Posts by HappyHappyHappy1914

91

Is the Watchtower organisation facing the biggest crisis of its history?

by slimboyfat in

recent developments make me think they might be.

the problems they are facing are not just lack of funds but also draining authority, and the two could be a heady and explosive mix.

one of the best analyses ever written of the watchtower was a book called "trumpet of prophecy" by sociologist james beckford in the 1970s.

HappyHappyHappy1914

I can't speak to the wider issue, but this is exactly why I woke up one year ago. Growing up, I took pride in the fact that most of us couldn't even name the governing body members. These humble men were not interested in promoting themselves. No matter how crazy someone was in the hall or how strange a talk might be, I found immeasurable comfort in the watchtowers and how reasonable they appeared at the time. I love research and I was totally impressed by the mountain of literature, the rows of neat bound volumes, and the "scholarly nature" of both the insight and reasoning books.

But the changes have been a shock to my system. Any attempt on appearing deep or well researched has been abandoned. Those in congregation I was most embarrassed by now seem to be the ones that are most catered to. All the publications are now either geared towards children or people with little to no reading ability.

The broadcasts may just be the most damaging thing. Many of the more reasonable have chosen to not watch them at all for fear that their faith may be weakened. Some sit with eyes glazed and mouths slightly ajar as they gobble up everything said like it was from God himself.

times they are a changing

14

Chapter 1 My Bethel Experience First Posted 9 Years Ago A Walk Down Memory Lane

by new boy in

part 1. i when to bethel march 21,1970. at the time you had to be a pioneer for two years to apply, by the time i left in 1974 they were calling people in who had never pioneered..........average stay was 5 months (they had signed up for 4 years)..........the reason they left was......well, it was hell.. one of the reasons was, knorr hated bethelites, but he loved the gilead students and why?

because when they screwed up they were thousands of miles away!........just before i got there, they had kicked out over 30!

homosexuals (at one time) ....the would kick out 1-2 bethelites a week.

HappyHappyHappy1914

I've heard alot of stories about bethel in the mid 70s. Really sounds like it was a bit of the wild west. And they have all commented on how if, for any reason, they fell into disfavor, they were sent to do laundry as punishment.

11

Ever wondered which country in the JW Annual Report is most likely to reflect overall decline/progress of the WTS?

by besty in

a bit of spreadsheet fun - trying to ascertain which country is the bellwether for the wts.. my methodology was as follows:.

take the individual ar's from 2010 - 2016 and calculate an accurate (.00) ave pub increase/decrease for each country.

sort the countries into descending order by this value with the grand total row included in the mix.. assign the countries 5 places above and 5 places below the grand total 1 point.

HappyHappyHappy1914

The big change this next year will be in countries that relied heavily on a dense special pioneer population. The growth rate in some of those smaller countries in south and central america will be dramatically different in 2016. Most of those special pioneers cannot find work in their assignment and will be forced to move towards larger cities or leave those countries entirely.

30

What are the economics of cart witnessing?

by slimboyfat in

on another thread shepherdless sketched out the past business model of jws and its demise.

until 1990 they were a straightforward publishing business with the tremendous advantage of free labour in production and free distribution agents.

since then they've been relying on donations for literature to keep the old model going.

HappyHappyHappy1914

I tend to think most on this board tend to overstate how much cart witnessing is done. It is easy to feel that the organization is going almost entirely to carts because they are much more visible. In my area, the carts are only manned by pioneers. And not even all pioneers. You have to be specially recommended. So cart witnessing is more of a status symbol and another class distinction.

I would argue that the main purpose is to keep people pioneering and motivate other to pioneer in a way that appears effective. I know many in my area who have stopped because they can recognize how unproductive house to house is. With cart witnessing, even if no one stops, you can argue that you made a witness simply by being seen.

43

Beards galore at the Assembly

by Truthexplorer in

ok, at our recent assembly, i noticed that there were quite a lot of brothers wearing beards.

not just the older dudes, but right across a range of ages, young men, middle aged men and older men.

is watchtower beginning to relax this rule at last?

HappyHappyHappy1914

I too am interesting on where this was. I have yet to see any beards at my assemblies or conventions in the midwest USA. Ive heard that some locations, specifically Northern Europe, are a little more tolerant.

32

Peer presure to use Ipad

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

earlier this season i advised my retired father to ignore the use of a tablet during his kingdom hall congregational visits.

his response was hopefull, but between the lines i could hear he had no choice.. yesterday he showed me his new 600 euro 64 gb ipad air 2. he had no clue what he has to do with it, he told me one of the elders will install the jw.org apps.. so, i feel he had to deal with presure to buy this ipad and i think he is not the only one.. do you recognize this?.

gorby.

HappyHappyHappy1914

There is definitely strong pressure. At the sample meeting video, nearly everyone has an Ipad. And like good little sheep, many will look at that and start desiring them. In my hall,though, most of the older ones have dug in deep and refuse to get any kind of tablet. Part of me feels really sad for them. I think they get the sense that the "chariot" is passing them by as it pursues younger and more useful victims.

32

What more do they need to see?

by stuckinarut2 in

so bethelites are being decreased...bethel homes even sold off.... special pioneers no longer being funded.. magazines getting smaller and published less frequently.. building work stopping or being reduced.. no large conventions and renting of venues.. etc.... so, money is not coming in anymore to cover the "expenses"??.

didnt the first ever watchtower said that when this occurs, it would be evidence of god no longer blessing the activity....

oh, and throughout the years, we have constantly been told that the "growth of the org and the projects such as buildings and contributions" etc were evidence of gods blessing.... .

HappyHappyHappy1914

I feel like the whole belief structure is built around minimizing your own opinion and to not trust it. When something is off or strange, everyone does a collective "I don't understand, but Jehovahs is taking care of it" approach that after awhile it becomes normal. And despite all the videos, so much is done in secret. I wouldn't be surprised if most peoples reactions to the SPs being removed is...."I'm sure there planning something big they aren't telling us yet. I'm so excited!!!"

50

Coordinator of Elders Problems in One Southern England Circuit!

by The Searcher in

information just passed to me.

let's hope this becomes even more widespread.

i wonder if the britain branch suspects a conspiracy?

HappyHappyHappy1914

We just had our co visit and he made it clear to "remind the brothers of their dedication" i.e. Guilt the, into serving out. Over the next few years, when this problem gets worse and worse expect more pressure to be put on those not serving. Anthony Morris' comments about being 23 and a MS makes it clear how the gb feels about those serving.

15

I bought property, not that far from Watchtower land in Warrwick NY.

by Dunedain in

i wound up buying 26 acres of land in upstate ny, a few years ago.

i bought it strictly as an investment, due to rumors of there going to be huge development of the area.

it seems like casinos, walmart, and tons of building have started in the area, or are now breaking ground, since i purchased it.

HappyHappyHappy1914

it could lovingly house all those bethalites that have recently been booted out.

52

CO Comes Up With A New Way To Be Judgemental...

by JW_Rogue in

at the latest co visit something very strange happened.

during the meeting with the elders and servants he passed out a copy of a hypothetical publisher card and asked us what we could learn from it.

upon receiving it i saw that the average hours were pretty good, it had return visits and quite a few bible studies.

HappyHappyHappy1914

As someone who currently works on the time reports for my hall, I don't find this surprising at all. Many in our congregation are pretty clearly using their studies with their their unbaptized kids as the only means in which they have time. They are never out in the "field" and their report is always the exact same each month. That is also why whenever we have reports about "average hours" it is a complete joke. How many of those hours were parents watching caleb and sophia videos with a three year old?