Journeyman

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Posts by Journeyman

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  18

  JWs Still Attending on Zoom

  by XBEHERE in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  another topic based on a conversation with a friend living near warwick (i talked to him over the weekend).

  he said that cong's in and around bethel, including his, are slowly starting to see an uptick with people attending in person his cong is pretty much 75%+ in person.

  however there are many that still use zoom as a fall back.

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  Journeyman

  Interesting. With a substantial minority of bethelites themselves also still using Zoom when they feel like it, I wonder if that makes it more or less likely that the org will take a harder line? One the one hand, the fact bethelites are doing it might make them less inclined to get tough - but on the other hand, it also means the issue is more in the faces of the GB.
  I suppose it's a bit of a numbers game. As long as overall attendance is usually around 75-80% of cong size, the org may tolerate it as they can still claim acceptable numbers (and it would suit their longer term aim to consolidate congregations and sell off halls), but if average numbers dropped too far down on a regular basis, they'd have to act as it would become obvious that congregations were shrinking and it would become "discouraging" to those who bother to show up.
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  11530

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

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  Journeyman

  The good news is that, even with the latest begging boost, he is still below the 2021 pre-earthquake level. The bad news is that attrition at this rate is likely to drag on for years.

  Indeed. As I noted before, he's lost about 13% of that increase already. Even at the same monthly attrition rate, it would take nearly a year to get back down to the previous low of 392. Unless he manages to shoot himself in both feet again with another meltdown, but I suspect that's wishful thinking. Surely even LE wouldn't be that stupid?

  However, the law of diminishing returns will apply. For reasons already mentioned (loss of support on Reddit, wider dissemination of information about his real behaviour on YT and Twitter, etc), each time he tries to pass round the begging bowl again, he's likely to find fewer and fewer takers for what he is offering.
  

  Meanwhile of course, he has the drudgery of trying to produce more of his stupid videos, which is probably almost as boring to make as they are to watch. I see his latest videos had around 3k views.

  This is probably the best bet for increasing the attrition rate over time. If he can't keep up at least some meaningful new material every month, his patrons will begin to question whether they're getting value for money. And he's got to keep up with this over the long term - years, not just months. It's hard to see where he will get any more substantial growth from, while it's easier to see how he could steadily lose patrons - like a deflating gasbag(!)
  
  By his own admission, he needs (and expects) a stable core of about 500-620 combined supporters to keep going. Currently, I think he's around 590. If the numbers were to level out at the low end or just below that, he'll be caught in a "stick or twist" dilemma: keep going hoping to keep bumping them up somehow, or pull the plug because there's no real growth? I doubt he'll be content with "just managing" for too long, especially remembering he was once nearing 900 supporters.
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  11530

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

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  Journeyman

  Last time I seen his patron he had 593 now he has
  26 down so far

  So having put on 200 additional patrons from his begging video 3 weeks ago, he's already lost about 13% of that growth by my reckoning.

  Admittedly, the new patrons who felt most regret at giving money to this charlatan (once they learned his true history) would be the first to bail out, so any subsequent reductions might not be as great, but it's still heartening to see!
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  11530

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

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  original reddit post (removed).

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  Journeyman

  Interesting repost from Kim about that Patong bar raid.
  I just found this article from as far back as 2005 with reference to such offences happening in the Patong area, which suggests the problem has been around there for a long time.
  
  

  Two named individuals in that article would no doubt have a lot more knowledge about what goes on in that area: Italian Olinto Barletta and Graham Tardif, then a member of the charity World Vision International.

  According to a Google search, Graham Tardif is an Aussie who has/had extensive experience as Human Trafficking and Child Protection Programme Manager https://www.abc.net.au/sundaynights/stories/s1322431.htm
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  773

  Breaking News: Anthony Morris III no longer serving on the Governing Body

  by WingCommander in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this has been announced on the jw's official website, in the "jw news" section.

  this is not a joke.

  anthony moron da turd is out as a gluttonous body member!

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  Journeyman

  I am literally minutes from Lumberton... this sickens me

  silentbuddha - sounds like you might have to take one for the team and do some scouting around to see if it's true that AMIII is in that neck of the woods!
  

  Not for any other reason than to put the rumours to bed, one way or another - I do not advocate any other kind of action - but many people would love to know just where the man has been exiled to (if that be the case).
  

  Perhaps Lloyd Evans can give him some tips. (But not fashion ones).

  Oh 'evans no! The last thing we need is another bloke taking any kind of tips from Lloyd... it's bad enough that Tibor might already be a Lloyd-in-training...
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  77

  Biden running in 2024 🤣

  by LoveUniHateExams in

  1. social
  2. current

  i've filed this under news and world events, although i could've posted it under entertainment, lol.

  apparently, joe biden will be seeking re-election for another term in the white house.. this, despite a recent poll showing that 70% of people don't want him to run again.. biden just has to be the worst president i've seen.

  his gaffes, over-relience on a prompter, and, more than any other president, his refusal to answer journalists' questions, all go to make him top of the list in terms of bad presidents.. it will certainly provide entertainment, if nothing else..

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  Journeyman

  Oh for crying out loud. The world needs new leadership, everywhere. We are in a terrible state. End the wars. End the profiteering at the expense of the health and welfare of the mass population.

  Slim is absolutely right. In the midst of the worst military crisis in Europe for decades and with the war drums being beaten in the South China Sea area between AUKUS, China and many other nations, this story got little attention but is a major indicator of what the real priority in the world is today for many leaders and corporations:

  Mass slaughter and suffering is big business!

  Now more than ever, the world needs a better choice of leader of the so-called "free world" than between Trump and Biden.

  

  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/24/world-military-spending-reaches-all-time-high-of-2-24-trillion
  
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  8

  'I have great freeness of speech toward you.' 🤐 But remember, Saint Paul never wrote that at Bethel.😉

  by was a new boy in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  'i have great freeness of speech toward you.'.

  2 corinthians 7:4. i had snuck into bethel with absolute perfect timing, had been taught that armageddon was likely coming either in 1974 or 1975, probably in sept. or oct. .

  n h knorr invited me by letter, asking me to show up monday august 12, or was it the 19th?.

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  Journeyman

  The WT has their own WT-speak, and to them 'freeness of speech' means the the glib recitation of the party line. It is NOT freedom of speech in the sense to verbalize what's on your mind; what you really think.

  When you think how outspoken ones like Paul, James and even Jesus himself were to speak out about things they saw that were not right, you can imagine if they were in a JW congregation today the elders would have them in the back room in an instant for causing 'divisions'!
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  25

  The corrosive nature of CRT

  by LoveUniHateExams in

  1. social
  2. current

  diane abbot has been temporarily suspended from the labour party whilst they investigate her behaviour.. what's she done?.

  it was leaked that a first draft of a letter she was going to write had the claim that jews can't experience racism.. the influence of crt is obvious.

  according to this warped worldview, there are two types of people, oppressors and oppressed.

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  Journeyman

  CRT makes me think of this:

  
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  33

  July 2023 Study Watchtower - Great Tribulation is coming soooooooooooooon!

  by BoogerMan in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  is this the "great tribulation" which jesus warned he would bring upon the corrupt christian congregations worldwide, (revelation 2:22; 7:14) or is it the same 1st century g.t.

  which he said would never occur again?

  (matthew 24:21).

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  Journeyman

  (Proverbs 24:4) "And by knowledge will the interior rooms be filled with all precious and pleasant things of value."
  
  Where is knowledge retained and stored? In the heart & mind?
  

  Actually, the org are likely to say that reinforces their interpretation that the "inner/interior rooms" relates to congregations, because it parallels Haggai 2:7 which says "'And I will shake all the nations, and the precious things of all the nations will come in; and I will fill this house with glory', says Jehovah of armies."

  They interpret the "precious things" to mean 'honest-hearted' people who come into the congregations, so they would probably say the same about Proverbs 24:4, as "precious" new ones are drawn to the congregation by "taking in knowledge" about God.
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  25

  The corrosive nature of CRT

  by LoveUniHateExams in

  1. social
  2. current

  diane abbot has been temporarily suspended from the labour party whilst they investigate her behaviour.. what's she done?.

  it was leaked that a first draft of a letter she was going to write had the claim that jews can't experience racism.. the influence of crt is obvious.

  according to this warped worldview, there are two types of people, oppressors and oppressed.

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  Journeyman

  Diane Abbott's comments are no surprise. She's one of those high-profile people who buy into, and promote, the "white man = bad, brown man = good" orthodoxy that is becoming so common now. The most sinister part of that is the 'cancelling' of history - erasing people from the historical record (removing statues, renaming buildings, censoring or re-writing history books) and trying to create false narratives about how long ethnic minorities have been around and in prominent positions in western society.

  To think, a few years ago she could've become the British Home Secretary, and depending on what happens now she may yet be in a Labour cabinet if they are elected! I fear people like her will spark disorder through their ignorant race-baiting if they are successful in achieving a position of power.

  
  There is a British Youtuber called History Debunked who I think talks a lot of sense about the way race is being distorted and portrayed in the UK these days. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZVoitJAYDU