As I`ve looked into the history of the WT society it has become glaringly obvious that one of the main reason for the growth of the
org. has been it`s fixation on the end of the world. It`s common knowledge by now, but the whole thing grew out of the Advent movement
with it`s roots in England.The Adventists came up with the 1848 and the 1874 dates. CT borrowed heavily from those dates and added a few of his own.He taught our ancestors that the end of the world was coming in 1914 then 1915. Later on the Judge came out with the 1918 end of the world theory as well as the 1925 ressurection of the worthies and the 1941 Armageddon is right around the corner teaching. Then it was Knorr and Freddy who gave us 1975... During those years the org. grew and grew. Why? Because everyone likes a good end of the world prophecy. Recently, a college professor spoke on technics used to gain control over people and he said `false prophecy is a proven method by which to control people commited to a religion. Even when
the prophecy fails it can be re-interpreted time and time again to
continue it`s influence. That is certainly the case with the WTS.Now,
however, we have entered an era where the org. is in a tailspin growth
wise. With the exception of former communist countries and some third
world countries the trend is `downsizing`. So, how to remedy the situation and bring back growth. How about some new dates?! I`ve got
a few ideas. Number one, own up to the fact that the BC 607 is a bunch
of crock and say that `after further study we`ve determined that the
fall of Jerusalem was actually BC 586` (who cares that that`s what all
the archeological world has been saying all along). That would buy the
org. 21 years and bump the supposed return of Christ to 1935. Since the org. already has a 1935 date (sealing of the annointed) it would
merely have to change the meaning of the date itself (something they are very good at). At that point the 1914 date could be decreetly shelved. As far as something which would put the fear in people and
make Armageddon seem near; how about the date 1989 as the beginning
of the end. 1989 was the year that Communism bit the dust in the Soviet Union and eastern Europe. The scripture about `When everyone
is saying peace, peace...` could be used to focus on 1989 as the
brief time of quiet before the storm of Armageddon. Never mind that
every other date has proven to be completely wrong, a few new dates
might be just the thing to perk up the bros., bump up the hours and
bring in new studies. Besides by the year 2030 no one will care about
the 1935 and 1989 dates anyway... JWD
Posts by JWD
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11How about some NEW dates!!
by JWD inas i`ve looked into the history of the wt society it has become glaringly obvious that one of the main reason for the growth of the.
org.
has been it`s fixation on the end of the world.
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JWD
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High priced Kingdom Halls
by JWD init`s been interesting watching the org.
trying different ways to make money while at the same time keeping up a front of not being interested in money.
especially since they were forced to drop the.
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JWD
To Seeker:
I appreciate your concerns regarding `facts`. I can`t speak for
what is happening everywhere, but as far as Japan is concerned,
unlike the US, the building codes are very minimal and KHs are not
high priced due to some kind of superior quality. If anything
they are adequate, but inferior in design and quality to other construction.
The greater concern here is perhaps not so much whether or not the
society is making money, but rather the false images being presented.
Anyone who has looked throught the Proclaimers book and seen all the
glossy photos of large buildings and tracks of land the WT owns has
had the question run through their mind of `So, where is all the money
coming from to aquire all this stuff and keep it operating`. There seems to be a disconnect at this point. One the one hand the WT projects the image of being a religion which is not interested in
taking people`s money and to reinforce that image there is frequent
bashing of other religion`s financial excesses. Yet at the same time the `visible` success of the WT via buidlings,etc. is@held up as a sign of Jehovah`s blessing. In Japan, in the last three@years congregations have been closing (238 in all) and KH leases have
been given up due to lack of funds at the local level. Yet, the
headquarters is finishing up a major building project. The local
bros and sisters are kept poor, while the org. is still expanding.
Another issue of concern is exactly what you pointed out;namely,
`What is actually going on with the money?` It`s difficult to get the
facts, because the org. doesn`t tell the facts. Annual financial
reports AREN`T AVAILABLE. They are for companys and for most religious
organizations. Yet, the WT keeps the figures secret. They want to maintain the image of not being interested in money. If the org. is
making big bucks, why not be open and say `WE`RE MAKING BIG BUCKS`.
Why hide behind a facade of altruism while the very size of the buildings themselves speak volumnes regarding finances. Looking at
things objectively, I think it`s fair to say that the majority of
policy decisions (new light) are due to legal issues, growth issues
or financial issues. JWD -
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High priced Kingdom Halls
by JWD init`s been interesting watching the org.
trying different ways to make money while at the same time keeping up a front of not being interested in money.
especially since they were forced to drop the.
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JWD
Here in Japan building in general tends to be expensive, so recently
a lot of construction companies are importing materials from the U.S.
Lumber,etc. from the States can be as little as one third the cost of
Japanese materials. One good friend of mine just had his house built
using American lumber and the work was done by a friend of his, so
there were no labor costs. The total cost was $50,000. That`s a house
with kitchen,bath,etc. By contrast the society builds kHs with imported materials from the U.S. They are basically a `box` with a
bathroom and a separate room for literature. Naturally the bros. do
the work so there should be no labor costs and yet the bill is $180,000. Anyone who has looked into it realizes that they are way
overpriced. But naturally it`s un-theocratic to say that... JWD -
44
High priced Kingdom Halls
by JWD init`s been interesting watching the org.
trying different ways to make money while at the same time keeping up a front of not being interested in money.
especially since they were forced to drop the.
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JWD
Japanese are very group oriented and very fad oriented.During the 1980`s and early 90`s the org really grew here.There was an almost
arrogant attitude among the bros.A kind of `nobody can stop us now`
type of attitude.But, when the `errosion` started in the mid-90s
everyhting began to unravel fast.The number of baptisms plummeted and
the nation as a whole began to look on the WT as a dangerous cult.
It was at that time that a well known `exit counselor`Steven Hassen`s
book about cults was translated into Japanese and it eventually sold
almost 2 million copies. The mood of the bros. changed from confident
to scared. Currently,the org. is playing the `Victim Card`big time.
Also, bragging about growth has disappeared and seige mentality has
set in. Unlike the US most congs are overwhelmingly female.I`d say
at least 80%.There is a lot of infighting among the sisters and many
young men don`t follow in their mother`s footsteps. Since studies
have become almost impossible to find,they`re reaching out to fringe
people (i.e.socially impaired,emotionally weak)to help boost the numbers. Obviously, that doesn`t make for strong field work. JWD -
44
High priced Kingdom Halls
by JWD init`s been interesting watching the org.
trying different ways to make money while at the same time keeping up a front of not being interested in money.
especially since they were forced to drop the.
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JWD
The org`s `We aren`t interested in money,it`s the Babylonia religions
who are after your pocketbook` facade really grates on me. It`s common
for new brothers in Japan to quit their jobs and get part-time work
in order to take part in the field work and make the meetings. In so
doing they often cut their income in half. One local bro. sold his house upon getting baptized.I suppose it was a display of how commited
he was as well as a sincere belief that the end is near.Over 15 years
have passed since then and he`s really suffering financially.Another
bro. quit his job as a salesman making good money and now he`s working
as a janitor. It seems to mean that if you take a $2,000 per month cut
in your pay to fulfill the org`s demands and peddle their literature,
that`s the same as making a $2,000 per month donation. Protestant churches only talk about a 10% tithe, so who`s really taking their
believer`s money? Has anyone ever looked in to suing the org. for
damages after putting in years of unpaid labor? JW in Japan -
44
High priced Kingdom Halls
by JWD init`s been interesting watching the org.
trying different ways to make money while at the same time keeping up a front of not being interested in money.
especially since they were forced to drop the.
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JWD
As to numbers here in Japan, everything is heading south.There are
fewer baptisms every year, fewer people attending the memorial service and fewer reporting field work. The Kingdom Ministry made a
big deal about surpassing 220,000 publishers nearly two years ago.
After that, however, the slide started.Numbers have slipped back to
mid-210,000. There are several reasons for the drop. One is there
has been a lot of bad press, various magazine art. and TV programs
which have listed the WT as a cult. In response to that the org. is
loosening up on a lot of minor restrictions, such as kids being
allowed to get more involved in after-school activities.Also they
are encouraged not to gather in large numbers before and after going
out in field service.Large numbers of suit clad young men who aren`t
going to work, but are rather walking(very slowly) around the neighborhood has a very negative image here in Japan. Another reason
for the drop in numbers is the overall moral quality Witnesses is dropping. A friend who is an elder estimates that 20% of the bros.
are involved in some area of immorality. A recent letter to the elders
went so far as to say that any brother who was looking at porno ON THE
INTERNET and masturbating should be brought before a JC. (It`s interesting that they specifically stated ON THE INTERNET). Another
reason for the drop in numbers is that the year 2000 came and went
with nothing happening. Although not official WT teaching, there was
a strong feeling among the brothers here that the end would come
by 2000. Obviously, it hasn`t. A lot of KM articles recently are
using the guilt trip and repeating the old mantras about putting in
time so that you don`t slide into apostacy and making sure your kids
stay in the org. Most kids don`t any more. It`s real common for a
second gener. to get baptized to make mom happy and then move off on
his/her own and stop going to mtgs. etc. JW in Japan -
44
High priced Kingdom Halls
by JWD init`s been interesting watching the org.
trying different ways to make money while at the same time keeping up a front of not being interested in money.
especially since they were forced to drop the.
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JWD
Some cost cutting here in Japan includes; combining congregations,
using cheaper materials for the books, cutting back on the number of
special pioneers (S.pioneers received about $400 a month from the
org.With most areas overworked and unresponsive it`s become counter-
productive for them to bang on doors too frequently) Also, there was
an announcement not to `waste` magazines by giving them to poeple who
probably won`t read them.
There was also a very interesting letter to the elders in the Spring
of 1999. It was about how to deal with the police. Here in Japan,the
WT is considered at best to be a questionable religion and the activities of the org. are closely watched by a branch of the police.
The letter to the elders said not to respond to many questions and
don`t let the police into the KH.It went on to say that if they insist on seeing the inside of the KH, make sure it`s when nobody is there and remove any info from the bulliten boards. -
44
High priced Kingdom Halls
by JWD init`s been interesting watching the org.
trying different ways to make money while at the same time keeping up a front of not being interested in money.
especially since they were forced to drop the.
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JWD
Sorry, I don`t have the figures for the KH on an official WT letterhead piece of paper, but the overpricing is painfully obvious.
As to their financial situation here in Japan, I know that several
local congregations are hurting financially and I suspect that`s the
case throughout Japan. The poverty is always kept to the local level
however. A friend worked with the accounting at a district convention
in the city of Kobe (where the big earthquake was some years back).
During the convention, there were several announcements about contri-
buting for the needs of the convention.When I was over my friend
helped count up the money and found they were $60,000 in the black.
The friend thought the excess money would be used to help the congregations in the district. As he was finishing counting,however,
he was told to hurry up cause a rep. from the branch headquarters in
Ebina was waiting to carry the money back to headquarters. It was then
that the friend discovered what really happened to the money. As to
local congregations, they average about 40 people and have an average
monthly donation for the KH of about $1,700 (not much here in Japan).
JW in Japan -
44
High priced Kingdom Halls
by JWD init`s been interesting watching the org.
trying different ways to make money while at the same time keeping up a front of not being interested in money.
especially since they were forced to drop the.
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JWD
It`s been interesting watching the org. trying different ways to make money while at the same time keeping up a front of not being interested in money. Especially since they were forced to drop the
subscription fees on literature about ten years ago. I`m sure it`s
common knowledge by now, but they kept the fees in many poorer countries where taxes weren`t an issue. Three hours south of us in the
Philippines literature still carried a fixed price until very recently. The theory was that people would appreciate it much more if
they paid for it. Meanwhile, here in Japan, brothers were being told
that their contributions were helping the poorer borthers in places
like the Philippines where they can`t afford to pay themselves.It was
a great double scam. In the meantime, here in Japan, newer bros.&sis.
who came in after the voluntary contribution system took the `we are
interested in money` facade seriously and many contributed very little
if at all. That put the org. in a bind. They started to push videos and computer software, but combined with the recession here it hasn`t
been enough. Many cong. which meet in rented space are combining with
other congregations in order to save rent.Recently, however, the org.
has come up with a new scam to bring in big bucks. They`re really
pushing RBC construction KHs. The org. offers to finance the project
and has the congregation pay them back (with interest) and then builds
a prefab building with volunteer help. The building itself is very
simple constrution and would normally run around $90,000 if it were
built by a normal `worldly` builder. (Here`s where the real money is)
The org. bills the congregation about DOUBLE the actual costs and tells them they`re getting a deal!! Thus the org. makes money on the
loan and pulls in a good margin on the building itself. The local
congregation stays poor and the org. gets richer. JW in JAPAN -
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Panties or Thongs, WHICH????????????
by JT ini thought the name of this thread was so on time for this thread demostrates one of the sad things about claiming to speak for god, when one actually does not.. when i was a newly appointed elder at the tender age of 27 .
i was introduced to the world of the judical committee.. it was in fact my first case.
i had gotten a call from the po before the meeting stating that their would be an elders meetings to discuss some judical matters.
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JWD
What is this thing about JWs and sex...? It seems that due to the org.
constantly stating how bad it is and encouraging an unnatural amount
of paranoia, that it has created the reverse situation where JWs are
more pre-occupied with sex than some worldling who is just into making
money and buying a house. Anyway, the twistedness by no means stops
at the shores of America. Here`s a true and very sad story from here,
accross the ocean in Japan. A second generation sister was forced to
watch her JW mother having group sex with two bros. One of them then
turned his affection on her (12 yrs. old at the time).That was the
first time she was violated and it was not the last. Her mother had been divorced by her unbelieving husband and was raising her daughter
by herself. The mother later died of cancer. The daughter, however,
continued to be violated by the elder who is now a district overseer.
She, on the other hand, has suffered an emotional breakdown and is
trying to get her life back together. The saddest thing is that she
still blaims herself for what happened and defends the org. Recently,
she went to a convention and bumped into the DO after many years of
not seeing him and would you believe it, he started to come on to her
again!! Who ever said the org. is being led by holy spirit!!