JWD

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Posts by JWD

• 
  19

  Why Japanese become JWs

  by JWD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have posted some of the following info in various other threads i`ve.

  started which touch on the matter of jws in japan.however,people continue to ask me `why japanese become jws?`,so i thought i`d put.

  down a few of my observations for anyone who might be interested.. as you may or may not have noticed,japan has(had) the fifth largest number of jws in the world.

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  JWD

  Bringing this back to the top.
  JWD
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  95

  Org. Re-orging in JAPAN

  by JWD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for those of you who haven`t been following it,the wts is in a downward spiral here in japan.fs hours are down,memorial attendance.

  is down,pioneers are down,studies are down,donations are down,number.

  of congregations is down and the number of publishers continues to.

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  JWD

  Thanks. I`ll check out that data. I have no doubt that some cultures
  have a `bent` to be more vulnerable to the JW bug and I`ve dealt
  with that issue a bit in a posting of mine called ,`Why Japanese
  Become JWs`. At the same time when Japanese develope an allergy to
  something, they tend to pull away from it very fast as well. I think
  that`s what`s happening here in Japan big time. I can`t imagine the
  WT ever growing significantly again here. I think they`ve reached
  saturation point and are now focusing on real estate, money and
  gaining some kind of legitimacy with the Japanese as a whole.
• 
  95

  Org. Re-orging in JAPAN

  by JWD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for those of you who haven`t been following it,the wts is in a downward spiral here in japan.fs hours are down,memorial attendance.

  is down,pioneers are down,studies are down,donations are down,number.

  of congregations is down and the number of publishers continues to.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  JWD

  Just got ahold of some internal documents which show a re-districting
  of `circuts` throughout Japan. The number of districts is being
  DECREASED making each one larger. It`s undoubtedly an attempt to
  increase the numbers at conventions by drawing from a wider area.
  Thus making it seem like there has been an increase. There have also
  been a couple of changes in district overseers.

  There are rumblings of major unrest in the Kanagawa area. That is
  where the national headquarters (Japan Bethel) is. More of that as
  things develope.
  JWD
• 
  95

  Org. Re-orging in JAPAN

  by JWD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for those of you who haven`t been following it,the wts is in a downward spiral here in japan.fs hours are down,memorial attendance.

  is down,pioneers are down,studies are down,donations are down,number.

  of congregations is down and the number of publishers continues to.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
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  JWD

  The KM for July reports 218,711 publishers for Japan. The numbers are
  for March which is Spring vacation here and should be a big month.
  But they are still well under the peak numbers of two years ago.
  There is also a bit about having pioneers report their hours so the
  elders can `help` anyone who`s short on their obligated amount of
  time.

  The number of baptisms for the month were 301. Few.

  Just thought you`d like to know.
• 
  22

  Episodes of Craziness

  by JWD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  over the last ten years or so i`ve seen and heard things which when.

  looked at objectively can only be termed `craziness`.however, in some.

  cases these episodes of craziness might be viewed as wonderful testimonies to a strong commitment to jahovah.

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  JWD

  Just had a young aspiring PHD students come and talk about the woes
  she`s experiencing dating a second generation Japanese JW who is a
  ministerial servant.His father is an elder. Seems that he owned up to
  having `an inappropiate relationship` with her and they put his feet
  to the fire so to speak. So, now he`s backpeddling on all the talk
  about getting married to her and applying the pressure on her to
  become a JW. She showed me a recent letter he wrote and he`s taking
  the stance that it was really her fault that they got into the kind
  of relationship they did and unless she joins the `TRUTH` they can`t
  continue their relationship. Normally, after getting involved in a
  physical relationship with a non-JW he should be disciplined, but
  that doesn`t seem to be happening probably due to his father`s
  position.
  In another incident a local sister had two baptised children both
  of whom got involved in a sexual realtionship before marriage. The
  daughter was going to bed with a non-JW and was df-ed.The son,on the
  other hand, was hitting the sack with a JW girl and wasn`t disciplined
  at all. Maybe pre-marital sex with a JW is more pure...? JWD
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  12

  Run, Watchtower, Run

  by Uncanny in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i watched an entertaining german film on cable last night called run.

  lola, run.

  the plot revolves around how a young woman named lola has 20 minutes to come up with 100,000 marks or her boyfriend gets executed by the mob.. the film cleverly replays a 20 minutes running scene in which lola reacts differently each time to things which happen on her run(s).. one incident has lola nearly knocking down an old woman pedestrian as she rounds a corner.

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  JWD

  In Eddie Murphy`s movie about an African prince who came to NY to find
  a bride there was a scene where the man of the house doesn`t want to
  tell who came to his door, so he said it was just some Jehovah`s Witnesses.

  Of course the movie `Perfect World` played heavily on the JW theme.

  JWD
• 
  19

  Why Japanese become JWs

  by JWD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have posted some of the following info in various other threads i`ve.

  started which touch on the matter of jws in japan.however,people continue to ask me `why japanese become jws?`,so i thought i`d put.

  down a few of my observations for anyone who might be interested.. as you may or may not have noticed,japan has(had) the fifth largest number of jws in the world.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  JWD

  One more addition to the above. It sometimes almost seems that some
  wives get involved with the WT to find some excuse to create distance
  between themselves and their husband. Doing things for the sake of
  being faithful to Jehovah God gives them a feeling of self-righteous-
  ness when in reality they want to go against their husband`s wishes.
  There are many more JW women who are coming out of unhappy marriages
  than those from happy marriages in Japan.

  JWD
• 
  5

  Would One Interpretation Change It All?

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  some watchtower interpretations are speculative,.

  a very few are arguable,.

  and many are just stupid and specious.. perhaps the most stupid and specious interpretation.

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  JWD

  If the WT gives up on the FDS teaching...they will cease to exist.
  The only thing that keeps people in is the twisted idea that they
  have the only direct line to Jehovah. To keep people buying into
  that they have to continue to give them a shot of `fear` (notice
  the theme of this years assembly?)

  If they stepped down from the pedestal of being God`s oracle, who
  would stick around waiting for new light?

  JWD
• 
  5

  Would One Interpretation Change It All?

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  some watchtower interpretations are speculative,.

  a very few are arguable,.

  and many are just stupid and specious.. perhaps the most stupid and specious interpretation.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  JWD

  You no doubt realize that ALL new religions have a very similar
  teaching. They need some biblical basis for being the sole bearers
  of THE TRUTH. Once they`ve convinced believers that they are THAT
  SPECIAL ONE, it really doesn`t matter what they do or teach.

  I`ve flirted with the idea of coming up with a similar teaching
  myself. I`d use the section in John 10 where it talks about the
  `gate keeper`, the one who opens the gate to the fold so that Christ`s
  sheep can come and go. I would say, `No I`m no the Christ, I`m just
  his humble servant... the gate keeper.` Thus if anyone wants to reach
  Christ they need me to open the gate for them.` I could go on to say
  that there has been one gate keeper in every generation and I am the
  present one. Sure, at first only a few would believe me, so I`d tell
  them that was because they were specially chosen. Then as the number
  of believers grew I would point ot the growth and say that was proof
  that this was the truth. See how it works...

  Okay, who wants to be my first followers?

  Remember what Jesus said in Luke 21, `Many will come saying the
  time is at hand and I AM HE. Don`t follow after them!!` JWD
• 
  19

  Why Japanese become JWs

  by JWD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have posted some of the following info in various other threads i`ve.

  started which touch on the matter of jws in japan.however,people continue to ask me `why japanese become jws?`,so i thought i`d put.

  down a few of my observations for anyone who might be interested.. as you may or may not have noticed,japan has(had) the fifth largest number of jws in the world.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  JWD

  Tattogirl,

  Most Japanese `freak-out` when they find out that one of their
  family members is studying with the JWs. There are many reasons for
  this. For one, the JW religion is viewed as being quite anti-social.
  In other words, JWs will make decisions regardless of what friends
  and family think. That means they cut across the grain and cause
  friction. Certainly there are times when going against the flow and
  doing what is right is necessary and good. However, in the JWs case
  they carry it to an extreme. i.e.no birthdays, no holidays, no blood,
  no voting, very little involvement in community life, leaving work
  early to attend meetings, taking off work days to go to conventions
  regardless of how busy their company might be, very negative stance
  towards higher education,etc. They also have a high divorce rate in
  Japan and are considered to be `anti-family`.

  Here`s a common scenario. A housewife starts to study at home without
  her husband knowing about it. He comes home late from work anyway.
  Then one day when he comes home he finds that his wife has left a
  note saying, ` she`s gone to a meeting and will be back about 9 p.m.
  It says his lunch is in the frig. `. This takes him completely by
  surprise so when she comes home he asks where she was. When she says
  she was at a Kingdom Hall, he is shocked and tells her to stop going.
  She was warned that there would be opposition and feels his attitude
  is a `fulfillment of the WT prophecy`. She had felt a little guilty
  about hiding the fact that she was studying with the JWs, but when she
  meets opposition she feels hurt and justified in studying. From then
  on they fight every Tuesday , Friday and Sunday when there are meetings. The husband calls her parents and the family gets together
  to try to make her quit. By this time, the sister studying with her
  has loaded her up with verses about persecution so she is thoroughly
  convinced that she is suffering for the `Truth`. It no longer matters
  what the WT teaches and she begins to forget her own original doubts.
  Now it`s merely a matter of `survival`. After several years of this
  domestic tension, the husband begins to give up. He purposely stays
  late after work on the nights there are meetings. He feels very resent
  -full towards his wife for not listening to him. He may even begin an
  affair as a way of `getting back at her`. As their children get older
  another round of strife begins. This time it`s the issue of college.
  The father wants to send his son to college, the mother wants him to
  skip college and become a full time pioneer. The battle rages on and
  if the son has been faithful at meetings he sides with his mother and
  skips college. The father is devastated and gives up. He seeks a
  divorce.

  Various versions of the above have been repeated countless times all
  over Japan. One of the nation-wide newspapers ran an article which
  told about how high the divorce rate is for JWs. And so it goes.

  Perhaps that will help you understand why your mother reacted as she
  did.
  JWD