The new one in my area looks like a Burger King. Maybe they can install a drive-through window, sell burgers and call it a Burger King-dom Hall.
NotBlind
JoinedPosts by NotBlind
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13
Is the Sell-off of Kingdom Halls Just a Cyclical Process
by RubaDub inwith more and more kh's being sold off, will it only be a matter of time that there will be a push to build new ones?
greater emphasis on donating to build new kh's since some brothers have to drive long distances to attend meetings?
and that smaller communities should have a local kh that is visible to all in the area?.
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192-page books
by Fred Franztone inthis is my 192nd post, so i thought it'd be fitting to ask a somewhat banal question which i've occasionally pondered over the years.
does anyone know what's behind the wt's penchant for 192-page books?
is there some kind of logistical reason for this?
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NotBlind
An old post from about 8 years ago
https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/193859/ode-192-page-book
Ode to the 192 Page Book
Once I wondered what life was all about
I struggled with faith, I struggled with doubt
But there it was, the last place I looked
Spelled out for me, in a 192 Page Book
Why am I here? What's my direction
Should I lay on my stomach when I have an erection?
My mom and dad said, "Son you should look..
In the pages of this here 192 page book."
Fresh out of High School, what path to choose?
My guidance counselor said I should follow my muse.
But my counselor was worldly, a geniune crook
Instead I followed the advice in a 192 page book.
Now I'm older, and my marriage is rocky.
I'm looking at porn and my figure is stocky.
I went to the elders and my priviliges they took
And sent me home with a 192 page book.
I'm a Senior Citizen now, and I'm in alot of pain
I'm really pissed that Armaggedon never came
When I die, where will I be?
Maybe the answer is on page 193
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1969 Awake on Education - A Sore Spot for Me
by NotBlind inmy father would have started college 49 years ago this week.
about three months earlier, the week he graduated high school, the awake!
magazine came out with some very clear direction to teenagers.
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NotBlind
My father would have started college 49 years ago this week. About three months earlier, the week he graduated high school, the Awake! Magazine came out with some very clear direction to teenagers. The May 22, 1969 issue on page 15 stated:
If you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things. Why not? Because all the evidence in fulfillment of Bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years. Of the generation that observed the beginning of the “last days” in 1914, Jesus foretold: “This generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur.” – Matt. 24:34.
Therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers. If you are in high school and thinking about a college education, it means at least four, perhaps even six or eight more years to graduate into a specialized career. But where will this system of things be by that time? It will be well on the way towards its finish, if not actually gone!It’s been 49 years since that article came out. My father, along with countless others in the congregations his age, took that article’s advice and skipped college to work in menial jobs they did not enjoy.
Over the course of those 49 years, their non-Awake-reading peers went to college, graduated, and they did indeed fulfill a career, contrary to the promise of the Awake magazine. They married, had children, raised their family, and are watching their children raise families of their own. Those teenagers – like my father – that article was directed to are now retired and drawing Social Security.
The congregation servant used this article to persuade my dad not to attend college back in the summer of 1969, and I know he wasn’t the only one. Looking back, those two paragraphs were filled with false and misleading statements. No wonder the 1969 Awake isn’t included in the Watchtower Library DVD-ROM!
The passage of time has proven nearly every sentence in that two-paragraph quote wrong. Consider it, sentence by sentence:
If you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things.
The 18-year-olds who read this article in 1969 are now 67 years old. They indeed are growing old in this system.
Why not? Because all the evidence in fulfillment of Bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years.
Shaky evidence, to say the least. Would you consider 49 years to be “a few”?
Of the generation that observed the beginning of the “last days” in 1914, Jesus foretold: “This generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur.” – Matt. 24:34.
Old light.
Therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers.
Not only did their peers fulfill careers, many of them have now retired comfortably from those careers.
If you are in high school and thinking about a college education, it means at least four, perhaps even six or eight more years to graduate into a specialized career. But where will this system of things be by that time? It will be well on the way towards its finish, if not actually gone!
This article was written at the height of the 1975 fervor, and many Witnesses sincerely thought the world would end in six years. Sadly, that fiasco is nearly forgotten today, as we are as far removed from that era as those 1960’s kids were from the similar 1925 fiasco.
Young people, lurkers, please take note: College isn’t for everybody, but don’t take this organization’s advice when making major life decisions, like whether to go to college or what career to pursue. Do NOT rely on this organization for advice in making financial decisions, either.
The leaders of this organization, by building a luxurious Warwick complex for themselves while selling off local Kingdom Halls, have shown that they are digging in for the long haul. All the while, they’re still peddling this anti-education nonsense.
In one of their JW Broadcasting shows from 2015, the university-educated legal department director and a Vietnam veteran got on screen and told their viewers to reject getting an education because it would damage your personality, make you arrogant, and cut you off from organizational service. They honestly think your time would be better spent selling their comic books and standing next to their carts for 70 hours a month while doing low-wage menial labor.
In their opinion, the only education you need is attending the midweek Life of Misery meeting and reading the 48 pages a year of Awake!
Heed their advice at your own peril.
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Is porn really such a big problem in the wt?
by purrpurr inin the most recent circuit assembly there was a lot about porn and warning against porn.
even warning against looking at swim wear adverts!
so i was wondering, is porn really such an issue in the wt?.
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NotBlind
This organization spends most of its time browbeating its slaves about outward appearances: dress, grooming, tight pants, field service slips, beards, reaching out for privileges, etc. (I.e. outward traits). Therefore, Tower Slaves are mainly interested in outward appearances more than anything. Things that are never seen (being kind to your family, being honest on their tax returns, true charity) are hardly ever mentioned.
The Tower Slave International organization also frowns upon its slaves having any real fun. Vacations (unless they are to Beth-hell), sports, dancing, and parties are all considered a waste of time and just take away time that they feel should be going to the Field Misery work.
As a result, JWs are discouraged from having fun. Add to that the fact individual JWs try to get away with as much as they can, especially when nobody from the hall is watching, and you get the huge use of porn in this organization.
A few years ago, it seemed like dozens of elders in the circuit I used to be in were getting removed for porn - and circuit bigwigs, at that. The CO was giving a 30-min Sunday talk around the circuit that was exclusively about porn. You could almost see the elders and MS squirming in their seats. The ones that remain either don’t use porn or are just a lot better at hiding it, LOL.
I am fairly sure that almost all the young males in this org today look at porn, at least occasionally. They have access to technology 24/7, aren’t allowed to have a girlfriend or date, and are in a seriously sexually-repressed puritanical religious organization. Their only outlet is porn.
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NotBlind
The name of the 2018 convention will be: "Be Courageous"!
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November 13, 2017 TO ALL BOE IN THE US Re: Making the Best Use of Our Kingdom Halls
by wifibandit innovember 13, 2017 to all bodies of elders in the united states branch territory re: making the best use of our kingdom halls.
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NotBlind
The natives are getting restless. More and more well-established congregations are being dissolved. KH’s that were built with LOCAL donations and sweat are being sold off, with the cash sent to Warwick. Especially those JWs in small rural towns — they don’t have much — but they supported their local KH and took a certain amount of pride in their hometown hall.
And now, a bunch of pencil pushers and bean counters have decided it would be cheaper to send them 20 miles down the highway to a cong in a town they hardly know (and frankly, don’t care for). They won’t make the same mistake twice; although they may still be true believers, they’re voting with their wallets.
What the pencil pushers and bean counters don’t understand is that even these true believers have a limit. They’ll miss more meetings when the weather’s bad (or when the price of gas goes up) and they won’t care, because the WTS doesn’t care about them.
They outwardly cooperate, smile and say “What a blessing” when the elders are around. But when they get home and the lights are out, they can’t stand the idea of being sent farther away and inconvenienced so that the corporation can save a few bucks.
This video is just another round of damage control, trying to convince the schlubs who pay the bills that it’s raining, when they’re just being pissed on — again.
It will not work.
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Another reason Watchtower may be hurting financially
by shepherdless ini don't think anyone else has raised this point.
below i set out the case that the jw demographic in usa has a steadily decreasing combined income, and as a consequence, has less money to donate.
not only is the flock not growing, the flock is producing less wool for the borg to fleece.
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NotBlind
From my experience, about half of the contributions in the KH box came from just a handful of families (maybe 3), and they’d usually write a consistent check every month. The people that did this were always well-established families, and they’re getting older and dying off.
About half of the families would give the other half of the contributions, usually in cash. (Since it was cash, it was a little harder to know, but you could tell who walked by the contribution box and slipped something in.) These families were not as stable, as far as I could tell.
My estimate is that about half of the publishers never gave anything. Many of them were along for the social experience, some were mentally ill, in hindsight some were probably awake. This last group will be increasing. Their donators are literally dying off.
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Was It Really Mental Illness or Was It The Demons?
by minimus inwe supposedly had more than a few “demonized” people in our congregation.
they would hear voices or feel internal punishment within their souls.
the answer was always—-these people were affected by the demons and they needed counseling!.
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NotBlind
Yeah, I remember those people too. There were always individuals in the congregation that were having problems with the demons, either because of something they bought at a yard sale or because of some other issue in their lives.
Not coincidentally, they were also - without exception - the most emotionally needy, disturbed, and uneducated in the congregation (and that’s saying a lot in the JW org).
They’re also the true believers.
When you think of how this organization treats its members, it becomes obvious why so many of them suffer from mental delusions. They’re taught that Satan is after them and personally sets mental traps to get them. They’re also told that the world is going to end any day now, and it never does. They’re told that no matter how much they’re doing for Jehovah, it’s never enough. They’re told not to better themselves, that they need to spend more time selling comic books for the corporation.
A recent WT magazine showed a man on his computer late at night, with a holographic Satan-the-Devil in lion form right next to him. These people are taught that the devil literally enters their home when they have a moment of weakness. That’s disturbing enough as it is, but for someone who has a mental illness, they’re a whole lot more likely to think they’re hearing SATAN the next time a window creaks in their old house.
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quick question: When a governing body member dies, what happens to their spouse?
by Deltawave inwhat happens to the wife after their gb husband dies..
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NotBlind
Not to mention, there's a double standard for GB, as opposed to the underling Bethelites. While underling Bethelites get kicked to the curb when their life circumstances change, GB and their wives really are considered better than everyone else.
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quick question: When a governing body member dies, what happens to their spouse?
by Deltawave inwhat happens to the wife after their gb husband dies..
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NotBlind
Usually she is well taken care of at Warwick (formerly Brooklyn) Bethel, until she dies or remarries. These women were married to men who probably knew where the proverbial skeletons are buried. Some of their widows may know a few of the secrets, too. They don't want these women speaking out.