Posts by Anders Andersen

17

Observed at the Memorial

by john.prestor in

so i went to the memorial the other night, there's a kingdom hall on the bus route back from a local college where i was doing some research and admiring the architecture.

i'm in my street clothes, i look nice but i stood out like a sore thumb.

i went in as it started and got a seat in the back.

Anders Andersen

This lady next to me tried to show me scriptures, I kinda blew her off enough that she stopped and left me to myself. I got the vibe they do that knowingly or not to see if you'll obey them: Look at the scripture, listen to me read or explain it, do as I say. I'd welcome other posters thoughts on that.

I don't think they do this knowingly for that purpose, but rather automatically and subconsciously. Those who read along are judged and labeled as meek, willing to learn the bible truth, honest hearted. Those who don't want to read along are judged and labeled as obstinate, probably unwilling to learn Bible truth, independent. They might still be saved but they'll be watched with suspicion rather than joy.

I think it has to do with roles. Jehovah's Witnesses are not like the former Bible Students that my great-grand mother joined in the early '20s. They are no longer "students" in their mind. They can only be teachers. They only relate to non-JW's in a superior teacher role.

Wow, what a powerful thought. Indeed, JW don't see themselves as Bible students but really as Bible Teachers...and the only good ones too. So much arrogance packed in a thin veneer of humility...

20

Help: project to gather statistics on JW congregation finances.

by Anders Andersen in

jw
friends

many countries demand that charities publish a yearly summary of their finances.. where i live (netherlands), charities must publish these statements themselves, and jw do this at jw-anbi.nl.

(i'm quite certain almost no jw knows about that site btw.).

anyway i've been working on automatically harvesting data from all the congregation finance statements to gain more insight in how the borg is doing over time.. now it occured to me that i could do this analysis for more countries and get an even bigger picture.

Anders Andersen

@Corney,

Thanks!

For the Netherlands there are about 40 out of about 365 congregations that still need to upload their 2018 statement.

With what I have so far 2018 is 101% of 2017. However 2017 and 2016 both were only 94% of the previous year. So 2018 is only 90% of 2015.

The above is looking at the total money flowing into all the congregations. This includes donations made into the WWW bin of the congregation, but also proceeds of local real estate sales.

The above is excluding any donations and legacies made by individuals directly to the branch. So it could be that the decrease in income for the congregations is caused by JW donating directly to the branch.

The branch also has uploaded statements.

Watchtower 2018 vs 2017 is 144%

CCJW 2018 vs 2017 is 137%

Problem is these numbers probably also include money received from HQ, perhaps for special projects.

Watchtower statement 2018 specifically mentions that revenue from inheritances and legacies were higher than expected.

CCJW 2018 statement specifically mentions the higher income is caused by them being gifted earlier zero interest loans (from individuals? Or HQ? Doesn't say that) and gifts received from other institutions with similar objectives (probably Watchtower NL or HQ, it doesn't say).

Watchtower income 2018 vs 2015 is 97%

CCJW income 2018 vs 2015 is 66%

So it appears money is decreasing over the past years, but not necessarily during 2018. The CA issue is not yet very visible in the statements...

20

Help: project to gather statistics on JW congregation finances.

by Anders Andersen in

jw
friends

many countries demand that charities publish a yearly summary of their finances.. where i live (netherlands), charities must publish these statements themselves, and jw do this at jw-anbi.nl.

(i'm quite certain almost no jw knows about that site btw.).

anyway i've been working on automatically harvesting data from all the congregation finance statements to gain more insight in how the borg is doing over time.. now it occured to me that i could do this analysis for more countries and get an even bigger picture.

Anders Andersen

@blondie,

Thanks for the info. I understand that as a result there is no publicly available information about the finances of JW congregations in the USA.

20

Help: project to gather statistics on JW congregation finances.

by Anders Andersen in

jw
friends

many countries demand that charities publish a yearly summary of their finances.. where i live (netherlands), charities must publish these statements themselves, and jw do this at jw-anbi.nl.

(i'm quite certain almost no jw knows about that site btw.).

anyway i've been working on automatically harvesting data from all the congregation finance statements to gain more insight in how the borg is doing over time.. now it occured to me that i could do this analysis for more countries and get an even bigger picture.

Anders Andersen

Canada: https://apps.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/haip/srch/advancedsearch-eng.action (search for both Jehovah's Witnessesand Temoins de Jéhovah)

20

Help: project to gather statistics on JW congregation finances.

by Anders Andersen in

jw
friends

many countries demand that charities publish a yearly summary of their finances.. where i live (netherlands), charities must publish these statements themselves, and jw do this at jw-anbi.nl.

(i'm quite certain almost no jw knows about that site btw.).

anyway i've been working on automatically harvesting data from all the congregation finance statements to gain more insight in how the borg is doing over time.. now it occured to me that i could do this analysis for more countries and get an even bigger picture.

Anders Andersen

Slim, thanks a lot for that information! Really helpful!

20

Help: project to gather statistics on JW congregation finances.

by Anders Andersen in

jw
friends

many countries demand that charities publish a yearly summary of their finances.. where i live (netherlands), charities must publish these statements themselves, and jw do this at jw-anbi.nl.

(i'm quite certain almost no jw knows about that site btw.).

anyway i've been working on automatically harvesting data from all the congregation finance statements to gain more insight in how the borg is doing over time.. now it occured to me that i could do this analysis for more countries and get an even bigger picture.

Anders Andersen

Australia is added to the list now.

https://www.acnc.gov.au/charity?name_abn%5B0%5D=Jehovah

20

Help: project to gather statistics on JW congregation finances.

by Anders Andersen in

jw
friends

many countries demand that charities publish a yearly summary of their finances.. where i live (netherlands), charities must publish these statements themselves, and jw do this at jw-anbi.nl.

(i'm quite certain almost no jw knows about that site btw.).

anyway i've been working on automatically harvesting data from all the congregation finance statements to gain more insight in how the borg is doing over time.. now it occured to me that i could do this analysis for more countries and get an even bigger picture.

Anders Andersen

Hi there,

Many countries demand that charities publish a yearly summary of their finances.

Where I live (Netherlands), charities must publish these statements themselves, and JW do this at JW-anbi.nl. (I'm quite certain almost no JW knows about that site btw.)

Anyway I've been working on automatically harvesting data from all the congregation finance statements to gain more insight in how the Borg is doing over time.

Now it occured to me that I could do this analysis for more countries and get an even bigger picture. A big issue though is that it's not easy to find where these statements are published.

So please help me out by answering these questions:

Does your country require charities to publish yearly financial statements
If so, do you know where these are published for JW?

Please don't forget to include what country you're answering for :-)

What I got so far (I'll update once more information comes in):

The Netherlands: http://JW-anbi.nl
United Kingdom: http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/registerhomepage.aspx

23

How Do They Chose Someone To Be A Member Of The Illustrious Governing Body?

by Brokeback Watchtower in

i'm mean were talking making someone a policy maker for the corporation that can have serious financial consequences.

i'm sure intelligence is not high on the priority list for this noble office being they hate higher education and consider it a waste of time.. i'm sure they would thoroughly know the party line as any self respecting mind control would never choose an original thinker.

i'm also sure a lot of ass kissing happens before one gets chosen as a ass wiping helper which seem to be a sort of initiation into governing body corporate politics and a sort of proving ground to show your determination protect the organization from the enemy be they what ever source.

Anders Andersen

In the first century, Christian cast lots to choose Judas' replacement, Matthias. Like tossing dice and praying to god to control what came up to choose Barsabbas or Matthias.

This sprang into my mind too. JW always claim everything they do is Bible based. Yet they never cast the lot for anything. Especially not for deciding who's gonna be new boss.

18

I’m so sad . . .

by HappyBlessedFree in

so my husband asked me if i’m going to the memorial.

i said “no”.. he asked would it be okay if i take the kids.

“i would prefer that you didn’t”.. why can’t he see the lies!

Anders Andersen

You must feel quite frustrated and anxious, trying to keep you child from being dragged into the cult while your husband wants to drag them in.

I'm in a similar situation, although I'm lucky enough to be the husband, and so far I managed to have my wife (reluctantly) agree to stop bringing our young child you meetings.

It may be tempting to try and make your husband see the light...but that may or may not happen. More important is to make him stop dragging your children into the cult.

Here's the 'script' that I followed:

First come to an agreement that children (in general) should make up their own mind on religion, and not be forced to worship as their parents do.
Then make it more specific: this applies to your children and JWism too, right? Or are JW children forced to become JW?
Once the stage is set for that, come back to your husband's request to bring the children to the memorial. There is only one important question: why should your children have to be there or in any other JW meeting?
Your husband has limited options to reply: because the Bible says so, or to save their lives, or because they need to learn about the memorial, pay respect to Jehovah and Jesus etc.
Again: why would children (especially young children) need to do any of that? Would they understand what's going on there? If not, they needn't be there. If so, he might just as well explain the proceedings to them at home.
If they are brought to JW meetings, would he agree to let you bring them to Easter mass in some other church too? After all, you agreed your children should be able to choose for themselves, so if they attend one church (JW) they should know about the others too.

I managed to stay out of any doctrinal discussions. While discussing this topic, I didn't make any claims about JW being not true. I simply stuck to

what they tell at JW meetings isn't suitable for young children (murder, immorality, war, execution, incest) to hear
if the child is too young to understand there is no use in bringing them
if the child is older, it's basically unfair to them to bring them to the KH without showing them other church meetings at least just as often.

Perhaps you can use any of this l. It depends a bit on how out you are, and how old your children are. But I suspect this route is faster than trying to get your husband out. You can still do that afterwards....

11

Dutch (ex) JWs: Online survey sexual abuse within JW Netherlands by Utrecht University

by jochie in

since today dutch (ex)jws are asked to fill out an online survey by utrecht university with regard to (child) sexual abuse.as chairman of reclaimed voices i call on all dutch speaking (ex) jws to fill out this survey in case you were a victim of abuse or in case you know of someone else that was abused within the jehovah's witnesseswith your participation you contribute to an important investigation that is carried out.link to the survey: https://usbo.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/sv_4hkmbqjhlm0uhmh

Anders Andersen

After the special talk this weekend. An announcement was made to the congregetion that victims of sexual abuse or those who know them can participate in this survey.

Wow George One Time I take back my words about April Fools. You were right. They really did read a letter! Can't believe they actually did that.

https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nieuws/artikel/4678986/jehovahs-getuigen-oproep-leden-meewerken-misbruik-onderzoek