did you have a favourite publication?
what was your least liked publication?
creation book for the shady wt take on science.. unseen spirits, do they help us or do they harm us?
My favorites: The Greatest Man book and Commentary on the Letter of James. Those books seemed to be the most 'normal' that the Society put out.
My least favorites: The 2 Isaiah books. More specifically, the thought of spending 2 1/2 years (from now until November 2003) studying those poorly-written, boring, misapplied book at the book study on Tuesday night is VERY bad.
what do the watchtower tell "brothers assigned by the congregation to give public talks"?
here is a letter from the british branch office:.
http://watchtower.observer.org/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?nocache=1&dato=20011029&kategori=jwandsociety10&lopenr=110290003&ref=ar.
This is interesting material, however it is several years old. I know it is at least 15 years old, and it was revised slightly in 1998. If I can find it, I'll send it along.
< http://detnews.com/2001/oakland/0106/08/d04-233294.htm.
jehovah's witness gathering spurs economy.
merchants forecast big sales as followers learn more on faith.
This idea that every rank-and-file member of the WTS is a 'good teacher' because they sat through 3 days of this convention makes a mockery of the thousands of REAL teachers/educators who truly teach the public and do a good job of it.
lisa gave me the idea for this topic.. so, what are your ideas for some catchy song titles?
any genre will do.
1. i got mauled at the kingdom hall.
Song 15 (in honor of Freddie Franz)
"Life Without Fred -- At Last!"
Song 65 (in honor of assembly food)
"Eating in Unity"
Song 222 (in honor of Kingdom inflation)
"Keep Your Eyes on the Prices"
Song 200 (in honor of Kingdom shunning)
"Proof of Disfellowship"
Song 32 (in honor of JW kids that don't clean up)
"From Louse to Louse"
here is a glimpse of the future.
this is the 2009 edition of "revelation, the big finale real soon" published by the wtb&ts (a ngo and un dpi).
page 195. revelation 13:14,15.
Jourles,
The point you make about the internet speeding up knowledge of this issue is a good one. However, I tend to feel that this is offset (at least to some degree) by the fact that Witnesses are not exposed to the UN/NGO issue like they were to the 1975 issue. Each and every Witness had 1975 put before them by the Society; Witnesses will most likely hear about the UN issue only from 'apostate' sources. Therefore, the Society will deny/downplay/rationalize the NGO's existence. The result? Since most Witnesses listen to the 'Society' and not to 'apostates', it seems that it could take a while for this issue to have an effect on the organization en masse.
I believe you are right when you say that nearly every congregation will be exposed to this issue within a few months. However, we all know that the WT is GREAT at rationalizing their way out of trouble, at least in the short term.
In short, I'm just speculating. I'm curious to see what time will bring. Either one of us could be right. Personally, I hope YOU are RIGHT and I am WRONG.
here is a glimpse of the future.
this is the 2009 edition of "revelation, the big finale real soon" published by the wtb&ts (a ngo and un dpi).
page 195. revelation 13:14,15.
Personally, I think it will be a LONG time before we hear the Society fess up, if ever. One of the Society's favorite tactics against such issues is to 'keep quiet long enough', hoping it will go away. They did just that after 1975, but eventually had to make a half-baked apology in 1979, after thousands of Witnesses had left.
I predict that the Society will publish an article, make an apology, or resign as an NGO, but ONLY if it causes serious dissention in the ranks similar to the 1975 fiasco.
Remember, the Society is motivated by two main things: membership statistics and profits. The only time they take action/revise 'old light' is when one of those two motives is threatened.
i have, in my hands, a copy of the service report from the 2000 wt bound volume.
it's very interesting to note that, although there was an average of a 2% increase worldwide, the majority of developed countries actually had a decrease.
the usa gained 432 publishers after devoting 174,594,349 hours to recruiting, i mean preaching.
The part about Assembly Hall fees probably makes the least sense. It's a building the Society owns, usually paid off, and they charge their own members exorbitant fees to use it. It's often even cheaper to use an outside venue than one of the JW's Assembly Halls.
In my own experience, the assembly hall rental was closer to $9000 a weekend, but I believe that has to do with the number of publishers using the hall. If I recall correctly, the Society charged $3.25 per publisher per day for Assembly Hall rental, as of the early 90's (probably higher now). So, the fee would be much higher for larger circuits.
i have, in my hands, a copy of the service report from the 2000 wt bound volume.
it's very interesting to note that, although there was an average of a 2% increase worldwide, the majority of developed countries actually had a decrease.
the usa gained 432 publishers after devoting 174,594,349 hours to recruiting, i mean preaching.
Very interesting indeed!
And all the while, the Society continues to extol the 'benefits' of the door-to-door work, calling it the 'most effective preaching tool' ever. Give me a break! I think even the rank-and-file know better than to believe that!
If their aim truly WAS to reach out to the whole world, they would use more efficient means to get people to the Kingdom Hell.
hey all,.
i've been out all day, so i apologize in advance if anyone already posted this info.. one of my jw relatives (whom i happened to see while visiting my dad this afternoon) told my mother that she'd have to "turn in her ticket to the elders to get a replacement.
" from what she said, they've changed the color of the ticket.
The whole idea of having to obtain a ticket to go to a 'meeting' seems less than appropriate, especially after how many times we've heard how 'united' the organization is, and how all the congregations around the world study the same books and material at the same time and get the same WT articles at the same time.
Now, all of a sudden, that isn't the case anymore. Hmmmmm.....
i just drove by the local kh on my way home, and the parking lot was overflowing, almost like at the memorial.
there were probably 50% more autos than are normaly at the average ms/sm.. is this just a local "phenomenon"?
anyone else here live near a kh?
Yes, in a congregation in Kentucky, there were over 90 people in attendance (almost 100). This is a place that usually has 70 - 75 people for TMS and SM. The hall was packed out, like CO's visit.
The disaster was mentioned in nearly every talk of the night: (Bible highlights, Bible reading, Announcements, Service Meeting). There was even a special local needs talk about it.
'Sideline' JW's who may have been avoiding meetings are getting scared. Perhaps they fear WW3 and Armageddon is knocking on their door, and they're not going to take any chances.
I was encouraged to see many Witnesses in the congregation truly hurt by what had happened in NYC and Arlington. Unfortunately, the Service Meeting speaker told the cong. to use the tragedy to place more mags and go out in service more.
No mention was made of relief efforts.
