Posts by Thirdson

A 2% increase in publishers only resulted in 19 being baptized. The last time I was at Coventry, early 90s the attendance was 15,000 on the Sunday, about 130 congregations. 19 is not a very praiseworthy number.

I guess I know where my parents were at the weekend, chatting and napping in the luxury boxes.

Thirdson

10

Habitat for Humanity?

by og in

jw
friends

does anyone know anything about this organization, aside from the fact that jimmy carter is somehow associated with them?

i'm considering doing some volunteer work for them, but don't know really know much about them.

i believe they are "faith-based", which i'm not necessarily keen on, but they get people into houses and bypass government red tape, which i do like.

Thirdson

OG,

I have done various volunteer activities with various "faith-based" groups including H4H. In my experience, there is no pressure of religion and no discrimination based on religion. I work with one church, part of a consortium of different down-town church denominations that provide free meals to the homeless. The only religious aspect is a prayer said by a volunteer before the guests are invited in. There is no preaching, no converting and no pressure to join applied to either the volunteers and especially not the homeless people. The only literature distributed is a list of places to sleep and get meals at. If you turn up in rags or turn up in a suit you get a free meal no questions asked.

Mrs Thirdson and myself donated our state tax rebate to Habitat for Humantity last year as part of a drive to raise funds for a grant matching offer. Religious and non-religious people donanted knowing that H4H provides affordable housing to those in need regardless of their religious affliations. A $ million was raised last fall in Minneapolis for an Habitat project.

Regards,

Thirdson

25

Will the Wt Split?

by Satanus in

based on the pressure that is building both within the rank and file and in the top management, i was wondering about the possibility of the wt fracturing into 2 groups: fundamentalist and liberal.

the gb has recently taken a back seat to 3 new corporations.

these were added to the multitude of corps they already have.

Thirdson

Angry,

The corporations and their D&Os (whether GB or non-anointed as current) are controlled by the "members", whose loyalty to the GB has always been assured.

Maybe so, but, the corporations control what goes in the magazines and the new CCJW corporation writes the letters so how are the decrepid old men going to manipulate the "members" to their advantage? I think the GB is a powerless figurehead only. "New Light" I am sure will be able to explain how the Earthly organization can be led by non-annointed after all the "genuine" annointed are dead.

Thirdson

23

My Original Identity?

by Cassiline in

i just purchased, combatting cult mind control by steven hassan.. while reading i came across this comment,.

usually i am able to assist a person in making a dramatic recovery to his original identity.. -steven hassan.

i reread that statement over and over.

Thirdson

Cassi,

I know where you are coming from. Those of us raised as JWs don't have an original identity. We are stunted by being raised in the microscopic world of Watchtowerdom with all its limitations.

Don't be too upset with one person's statement that doesn't apply to us. We still have a chance to make an impact, to do some good, to become the people we want to be. Its our choice now because we are free. Don't let the cage limit your view. You are outside now and the world outside is rather large and sometimes rather scary. Welcome to the real world and real freedom make the most of it.

Thirdson

27

Well done Silent Lambs & Dateline

by Kismet in

this was prepared and presented far better than i could have ever imagined.. to all you individuals that stood up to goliath.

i am so proud to be in assoication with such strong people.. thank you bill for your efforts and willingness to put a name and face in front of the cameras spearheading this effort.. thank you dateline.

is it too early to look for a sequel?

Thirdson

Well done everyone involved.

I watched the program twice. My never-was-a-JW wife (Mrs. Thirdson)watched with me as did my son. I know other friends were planning to watch as well.

Not only was it damning but the Watchtower only added to the condemnation by submitting their own staged interview, by taking 6 months to respond to a Dateline request and then failing to show how straight and tough they claim they are by not providing clear evidence.

After the long, long period of anticipation the wait was worth it.

Thirdson

PS I liked the pictures from Watchtower books of all non-JWs dying at Armageddon too.

5

Dubs have been warned about Dateline show

by Mulan in

this last weekend, there was a circuit assembly (one day) for our area.

the guy from new york, who was the main speaker, warned those in attendance about a television program, coming up, that attempts to discredit them, but 'remember that those who are on the show, are apostates'.. the one who told about it, was very anxious to see the show.

it might backfire on them.

Thirdson

Mulan,

They'd be better off keeping quiet and hoping that most would miss seeing the program especially as it falls on a meeting night. Saying "keep away" is the biggest enticement to watch it or even record it and watch it later.

Thirdson

14

population explosion

by ballistic in

jw
friends

http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m1272/n2638_v127/20954305/p1/article.jhtml?term=.

author/s: william g. hollingsworth.

issue: july, 1998. despite optimistic forecasts of falling birthrates in the developed world, high fertility in asia, africa, and the middle east remains a threat to the planet's resources.. about 1,500,000 people--roughly a new milwaukee, wis.--are being added to the world's population every week of the year, fueling an ongoing debate over the present and future implications of population growth.

Thirdson

I tried to post yesterday but my connection got severed just as I was posting and lost it all.

About 20 years ago JW public speakers suggested that the world's entire human population number about 20-25 billion in all history of which 4 billion were alive. Based on utilizing every bit of desert and tundra the Earth might be able to support a population of such a size.

However, the total human population is estimated at 100 billion (Popular Science, March 2002) of which 6% is alive today. If only 6 million JWs survived Armageddon tomorrow there could still be a resurrected population of over 90 billion people. With that population people would have to be housed in densely populated cities just like today. Forgeting about the industry needed to support a huge transport system the Earth would still need a vast network of roads and railroads to distribute food evenly. So forget about being able to live in a rural agricultural community looking like New England in the foot-hills of Mount Fuji as portrayed by the Watchtower. It aint gonna happen.

At least the Mormon idea of individual planets to inherit helps with the logistics of a massive next-life populations.

Thirdson

11

UK Service report - February 2002

by dmouse in

jw
friends

this is over a 1000 down over last month, which mirrors other years.. nothing much to report in this month's kingdom ministry, just the usual crap of study more, preach more and attend all the meetings; oh, and give us more money.. dmouse .

judge me by my size do you?

- yoda

Thirdson

It has been nearly seven years since I left the UK. I have a couple of KMs from 1995 and one includes the Feb service report for that year. During my absence things have really declined. Comparing Februaries:

Spl Pios down 7
Pios down 300
Aux Pios down 716
Pubs down 817
Total down 1840

Hours are down across the board and Bible Studies don’t seem to be conducted anymore. Only one in five publishers count a monthly Bible Study and that includes family studies.

What I notice though is a dramatic increase in magazine placements (average up from 7.8 to 12.1). Is this all that field service consists of, giving away free magazines? Has the reprinted issue on terrorism affected the totals?

Despite being a short month there are still 4 weekends in February and this is CA season. So why only 123 baptized? That number represents about 0.5 persons per congregation attending a CA or special assembly day that month. Aren’t kids getting baptized anymore?

Thirdson

33

Well, here's my story... Like it or not.

by staceman in

wow... i feel guilty about even being here, let alone posting my story.

but here goes.... it was back in the late 60's that my dad (actually stepdad who adopted me and my older sister when he married our mother) got witnessed to by a guy that he worked with.

he was invited to our house for dinner along with his wife and that was the beginning of my new life.

Thirdson

Staceman,

This is the first time I have seen your post, I seem to have mnissed a lot recently.

I hope I can get to meet you in the near future (at Gopher's event). Until then if you ever want to talk just e-mail me and we can exchange phone numbers. I am not that far from you (distance, age or experience-wise).

Thirdson