most jws are guilted/coerced into going into the ministry by the time requirements.
i can't help but wonder how much time the average jw would spend in the ministry work if the time requirements were dropped.. i know that the only reason i went into field service was because i didnt want the elders coming and counseling me... that was until i figured out how to use theocratic warfare on my time sheet.
any thoughts on this?.
Out of the billion or so hours 'put in' by the dub pubs, how many of it is actually spent in their ministry? I bet most pad their figures, at least a little bit.
And to answer the question, if they quit turning in time slips, I wouldn't go out banging on doors. And that's why WTS will always require it, even tho' it isn't Scriptural.
an announcement on the official web-site of jehovah's witnesses is causing some 'eyebrows to be raised'.. the watchtower society have announced that they "avoid making rules and regulations beyond those provided in the scriptures, and they do not follow traditions that contradict bible teachings.
emphasis is placed on personal application of bible principles and the value of a sound, bible-based conscience.. this comes as a surprise to many thousands in the jehovah's witness community who have become accustomed to the changing rules and regulations imposed compulsorily on its members.. it should be noted in the watchtower society's statement that "emphasis is placed on personal application of bible principles".
this will come as a surprise to many of its members.
Here's a brief quote from CoC, page 328:
Albert Schroder's talk focused on the subject of organization. He spoke about our "finely tuned organization" and how certain ones who seemed to feel that they couldn't go along with its rules and regulations "ought to be leaving and not be involved in the further progressive work here." (The publication BRANCH ORGANIZATION was held up to illustrate how "finely tuned" the organization was, and he said that this publication contained over 1,000 rules and regulations regarding the operations of the Branches and the Brooklyn headquarters.)Looks like the good 'ol boys in PR aren't telling us the whole story, are they?
amazed, dumbfounded, flabbergasted are adjectives that only begin to describe my emotions as i learn about the inner workings of the borg during ray's time.
the flip-flops on oral sex (as if it was any of their business to begin with), are simply...i can't even say it - unbelievable.
the sheer cold arrogance of it all.
I found that both of Ray's books were real page-turners, hard to put down. The highlight of COC, for me anyway, were the two chapters "Point of Decision" and "Aftermath". These helped put the actions of the organization into perspective. It also helps put some personality to the otherwise nameless faces I had always heard about on the GB.
march 23, 2002. town take its no-door-to-door pitch to the top.
by francis x. clines.
stratton, ohio this village's wariness of the door-to-door solicitors denounced locally as "flim-flam men" has drawn the scrutiny of the u.s. supreme court, a fact that turns out to be a cause of local pride rivaling the steak dinners at abdalla's tavern.. "but we'll have even more pride if the court finally agrees with us," said john m. abdalla, the mayor, magistrate, steakhouse host and tireless factotum in this village of 277 residents.
Who the hell are "Jehovah's"? I thought it was Jehovah's Witnesses...
It makes an otherwise great letter look very hokey.
joelbear said:.
the news report posted in the news section indicates about 1% of americans identify as jehovah's witnesses, that is about 3 million just in the us.
so even though they are inactive, 2 million people still adhere to the beliefs enough to identify it as their religious affiliation.. in australia we just had a consensus and the number of people in this country that say they're jw's is 95,000 (can't remember the number exactly).....the only trouble is that there is only about 58,000 active jw's according to the wt..... anyone know their countries story??.
Perhaps the JW's will take a hint from the Freemasons and have 'degrees' of service.
Half-degree JW - Only hates JW's mildly
1st degree JW - Takes the mags
2nd degree JW - Return visit/ Bible Study
3rd degree JW - Unbaptized pub
4th degree JW - Inactive
5th degree JW - Apostate / JWD Visitor
6th degree JW - Baptized Newbie
7th degree JW - Pioneer
8th degree JW - MS
9th degree JW - Elder
10th degree JW - CO/DO
11th degree JW - GB/Christ/God/Branch Overseer/Bethelite
This way, if they count all degrees, they can count just about EVERYONE!!!
sociologically speaking as a religion, the jw's are at a threshold of continued cultishness and obscurity, or re-oriontation to a more 'mainline' christian religion with its own unique distinctiveness.
i say the wt will take the middle ground....
Topic: The future for the WT...
You mean the WTS has a future?
well memorial season is upon us again.
(the witnesses like to think of one day as a season).
the jehovahs witnesses have by and large bypassed crazy ceremonies, but something that started off as almost sane has turned to the bizarre.. on the 28 march around the world groups of witnesses will be passing a glass of red wine , and a plate of unlevened bread amongst each and every person in attendance .if you are lucky, you may spot a witness nervously sip the wine and nibble the bread, but most likely the wine and bread will be left untouched.. what a crazy thing to do.. does the bead and wine really need to be passed between all people present (sometimes numbering into the hundreds) when the witness belief is that only 1444,00 have ever been able to partake?.
Well memorial season is upon us again.(the witnesses like to think of one day as a season)
I always thought this term "Memorial Season" was rather weird. I tried to avoid it. Season, season, season!
'Tis the Season! Christmas Season. Memorial Season. Baseball Season. Get my drift?
well they are scabbling around to find as many people to attend the memorial again this year.. i walked out 3.5 years ago and have not heard anything since from the elders.
i have one that lives about 50 metres away and he is one that has not even telephoned me in all that time.
.. just the other night he turns up on my door step and hands me the usual invite!
we need to invite EVERYONE to the Memorial.
Workmates. Classmates. People we see in the supermarket. On the bus. On the train. EVERYONE!
Hmmm, sounds like they're getting desperate, because as little as 10 or 15 years ago, they specifically said that JW's should take some time to explain the Memorial & emblems to the poor dupe so they would know not to partake. I guess that's out the window, since they're supposed to invite every Tom, Dick, and Harry they find.
New light on the Memorial maybe??
in this forum, we often wonder what we can do to make the society look bad.
we come up with ideas like picketing assemblies, mail campaigns, legal action, and many others.
although these ideas are laudable and i would not want to discourage anyone, they sometimes create sympathy for the witnesses, and make us look bitter and fanatical.
Running Man,
These points are very good and very true. In other words, just give the Society about six feet of rope, and they'll hang themselves.
And, of course, a little publicity never hurt, either.
anyone have any pet peeves they'd like to air?
here's one that just happened at work that is an annoyance for me: when you are speaking and the person interrupts the conversation with a corny play on words or the like.
for example, "i had to sit on the phone on hold for about 5 minutes, waiting .
My pet peeves:
*Wrong numbers who call me on the phone then hang up. If you don't have the decency to at least say something, then get rid of your damn phone!!
*Dumb people who can't seem to stay in their lane on a two-lane road. Don't drive on my side of the double line!! Aarrrgh!!
