Posts by NotBlind

74

WTS Has Lost +35% of Elders in US Since 1994????

by Seeker4 in

jw
friends

zack, on another thread, said he heard this figure from the platform at both the 2006 elders' school and his recent pioneer school:.

that there were 93,000 elders in 1994, and less than 60,000 today, in the united states.. i thought these figures deserved their own thread, as they are shocking to me, and to see if anyone else has heard anything similar.. i'll post a link to the other thread as well.

.

NotBlind

There are 12,390 congregations in the USA, according to the 2007 yearbook.

Many of the congregations I know may have 5 or 6 elders, but there may only be 1 or 2 MS, and those MS are often up in years, 60+ years old, men who may very well never become elders.

A tell-tale sign of trouble in the org is not only when elders start dropping out, but also when there are few 'future elders', for lack of a better word. There are not as many 20-something MS as there used to be, as far as I can tell. What shocks me more is that the elders I know are oblivious to the fact that there are no future elders in the congregation. I think they are so caught up in their paperwork, talk preparation, and just getting by in life that they pay little attention to what's really happening in the congregation.

I know one thing for sure - anybody trying to live on six bucks an hour washing windows isn't going to have much time for being an elder...

11

How do they announce DFing now?

by avidbiblereader in

do they still say so and so is df'd or da'd or is it more politically correct with a new way for the announcment?.

abr.

NotBlind

I tend to believe that the 'consolidation' of the disfellowshipping announcement and disassociation announcements may lead to something else down the line. I can see the day when the following blurb will appear on the Announcements page of the Kingdom Ministry:

When a publisher becomes inactive and has not shared in the field ministry for six consecutive months, the following announcement will be read to the congregation: "So-and-so is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses."

22

Why I Believe the Bible, A Nuclear Scientist Tells His Story

by VM44 in

jw
friends

from awake!, january 22, 2004, pages 19-23.. "why i believe the bible - a nuclear scientist tells his story".

read how a nuclear physicist reconciled his knowledge of science with his belief in the bible.. -- page 19. .

why i believe the bible.

NotBlind

Let's just say I know this guy.

Alton Williams is an elder (P.O., I think) in the Spanish congregation in Huntsville, just like the article says. He's not a bad guy, but from talking to him, he doesn't come across as the kind of person who would have a Ph.D. in nuclear physics.

He doesn't talk about his work much around the Witnesses, and he is pretty outgoing. He seems to be the kind of person who will see the light sooner or later and join us on this board.

32

College Degree = $23K more a year salary

by under_believer in

jw
friends

check out the news on this recent press release from the us census bureau.

here's the google news listing for it (so you can see all the places this story has been covered): click here.. .

lest anybody think the society is taking a softer stance on this issue, well, they're not.

NotBlind

The last thing the WTS wants around is people who can think for themselves. They desperately want (and need) people who need others to think for them. The average rank-and-file JW in 2006 is good at running to the elders for permission/advice as to whether a certain movie, sport, situation, or activity is 'appropriate'.

Thanks to the aliteracy common even in JW households, fewer JW's than ever know how to use their own WT Library CD-ROM or Index.

One benefit of a college education, often overlooked by many, is the experience one gains in locating information in a library, internet search engine, or a scholarly journal. Most JW's do not know how to locate information, even on their own WT Library CD-ROM. When an individual learns how to locate information, especially if that information is found on an internet discussion board, such as, oh, I don't know, www.jehovahs-witness.com or www.reexamine.org, the repercussions are dangerous for a group such as the JW's where information is so tightly controlled.

36

Did you go to meetings while on vacation?

by LovesDubs in

jw
friends

ugh...i did.

im so damn spiritual id leave well oiled spots on your suit if you rubbed up against me.

yeah...i packed kingdom hall clothes and service bags to go on vacation.

NotBlind

In the beginning I did faithfully go to meetings while on vacation, sometimes even going to more than one of the same meeting.

Not anymore though, especially since I realized that meetings cause the stress which necessitates taking a vacation.

I don't even take meeting clothes on vacation anymore.

22

A bethelites RULES to room with him

by What-A-Coincidence in

jw
friends

1) cologne, aerosol spray, solvent base products.

i am hypersensitive to solvents.

solvents used in aerosol sprays, cologne, perfumes affect my health.

NotBlind

Sounds like the 11th - 16th commandments... JW & Bethel life at its very best - nothing more than a struggle for power and control. --"I have the room with the kitchenette. The kitchen is not available for use." Selfishness all the way around. I don't think my roommate in college came up with garbage like this.

20

Did the Watchtower Organization make you "Cry" at a time or another?

by JH in

jw
friends

let it be the elders during a judicial meeting or just the way you were treated by your fellow brothers and sisters, did the emotions of being reprehended or deceived make you cry?.

.

NotBlind

Yes, the organization definitely has made me cry...

It made me cry when a close friend was disfellowshipped for smoking a cigarette, although the Bible is essentially silent on this issue.

It made me cry when the new circuit overseer told me I had no business reading at the book study, as I was pursuing an 'advanced education'.

It made my cry when I learned that I had been deceived into thinking 607 B.C.E. was a historically accurate date, when, in fact, it was not.

Maybe I'm more emotional than I should be, but this organization has made me cry more than a few times.

NotBlind

30

October Announcement Tid Bit

by Juniper in

jw
friends

ok, i dont know what it is either.

but i can tell you that it exists!

i know an ms who was talking to a bro from bethel who said that there was big stuff coming and big changes.

NotBlind

I believe Skyking is correct. You can be disfellowshipped for 'causing divisions'. It was over this 'technicality' that Bill Bowen was eventually disfellowshipped in 2002, if my memory serves me correctly.

13

The Awake Gets Worse, As Sycophants Rule ( 10/06)

by metatron in

jw
friends

sycophant n. a self serving servile flatterer.

you may remember that the watchtower society claimed that they dumped printing half the awake issues to .

put more emphasis on the bible.

NotBlind

The more I think about it, the more I begin to believe that these letters are made up by the fanciful minds making up the Writing Department.

Seriously, have you ever written to the Society praising them on an article? Do you know anybody who ever wrote in praising them on an article? I know I don't.

48

Was Simplification the Downfall of the Watchtower?

by NotBlind in

a thought i had daydreaming while at the recent convention .

old timers in the organization often reminisce about the way the wts was many years ago.

attending a convention meant (a) getting hot meals, (b) orchestra music before and during sessions, and (c) two, three, or even four dramas.

NotBlind

Slimboyfat compared 'simplification' to Perestroika in the old USSR. I never thought the similarities before, but the shoe certainly fits. Malaise and stagnation await the WT. Just wait till they start studying the Revelation book for a record 4th time.