I guess it depends on the area of the United States that you live in (can't comment on outside of the u.s) because in my area there are many under 40 elders.
XBEHERE
JoinedPosts by XBEHERE
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42
Where are the Young Elders?
by James Jack ini was appointed as an elder when i turned 30, 25 years ago.
which was the norm back then.. now, i very rarely here of a young man becoming an elder.
in our town we have 2 english congregations.
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45
Why a new "World Headquarters"?
by 4thgen ini just dont get it.
the gb moved to patterson and are conducting business from there, right?
they are not printing as much literature as they once were and they are still operating walkill for the magazines...er a ....pamphlets.
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XBEHERE
From my latest tour at Bethel, I was told the move was to differentiate the World Headquarters from the US branch
I was long under the impression that Patterson, NY was the U.S. Branch and Brooklyn was the WHQ. My take on the move is that they want to liquidate assets, despite what the May broadcast says.
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Are they banning college again?
by thedepressedsoul ini wasn't alive for this but my parents and many old timers told me that at one point it was pretty much a rule that you couldn't go to college.
some of you may remember that from that time.
over time they relaxed that rule to that you did what you had to do in order to provide for yourself.
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XBEHERE
Despite what many Witnesses may say yes they are banning higher education. Even if it does not specifically say it in the literature its heavily implied and then heavily reinforced with the Circuit Overseer comes around.
Social pressure from other members is the true cornerstone of this religion. If something is frowned upon but not necessarily scripturally banned then fear of being out of the social group and being outcast causes people to go along with the crowd. Higher education falls sort of into that category.
"Sure go ahead and let your kid go but don't expect any praise from prominent elders, CO, etc. and don't expect to be in the popular group"
Really stupid!
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How many of us stayed in the organization longer than necessary for these other reasons?
by John Aquila in -
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XBEHERE
Count me among that number. Fear of losing her and the rest of my family scares me to death. -
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Are Elders experts on the Bible? Are they spirtually qualified men?
by John Aquila inhow many times have elders read their bible in its entirety?
these are the leaders that give counsel to married couples, to teenagers, to single girls and single boys on everything from marriage, education, sex, association, dress, and recreation..
how well do they know their bible?
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XBEHERE
Elders know as much about the scriptures as anyone else who cares to put the effort to read it.
As for their knowledge of JW policy... that's an entirely different issue.
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37
How Much Do Circuit Overseers Make Under the Table, and is it Taxable?
by Tazemanian-devil ini was thinking about green handshakes, and i knew my wife and i personally would try to slide at least $100 each c.o visit to the c.o.
if we were low on cash, we'd never hand him less than $20.
how many of such handshakes does he receive in a weeks time?
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XBEHERE
In my area, considered one of said affluent areas, I know for a fact that most of the elders are giving the CO cash every time he comes. When I was still mentally in I was regularly giving him $50-100 depending on how I was treated during the visit.
We had 11 elders at the time and some were financially more well off than I was so average lets say each gave $50 so thats $550 just from the elder body, from 1 congregation in a 12-20 cong. circuit. So I think yes they clean up in some areas for sure.
Keep in mind that this was a estimate based on elders giving only, its all tax free (unreported) and they have a free car, free gas, free dry cleaning, free place to stay, free medical, free dental and in many cases free food.
Do the math. These guys are doing ok I think.
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"Be Kind to the Fornicators in the Congregation!" -- New August Watchtower
by FusionTheism inhave you noticed the article entitled "watch your associations in these last days" in the new august 2015 study watchtower?.
unless i'm reading it wrong, or somehow misinterpreting it, it is saying that we should be kind to intentional breakers of god's laws inside and outside the congregation, including fornicators, but that we must not be close associates with them.. are they already preparing for a shift in their disfellowshipping practices?.
here are the relevant paragraphs:.
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XBEHERE
It would be more difficult to maintain control if they become more lenient with associating with DF people. So I don't see a big change coming if at all. It would be a welcome one though if it did change. -
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Kingdom Hall Money Grab Was for Child Abuse Its Completely Clear
by thedepressedsoul inif youve followed the news lately there are more and more child abuse cases popping up.
one lawyer said he has over 28 cases in the pipeline that are going to be coming out soon.
on december 1 st a new one just popped up.
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XBEHERE
being just too many cases for their 90$ per month lawyers to handle
I believe they get $140 a month now in the US.
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'Anointeds' Do you know any and if so what are they like ?
by Introvert 2 inwould like to hear about any experiences anyone has had with the so called ' anointed ' .
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XBEHERE
Growing up there was a sister that professed to be anointed and she was as nice as could be, very friendly, kind, normal.
Fast forward to now... the one person professing to be anointed that I know is, as was already mentioned weird. Just plain odd. Nasty sometimes to people, know-it-all, pompous. ugh what an idiot.
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Found this article cited on Reddit today, Interesting
by XBEHERE inin their fantastic book about cognitive dissonance, mistakes were made (but not by me), carol tavris and elliot aronson write about the great psychologist leon festinger who, in 1957, infiltrated a doomsday cult.
the cult was led by dorothy martin who called herself sister thedra.
she convinced her followers in chicago an alien spacecraft would suck them up and fly away right as a massive flood ended the human race on december 21, 1954. many of her followers gave away everything they owned, including their homes, as the day approached.
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XBEHERE
In their fantastic book about cognitive dissonance, Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me), Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson write about the great psychologist Leon Festinger who, in 1957, infiltrated a doomsday cult. The cult was led by Dorothy Martin who called herself Sister Thedra. She convinced her followers in Chicago an alien spacecraft would suck them up and fly away right as a massive flood ended the human race on December 21, 1954. Many of her followers gave away everything they owned, including their homes, as the day approached. Festinger wanted to see what would happen when the spaceship and the flood failed to appear. Festinger hypothesized the cult members faced the choice of either seeing themselves as foolish rubes or assuming their faith had spared them. Would the cult members keep their weird beliefs beyond the date the world was supposed to end and become even more passionate as had so many groups before them under similar circumstances? Of course they did. Once enough time had passed they could be pretty sure no spaceships were coming, they began to contact the media with the good news: their positive energy had convinced God to spare the Earth. They had freaked out and then found a way to calm down. Festinger saw their heightened state of arousal as a special form of anxiety – cognitive dissonance. When you experience this arousal it is as if two competing beliefs are struggling in a mental bar fight, knocking over chairs and smashing bottles over each other’s heads. It feels awful, and the feeling persists until one belief knocks the other out cold.
Here is a link to the entire article if you're interested.
http://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/10/05/the-benjamin-franklin-effect/