Posts by Skimmer

16

DEEMINZ AT THE KINGDOM HALL!

by TR in

jw
friends

the other day, i was sharing with my non jw, never has been jw, never would be a jw catholic wife the story silent lambs told us about his last visit to the kh.

i was inspired to visit the kh and play some mind games.. my wife bettered my idea and threw in the idea to make something "demonic" happen at the hall while i'm there.

maybe a hidden tape recorder of some evil sounds or some other tricks.

If the Kingdom hall has an answering machine for its telephone, there are ways of hacking into it and re-recording the greeting message for some harmless fun, or for leaving a pointer to this or a related web site.

This was done once for a toy company who sold a hand held puzzle like Rubik's Cube. The puzzle contained an official pay-per-call phone number that purchasers could ask for help in solving the puzzle. Some one re-recorded the number's message with something like "Gosh, you really must be pathetically stupid to have to call this number".

The idea for "improvement" by covert re-recording I got from someone who suggested a similar trick for "improving" rental video tapes. His idea was to rent some tapes from the "adult' section of an otherwise mainstream video rental outlet and re-record the juicy parts with clips from Disney animation. He figured that the guys who rented the tape afterwards would be too embarrassed to complain about the "improvements".

9

Did WTS encourage college back then?

by sf in

jw
friends

please post vital wt articles stating basically college was not for jws and why it wasnt....and... what is the societies "new light" now?

thx.

i need this asap!!.

Skimmer

Remember that there is always more than just the publicly available printed publications on most WTBTS directives. From my experience back in the 1972-1973 time frame, anyone who became known as considering college was immediately branded as a bad association. And it was not just fear of exposure to sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll. The big point at that time was 1975 and anyone who was willing to start a four year program that lasted after 1975 was marked as being unfaithful and also ungrateful for the "fine spiritual food in due season". There was also guilt by association; any male who let his children consider college was removed from consideration for any kind of advancement in responsibility or position.

16

DEEMINZ AT THE KINGDOM HALL!

by TR in

jw
friends

the other day, i was sharing with my non jw, never has been jw, never would be a jw catholic wife the story silent lambs told us about his last visit to the kh.

i was inspired to visit the kh and play some mind games.. my wife bettered my idea and threw in the idea to make something "demonic" happen at the hall while i'm there.

maybe a hidden tape recorder of some evil sounds or some other tricks.

Skimmer

Some ideas:

1) Leave a cigarette butt in a urinal or floating in a toilet at the Kingdom Hall during any of the non-public meetings. Repeat on a weekly basis. Losing lottery tickets could also be placed in semi-inconspicuous places

2) Hack into the sound system; place a hidden radio receiver that can be switched on by remote signal. Transmit various enlightening information. The possibilities are endless.

3) If the library has audio or video cassettes, these can have segments re-recorded. Fun, fun, fun. Extra credit if an "improved" cassette recording of a Kingdom Melody is played during a meeting.

4) Place a copy of _Crisis of Conscience_ in the library, but first have it re-bound with a cover from some WTBTS book. See how long it lasts. Repeat with bindings from other WTBTS books.

5) Religious tracts from other groups can fit nicely into the contribution boxes.

6) A contribution box might also be improved if one were to deposit a floppy disk with a bunch of HTML pages from this and related sites.

34

Eight questions about Nathan Knorr

by Skimmer in

jw
friends

i have some questions about nathan knorr, the third president (1942-1977) of the wtbts.

accurate answers are welcome.. 1) how did it come about that knorr was made president of the wtbts in 1942 after the death of joseph rutherford?

rutherford as we know was an usurper inheritor of russell's wtbts in late 1916 after russell went to his reward.

Skimmer

The story about Rutherford being secretly buried in the middle of the night is almost too strange to be credible. Yet somehow I can almost picture Knorr and a few other of Rutherford's bodyguards shoveling away at the Beth Sarim site. Maybe Knorr as the new WTBTS president acted as the police look-out while the other cane-wielders dug away. Has the city of San Diego ever been notified of this? Positive results of an exhumation would be most embarrassing for the WTBTS, even if the statute of limitations for illegal internment has long expired. If there was enough evidence of a secret burial, perhaps the San Diego coroner staff just be interested given that the city had earlier denied a permit for a private burial at the site.

What would the WTBTS do if someone wrote them and told them that there was an effort to get the San Diego authorities involved to resolve the question. Would the WTBTS go into denial mode? If they know that there is a secret grave, would they admit it, or would they just stay silent and hope that no one would investigate?

If I had Rutherford buried under my garage, I'd dig him up and auction off the remains.

The alternative of Rutherford being planted in a Staton Island Methodist cemetery is easier to believe. But if there is a tombstone there with Rutherford's name on it, perhaps there's just an empty coffin underneath.

----------------

In Dante's _Divine Comedy_, there is a special place reserved in Hell for heretics with special treatment for those who converted many away from the real faith. It is located on the outskirts of the Infernal City of Dis, and it is a cemetery of sorts with all the coffins above ground. Each coffin has the name of its unfortunately conscious occupant marked on the outside. Each is made of metal and is sealed for all eternity. The temperature of a coffin is proportionate to the damage done by the occupant. Some glow a dull orange while others are bright red. A few are white hot.

34

Eight questions about Nathan Knorr

by Skimmer in

jw
friends

i have some questions about nathan knorr, the third president (1942-1977) of the wtbts.

accurate answers are welcome.. 1) how did it come about that knorr was made president of the wtbts in 1942 after the death of joseph rutherford?

rutherford as we know was an usurper inheritor of russell's wtbts in late 1916 after russell went to his reward.

Skimmer

Personally, I think that Knorr takes the number one spot on the WTBTS Evil Chart because it was during his tenure that the most damaging doctrines originated or the worst in the existing doctrines were made more prominent. In all but the last year of his three and a half decades running the show in Brooklyn, he had just about complete control over the output of the printing presses. In was under his administration the Fred Franz was able to propagate his screwy type/anti-type baloney and his chronological speculations. It was under his administration that the unfortunate JWs in Malawi were persecuted while the JWs in Mexico enjoyed their organizationally approved "non-religious cultural association" and their party/military membership cards. It was under his administration that the modern judicial/shunning policies came about. It was his administration that prohibited blood transfusions (since modified) and organ transplants (later overturned). It was his administration that continued the goofy policy of no vaccinations started under Rutherford (later overturned). All of this happened on Knorr's watch, and that makes him responsible.

I think the anonymity policy was done for only one reason. Since Knorr was not prolific as a writer, he didn't want anyone else to gain prominence and possibly control.

Fred Franz gets the number two spot on the Evil Chart with Rutherford close behind. I can see why some might switch these two positions. Freddie wins because of his long years of influence. Rutherford gets points by being the most vile, backstabbing, and hypocritical WTBTS president.

I place Russell as a distant fourth. Other may disagree, and in doing so present the valid claim that he was the WTBTS founder and so can be held in part for all subsequent actions of the WTBTS. Yet I'm sure that if Russell could have foreseen how Rutherford perverted Russell's ideas, then Russell would never have allowed Rutherford a chance of a takeover.

38

Adam to be Resurrected - Yes?

by Focus in

jw
friends

will adam be resurrected?.

focus.

(anti-flipfloppery class)

Skimmer

A few years before his death in 1992, Fred Franz wrote an article entitled something like "My Life as A JW" that was published in one of the magazines. In the piece, he commented about an early meeting he had with Russell where Franz asked Russell about the question of the resurrection of Adam. Franz phrased the question in a way that he thought the answer was definitely in the negative, and Russell commented that "he had answered his own question".

So Russell at the time (ca. 1912?) thought that Adam wasn't coming back.

34

Eight questions about Nathan Knorr

by Skimmer in

jw
friends

i have some questions about nathan knorr, the third president (1942-1977) of the wtbts.

accurate answers are welcome.. 1) how did it come about that knorr was made president of the wtbts in 1942 after the death of joseph rutherford?

rutherford as we know was an usurper inheritor of russell's wtbts in late 1916 after russell went to his reward.

Skimmer

I have some questions about Nathan Knorr, the third president (1942-1977) of the WTBTS. Accurate answers are welcome.

1) How did it come about that Knorr was made president of the WTBTS in 1942 after the death of Joseph Rutherford? Rutherford as we know was an usurper inheritor of Russell's WTBTS in late 1916 after Russell went to his reward. Since Rutherford knew he was dying in 1942, did he try to extend his influence beyond the grave and so hand pick Knorr in a hope to retain the policies at the time?

2) Is it accurate to say that Knorr was nearly single handedly responsible for the prohibition on blood transfusions?

3) Is it accurate to say that Knorr was nearly single handedly responsible for the establishment of the modern shunning doctrine?

4) There was a report that Brooklyn Bethel residency was off limits to married people -- until the day that Knorr got married. Is this true?

5) There was also a report that Knorr was a closeted homosexual, and that his marriage was a sham and a cover-up. Is this accurate?

6) Where is Knorr buried? I doubt if he has a pyramid grave site marker like Russell, but it still might be interesting to get a photo on the web. For that matter, where are Rutherford and Fred Franz planted?

7) If Knorr was responsible for most of the post 1942 quack medicine and disfellowshipping teachings, do you think he has more blame for total human suffering than all the other WTBTS leaders put together?

8) Why do you think that Knorr established the general policy on anonymity for WTBTS writings?

8

The handwriting on the wall

by Skimmer in

jw
friends

the best leading indicator of the jw membership count is the baptism count as it directly measures the efficiency of the field service.

the baptism numbers represent the combined result of total hours, total literature, and total bible studies; it is the most reliable predictor of future membership counts.. and this is what has the wtbts worried.

they see the handwriting on the wall in nearly all of the developed countires and also some lesser developed countries.

Skimmer

The baptisms of children of members is also a part of the field service; the WTBTS sees it that way as far as counting bible studies, hours preached, and literature placed. The difference is that the audience in this case is somewhat captive; they can't close the door. At least until they move out of the house.

An intersting derived statistic is the conversion rate. This is nominally the number of baptisms divided by the number of bible studies. Some family bible studies may be with baptized members, but probably at least one person (and maybe more than one) in each of such is unbaptized. The WTBTS does not publish the total bible study count, but does give the average bible study count. Some bible studies may go on for years, but others may last only a few weeks. If we assume that a bible study lasts about one year, then the conversion rate for 2000 was:

(baptism count) / (average bible studies) = 288907 / 4766631 = 0.0606

So about six percent of bible studies lead to a baptism. Just slightly less than one out of sixteen.

Conversion rates for some (mostly) English speaking countries:

Australia: 8.23%
Britain: 7.31%
Canada: 6.99%
Ireland: 7.75%
New Zealand: 6.98%
United States: 7.13%

All of the above are higher than the average. Are study conductors in these countries more efficient? Perhaps so, although the baptism count overall trend for each of the above is not encouraging (to the WTBTS, at least).

----------

Another list: "lands" with ZERO baptisms in 2000:

American Samoa
Anguilla
Azerbajan
Comoros
Falkland Islands
Libya
Liechtenstein
Mayotte
Montserrat
Nauru
Nevis
Niue
Norfolk Island
Saba
St. Eustatius
St. Pierre & Miquelon
Tinian
Tokelau

8

The handwriting on the wall

by Skimmer in

jw
friends

the best leading indicator of the jw membership count is the baptism count as it directly measures the efficiency of the field service.

the baptism numbers represent the combined result of total hours, total literature, and total bible studies; it is the most reliable predictor of future membership counts.. and this is what has the wtbts worried.

they see the handwriting on the wall in nearly all of the developed countires and also some lesser developed countries.

Skimmer

The best leading indicator of the JW membership count is the baptism count as it directly measures the efficiency of the field service. The baptism numbers represent the combined result of total hours, total literature, and total bible studies; it is the most reliable predictor of future membership counts.

And this is what has the WTBTS worried. They see the handwriting on the wall in nearly all of the developed countires and also some lesser developed countries. A one year decline in baptisms can be easily dismissed as a statistical fluke. Two consecutive years of decline is harder to explain in a good light. Three of more years of baptism count decline can only mean that the field service in a country is near collapse, or has already collapsed.

Here is a list of those countries that have had three or more consecutive years of decline in baptisms.

Three consecutive years of decline in baptisms:

Argentina
Cuba
Guatemala
India
Malawi
United States
Venezula

Four consecutive years of decline in baptisms:

Britain
Estonia
Germany
Hungary
Latvia
Mexico
Portugal
Russia
Switzerland

Five consecutive years of decline in baptisms:

Belgium
Canada
Finland
Poland
Slovakia
Sweden

Seven consecutive years of decline in baptisms:

Czech Republic
Italy
Japan

Eight consecutive years of decline in baptisms:

Denmark

Eleven consecutive years of decline in baptisms:

France

8

Rutherford's Records Return

by Skimmer in

jw
friends

in the days of the wtbts under the presidency of rutherford a lifetime ago, jws hauled phonographs from door to door and played records of rutherford's advertising speeches.

a sort of early experiment with multimedia.. the idea has returned in a way.

you don't have to go to brooklyn or even a kingdom hall anymore to get a first taste of official wtbts media.

Skimmer

In the days of the WTBTS under the presidency of Rutherford a lifetime ago, JWs hauled phonographs from door to door and played records of Rutherford's advertising speeches. A sort of early experiment with multimedia.

The idea has returned in a way. You don't have to go to Brooklyn or even a Kingdom Hall anymore to get a first taste of official WTBTS media. They now have a video that they stream out on the Internet. I'd watch it for amusement, but I don't use Real Media software. If you do and would like to see it, check out: http://www.watchtower.org/library/vcpf/index.htm