it seems that everyone is taking for granted that the sociaty has made 1 billion in profit.
could anyone tell me why it would not be a posibility that the society had a large number of mortgages attached to these properties?
wouldn't that explain the latest monney grab from the congregations?.
You're kidding right?
The Watchtower moved into Brooklyn around 1908. I don't know how much each building was, but to put it in comparison, a home in Brooklyn around that time cost $10,000. The Brooklyn Bridge itself cost about $15 million to build from scratch.
Believe me, those properties were paid off decades ago. A stingy organization like the WT organization would not be paying interest with money laying around and available to pay off the properties.
september 11, 2001. riding the bus to school that tuesday morning we discussed the implications of the monday night football game between the broncos and the dolphins.
by lunchtime our entire world have changed dramatically.
america had passed into a new era that would lead to major changes.
..an endgame that effectively discontinues local congregations in favor of online "e-religion" afilliation (complete with streaming sermons via the WT website), with a drastically reduced, consolidated, and centralized membership at Warwick thus ensuring a cushy retirement for the GB as the WTS slowly fades into obscurity
Such a move would effectively accelerate the downfall of the organization. IMO what is still somewhat holding everything together is the social aspect of the organization. Without the meetings and regular association, the fabric of the society would crumble as people would distance from each other more and more. Not to mention the effect on older Jdubs who would have a hard time adapting to this concept.
wow.
you read about it here.
but, it still doesn't prepare you.. our hall passed a resolution to give about 15,000 to the wt.
There is still a lot that doesn't add up on this whole scheme. I mean the greed is obvious, but what is the end goal here?
Typically when you see situations of obvious greed, there is someone at the top who is reaping a fat check. But i mean in bethel, unless this is way deeper than what we can see, no one is seemingly benefitting from this. Yes the organization itself will make more money, but what or who is driving this greed? Is the GB really keen on getting more money in the society's coffers, even if their lifestyle doesn't change a bit?
we were in the middle of discussing their use of god's personal name, and miss k was not able to find one place in the bible, where jesus actually said the name out loud (that wasn't a quote from the ot).
we had started out by talking about jesus being "the way, the truth and the life.
" then she stated that one of the purposes of jesus' coming to earth, was "to make god's name known.
to her than a good source of time-counting for her monthly report!
That's the key! You are an easy hour of preaching. This way she doesn't have to roam the streets. She can just come over, and preach to you in a confy chair over tea and cookies.
I'm almost sure even after she realizes that there is no way she can bring you back in, she will still want to come over and visit.
telling innocent people they can live forever when armegeddons never coming.
telling people they can see their loved ones again.
telling people to sacrafice their goals and dreams in life.
How can someone even possibly know their "annointed" anyways???
The more self centered and narcissistic you are, the more chances there are of you thinking you are annointed. There is no special feeling. It's all in their heads. Some people just have this feeling that they are destined for greatness. They want to be special so bad, that it's only logical that they feel they should be part of a special class.
One of the funniest things i've seen happen is this one sister in the hall I belonged to; now this lady was pretty out there, there was definitely a screw missing in her head, she partook every year. Then one day this younger guy joined the congo and started preaching pretty regularly with her and a few months later, he started partaking as well, as if it was some sort of virus.
it was easy to figure people out.
as long as you got out in service and put money in the money box people will pretend to be your "friend".. but let's be honest is most of business associates.
they are your friends as long as you are active doing the watchtower bidding.. and then let's talk about the lack of hot women.
the whole sex taboo has them marrying way too young - before they have any life experience or education or means of self-support
Very true. In fact, i was in Florida a month ago and my sister had just been to a wedding of a girl who is 20 years old. And another girl in the same hall, who just turned 19 is now engaged as well. She got engaged after dating this guy from a congo about 6 hours away, and from what i understand they date mainly by Skype - a disaster in the making.
I would never think about marrying someone that young, but that's what happens in young people in a congo. They are "hot to trot" and so they rush into marriage.
when you were a devout jw.
did you feel that you had an actual "relationship" with jehovah/god just from praying to him and reading the wt or bible?.
or that this was actually even possible deep down?.
It's like Jehovah is saying. I see the love you have for me, but if you want to serve me fully and continue following me, this is the way you need to go and I too, will be there with you also.
Perhaps you can ask the thousands of children dying to starvation in Africa to know what they think Jehoober is saying. Is Jehoober there for them too?
when you were a devout jw.
did you feel that you had an actual "relationship" with jehovah/god just from praying to him and reading the wt or bible?.
or that this was actually even possible deep down?.
The Watchtower talks about that all the time; having a relationship with Jehovah. How is that even possible.
It makes as much sense as having a relationship with a piece of rock. Actually no, the piece of rock can be seen and we know it exists.
So in reality in makes as much sense as having a relationship with an invisible piece of rock, which can't be seen, touched, doesn't talk back or interacts with you in any way.
we've heard from friends in two separate congregations in our city that convention security will be tight.. the brothers made announcements this week and reminded everyone to be sure to wear their name badges.
those that don't may be questioned and have their belongings searched.
the same will be happen to anyone arriving during the sessions.
No one is allowed to search your things unless it's security hired by the building owners and with very strong probable cause or the police. No one has the legal right to search your or your things other wise.
That's actually not correct at all. In fact, when you are in a private venue where there are "security" personnel, things are very different. While the fourth ammendment protects you from unreasonable searches by public safety officials ( police) it does not protect you from private security when you are in their property. So there is no need to strong probable cause when it comes to private security. Ironically, when it comes to searches, private security has more power than police.
Now obviously, who can be called private security at a convention? If the ORG has designated a group of people to perform that function, then those people are security, even if they don't have a uniform.
the constant references to 'window washers' as something derogatory.. i understand the context of it-that most jws are uneducated, and unqualified to do much more.
but sometimes the references seem snobbish, almost mean-spirited.
one poster, on another thread, essentially referred to window washers as 'losers'.
I might be guilty of this, and in essence i agree with your point. But i think we all agree that nobody on this site actually thinks that window washers are losers. The references to window washers are said strictly to make a point - that most JWs become limited in their careers due to the Org's influence, as you recognize as well.
Window washing is honest and dignified labor and it would never occur to me to speak negatively about it outside of the scope of the point which we usually make.
