Posts by TonusOH

23

2022 WTS Numbers

by blondie in

jw
friends

2022 grand totals.

branches of jehovah’s witnesses: 86. .

number of lands reporting: 239. .

They rely on things being bad enough that additional people will join as a hedge ("maybe they're right, it can't hurt..."). Which is what makes the numbers distressing for them, that during a period when you had a ready-made 'sign of the end' (a worldwide "plague!" a war that might spread! faltering economies!) they could not keep the rank and file engaged and they could not draw in more new converts.

A high control cult doesn't have quite as much control when the members are not within easy reach all of the time. I think that the biggest concern now for the WTS is not the numbers, it is what might be happening among the members who are already in. How many PIMI became PIMO during the past three years? Who will be more of an influence on the rest... the ones who stay dedicated and grind it out every week, or the ones who do just enough to get by and seem less stressed?

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

Maybe they only cared that he was a paying client. If they offered to work pro bono, then they deserve to get laughed at.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

TonusOH

I think he understood that the criminal suit (and the civil suits, should he file them) aren't going anywhere. It was a shot in the dark, one of a handful of options at his disposal for intimidating and bullying Kim and anyone who supported her or who criticized him. I do think that he expected it to work as a deterrent. Combined with harassment from his followers, it would be enough to teach his critics a lesson: don't mess with him or he'll destroy you.

Again, I think what he underestimated was how the actions he admitted to would be received, including by many of his supporters. He figured that everyone would agree that Kim's betrayal was the issue, and that his behavior was a family matter and no one else's business. Maybe he felt that, at this point, his patrons owed him their dollars and had to justify ending their support. As he has discovered... that's not how it works.

141

My Prediction Regarding New Space Telescope That Will See Back to 100 Million Years From the Big Bang

by Sea Breeze in

a new space telescope launched a few days age that will supposedly be able to see to within 100 million years of the big bang.

wow... only 100 million years from the big bang.

that is pretty early given the 12 billion year age of the universe assigned by scholars who adhere to naturalism.

TonusOH

If I don't have an answer or explanation for how something happened, that does not release anyone else from the obligation to demonstrate why their explanation is valid. You cannot say "you can't explain this, so my guess must be accepted." Not if you value knowledge and learning and actual truth.

169

Are the statistics out yet?

by slimboyfat in

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?

TonusOH

I don't like the argument that a desire to see the WTS fail is just hate, or that we should take their good deeds into account to balance out the bad. How many good deeds would balance out the scales of all the damage their shunning and two-witness policies have caused? I don't hate the WTS or any JW. But they actively harm people in various ways, and I wish that would stop. And since their core policies are driving this harm, it's difficult to see how they could stop without such drastic changes as would potentially end its existence.

I don't ignore the issues with other institutions or organizations, but this forum is specifically dealing with the WTS and JWs and my life experience was with the JWs. So my comments will necessarily trend in that direction.

30

It’s started COBE asking all appointed men if they are fully vaccinated

by Indoubtbigtime in

there is a huge problem now in all congregations as the gb stubbornly will not do the u turn on staying fully vaccinated that many hoped they would do.. all congregations around the world the cobe has to ask all ministerial servants and elders if they are fully vaccinated (meaning no more than six months since last shot).

there is a massive problem now with many many jdubs not getting their latest boosters and not wanting to stay fully vaccinated .

but more serious than that is how the gb painted themselves into a corner with these vaccine mandates.. most governments did a u turn on the vax mandates but the gb can’t get out of this one so easily .

TonusOH

What does COBE stand for?

As for the vax mandates, anything that helps the rank and file wake up sooner can only be a good thing.

15

2022 Service Report is Out

by Bartolomeo in

warning: this post doesn't belong to me, i took it from reddit and posted it here.

news.

+0.4% growth in publishers globally.

TonusOH

FFGhost: Trying to think what words best describe the numbers…..

Promising?

27

How did you find Jehovah's Witness meetings?

by Vanderhoven7 in

i personally have only attended a handful of meetings at kingdom halls.

i did not enjoy any of them nor was i impressed by anything that was conveyed.

perhaps others did not find them boring as i did.. nadia viotto has this to say about her experience.

TonusOH

They were fairly banal. Largely because the format was designed that way: the content was delivered in a purely informational format by speakers who were expected to stick to the material provided. The only time I can remember people perking up was when there were announcements to be made; even if they weren't dramatic, they were at least a change of pace and something that we could process mentally. Otherwise, the meetings are the equivalent of writing a phrase 100 times on a chalkboard, which is the sort of thing that was used to punish misbehaving schoolchildren.

People went because they had to, and to the extent that we enjoyed the meeting, it was because we got to get together with friends and have a bit of conversation before and after the meeting itself.

16

Church buys GEICO Woodbury property for $27M

by Rattigan350 in

https://libn.com/2023/01/09/church-buys-geico-woodbury-property-for-27m/.

after a previous sale fell through, geico has sold its sprawling woodbury property for $27 million.

the buyer for the 236,365-square-foot office building on 20 acres at 750 woodbury road is the christian congregation of jehovah’s witnesses.

TonusOH

Yeah, I wonder what they plan to build there. The Long Island Railroad has a stop in Oyster Bay, so it's probably convenient for city dwellers to get there.

16

Church buys GEICO Woodbury property for $27M

by Rattigan350 in

https://libn.com/2023/01/09/church-buys-geico-woodbury-property-for-27m/.

after a previous sale fell through, geico has sold its sprawling woodbury property for $27 million.

the buyer for the 236,365-square-foot office building on 20 acres at 750 woodbury road is the christian congregation of jehovah’s witnesses.

TonusOH

Shot:

In 2021, GEICO was in contract to sell its Woodbury property to a New Jersey-based developer, but the deal fell through when it became apparent that Town of Oyster Bay wouldn’t allow a redevelopment of the site into a warehousing and distribution complex.

Chaser:

the biggest loser in the Woodbury transaction is likely the Town of Oyster Bay, since as a religious organization, the new owner of the property would be tax exempt.

Whoops! Guess they should've let the original sale go through...