shepherdless

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Posts by shepherdless

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  29

  The WT in 10 years time

  by Coded Logic in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a. in 2026 in what state do you think the organization will be?.

  ) 9million + members.

  ) roughly the same amount of members as today (7-9 million)..

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  shepherdless

  A: 2. (Roughly the same amount of members as today)
  B: 3. (Less printed literature in other languages) Reason: There is less need of printed literature generally, and more and more of the world's population that can read, read English.
  C: 3 (Less printed literature in English) or possibly 4. The traditional "colportage" business model was weakened in 1990 and has since been broken by the internet. Printed literature has turned from being the primary income earner for WBT$, to just a drain on the business.
  D: 3 (Less Bethel's than today)
  I think the biggest threat is not membership. It is the finances. WBT$ now has to rely more on member donations and bequests than ever before. I am sure that they will survive, but they will have to make changes. I predict less emphasis on field service and more closed cult behaviour.
  Witness carts may be a smart move, because their use hides less emphasis on field service. The fact that carts achieve very little is irrelevant.
  If they are smart, they will water down the discouragement of higher education, and go to greater lenghts to retain members.
  Looking further into the future (beyond 10 years), they will have the following problems:- the "immenent Armageddon" card will lose more credibility as time goes by;- the lucky guess of 1914 will seem less impressive as it will be just another date in history;- recruiting will become more difficult in wealther countries, as JW's only seem to be able to recruit fellow Christians, and the percentage of the population that believe in God in such countries is on a steady decline.
  
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  29

  Why continue to suffer??

  by Tigerlove in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i occasionally come on this website because i have my eyes on a particular user.

  because of that, i end up reading a lot of people's post.

  although very interesting and hurt breaking, a lot of them are very strange.

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  shepherdless

  My 2 cents worth.
  

  Secondly, if there are kids involved, one can't just think of oneself. In our situation, my wife takes my kids to meetings and field service. I actually don't know to what extent they believe the crap. However, there is no way I am going to abandon them to a shyster organisation that discourages higher education and actually wants to ruin their future.

  Thirdly, for some, the financial aspects of walking out are potentially devastating.

  I have thought a lot about whether it is disloyal to contribute to these bloggs. On one level, yes. However, my wife is being controlled by a parasitic organisation that, by design, contributes absolutely nothing of worth to society or humankind. It is the parasitic organisation I am up against, not my wife.

  I am here mostly to learn about WTBT$ (something I should have done long ago) so I know what I am up against and how to fight it. I also to do my tiny little bit to oppose that organisation. I also ultimately want to leave the world a better place than how I found it. The world would be a better place if there is no Watchtower using Jehovah's name to suck up all the time and energy of so many good people on pointless marketing to fellow Christians.

  I should also add that my wife actually knows I have occasionally read apostate websites. (She is upset that I have. She says they are full of bitter people with "agendas", are controlled by Satan, and that I should read jw.org to understand the organisation.)

  In summary, I consider I am fighting WTBT$, not my wife, and my conscience is clear.
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  57

  Despite a 'number' of similar projects being pulled, the Chelmsford Project will continue...

  by NeverKnew in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this article suggests that there are projects being halted, but chelmsford isn't one of them.

  can someone from the uk tell me if this article was written by a reputable and known publisher?

  plans for huge jehovah's witnesses hq continues.

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  shepherdless

  Sorry correct link:

  www.chelmsford.gov.uk/temple-farm
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  57

  Despite a 'number' of similar projects being pulled, the Chelmsford Project will continue...

  by NeverKnew in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this article suggests that there are projects being halted, but chelmsford isn't one of them.

  can someone from the uk tell me if this article was written by a reputable and known publisher?

  plans for huge jehovah's witnesses hq continues.

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  shepherdless

  Chelmsford clearly has significant contamination issues as well. See the following link:

  www.chelmsford.gov.uk./temple-farm

  Scroll down to the July 2015 update, for example.
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  29

  outside consulting firm used for JW building site , to be complete in 2019.

  by brandnew in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  crofton wins key role on jehovah's witnesses campus.

  6 may 2015 | by yoosof farah.

  engineer lands role on scheme that will predominantly be designed and constructed by volunteers.

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  shepherdless

  There are some huge numbers and huge discrepancies on this thread in relation to Temple Farm. I did a bit of research. Here is how I see the likely actual figures (in rough ballpark terms).

  A description of what is being built at Chelmsford is here:

  http://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/temple-farm

  Note that it states 112,500 sqm of "mixed use development". That would probably be gross floor area, as I read somewhere that it is only 22 acres (around 90,000 sqm). "Mixed use development" is a reference to the project containing both residential and non-residential, as I understand it.

  A brief review on the internet suggests it would cost at least £800, or more per sqm to build something like that. (Obviously, that is just a guestimate.) Perhaps with volunteer labor, that might come down to, say, £500 per sqm, but I doubt it.

  800 x 112,500 = £90 million. That is just a ballpark figure. It could be way off. Also, that is only the cost to build. It does not include the original purchase cost, printing presses etc. It sounds as though there are some significant site contamination issues to resolve as well, which would be expensive to resolve.

  £90 million is a big project for the UK branch to take on, if the following link to their financial statements is correct:

  https://jwleaks.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/2014-wtbtsb-financial-report.pdf

  
  

  That financial statement, compared to earlier ones (I haven't included) suggest that they have pulled together £50 million in cash, presumably for this project.

  
  

  I don't believe the completed project would be saleable for anything like £3 billion, later. It is not like a house or a standard commercial building. Any future owner would have to modify it extensively to suit. The project may only be worth land value when complete. I don't know the area, and have never been there, but I tried to get a rough idea of land value in the area, using real estate websites. It seemed to me 22 (uncontaminated) acres in that area may be worth £20 to 50 million, but I could be way out.

  
  This does not look like a real-estate play to me, as it would be too difficult to on-sell on completion. It seems like a project conceived in better times, but is now in difficulty. I note there is another thread where there is a rumor that only one part will be built.

  By the way, I am not an expert on any of this. There must be others in a much better position to comment.
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  57

  Despite a 'number' of similar projects being pulled, the Chelmsford Project will continue...

  by NeverKnew in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this article suggests that there are projects being halted, but chelmsford isn't one of them.

  can someone from the uk tell me if this article was written by a reputable and known publisher?

  plans for huge jehovah's witnesses hq continues.

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  shepherdless

  I just spoke with a brother who volunteers on security on the site, he told me there is lots of earth moving going on but its top secret.

  He said they think there is something big being built underground at the site, and thats why most volunteers had to leave, there is only 30 or so left, the security volunteers are not allowed near the main project they have to stay in the forest areas.

  I read elsewhere that it is a contaminated site. Remediating a contaminated site often involves a huge amount of earthworks, to remove the contamination. (Expensive too.)

  That would be my guess.
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  12

  Today was an odd day.

  by paul from cleveland in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  experienced a series of odd coincidences today.

  this morning i noticed a friend had "liked" a picture i had posted on facebook.

  i hadn't spoken with him for a while so i texted him that we should get together to 'catch up' some time soon.

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  shepherdless

  Paul, I now believe you are genuine. Apologies for doubting.

  As Happeanna says, you handled an extraordinary and tragic day, brilliantly.
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  12

  Today was an odd day.

  by paul from cleveland in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  experienced a series of odd coincidences today.

  this morning i noticed a friend had "liked" a picture i had posted on facebook.

  i hadn't spoken with him for a while so i texted him that we should get together to 'catch up' some time soon.

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  shepherdless

  Okay Paul, perhaps I am jumping to conclusions. If you are genuine, then I offer my genuine apologies.
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  12

  Today was an odd day.

  by paul from cleveland in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  experienced a series of odd coincidences today.

  this morning i noticed a friend had "liked" a picture i had posted on facebook.

  i hadn't spoken with him for a while so i texted him that we should get together to 'catch up' some time soon.

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  shepherdless

  Wow Paul, that is one heck of a set of coincidences.
  But it doesn't stop there. I have found a whole heap more! A few days ago, someone called John Aquila posted a very interesting story as well. John's story has a very similar word count to yours. He also often began paragraphs with "Then..." Also (just like you) he began one paragraph with "Anyhow...". There is an uncanny similarity in the way both you and John divide up stories into paragraphs. Also the occasional use of FULL CAPS for emphasis. I could go on.
  If it wasn't for the different use of colors and square brackets, and your remarkably different stories, I would think that you and John were one and the same.
  So many coincidences!
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  59

  Would I lie to you?

  by slimboyfat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  given recent posts on the forum and discussion, maybe we could play this game: would i lie to you?

  in the uk we have this tv programme where minor celebrities tell weird or embarrassing stories about themselves and the rest of the participants have to guess if it is a true story or made up.

  when the others have voted then the person reveals if the story is true or false.

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  shepherdless

  In relation to my own two stories, 2 is a complete fabrication.

  in relation to 1, I did flour the story to throw people off the scent.

  Firstly, my active JW wife has indeed viewed all the proceedings. She knows the proceedings better than me. I have no idea how she came to investigate that. My guess was that it came from someone at KH, but I just don't know. That was just a surmise or dubious extrapolation on my part.

  Secondly, my second para is completely true, except it happened months ago, and:

  (A) I don't know whether or not the old lady has internet access. I just threw that in, given a recent post by John Aquila.

  (B) As bizarre as it might seem, I don't detect an internal struggle in my wife. In fact, I do not understand how someone who knows what she knows is still in the "truth", but she is rock solid.

  So overall, by many people's standards, my first post was true.

  Anyway, that was fun! Perhaps a good workout for people's b.s. detector as well.