Posts by NotFormer

19

Is There Some Sort of Campaign Going on?

by NotFormer in

jw
friends

a pair of young blokes came to my door @ 10am (ish) today (wednesday, if that matters).

i opened the door a crack to : hi!

just asking a question: do you think that the world is getting better or worse?*".

NotFormer

I've been in this Australian country town for a couple of years now, and yesterday was the third visit. The other two were presumably memorial invitations. This is the first visit that actually felt like old fashioned field service (I say that based on my experiences as a recipient of their visits). As mentioned above, there were at least seven people canvassing this street.

The first visit I received two years ago was basically their first venture out after the Covid lockdowns. They seem to be getting their confidence back, for better or for worse. I see the trolley/cart in town from time to time, manned (or womaned [staffed?]) by different people.

2

JW Opening Questions

by NotFormer in

i had a visit from jws yesterday.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5993895939276800/there-some-sort-campaign-going-on.

the opening question was "do you think that the world is getting better or worse?".

NotFormer

I had a visit from JWs yesterday.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5993895939276800/there-some-sort-campaign-going-on

The opening question was "Do you think that the world is getting better or worse?"

I imagine that this is one of many questions that they could open with, meant to lead into a chance for them to talk about their beliefs. I understand that there was, or perhaps still is, a ministry training school that taught techniques like this.

What are some of the other questions that JWs use to open conversations?

18

After a Jehovah's Witness secretly confronted a foster child, Eunice Spry was jailed for torturing three children; she is now set to be released from prison and re-homed near her victims. UK

by Sol Reform in

after a jehovah's witness secretly confronted a foster child, eunice spry was jailed for torturing three children; she is now set to be released from prison and re-homed near her victims.

uk.

(warning - graphic pictures and story).

NotFormer

The article is horrific (and old; why has it been brought BTTT? Is there a new development?)* But:

"More... Rolf Harris's daughter accused him of sexually molesting her friend and was in such a state she furiously 'banged her head against a wall"

How did Rolf Harris get in here? 🤔

On the Spry case, I found this:

Daughter, 34, who suffered years of abuse hanged herself

Daily Mail

https://www.dailymail.co.uk › news › article-10195911

Sad that she never lost her ability to wound her daughter 😞

* ETA: Okay, I see that the video is recent. Perhaps a bit of a description here, rather than making me follow the link to find out what it's about?

19

Is There Some Sort of Campaign Going on?

by NotFormer in

jw
friends

a pair of young blokes came to my door @ 10am (ish) today (wednesday, if that matters).

i opened the door a crack to : hi!

just asking a question: do you think that the world is getting better or worse?*".

NotFormer

Knowing me, I doubt that I would have risen to their bait, but would have immediately headed off on some tangent. I guarantee you, conversations with me never follow their script, for some reason.

If I did, I'd probably do what I always do when confronted with present day gloom and doom: quote the first line from "A Tale of Two Cities" and go from there.

Is this particular question going to be the theme of the conventions?

3

Nice topic on Linkedin

by Gorb in

jw
friends

i think we have to see jw.org like the corporations named in the topic on linkedin:.

jon davids.. 3e+ ceo of influicity | author of .... .

mcdonald's does it.

NotFormer

They used to be a publishing company masquerading as a religion. Now they're a real estate development company. The latter model isn't working well like it did. One: the payouts for all their CSA settlements must be eating into it in a big way. Two: even without the legal problems, simply sitting on large land holdings isn't viable without some cashflow. Without the cashflow from the publishing business, the real estate business probably isn't sustainable long-term.

Interestingly, all of a sudden, McDonald's business model doesn't seem to be working for them as well as it once did. A lot of similar businesses that once were coining it aren't doing as well as they did.

19

Is There Some Sort of Campaign Going on?

by NotFormer in

jw
friends

a pair of young blokes came to my door @ 10am (ish) today (wednesday, if that matters).

i opened the door a crack to : hi!

just asking a question: do you think that the world is getting better or worse?*".

NotFormer

Is it convention season globally? Are they rolling out the JWs everywhere? Is the question that they ask at the door the same every time?

19

Is There Some Sort of Campaign Going on?

by NotFormer in

jw
friends

a pair of young blokes came to my door @ 10am (ish) today (wednesday, if that matters).

i opened the door a crack to : hi!

just asking a question: do you think that the world is getting better or worse?*".

NotFormer

A pair of young blokes came to my door @ 10am (ish) today (Wednesday, if that matters). I wasn't up to it. I opened the door a crack to : Hi! Just asking a question: do you think that the world is getting better or worse?*"

I took a few seconds to think whether or not to entertain this. I felt, "No; not feeling it today", and closed the door, saying "No, thanks". He laughed a bit and said "Oh! Okay". Then they left.

After they left I looked out the kitchen window to see two young ladies engaging with my next door neighbour, for probably about 15 minutes.

Two more young ladies** came down the other side of the street knocking on doors. A bit behind them came an older gentleman on his own; he seemed to have a bible or something in his hand.

So at least 7 people out in field service just on my street alone.

Is there some major campaign going on? If so, is it global, or more local?

*I thought afterwards that I should have said something like "I'd love to have a chat, but you've got to promise that you won't run away!" (See my previous two encounters for context)

** As far as I could tell, the young ladies were all wearing skirts, no slacks/trousers.

20

What has the Spiritual Paradise of the WTS been over time

by blondie in

jw
friends

the first mention i find in the wts publications is 1958. although the wts says the index goes from 1930 to 1985, nothing appears before 1958 a search only found by using the phrase "spiritual paradise" not in the index.

in 2015 there was a clarification of the phrase "of course, we should not conclude that the terms “spiritual paradise” and “spiritual temple” are the same.

the spiritual temple is god’s arrangement for true worship.".

NotFormer

Shibboleth?

It's an interesting point, Blondie. If the vocabulary keeps changing, it allows them to see who's current. And if someone uses jargon that was once current, it would possibly be a warning sign of an ex.

6

photos not showing up

by was a new boy in

great photo, doykl.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6277858037596160/je-sus-making-comeback-2024-convention.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5102163622100992/visited-auschwitz-two-days-ago.

NotFormer

Avatars seem to be disappearing as well.

13

JW Leaders Do Intentionally Torture Their Members

by FragrantAddendum in

that's one of the reasons they're being shut down.

NotFormer

It's an exaggeration to say that.

However, since I've been revisiting the WT after all these years, I'm coming to the conclusion that there is a certain amount of psychopathy in the WT leadership. That they find a certain amount of enjoyment* when their loyal followers experience hardship due to following the unnecessarily harsh and uncompromising rules laid down by those at the top. That there are so many things that they could do to lessen the burden, yet they don't, unless, as Vidiot 😏 is fond of pointing out, their tax exempt status is called into question. I'm amazed at how little has changed in two decades, that could have been done decades ago.

* They haven't basically changed from being the same people who gloated, in an Awake! in the 1990s, over the large number of children who died from following their directives.