Confirmed. This is not a joke. The theme really is "Don't Give Up", which implies that even the GB is concerned with the hemorrhaging of membership & donations.
NotBlind
JoinedPosts by NotBlind
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RC 2017
by wifibandit indue to last years success, i will post everything related to the 2017 regional convention in this thread.. to start us off.... thanks to exjw reddit user ich3b we have advance notice of the theme (this is not a joke!).
the theme for the 2017 regional convention is: "don’t give up!” .
as always, if you have access to confidential materials you would like to leak but need to protect your identity, pm me or email me: wifibandit1 (at) gmail.
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New Bible, In Spanish.... Why taking so long?!
by Doubtfully Yours inis it possible it's not like they initially said, that it was just having god's name added in places where it had been deleted, and that perhaps they're making more adjustments to it in order to fit our doctrine?.
come out with the freakin' new bible in spanish already!!!.
dy .
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NotBlind
It's getting to be almost a joke in the Spanish field about the lack of the new Bible. At last year's RC, the big "Jesus" book (replacement for Greatest Man) did not come out in Spanish. The speaker specifically stated that it would come out in Spanish when the RNWT was made available in Spanish. And that was a year ago.
If anything, this shows the glaring incompetence of the WT. Supposedly, they have spent millions of dollars on these "Regional Translation Offices" all over the world. They moved the Spanish translation team from Puerto Rico to Spain with the declared intention of making the work more efficient. The end result? The translation is getting slower, not faster.
It has become an embarrassment to the org when even simple two-page letters to congregations come out in English one week, but aren't available in Spanish until 2 or 3 weeks later. This is common knowledge in the Spanish circuits.
What are these 'translation teams' doing all day???? Or is their nonstop bashing of education coming back to bite them in the a$$?
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June 2016 WT (study edition) Bashing Higher Education....AGAIN!
by ToesUp inparagraph 14: .
"this means that we need to examine our heart constantly to see if it is being enticed by worldly entertainment, associations, and styles of dress and grooming.
or the love of the world might involve efforts to attain “great things,” such as through the pursuit of higher education.
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NotBlind
The primary "great thing" they don't want the R&F to attain is critical thinking.
Their ridiculous anti-education stance has given JW's the well-deserved title of "World's Most Un-Educated Religion".
WTBTSThis is an organization that actively wants their followers to be ashamed of any personal achievements that aren't directly related to selling their comic books & making converts.
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Some gems from the "Anointed" WT study
by NotBlind ini know this has been discussed before, but i think some of these wacky (but thought-provoking) comments deserve their own thread.. paragraph 6 says: modestly, anointed ones acknowledge that they do not necessarily have more holy spirit than those with an earthly hope.
they do not claim to have special knowledge or revelations; neither do they try to prove that they are in some way superior.
somebody needs to send this memo to the gb.
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NotBlind
Remember that the study article talks about the anointed, not about the GB.
True, but the GB should be examples to the rest of the anointed, should they not? Their own study article shows that the GB are doing a piss-poor job of behaving as exemplary anointed.
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Some gems from the "Anointed" WT study
by NotBlind ini know this has been discussed before, but i think some of these wacky (but thought-provoking) comments deserve their own thread.. paragraph 6 says: modestly, anointed ones acknowledge that they do not necessarily have more holy spirit than those with an earthly hope.
they do not claim to have special knowledge or revelations; neither do they try to prove that they are in some way superior.
somebody needs to send this memo to the gb.
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NotBlind
I know this has been discussed before, but I think some of these wacky (but thought-provoking) comments deserve their own thread.
Paragraph 6 says: Modestly, anointed ones acknowledge that they do not necessarily have more holy spirit than those with an earthly hope. They do not claim to have special knowledge or revelations; neither do they try to prove that they are in some way superior.
Somebody needs to send this memo to the GB. These 'anointed ones' claim to be the ONLY ones with special knowledge of the Bible. They have themselves projected onto JumboTrons at international conventions and their talks are considered "special events". Their rants about colored socks, Spanx brand underwear, and tight pants are taken as gospel truth by their followers.
Paragraph 7 continues: In no way, then, would they use their anointing as a “calling card” to introduce themselves to others. For the most part, they would not even mention this personal experience to others, so as to avoid drawing attention to themselves; neither would they want to boast about their future reward.
So when a GB member is introduced at an assembly, they're ALWAYS introduced as a GB member (known to be anointed), and NEVER as an elder in XYZ congregation in Brooklyn. Why do their life stories in the WT mention their 'future reward'. Why does Tony Morris claim that his time in the Vietnam War gives him experience that will be useful in destroying 7 billion people when he reigns from heaven? Is this the sign of a modest individual?
Paragraph 10: How can we show appropriate respect for those whom Jehovah chooses to anoint? We would not ask them personal questions about their anointing. We should not assume that the parents, spouse, or other relatives of one of the anointed would also be anointed. We should also resist the urge to quiz spouses of anointed ones about how they feel knowing that they will live without their mate in the future earthly Paradise.
In other words, "leave us the heck alone"! Of course, if someone asks them about these things and they actually have to give an honest answer, the R&F may realize how idiotic most of these 'anointed people' really are.
Paragraph 13: The number of partakers includes those who mistakenly think that they are anointed. Some who at one point started to partake of the emblems later stopped. Others may have mental or emotional problems that lead them to believe that they will rule with Christ in heaven.
Mental or emotional problems? How about this for an example of mental or emotional problems...
Seriously, though, if you believe God has spoken to you -- to the exclusion of 99.94% of everyone else in your religion -- to rule in heaven, then you BY DEFINITION must be either: (a) pretty darn arrogant, (b) mentally imbalanced, or (c) a power-hungry maniac whose ultimate goal is being appointed to the GB.These 3 personalities dominate the GB, with a whole lot of overlap among A, B, and C.
Paragraph 15: Jehovah began choosing anointed ones after Jesus’ death and resurrection, and it seems that all in the first-century Christian congregation were anointed.
Really? According to the World Christian Encyclopedia (1982), it is estimated that by A.D. 100 there were 1 million Christians in the Roman Empire out of a population of 181 million.
Uh oh. Don't tell anybody in the Writing Department! They're not too good at math, are they? 1 million > 144,000
And for bonus points, no selfies with the GB! -
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Has anyone noticed the JW movies are trying to normalise their lifestyle?
by truthseeker inhaving watched the prodigal son returns movie produced by the organization and a recent mini-clip of a brother in london who is shown jogging and doing normal everyday things while wanting to "reach out" it occurred to me that the organization is trying to normalize their bizarre lifestyle and beliefs for the benefit of non-witnesses.. what do i mean by normalization?
they try to make the witnesses look like just another christian denomination who are reasonable while their members live and enjoy normal lives that appear to be within the mainstream.. they do this by not mentioning anything to do with higher education, armageddon or the urgency of the end of the world nor is their discussion or mention of the blood issue.
these are things mentioned often at kingdom halls and in study articles.. watching the prodigal son returns, the family appears to live a normal life, going to meetings and studying.
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NotBlind
The families in these videos live in very nice upper-middle class homes in nice neighborhoods. Their kitchens have updated appliances, their living rooms have new furniture, and their homes are all in excellent condition.
This is NOT the reality of JW life.
With few exceptions, this lifestyle is impossible unless one or both spouses are working full-time in a highly-skilled trade or profession (read: something that requires postsecondary education).
If an actual JW publisher lived in a home like in these videos, or drove those nice cars, or had a successful business (not cleaning related), we would be labelled "materialistic" or "not putting Kingdom Interests first." I know, because that's what the CO called me.
The reality of JW life in the USA is: living paycheck to paycheck, driving a 10-15 year-old jalopy picked up on Craigslist for $2000, figuring out how to work as many hours without losing disability or welfare benefits, not being able to get a job because you don't have enough education, and being stuck living in somebody's basement because you're too poor to buy or rent a house (again because of no skills).
When will they show THIS reality in their videos?
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NotBlind
Every year the convention is almost exactly the same. A litany of nonmemorable 10-minute talks on endless "Symposia" that have very little to do with Christian living, canned (and overblown/made-up) experiences & interviews, unrealistic demonstrations and "monologues", and somewhere along the line of 50 "talks" that are nearly word-for-word manuscripts sent down from the home office.
It would be bad enough if people had to sit in semi-comfortable Kingdom Hall chairs to endure all of this, but most JW's have to sit in hard plastic-backed, no-legroom sports arenas for 3 days. If they are unfortunate enough to have to visit the restroom during this event, it will stink of sewage gas & farts, because these venues are not designed to be used/abused nonstop for 3 days.
Any family of 4 that shows up to this event on Sunday morning any time after 8:30 am will find ALL the seats reserved with tracts, handbills, & magazines, many of which will go empty. That's the great love these people show.
The "speakers" rarely have more than a high school education (most act as if they have less) and earn their way onto that stage by smooching rear ends of higher-ups & CO's, creatively counting time in the "pioneer" work, and doing a good job of hiding their faults from others in the organization.
Attendees will be staying at low-end roadside motels, where the continental breakfast will be slammed at 7:00 sharp every morning. There will be no place to sit & eat said breakfast. The hotel pool will be slammed every evening from 6 - 10 pm each evening by bad-behaved JW children and their thoughtless parents.
Perhaps they should include some of these details on their 2016 "convention" invitation?
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Did any of us ever enjoy meetings?
by stephanie61092 inthis is a legitimate question.
did any of us ever find real joy in being at the meetings?
did any of us ever finish a meeting and think "i feel so enriched"?
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NotBlind
The meetings are a painful experience for anyone with more than a 5th grade education. Everything presented over the past 10 years has been dumbed down to the intellectual level of Steve Lett. Most meetings are nothing more than endless organizational self-congratulations, along with more calls to "obey, obey, obey."
By their actions, even the GB admit that the meetings are intolerable. That's why they have to keep changing the format every few years. I give the CLAM about 2-3 years before another major change in format.
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Caption This Photo From The January Study Edition
by JW_Rogue inso as some are probably aware the january study edition has two articles on the anointed.
one basically discouraging people from believing they are anointed and another about how ones should view partakers.
this photo is from the second article:.
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NotBlind
"Thank Jehoover that I'm a Ministerial Servant so I could marry this hot sister sitting next to me.
Otherwise, a homeschooled window washer like me would be making love to his hand after this bore-fest was over."
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What's next?
by Grey Goose inhi everyone.. thanks for the welcome a few days ago, it was nice to hear your support.. this is a pure speculation thread, but what do you think the next changes are going to be?.
will we see tything come into play?.
more evangelical style meetings?.
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NotBlind
In some way, it's going to involve expanded use of videos in weekly meetings. Expect one "Public Talk" a month to be piped in from HQ. There hasn't been a lot of talk on here about the 'new and improved' JW Stream site, but it sure looks like they're getting expanded bandwidth & infrastructure in place to do a lot more live streaming. From what I hear, anyone with login credentials can download regional and circuit events right now in almost any language. Most local public speakers are quite awful, so the R&F may find this a welcome change.
A couple years ago, I thought they were about to replace one of the 3 yearly assemblies with a live stream, but now I'm not so sure about that. Assembly Halls, Regional Conventions, and other circuit level events are HUGE money makers for them. It is possible they may add a 4th yearly 'local assembly day', similar to these streamed 'branch meetings' they've been promoting in the developed world the last year or two.
I don't see how they can reduce magazine production any more than they already have; it's already down to a barebones operation, with one 16-page wide-margined, PowerPoint formatted mini-mag for the public each month, quite an embarrassment compared to what they used to do.
They're between a rock & a hard place in terms of magazine production. It's obvious they would really LOVE to go online only, but their growth model is most productive in less-developed countries that simply don't have as much internet access. If they want to keep growing, it has to be among the least educated populace, as well as 3rd world countries & recent immigrants (their current target demographic), among whom printed mags are often more accessible than the internet. As we all know, these people are coming into the org, but they aren't donating.
This is not a sustainable model. Expect more cash grabs and donation drives, while they tout the need for more KH's in the developing world (and throwing in images of poor JW's in Africa or Asia after a natural disaster).
