Alfred

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Posts by Alfred

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  14

  Jehovahs Witnesses and Entitlement

  by hoser in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've noticed an attitude among the friends that they feel that they are owed something by society.

  example: at the last meeting one of the elders gave a talk about how "the system" is getting harder and harder to make a living.. .

  i know its a recession out there, but to blame satan the devil for your economic woes is kinda harsh don't you think.

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  Alfred

  I've been out for almost two years now but, when I was in, my congo had about a 40/60 mix of working middle class (40%) and poor/retirees (60%)... Myself and others in the congo were often indirectly "guilted" by the elders (who were mostly poor) to help those who were "struggling" because they assumed that the working middle class in the congo had plenty of money to give away. It got to the point where my wife finally put her foot down and told me that I was being taken advantage of... turns out, she was right... One family I helped out was in dire straits because they charged up their credit cards furnishing their home with things I didn't even have in my own home... another single mother would frequent the hair salon but couldn't put food on the table... Yeah, I was stupid... but it really opened my eyes to the sense of entitlement that some JWs tend to feel to the point that they actually expect the wealthier JWs to spread their wealth...
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  88

  British Sociologist Predicts Possible Collapse in Jehovah's Witness Numbers

  by slimboyfat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a newly published article by british sociologist david voas argues jehovah's witnesses may be about to experience a collapse in numbers.

  contrary to claims by american sociologist rodney stark who predicts strong future growth for jehovah's witnesses, voas shows that jehovah's witnesses' efforts at recruiting new members have become increasingly unsuccessful over the past few decades: the rate of increase has steadily declined, and the number of hours each publisher must preach to produce an extra convert has gone up substantially.

  voas suggests a reason for the stagnation may be that there is a natural limit to the number of people in a given population that are susceptible to conversion to sectarian groups like jehovah's witnesses - the 'carrying capacity' of the population, and that the limit has largely been reached.

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  Alfred

  In my area, all territories are worked at least 8 times a year... the same faces knock on the same doors year in and year out... but so far, only 3 non-born-in baptisms in about 10 years of working a 7.5 square mile rural area (population approx 4,500)... 2 of those were mentally unstable and the other was a loner... if that's any indication, I'd say this british sociologist is not too far off in his assessment...
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  46

  Behind the Scenes: An Elders Point of View

  by WTLies in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've been a member of this fourm for quite sometime although i rarely post.

  i do however, have my story posted on shauns' site http://jwfiles.com/jws-leaving/william.htm i also wrote and article for that site comparing the prophecies of 1925 and 1975. http://jwfiles.com/1925-1975.htm just a little background on me: i served as an elder in philadelphia.

  i was the cong sec.

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  Alfred

  I often assisted the assembly accountant and on more than a few occasions I found myself on my knees counting money on the floor (because there was so much of it that the desk tops simply did not have enough room)... before I could finish counting even half of it, I'd sometimes hear the usual "deficit" announcement over the loud speaker... I always knew it was BS but I also knew I needed to keep my thoughts to myself (unless they were positive)...

  How often did you hear the "deficit" announcement at you assembly and thought: "that's impossible"?
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  2

  Church Foreclosures on the Rise... The Great Tribulation is around the corner

  by Alfred in

  1. social
  2. current

  o.k.

  ... i know the big a isn't happening.... but i'm sure the watchtower will soon use this information in their boasting/ recruiting sessions.... http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/09/us-usa-housing-churches-idusbre82803120120309.

  i think these chuches should consider taking a page from the watchtower's "revenue generation manual"... page 1: collect contributions so they can build their own hall, build the hall with free labor, make them pay for the hall a second time with a low-interest loan, make them remodel several times with low-interest loans... sell the hall and start all over again... lather, rinse, repeat.... .

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  Alfred

  O.K. ... I know the Big A isn't happening...

  But I'm sure the Watchtower will soon use this information in their boasting/ recruiting sessions...

  http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/09/us-usa-housing-churches-idUSBRE82803120120309

  I think these chuches should consider taking a page from the Watchtower's "Revenue Generation Manual"... Page 1: Collect contributions so they can build their own hall, build the hall with free labor, make them pay for the hall a second time with a low-interest loan, make them remodel several times with low-interest loans... sell the hall and start all over again... LATHER, RINSE, REPEAT...
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  14

  Watchtower Career Brochure

  by Alfred in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  watchtower careers.

  would you like to have the most fulfilling career available on earth?consider the great privilege of becoming one of jehovahs witnesses.

  we have many titles and classifications* that you can aspire to as you work towards your salvation.

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  Alfred
• 
  14

  Watchtower Career Brochure

  by Alfred in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  watchtower careers.

  would you like to have the most fulfilling career available on earth?consider the great privilege of becoming one of jehovahs witnesses.

  we have many titles and classifications* that you can aspire to as you work towards your salvation.

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  Alfred

  Watchtower Careers

  Would you like to have the most fulfilling career available on earth? Consider the great privilege of becoming one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. We have many titles and classifications* that you can aspire to as you work towards your salvation. For your convenience, we have listed these in order of superiority starting with the highest rank all the way down to what you are now… a worldly person. For more information, please bring this list to the Kingdom Hall nearest you and any elder will gladly show you where all of these titles may be found in your Bible as well as what they are.

  1. Governing Body Member (anointed MALES only; directed by God)

  2. Corporation President (various corporations worldwide, MALES ONLY)

  3. Bethel Department Overseer (various departments; MALES ONLY)

  4. Branch Overseer (MALES ONLY)

  5. District Overseer (MALES ONLY)

  6. Circuit Overseer (MALES ONLY)

  7. Bethel Elder (MALES ONLY)

  8. Missionary

  9. Elder (MALES ONLY)

  10. Special Pioneer

  11. Bethelite

  12. Regular Pioneer

  13. Auxiliary Pioneer

  14. Ministerial Servant (MALES only)

  15. Baptized Publisher (at this level and above you can lose your family and friends if you sin or disagree with the Watchtower’s teachings)

  16. Unbaptized Publisher

  17. Study

  18. Interested One

  19. Revisit

  20. Worldly person (formerly known as “Goat”)… this is your starting point.

  *Note: all of these 20 theocratic classifications have a second designation depending on your level of “field service” these are

  · Regular : member who consistently reports at least 15 minutes of preaching per month.

  · Irregular : member who has not reported preaching hours in one of the last 3 months.

  · Marked : member who continuously analyses Watchtower information first before accepting it.

  · Inactive : member who has not reported preaching hours in 6 or more months.

  · Dissassociated : member who has submitted a letter of resignation from the corporation. At this point, you drop back down to classification 20 (worldly person) and association with fellow members of the corporation will be kept to an absolute minimum.

  · Disfellowshipped : member who speaks out against the corporation or engages in unethical or sinful behavior.
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  47

  Fred Franz and high IQ

  by petespal2002 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i recall reading somewhere that in his lifetime fred franz was listed as one of the most intelligent men in the usa.

  can anyone think to what i am referring?

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  Alfred

  In my opinion, anyone who is able to successfully manipulate millions of people using Bible text extrapolation quite possibly does have a high IQ (albeit evil-minded or delusional).
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  59

  Sooo Armageddon comes....

  by MsGrowingGirl20 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so let's say armageddon comes,do you believe that all jw's would be destroyed because jehovah knows it's a false religion...it can't be denied,for the most part,they try to live by the bible...if anybody has to be punished i would say it's the leaders...i know that god wouldn't judge a whole organization but persons individually....so what i'm trying to ask is....do you think you're in a better position right now not for freedom but for salvation than the witnesses??

  if by the time you're finished reading this post armageddon is here...would u wish that you still were a witness or are you satisfied that you've made god proud?.

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  Alfred

  There is no Armageddon... at least not the WT's interpretation of a so-called Armageddon.

  But assuming God does intend to commit global genocide, it won't because people are going to wrong church.
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  13

  Ridiculous article I found about anointed going to heaven/partaking of emblems

  by lilbluekitty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'm copy/pasting this from the cd rom (i only have the 2008 one and older ones), watchtower 2/15/03.

  i was browsing to refresh my memory what jws believe about who can partake of the memorial because the church i go to now has the lord's supper every sunday as part of their worship.

  a person who truly has this calling does not need to ask others if he has such a hope.

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  Alfred

  Paragraph 4 is implying that the Great Crowd cannot partake because they are in an "unclean state"...

  I guess the annointed are in a clean state?

  What does that even mean?
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  12

  WT Seeking Donations Of Gold: News To Me... When and Where?

  by Room 215 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i noted in a thread on kingdom hall remodelling that some mentioned that a call for donations of gold jewellery was made from the platform.

  since this sounds like something that would have been presented by a part on the service meeting and therefore noted in the kingdom ministry schedule, can anyone recall the specifics of this?

  if so, how recently?

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  Alfred

  That's how they built the Assemby Hall in Ajalvir, Spain (before selling it for a fat profit recently)... the WT even blatantly admits that poor Spanish kids sold their toys so that this assembly hall could be built (because the GB had no intention of spending one red cent for this hall)...