88JM

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Posts by 88JM

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  11

  Instead Of Begging and Badgering Witnesses For Money, What Expenses Could The COs And Governing Body Cut-back?

  by ÁrbolesdeArabia in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the watchtower is hurting for cash, the circuit overseers are asking everyone throughout the industrialized world to donate their "valuable things" to aid the massive growth in areas where funds are not plentiful.

  the united states is covered with quarters and half-dollars on their streets, we just need to pick them up and put them in the donation box.. .

  there are many areas the watchtower can trim or cut costs to save money.

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  88JM

  Probably even more reliance on the website - i.e. print your own calendar, do the daily text online or with the CD-ROM, limiting printed yearbooks and daily texts in internet-connected countries to 1 per family etc.
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  Looking For 2012 cdrom Thread and Quote Re: WTS 'Carefully Researches Info'

  by Justitia Themis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i thought i marked these two threads for future reference, but apparently i did not.. #1) 2012 cdrom:.

  i am looking for the cdrom thread.

  also, is anyone willing to get me a hard copy of the cdrom?

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  88JM

  CD-ROM threads here - haven't checked my download links, so let me know if none of them are working:

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/243812/1/Watchtower-Library-2012-download

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/243270/1/Watchtower-Library-2012-download
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  33

  My attempt at correcting a heavily biased Wiki article

  by cedars in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  she was prevented from going to the authorities?

  details of the policy have been published in jehovah's witnesses' publications and press releases issued by their office of public information.

  if there is evidence to suggest that the alleged perpetrator did abuse children, congregation duties are suspended.[8].

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  88JM

  Wikipedia is a whole different cult of it's own
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  61

  2013 District Convention Program: ‘God’s Word is Truth!’

  by bats in the belfry in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  .

  unlike god's word, that jws believe to be absolute truth, any one of their directives given at the 2013 district convention could be subject to misinterpretation.. .

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  88JM

  Finishing at 4:50 pm on Friday and Saturday? That sucks even more.
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  88

  10 Years Japan losses 5,400 Publishers and 638 Kingdom Halls! Why?

  by Witness 007 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  japan had a handful of witnesses after ww 2....this number skyrocketed to 222,912 by 1998!

  then something happened.

  publisher figures didn't stop, they dropped by thousands over the next decade!.

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  88JM

  Comparing it to the UK, Japanese publishers still do way more hours - the average publisher would have no problem doing the special 30-hour pioneering a month.

  However, despite all their hours and having 60% more publishers, their baptisms are now about on par with the UK. This would seem to indicate there are far more hours wasted.

  Though they do have 54% more studies per publisher, it does look like it's much harder to get a study to baptism - their study to baptism ratio is much bigger than the UK.
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  20

  Book of Mormon the musical

  by Tiktaalik in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i went and saw the book of mormon when i was in nyc last week.

  it was superb.

  so many great songs and so, so funny.

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  88JM

  Any Brits watching the Culture Show on BBC1 just now? Alan Yentob talking to Mormons about their work and reaction to the musical.
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  88

  At JW.Org, for kids, a connect the dots coloring page of Lot's wife turning into salt.

  by Theocratic Sedition in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/family/children/picture-activities/lots-wife-becomes-salt/.

  is it me or is this kinda sick?

  i mean i can understand learning from the account, but this is kinda deviant.

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  88JM

  Am I doing it wrong?

  For the next join-the-dots, I vote a picture of Jael hammering a tent peg into Sisera's skull.

  
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  88

  10 Years Japan losses 5,400 Publishers and 638 Kingdom Halls! Why?

  by Witness 007 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  japan had a handful of witnesses after ww 2....this number skyrocketed to 222,912 by 1998!

  then something happened.

  publisher figures didn't stop, they dropped by thousands over the next decade!.

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  88JM

  By popular demand...

  Japan

  At first it looks a bit like a post-2000 drop off, but on inspection, problems seem to start even as early as 1995-1997 with publishers reducing their hours, the repurcussions of that being felt years later with less baptisms in the pipeline, and the study-to-baptism conversion ratio. That would certainly fit in around the time possible-san mentions regarding prevalance of internet use, and this possibly combined with the theory about the '95 cult attacks mentioned by Billy the Ex-Bethelite.

  (Will try fill in the blanks tomorrow)

  	Population	Peak pubs.	Ratio of 1 pub. to:	Av. pubs.	Inc. over prev.	Baptized	Av. Aux Pio.	Av. Pio. Pubs.	Congs.	Hours	Bible Studies	Memorial Attendan.
  1985 (yb86)	120,007,812	103,117	1,164	97,823	12	10,290	(incl. in Pio.)	39,384	1,722	46,483,981	142,547	258,728
  1986	120,720,542	113,062	1,068	108,702	11	10,900	(incl. in Pio.)	46,390	1,809	53,608,147	146,316	263,302
  1987	121,371,798	120,722	1,005	117,308	8	9,211	(incl. in Pio.)	49,503	1,934	57,151,828	159,499	277,553
  1988	TBA
  1989	122,335,313	137,941	887	133,846	7	10,596	(incl. in Pio.)	58,203	2,124	65,946,087	170,784	317,785
  1990	122,744,952	147,622	831	143,399	7	11,166	(incl. in Pio.)	63,484	2,355	71,480,915	190,256	329,422
  1991	TBA
  1992	123,587,297	171,438	721	165,823	8	12,364	(incl. in Pio.)	75,956	2,875	85,383,755	222,012	364,980
  1993	123,957,458	183,097	677	177,611	7	13,000	(incl. in Pio.)	80,293	3,126	89,838,835	220,906	368,618
  1994	124,322,801	194,608	639	189,586	7	12,158	(incl. in Pio.)	85,075	3,365	95,777,051	235,882	375,131
  1995	124,655,498	206,617	603	201,266	6	11,546	(incl. in Pio.)	87,289	3,552	97,721,628	241,221	378,586
  1996	124,914,373	213,961	584	210,290	4	11,421	(incl. in Pio.)	87,476	3,691	99,115,637	236,158	377,223
  1997	125,257,061	220,663	568	217,970	4	10,962	(incl. in Pio.)	89,513	3,771	99,600,126	197,570	376,853
  1998	125,568,035	222,912	563	222,347	2	7,779	(incl. in Pio.)	85,930	3,802	96,257,029	160,011	366,637
  1999	TBA
  2000	126,071,305	221,364	570	220,538	-1	4,388	(incl. in Pio.)	77,972	3,538	76,418,770	141,674	350,618
  2001	126,714,000	220,113	576	218,866	-1	4,139	(incl. in Pio.)	73,695	3,305	73,324,070	134,769	345,223
  2002	126,478,672	218,731	578	217,971	0	3,925	(incl. in Pio.)	71,584	3,213	72,436,323	143,281	343,852
  2003	126,688,364	217,508	582	217,020	0	2,639	(incl. in Pio.)	70,993	3,163	72,007,415	151,039	344,967
  2004	126,824,166	217,555	583	217,097	0	6,055	(incl. in Pio.)	71,158	3,163	72,574,886	159,434	348,397
  2005	126,869,397	218,262	581	217,227	0	3,785	15,743	(72,154) 56,411	3,164	73,502,684	159,834	338,330
  2006	127,655,345	217,519	587	217,181	0	3,781	17,477	(74,953) 57,476	3,171	75,325,913	166,488	336,240
  2007	127,756,815	218,691	584	217,929	0	4,308	18,728	(77,568) 58,840	3,177	78,588,916	164,674	331,172
  2008	127,767,994	218,091	586	217,339	0	3,806	18,116	(79,197) 61,081	3,177	79,347,398	172,236	332,986
  2009	TBA
  2010	127,078,679	218,698	581	217,240	0	3,268	14,724	(79,145) 64,421	3,118	80,533,101	167,353	322,845
  2011	126,536,000	218,057	580	217,352	0	2,892	19,301	(84,341) 65,040	3,078	81,553,752	167,987	323,211
  2012(yb13)	126,536,000	217,154	583	216,692	0	2,787	18,187	(83,342) 65,245	3,055	81,447,987	168,138	314,111

  Selected graphs:

  

  

  

  
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  20

  Great idea from Whathappened? package for those facing a JC.

  by hamsterbait in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  he suggests that just as elders are given a package for fighting court custody cases (what to say do bring etc).

  those facing a jc should have a package for dealing with a situation where the elduhs want to "talk with you.".

  hows about we start to make one?.

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  88JM

  I must say I like this idea, if it can be executed well - something like a JC wikipedia?

  Also see these threads:

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/124488/1/Judicial-Committee-Preparation

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/223324/1/Judicial-Committee-Preparation

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/200606/1/KS10-Chapter-Six-Discussion

  Not sure whether I agree with the "keep it private" idea or not though.

  I think an important article would be about weighing up whether you should even attend the JC at all or not.

  Perhaps a brief FAQ article? The do's and don'ts? A page of links to some of the JC recordings online might be good too, and also citing these for references for questions like:

  • "How should I answer the loyalty question?"
  • "What happens if I say this to the elders?"
  • "Should I tell them I've read the flock book?"
  • "Can I mention Ray Franz?"
  • "What should I definitely not tell them?"
  • "What kind of language should I use when describing this? What words should I definitely not use?"
  • etc.
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  1

  Found out I'm a bit of a catalyst among my local JW youth....

  by magotan in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  so i have been a bit of a catalyst among the jw youth in my local area.

  since my family was fairly well known, me coming out so publically and seeing the reactions among the people and my subsequent forced disassociation from the church has made a lot of young people ask questions.

  one of my old friends broke a lot of rules (and caught shit for it) for being really good friends with a gay guy we both mutually know.

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  88JM

  Well done magotan

  Are you a member of any LGBT Ex-JW Facebook groups? If you feel like meeting others who have had similar experiences, there might be meetups in your area perhaps.

  Open group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/37475079005/

  Closed group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/173030459509440/