Funky

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Posts by Funky

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  62

  -0:6 negative growth 2020 service year

  by Fadeaway1962 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  phttps://www.jw.org/finder?wtlocale=e&pub=syr20&srcid=share .

  plus another increase in memorial partakes number etc .

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  Funky

  Wow, punishing, brutal numbers for the WTS.

  Obviously, everything must be measured in the context of the pandemic, but still...

  To me the most telling number is the precipitous drop in Memorial attendance. Nearly a 15% decrease from 2019 to 2020.

  Of course it was not possible to meet in person for the Memorial last year, and the protocols for using Zoom for meetings were still pretty new (and thus some technophobe JWs might have had issues signing on), and Zoom wouldn't be an option in certain 3rd world areas.

  But still....15%!

  The 2021 Memorial will also be virtual. Nearly all western-world JWs are used to signing onto Zoom now, and the WTS has had a full year to plan out how to do [something] for areas where the technology infrastructure is not set up for virtual meetings.

  Attendance ought to be much higher in 2021 compared to 2020. Will it be?
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  11

  New-Old Light on Alternative Military Service

  by Vanderhoven7 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  not sure where i picked this up.

  "new-old light on alternative military service.

  fact 1: the watchtower sanctioned both military service and alternative military service under charles russell.. .

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  Funky

  Was it unrighteous on Jehovah's part to allow him to suffer for rejecting what he might do without consequences...

  What diabolical, shameless horse-pucky.

  No one is blaming "Jehovah".

  Who we are blaming are the f***ers who live in the ivory Bethel towers and make up arbitrary rules (alternative service ain't the only one) that cruellyand negatively affect the lives of thousands of people, then casually flip-flop and say "hey, don't blame Jehovah for following your conscience".

  "Jehovah" never said "alternative service is not allowed". It was Fred Franz & company. Note how after a "reasonable" time had passed after his death, they changed the policy?

  I don't believe in hell, but if there were one, I'd like there to be a special circle for people who callously inflict pain, degradation, and suffering on others....then cowardly deflect blame from themselves when they finally figure out they were wrong.
  
  
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  13

  Meeting Workbook - I am your inheritance - April 5-11

  by JWTom in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  similar to the bethelites being dismissed topic for march/april 2020 is the article for april 5-11 related to the idea "if you just do what jw.org says....then someone is going to slide cash under your door and it will all be good related to your future finances" (link below).. i know current jws that believe this and have pimi family that believe this.

  they believe these even though they have endlessly challenging finances even struggling to pay bills.

  the reality is that anyone struggling financially as a jw is going to be in a state of poverty just trying to survive.

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  Funky

  If 100% of JWs followed this advice, and relied on people sliding cash under the door or leaving bags of groceries on the doorstep....

  Who, exactly, would be earning the spare cash to slide under the door or to buy the groceries for others?
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  17

  Reading the Watchtower publications will give you an university education.

  by Overrated in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the watchtower said that reading their stuff would get you a college education.

  can anyone recall that gem?

  my parents sure bought into that crap.

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  Funky

  To be honest the Awakes from the 50s 60s and 70s were full of practical info. But in the 80s they lost that slowly and now the magazines are a joke.

  I'll echo that - the older magazines, when they stayed away from JW doctrine, were at least occasionally interesting.

  Now of course the Awake is published 3 times a year, 16 pages, including the front & back cover. Most articles are just bullet-pointed lists with prominent large-font scripture quotations and 2 inch margins.

  I.e., the amount of content of the Awake magazine has literally declined by about 98% from just 15 years ago.
  
  
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  34

  Are there more Bethel layoffs in the immediate future?

  by LongHairGal in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just saw a post on reddit: ‘wt are prepping the r&f for changes in the march/april meeting workbook’.. in the post the person noted what they read (for march 8) and it mentioned bethel adjustments and reference was made to 2015 when bethelites were let go.. if this happens (yet again) another bunch of people are being sent home to fend for themselves in the big bad world at an advanced age with little to no preparation.

  even though this doesn’t surprise me, it could not come at a worse time with a global pandemic and massive job loss everywhere..congregations are already in turmoil because of so many who reached retirement age totally unprepared because they were told armageddon would be here before they reached that age.

  this is in addition to all the other ‘needy’ and troubled types in the congregations looking for as$istance.. i hope any bethelites there have a plan and some people they can contact.

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  Funky

  When they "reassigned" the bethel workers to the field did they continue to provide their health insurance?

  For a "lucky" few, yes they did. If they were reassigned as special pioneers, they were still in the "special order" and thus kept their health coverage.

  Not all were reassigned as SPs of course. If reassigned as a lowly regular pioneer, they were 100% fully cut off from any and all Bethel support.

  I think in general, the more Bethel seniority you had, the better your chances of being appointed as a SP. All the Bethelites in my orbit who were kicked out in the past 10 or so years were all in their 40s / 50s and had been there 20+ years - and all were SPs.

  Not that being a SP puts you in a financially secure position - not even close. But at least they did get a little money every month and health care and reimbursement for some expenses such as gasoline.

  I imagine if there are to be more layoffs, it will be something similar. Folks in their 50s, and/or those with 20-30 years of service or more, would get first crack at the (probably limited) number of SP slots the WTS will create.
  
  
• 
  34

  Are there more Bethel layoffs in the immediate future?

  by LongHairGal in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just saw a post on reddit: ‘wt are prepping the r&f for changes in the march/april meeting workbook’.. in the post the person noted what they read (for march 8) and it mentioned bethel adjustments and reference was made to 2015 when bethelites were let go.. if this happens (yet again) another bunch of people are being sent home to fend for themselves in the big bad world at an advanced age with little to no preparation.

  even though this doesn’t surprise me, it could not come at a worse time with a global pandemic and massive job loss everywhere..congregations are already in turmoil because of so many who reached retirement age totally unprepared because they were told armageddon would be here before they reached that age.

  this is in addition to all the other ‘needy’ and troubled types in the congregations looking for as$istance.. i hope any bethelites there have a plan and some people they can contact.

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  Funky

  why bother with the outdated printed material?

  "Literature" for the apathy carts. And also to give the old-time JWs who don't know how to "preach" without a Watchtower in their hands something to hold onto.

  That is, of course, whenever apathy-cart witnessing and door-to-door start up again.
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  34

  Are there more Bethel layoffs in the immediate future?

  by LongHairGal in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just saw a post on reddit: ‘wt are prepping the r&f for changes in the march/april meeting workbook’.. in the post the person noted what they read (for march 8) and it mentioned bethel adjustments and reference was made to 2015 when bethelites were let go.. if this happens (yet again) another bunch of people are being sent home to fend for themselves in the big bad world at an advanced age with little to no preparation.

  even though this doesn’t surprise me, it could not come at a worse time with a global pandemic and massive job loss everywhere..congregations are already in turmoil because of so many who reached retirement age totally unprepared because they were told armageddon would be here before they reached that age.

  this is in addition to all the other ‘needy’ and troubled types in the congregations looking for as$istance.. i hope any bethelites there have a plan and some people they can contact.

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  Funky

  Even though most "literature" is now produced online, there was still a lot of actual paper printing going on, especially tracts for door-to-door as well as magazines to populate the apathy carts.

  What with the pandemic, not only has door to door been 100% stopped dead in its tracks, but also all those 10's or 100's of thousands of carts are just gathering dust in storerooms. No need to print millions of tracts & magazines every month, and no clear idea of when it will resume.

  I imagine that makes many thousands of Bethelites (worldwide) redundant.

  Now is a fine time, from a corporate business perspective, to send those thousands of Bethelites packing. Along with a hearty handshake and a cheerful "Keep warm and well-fed! Hope you find a job in the pandemic!" as they walk out the door.

  If / when printing operations start up again, they'll just put out a call for more (new) volunteers. There is, alas, no shortage of poorly educated 19-year-olds who would pierce their eyeballs with finishing nails if it meant the opportunity to "serve at Bethel".
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  13

  AM3: Scare your kids into the truth

  by neat blue dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  anthony morris iii on the 12/20 broadcast:.

  parents need to give their children a realistic idea of what we will face in the near future.. .

  .many parents choose to help their children appreciate the graphic visual imagery of a bible-based account while at the same time building trust in jehovah.

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  Funky

  How many hundreds or thousands of messages from "concerned parents" must have been received by Bethel for them to feel forced to defend their decisions on depicting violence and death?

  Of course, the real problem is all those parents realizing a moment of cognitive dissonance.

  Per official JW doctrine, Jehovah (well, actually, I guess, Gentle Jesus and his charging cavalry) are going to violently slaughter billions of men, women and children one day, including 10s of millions of infants who will "never know what hit them". There will be blood on the streets and gore on the sidewalks. Imagine the smell. And then imagine the smell after 3-4 days.

  That image is quite a contrast to the drawings of gentle lions and picnic tables overflowing with fruit, fruit, fruit, wonderful fruit, surrounded by colorful exotic humans in their "native" garb.

  And good ol' Tony. He seemed to be making an effort, but even so, his sneering contempt for people who fail to worship the ground he walks on still came through. "These are realistic depictions" he snarled.
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  39

  ExElder Friend Had To Go To His Former Kingdom Hall and this what he told me!

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  he was the secretary before he resigned years ago.

  he has a business that kept him involved with the kingdom hall.

  the hall was sold to another church.

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  Funky

  Hmm, yeah, I guess maybe I could see it if they were old records, stuff that probably could have been tossed but they held onto it due to laziness or fear that they might need it someday.

  Still, you'd think that somebody would think to go into the KH to retrieve the records before turning the keys over.

  My bad, I assumed the elders would have a responsible or rational course of action.
• 
  8

  Covid19 vaccines

  by Beth Sarim in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the breaking news in canada today is the rollout of the pfizer/biontech vaccines.

  perhaps we can put this pandemic nightmare to bed soon.. i hate to rain on the parade, but we yet are not clear of any allergic reactions, side effects there might be as they roll out.

  but, just have to wait and see...to state the obvious.

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  Funky

  But these “worldly” scientists, doctors etc, are all leading immoral lives, after work hours all manner of drug fueled orgies are they involved in, and you know God hates drug fueled orgies.

  Oh, and that's also why virtually all scientists "choose to believe in" the theory of evolution.

  If they did not, then they would realize they are then accountable to God, and thus would no longer have the freedom to engage in drug-fueled orgies.

  I heard this from a "very spiritual" JW who often said "very deep" things like this.