ThomasMore

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Posts by ThomasMore

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  23

  2022 WTS Numbers

  by blondie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  2022 grand totals.

  branches of jehovah’s witnesses: 86. .

  number of lands reporting: 239. .

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  ThomasMore

  Hellothere - I think Prince was a good donator to the cong he attended. WTC hoped to get a piece of his estate but that was not in the cards from what I hear. ALthough he was generous locally, he seemed to have enough sense not to leave anything to WTC headquarters. If I am wrong, someone please correct me.
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  15

  bringing up the 1954 Walsh Trial

  by enoughisenough in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i went back into this forum a little ways and found quite a bit of discussion on the walsh (1954) for those newly out or those who don't know of what i write, you should really check it out.

  anyone who is a jw or studying with jw should see material from this trial.

  my take away...the printed materials of the wtbts were to believed over the bible and if you didn't believe the wt teachings over the bible, ( even though they admit to false prophesy )you would be disfellowshipped and deserving of death.

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  ThomasMore

  Slim, the Moyle case was revealing, but especially in the way WTC spitefully paid the award - IN COINS. I can barely imagine the real problem Moyle had wrapping all those coins so that a bank would accept them. I speak from experience when I say it would take many months to wrap that many coins. Getting a bank to accept them would also be more than a task for the most determined.

  I thought that the court should have doubled or even tripled the award when that happened. It was a scummy thing and lots of people became aware of their reluctance to abide by the courts decision.
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  169

  Are the statistics out yet?

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  isn’t it about time they released the report for the service year?

  or have they stopped publishing it?

  did they released selected figures at the annual meeting as they usually do, such as the memorial attendance or record number of pioneers?

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  ThomasMore

  Gorb said "It's a fake report so in reality it is far more down."

  Gorb, I think we would all be shocked at the "REAL" numbers if they actually published them unvarnished. WTC has a poker face but the sweat beads are showing.
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  169

  Are the statistics out yet?

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  isn’t it about time they released the report for the service year?

  or have they stopped publishing it?

  did they released selected figures at the annual meeting as they usually do, such as the memorial attendance or record number of pioneers?

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  ThomasMore

  Unlike the years of growth that are now far behind them in the rearview mirror, WTC faces a near impossible uphill slog to recover - THE INTERNET.

  Like a child who builds sandcastles at low tide, WTC faced no formidable criticism in the pre-internet era. Some disputed but it was hard to find their criticism and WTC had the bully pulpit to counteract anything that "wicked apostates" brewed up in their caldron. But the high tide of the internet arrived and now eveything WTC builds get wave after wave of exposure from a vast assortment of scholars, exJWs, and human advocates who expose the nonsense, washing it away as fast as they can spew it out.

  The gig is up for WTC. They may not completely dissentegrate soon, but the writing is on the wall - Mene, Mene, Tekel and Parsin. Their Kingdom has been weighed in the balance and found deficient. Slaves are now leaving in droves as the shackles are broken. Sound familiar?
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  27

  So where oh where did Judge Rutherford come up with JW theology?

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  bits of unreported history that may be of casual interest… as to doctrinal origins.

  sykes was one-of-a-kind in the pentecostal movement, but he was considered quite a maverick who went his own way with heretical teachings repugnant to the pentecostal faith.. joshua sykes’ congregation was integrated, unlike pastor russell’s public speeches/sermons where blacks and whites both could attend, but only in separate sections--sykes's members were sitting side by side in the pentecostal church.

  this was considered dangerous and inflammatory at the time.. pentecostal preacher joshua sykes practiced racial and gender "integration" as early as 1908 -- having both african-american and female assistant preachers, staffers, and members.

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  ThomasMore

  Reasonfirst, Fred Franz did have his own collection that remained in his locked office for years after his death until it was catalogued and boxed away. His vision had failed many years before his death so he had ceased to read them and there is no record of others reading them for him. However, his thinking was clearly influenced by non-JW literature, but never shared with the R&F or with the Writing Dept officially. To get his viewpoints, you would have had to follow him to the sauna he frequeted weekly along with other young Bethelites who viewed him as the oracle of WTC, Socrates.
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  27

  So where oh where did Judge Rutherford come up with JW theology?

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  bits of unreported history that may be of casual interest… as to doctrinal origins.

  sykes was one-of-a-kind in the pentecostal movement, but he was considered quite a maverick who went his own way with heretical teachings repugnant to the pentecostal faith.. joshua sykes’ congregation was integrated, unlike pastor russell’s public speeches/sermons where blacks and whites both could attend, but only in separate sections--sykes's members were sitting side by side in the pentecostal church.

  this was considered dangerous and inflammatory at the time.. pentecostal preacher joshua sykes practiced racial and gender "integration" as early as 1908 -- having both african-american and female assistant preachers, staffers, and members.

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  ThomasMore

  Terry, thanks for that excellent ensemble of facts!! Well researched and very much appreciated!!!
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  169

  Are the statistics out yet?

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  isn’t it about time they released the report for the service year?

  or have they stopped publishing it?

  did they released selected figures at the annual meeting as they usually do, such as the memorial attendance or record number of pioneers?

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  ThomasMore

  I am still amazed that despite WTC's exhaustive efforts to prevent anyone from seeing the genuine state of their organization, some still put credence in the annual report. Not only have their methods of counting changed in order to inflate the numbers, they ignore the measurement tools that are necessary to determine their real growth or decline.

  They make it impossible to determine the number of KHs that are still being used vs the ones that have been sold.

  They make it impossible to determine the number of congregations still active vs the ones that have been dissolved/merged.

  They dumb down the amount of time required to count a person as a publisher so that the numbers no longer reflect REAL publishers vs 15 min publishers who were just listed as "active" by Secretaries who did not want to document a decline for fear of the C.O.

  They do not publish the number of faders/DFings/DAing which could indicate a trend down or up.

  They do not publish the number of deaths.

  They do not publish the average age of those baptised.

  If I reported stats in my job like WTC reports, I would be fired. As for those who compare them to other religions, please consider that other religions are more honest in their reporting. As for non-JW reports, be aware that many inactive still identify as JWs due to the deep indoctrination stigma of identifying as something else. I did that for years after I left until the shackles completely fell off.

  Given WTC's propensity to lie/obfuscate/spin, I am surprised that anyone bothers to read the report at all.

  It is clear to me that the ex-JW presence on social media is growing exponentially, and the numbers support that statement. The growing hatred toward anyone that they see as out of step tells me that they are devouring one another.
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  76

  Front row seats watching the collapse of watchtower

  by Indoubtbigtime in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i’m a pimo ministerial servant and i won’t fade because i want to keep my front row seats watching what happens next few years.. my predictions are that this current governing body will slowly die off and the current younger helpers will be the next gb.

  they will eventually have new light that they were wrong about 1914 and the overlapping generations.. the new light will be something on the lines of the last days are now because of king of north king of south pushing each other etc etc.

  they will do their very best to burry old literature and try to change the past trying to make it sound like they were right all along just as they have done for 150 years now.

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  ThomasMore

  Gorb - they transformed because they were collapsing. They hired a PR Agency and rebranded as JW.org. It didn't just happen through natural organic change - it was calculated.

  What is happening now is that the old problems they sought to distance themselves from have returned.
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  76

  Front row seats watching the collapse of watchtower

  by Indoubtbigtime in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i’m a pimo ministerial servant and i won’t fade because i want to keep my front row seats watching what happens next few years.. my predictions are that this current governing body will slowly die off and the current younger helpers will be the next gb.

  they will eventually have new light that they were wrong about 1914 and the overlapping generations.. the new light will be something on the lines of the last days are now because of king of north king of south pushing each other etc etc.

  they will do their very best to burry old literature and try to change the past trying to make it sound like they were right all along just as they have done for 150 years now.

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  ThomasMore

  Hellothere - the numbers ARE indeed fake.
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  76

  Front row seats watching the collapse of watchtower

  by Indoubtbigtime in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i’m a pimo ministerial servant and i won’t fade because i want to keep my front row seats watching what happens next few years.. my predictions are that this current governing body will slowly die off and the current younger helpers will be the next gb.

  they will eventually have new light that they were wrong about 1914 and the overlapping generations.. the new light will be something on the lines of the last days are now because of king of north king of south pushing each other etc etc.

  they will do their very best to burry old literature and try to change the past trying to make it sound like they were right all along just as they have done for 150 years now.

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  ThomasMore

  I recall a group of houses on a beach that we used to see often. Year after year after year we drove past them and we thought they would always be there. One day, a storm hit that stretch of beach directly and POOF! - THEY WERE GONE!!

  Likewise, just because WTC has survived since 1879, does not mean that they will always be here. The storm is beginning to hit them directly in civil and criminal (yes criminal) judgements. Don't be surprised to hear that the GB has left with their Go Bags.

  Some cases are brewing now that may have the effect of a direct storm hit. Even if they survive, they will be a shadow of what they used to be.