JWD

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Posts by 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.

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  JWD

  Thank-you for your comments.
  I was very aware of the 91 WT article you refered to.In the past there
  have been `pastoral` visits to former JW`s here in Japan. My point was
  and still is that in past years the emphasis was very much on going after new blood and not on giving the `unfaithful` a second chance. Whereas of late desparation among the leadership due to falling numbers has made them place more emphasis on bringing back former JWs.

  I just noticed that the WT homepage has a bit about JWs and disaster
  relief.It referred to how they helped out after the Kobe earthquake
  in 1995. The truth is the WT was famous for limiting their aid
  almost exclusively to JWs. Sixth days after the earthquake I trekked
  into the city of Kobe and helped deliver food and aid to homeless
  people along with thousands of other ordinary citizens. We made several trips and were very aware of what was going on. Shortly after
  the earthquake one sister who lived across the river from Kobe in
  Osaka told me how the WT organized relief in the various KHs but only
  delivered it to JWs in the disaster striken city. I was reminded of the verse in Mathew which says `What`s so special about greeting your
  brothers? Even the gentiles do that.`
  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. 
• 

  JWD

  Until about two years ago df-ed and da`s were avoided like the
  plague. There were enough new recruits coming in that the WT in
  Japan didn`t bother with trying to get wounded sheep back into the
  org. It was more of a hassle to re-educate the tainted ones than it
  was to indoctrinate new blood. These days, however, there just aren`t
  any new ones coming in. I knew that the U.S. had been recycling for
  some years because they stopped growing years ago. But here in Japan
  it`s still a relatively new thing. JWD
• 
  10

  The Taliban and The Watchtower

  by JWD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it`s amazing the unusual bed-fellows one finds from time to time.. it seems that certain traits know no national boundaries.

  while watching the news the other day men with turbans living in afganistan.

  began to resemble men with suits dwelling in brooklyn.

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  JWD

  Both have really boring services! (and bad singing!)
• 
  10

  The Taliban and The Watchtower

  by JWD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it`s amazing the unusual bed-fellows one finds from time to time.. it seems that certain traits know no national boundaries.

  while watching the news the other day men with turbans living in afganistan.

  began to resemble men with suits dwelling in brooklyn.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
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  JWD

  Both believe they`re fighting a `Holy War`
  
  Both don`t hesitate to ask their followers to throw away their lives.
• 
  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

  The Sep. 2001 KM made it official. It stated that JWs are to go back
  to df`d and da`s and ask them if they wouldn`t like to get back on the
  boat with God`s org. It`s become almost impossible to find new recruits here in Japan, so the WT is desparate to help bump-up the
  figures. Thus `recycling`.
  BTW the number of publishers was down AGAIN in the Sept. report.

  JWD
• 
  10

  The Taliban and The Watchtower

  by JWD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it`s amazing the unusual bed-fellows one finds from time to time.. it seems that certain traits know no national boundaries.

  while watching the news the other day men with turbans living in afganistan.

  began to resemble men with suits dwelling in brooklyn.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  JWD

  It`s amazing the unusual bed-fellows one finds from time to time.
  It seems that certain traits know no national boundaries. While watching the news the other day men with turbans living in Afganistan
  began to resemble men with suits dwelling in Brooklyn. You might have
  to squint a little bit to see the resemblance but try and see if you
  can see what I saw.

  As to the Talibans and the leaders of the Watchtower:

  Both suppress information
  Both discourage higher education
  Both rejoice at the death of their `enemy`
  Both keep women in a low place in society
  Both keep their followers poor
  Both have all their people wearing the same style clothes!
  Both like making lots of petty rules
  Both have their own `theocratic police force`
  Both have a thing about beards (Taliban want em on/ WT wants em off)
  Both have a thing about New York!
  Both hate the trinity

  Any other common traits I might have missed? JWD
• 
  12

  More Suicides

  by JWD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  within the past week a couple was found dead in their home here in.

  southern osaka japan.the couple was in their 50`s and the husband was.

  the elder in a congregation in a city named kishiwada.the husband.

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  JWD

  I agree that the idea of df-ing someone after he died is pretty crazy. The man`s brother,who is not a JW, talked to the wife and was
  told he died in an `accident`. She continued with that lie until the
  proper JW funeral was done. The brother then went to the police who
  found the body and was told that there was no doubt that it was suicide. Naturally the wife knew that as well. The brother happened to be writing a book at the time about his experiences returning to Japan after living abroad for over 10 years. He included a chapter telling about the shock he experienced after coming back to Japan and having his younger brother commit suicide. He went into a little detail about the religion his JW brother was involved in and how it was somewhat different from JWs in the US. That was 2 or 3 years ago. This past Fall I met an elder who knew former elder `Okamoto` fairly well.When I related the incident he immediately knew about it and said
  that after his death, it was announced that he was df-ed.The elder
  thought it very odd and couldn`t figure out the reasoning behind
  such a step. I suggested that it might be due to the fact that the
  book written by his older brother exposed that it had been suicide
  not an accident. Thus I consider it to be credible info. JWD
• 
  12

  More Suicides

  by JWD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  within the past week a couple was found dead in their home here in.

  southern osaka japan.the couple was in their 50`s and the husband was.

  the elder in a congregation in a city named kishiwada.the husband.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
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  JWD

  Funerals are not held at the KH. JWs are not to attend the funeral
  (some may not strictly adhere to that). It`s likely that in this case
  either non-JW relatives will handle the funeral or they will simply
  go to the crematorium and dispose of the ashes afterwards.
  I don`t yet know the name of the congregation, but I can get it and
  will let you know.
  In one other case I refered to where an elder jumped to his death,
  the fact that it was a suicide was kept under wraps by his JW wife
  and the funeral was held in regular JW fashion. However, the elder`s
  brother is a non-JW and wrote a book which included a referance to
  the fact that his JW brother commited suicide. Shortly after the book
  came out, the dead brother was DFed !!! That`s gotta be a first!
  The elder`s name was Mr. Okamoto and he was in Ikeda City in northern Osaka.
  JWD
• 
  12

  More Suicides

  by JWD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  within the past week a couple was found dead in their home here in.

  southern osaka japan.the couple was in their 50`s and the husband was.

  the elder in a congregation in a city named kishiwada.the husband.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  JWD

  There is less stigma associated with suicide in Japan. Yet, it is
  viewed as a last resort. As far as I know there are not many other
  religious `leaders` in other religions commiting suicide. And since
  the JWs portray themselves as `the happiest people in the world`,it
  doesn`t seem consistent with that image.

  JWD
• 
  12

  More Suicides

  by JWD in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  within the past week a couple was found dead in their home here in.

  southern osaka japan.the couple was in their 50`s and the husband was.

  the elder in a congregation in a city named kishiwada.the husband.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  JWD

  Within the past week a couple was found dead in their home here in
  Southern Osaka Japan.The couple was in their 50`s and the husband was
  the elder in a congregation in a city named Kishiwada.The husband
  was found laying in his `futon` and his wife had hung herself next to
  him. They had both commited suicide. This is the most recent suicide
  among JW elders here in Japan. I personally know of two other cases
  of elders commiting suicide and have heard from reliable sources of
  an additional two cases.A sister who knew this particular elder says
  that he was a fairly soft-spoken gentle person. The possible reason
  for their chosing suicide isn`t yet apparent. But, it could be do to
  extreme stress or the possibility of him be removed in order to be
  replaced by a younger man. That`s merely speculation, but the trend
  here is to train young `Storm Troupers` at the MTC and then send them
  out to help prop up sagging numbers in non-productive congregations.

  Another elder who jumped to his death in northen Osaka a few years
  ago had just had his elder privaledges taken away. He ran his own
  company and had for many years hired almost exclusively JWs much to
  his financial detriment. The shock and shame of being made to step
  down was probably quite a powerful blow.

  Are elders commiting suicide a common occurance in other countries?
  JWD