture, etc., that even slightly mocks the WT.
  
• 
  20

  Cases of fornication when only one of the involved individuals will confess

  by Judge Rochefort in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what happens in cases of fornication between two jehovah's wintesses if one of them confesses but the other denies the facts?would there be a judicial committee to the one who confesses while the other individual would be left as if nothing had happened?i would love to know specially the opinions of elders or ex-elders.thank you!

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  respectful_observer

  I've got friend who made the sad mistake of having a private make-out session with this woman who was infatuated with him.

  When she found out he was interested in someone else months later, she ran to her elders and "confessed" to sleeping with him. Even claimed she took a pregnancy and STD test afterward.

  He got blindsided one day after the meeting with the accusation. He confessed to the make-out session, but insisted it went no further. He asked that she provide proof (e.g., his "identifiable features"). The elders refused and said it didn't matter. "After all, why would she come forward and admit judicial action for something she never did??" Hmmm....maybe because she was CRAZY.

  She was privately reproved by her elders, he was publicly reproved for "loose conduct" by his. He's barely been to meetings since.
• 
  16

  New donation arrangement in action locally

  by respectful_observer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  recently they announced at my hall that a large donation had been made to the local congregation-- nearly $100,000.

  they then proposed a resolution that we continue our new(ish) practice of only keeping enough money on hand locally for monthly expenses, and send the entire amount of this large donation to the watchtower society.

  aside from the fact that our congregation has already sent well over a half-million dollars to the wt in the last 12 months, i don't understand the motive of the person who made the donation.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  respectful_observer

  Tax shelter.
  Although you could also use the annuity arrangement and get a better long term tax plan.

  Agreed, but you would get the same tax benefits whether the check is written to the local congregation or the WTS. All I can think, is maybe it's a periodic distribution from a trust where the sole named beneficiary is the local congregation and the trustee has no choice but to write the check out to the local congregation.