dropoffyourkeylee

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Posts by dropoffyourkeylee

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  35

  Visited the Russell gravesite yesterday

  by dropoffyourkeylee in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  wife and i visited the russell gravesite in allegheny (pittsburgh) pennsylvania yesterday.

  i’ll post photos if i can get them to upload on the hotel wifi..

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  dropoffyourkeylee

  Why does anyone care about Russell grave? He didn't put it there. Why does anyone care about Russell? He's dead.

  My answer to that is:

  "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it",

  George Santayana
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  17

  Has The "Evil Slave" Died Out?

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  those of us who have deep roots into watchtower remember the shadowy whispers about "the evil slave" when we were kids.. for those that need to get up to speed: .

  the internal crisis came to its full with the occurrence of an outstanding bible-predicted event, namely, the coming of jehovah’s “messenger,” christ jesus, to jehovah’s temple for judgment in the spring of 1918, to separate the “faithful and discreet slave” class from the “evil slave” group.

  (mal.

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  dropoffyourkeylee

  Several of the breakaway groups still print their literature and reprint the Russell-era literature. Dawn and the LHMM are still in business, though quite small. They have conventions also. I believe also there are some individual congregation/ecclesias still in existence in the Chicago area. I corresponded with someone on this site a few years ago who attends one such ecclesia.
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  51

  Interesting that the other cult-cousins are going thru nearly identical hemmoraging of members.....

  by WingCommander in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i still read on reddit.

  (though no longer post) occasionally, i'll venture over to the ex-seventh day adventist (sda) sub and catch up a bit.

  it's been a long time.

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  dropoffyourkeylee

  Anecdotally, I see a decline of JW membership and activity (I am in the US). The WT membership/publisher figures for the US are relatively flat in recent years, generally holding steady. But that doesn't jive with my own personal observations. Several congregations within my sphere of observations have closed, the KH sold, and the JWs merged with other congregations, with no apparent increase in attendance at those congregations. And the conventions are emptier-looking than I have ever seen. They try to spin it as having fewer congregations assigned to that particular convention, but I don't buy it. The WT is driven primarily by the dollar; they wouldn't pay to rent a large facility like that unless they expected to have it filled-to-the-brim with donating JWs.

  That being said, other countries are reporting increases, some quite large. I spoke with a JW bethel member in an African country, and yes, they do have conventions with 700 baptised and have people on a waiting list to get bible studies. But the whole country's per capita income is something like $100 a year.

  My take is that in the developed countries, the JW religion is in a death spiral. In third world countries they will have continued growth for a while, probably some decades.
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  57

  Holding a grudge

  by LongHairGal in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i read something recently on reddit (not sure what thread) where a person related how some jw told them that ‘they hold a grudge’.. this reminded me of something an old jw acquaintance said to me some years back when i related my bad experience in the religion.. so, apparently, jehovah’s witnesses feel they should be forgiven for anything.

  people should forget all about it and act like nothing happened and be charitable towards them, etc… when i read in james and ephesians i got the sense ‘holding a grudge’ was referring to the things average people do to offend each other.. i don’t see it applying to a religion that claimed to speak for god and who engendered hateful and unchristian attitudes towards people.. i know because i experienced this.. in addition, some people’s lives were damaged by listening to faulty teachings and interference in things that were clearly none of anybody’s business.. one case in point: them knocking worldly careers and now there are thousands of destitute jws in senior years with nothing.. then in 2023 the religion does away with a century old teaching about counting hours in the ministry.

  meanwhile, i got judged over this.

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  dropoffyourkeylee

  There are toxic people and toxic organizations in the world. Keeping distance from them is a matter of survival.
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  16

  I Visited Auschwitz Two Days Ago

  by Sea Breeze in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  auschwitz concentration camp in poland may not seem like a very happy vacation spot to visit.

  but, if you have a home, a family and your freedom - you will be far less likely to take these things for granted after visiting.

  we made the sobering decision to make the 2.5 hr.

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  dropoffyourkeylee

  Wow, I'll definitely go when I get the chance. Envious of your experience and insight
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  39

  JE-sus making a comeback at the 2024 Convention

  by dropoffyourkeylee in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  attended the friday sesson of the 2024 summer convention.. july 5, 2024 summer convention crowd photo; they invited quite a lot of empty chairs.. .

  the facility usually has 5500-6500. they spun it saying that fewer congregations were assigned.

  there were 6 of the smaller, more distant sections blocked off with tarps to lessen cleaning, which i understand.

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  dropoffyourkeylee

  Attended the Friday sesson of the 2024 Summer Convention.

  July 5, 2024 Summer Convention crowd photo; they invited quite a lot of empty chairs.

  

  The facility usually has 5500-6500. They spun it saying that fewer congregations were assigned. There were 6 of the smaller, more distant sections blocked off with tarps to lessen cleaning, which I understand. It really looked empty. I did a rough estimate by just counting the sections and estimating the number seated in each and came up with about 2000-2500, but they announced attendance was 3000 and 3200 for the two sessions, morning and afternoon.

  The session was markedly different than usual. I don't recall the last time I went to any JW meeting or assembly where use of JE-sus name was more prominent than Jehovah. Not Christ, not Jesus Christ, not the Messiah, not the Son, but good old fashioned JE-sus. I had to look around to see if I could see Brother Elmer Gantry anywhere.

  They are apparently working up to a video series about the life of Jesus (think the Greatest Man book on video). I think the final song on Sunday will be the Jesus/Mary/Nativity song which made the rounds on this site a month or so ago.

  Still, I recall the time when if you talked about Jesus more than Jehovah they labelled it as apostate leaning. I do wonder whether this is a one-time blip on the JW history, or a shift in the religion.

  Generally though, the presentation and use of frequent videos made the day a lot more bearable than the typical convention-day-in-hell.
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  22

  August issue is now up on JW.com

  by ozziepost in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  just a heads up that the english version with the changed cover is now up on jw.com.. i haven’t yet read it but if any you have the time i’m looking forward to people’s insights.. in the meantime i must find a red 🍷.

  cheers,.

  ozzie (of the ‘is he still here?’ class ).

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  dropoffyourkeylee

  I think it will be more critical to see the wording of the Shepherd's book when it is revised, and how it is interpreted by the elders, and commented/enforced by the CO's visit.
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  51

  2024-08-August-Edition-of-Watchtower!

  by Atlantis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it was translated so make sure everything looks ok.. 2024-08-august-edition of watchtower magazine.. .

  https://smallpdf.com/result#r=c90d948913ed99d72872c0a1c609f388&t=share-document .

  leopold.

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  dropoffyourkeylee

  Thanks Grandpa!

  I'll be keen to see the English version (not posted on jw org yet that I can see), but it is clear what direction they are going. The lawyers are pulling the strings on this change.
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  27

  Assembly Attendence

  by Riley in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i am in western canada.

  we use to have our assembly in saskatoon.

  our assembly has moved to medicine hat.

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  dropoffyourkeylee

  I just heard that the regional convention in Huntington WV had a shockingly low attendance. From an expected 2200, the first week had about 1700, and the second week had only 700. Pretty bad, but who wants to go to West Virginia to a convention?
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  15

  The August Study Watchtower: what is the big deal?

  by ukpimo in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i have been following a number of posts discussing the august watchtower study magazine.

  i really don't believe this common idea being passed around that it's being timed for the annual meeting.

  here's why.. the august watchtower will be available on servers not long before its public release.

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  dropoffyourkeylee

  The ‘freedom to leave without repercussion’ is a sticking point in the Norway issue