Posts by JWTom

27

November WT study article

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

in one of the study articles from the november 2020 edition, is mentioned (free quotation):.

"don"t get disturbed if your kingdom hall will be sold".

food on the right time, i asume?.

Great discussion and definitely a topic that people are thinking about even if they don't admit it. My PIMI Dad and I had this discussion. He said the GB is racking their brains trying to figure out what to do. He had two main thoughts:

1. Org. does not have any good content to put into the magazines in place of what was already developed. If they wanted to change it, what would they come up with that would fill the endless amounts of time that is now filled with things related to the door to door ministry????

2. Door to door ministry is not coming back soon. Letter writing and phone calling is much more efficient (meaning requires less time) and therefore people have lots more time. What can the GB come up with that is an alternative to the hugely inefficient time waster that is the door to door ministry.

So if this lasts 1-2 more years many places.....what endless amount of content are they going to come up with that is a different topic to fill up meeting parts, magazines, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

26

GB teaching - Gays and Lesbians will be resurrected as Gays and Lesbians

by Listener in

the final talk of the saturday afternoon online convention is given by lett, sporting a creepy looking combover, which for some reason, looks creepier than normal.

he talks about how those resurrected will need to come into line with a new moral code otherwise they will be destroyed.

he uses an example of gay people having to turn away from their inclinations even though they may feel that they are perfectly acceptable.. this demonstrates that the gb feel that being gay is a taught behaviour rather than an imperfect unnatural desire, otherwise they would be growing out of that desire as they develop towards perfection, as they teach.

JWTom

BluesBrother - Everyone also has to acknowledge that much of the current way of presenting information and content represents the thinking/ideas of the latest batch of GB/Writing members of WT that have come into place in the last 20-30 years. Just like 1980-2000 was a different group of individuals the current batch has its own ideas and way of communicating things.

Lett, Morris, Heard, Losch and Splane will not live that much longer......as they die off the message style and content of the messages will change. Every 10-20 years there is a new batch of GB and things change again.

18

JW.org Focus on the Past - Have Always Wondered?

by JWTom in

just curious of others thoughts.....while watching the latest round of convention videos with my pimi wife it was highlighted again in the content how much the wt org.

has always focused on the past (in my opinion).

many of the historical events that are highlighted as significant are from 100+ years ago in some cases.

JWTom

Great comments all. Thanks for posting the video Slim, we watched that one several times on VHS prior to being accepted to Bethel back in the early 90s.

My original thought was that many even "marginally" successful large organizations very specifically have a focus on the present and future so that they can engage with people that are within the 15-55 age groups. It is part of their plan/strategy to grow and preserve the organization long-term. What surprises me is that no one at Bethel is steering the content and direction towards appealing to a younger demographic to try to stabilize the downward trends.

18

JW.org Focus on the Past - Have Always Wondered?

by JWTom in

just curious of others thoughts.....while watching the latest round of convention videos with my pimi wife it was highlighted again in the content how much the wt org.

has always focused on the past (in my opinion).

many of the historical events that are highlighted as significant are from 100+ years ago in some cases.

JWTom

Just curious of others thoughts.....while watching the latest round of convention videos with my PIMI wife it was highlighted again in the content how much the WT org. has always focused on the past (in my opinion). Many of the historical events that are highlighted as significant are from 100+ years ago in some cases. These historical events mean little to current JWs and most (all?) don't grasp any meaning in the things that have happened around 1900 timeframe.

As I have worked with many large organizations as part of my career - it has been a striking contrast for me as most large organizations will give some acknowledgement to their past.....but in almost every example they are focused on the future and their current audience/membership/customers/etc. How they can do things in a way that sets their specific organization on a positive path for the future.....for whatever area they may focus on.

Watching the convention videos confirms that largely old white men present messaging and there are routine references to the significant things from the early 1900s. Not surprising that the org is flatlining/dropping in membership.

To answer my own question, my thought is that the org continues to struggle with an new content and so going back to things from the past is the only tool in their tool belt.

Just curious if others have had that realization before.

21

2020 Convention Friday Highlights: Information Control and Hypocrisy

by neat blue dog in

there's yet another talk to add to the list of talks written specifically for damage control against "apostates".

the speaker says, "some who were once part of the christian congregation attempt to mislead us", that they tell "false accusations" & "lies".

to combat this, he says that you should "protect your ears from damaging noise by not listening to it", comparing it to wearing "noise canceling headphones".

JWTom

DATA-DOG

I have done all of that not that long ago. Parking lot duty is still a thing for many PIMO JWs that are stuck.

Loved the Cheese Danish, Burritos, partially-frozen OJ and also the Chocolate Pudding cups was a favorite of mine growing up!!!

As mentioned, all the content is the same thing over and over again. Myself and my PIMI wife commented on the surprising amount of nature-oriented video content that has been brought in. Why are nature videos needed? Because there is nothing else new to talk about that is Bible-based....desperate to talk about something new/different.

25

Post your experiance with JWs who did not save for retirement and had to work or live off off SS till death

by wolverines in

but one i remember was a full on dyed in the wool believer how was a farmer.

around 1975 he sold his farm moved his family to a very rural place and waited for the end to come.

he ended up working for his brother in law hanging drywall.

JWTom

LONGHAIRGAL

Most JWs are horribly insecure due to the teachings of the org. They cannot help but talk about their situation due to insecurity. Even some that secure financially or wealthy by some measure simply cannot keep their mouth shut about finances.

Good advice is, it is none of your business what my finances are. I don't talk about my personal finances at all. If someone asks about general saving or financial decisions then I may share my opinion.

Many are simply so beaten down into thinking they should not have anything financially that they simply cannot motivate themselves to do things for their own best interests.

Just my opinion/view from experience.

58

When did WT lose the spirit?

by Smiles in

at what time would you say that the watch tower schema lost the spirit?.

like the ancient nation of israel which struggled maintaining divine blessing due to a long series of grave errors that eventually culminated in definitive loss... how and when did watch tower lose the spirit?.

can we pinpoint a time or event?.

JWTom

Lots of good thoughts here.

As a 3rd-gen JW I would say the 1950-1975 and 1980-1990 years were likely the peaks of what the organization could become. As I posted on the recent thread about shepherding visits, what most people need is strong social relationships, friends that can/will help someone out in a difficult spot and enough money to live a decent life. As others have commented, the org. has systematically done what it can to kill off all the things I just mentioned......forget about the spirit.....many who are JWs have an awful life in general terms and the org is a major contributor to that reality.

32

Watchtower June 2020 Article, '' Return to Me''

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

the watchtower—study edition | june 2020. .

study article 26.

6 who can share in the search for inactive ones?

JWTom

As mentioned already, this is a cyclical item that was promoted very heavily beginning in the mid-1990's timeframe with new direction back then that the SO had more decision-making authority. I know since I was a service overseer back then and there was direction for the SO to assign brothers to visit inactive ones or irregular ones. A few elders would handle their assignments but most would simply ignore the direction and go about things like they had never heard of this.

As an elder and SO for many years the primary success or failure of bringing people back is directly related to the strength of the local congregation, its inclusiveness and the strength of its social structures. What most people lack today is strong social relationships, true friends that will help them in a tough spot and enough money to have a decent life. Most congregations offer lots of judgement, a constant ask for money/free-labor and lots of useless lectures on things that have little meaning to most JWs.

30

Latest move by Kingdom Hall Trust in U.K current J.W Elders BEWARE!

by Phizzy in

the latest instructions from the kingdom hall trust here in the u.k are very revealing, and current j.w elders need to beware !

i will get to that in a minute.

maybe in the usa and other countries too ?.

JWTom

LONGHAIRGAL

Agree overall. I would say more and more JWs that have been in the org for any significantly length of time are taking stock of where things are and if they can are resetting some of their life goals. Problem for many is that extracting themselves from the Org is a complicated mess and this is especially true for any that are well-known or that are currently in appointed positions.

8

Telehealth Doctor's Visits Provided by JW Drs. - Coming Soon?

by JWTom in

jw
friends

there is a zoom meeting in our area this coming weekend to educate anyone with a healthcare background about "volunteering" to be part of providing health care through online zoom doctors visits.

evidently jw doctors across the us are volunteering to do free zoom consultations that are technically real doctors visits.

don't have many details other than i saw some of the letters from petra where people could sign up for this.. wondering if this is already happening in some areas or if anyone knows more about it?

JWTom

There is a Zoom meeting in our area this coming weekend to educate anyone with a healthcare background about "volunteering" to be part of providing health care through online Zoom doctors visits. Evidently JW doctors across the US are volunteering to do free Zoom consultations that are technically real doctors visits. Don't have many details other than I saw some of the letters from Petra where people could sign up for this.

Wondering if this is already happening in some areas or if anyone knows more about it? For anyone that might volunteer there is a very real concern about any liability that a healthcare worker would have in actually doing this? Drs. usually have insurance that covers them if they are in a private practice....but most healthcare workers liability insurance is through an employer and would not cover them giving free healthcare to others if they ended up being sued.

Interested in more information if anyone has it....