about the circuit i grew up in:.
last decade, a congregation was dissolved.. last year, about a half a dozen or so congregations meeting in a double-hall got re-orged and it works out to one less congregation.
they received all new territories, bodies of elders, publishers.
Here are some facts from Scandinavia.
1.They have closed two assembly halls. And are discussing to close even another
2. they have shut down branch offices in Oslo and Arboga and fired almost all persons who worked there.
3. The branch offices in Estonia and Latvia are closed and moved to Helsinki.
4. A number of congregations on country side have been merged with others
Is the Soc. Increasing or decreasing its activities in Scandinavia?
LOL
Bugbear
for me it is the smugness.
it's their inability and refusal to admit they are wrong....ever...even in the face of irrefutable evidence.
isn't pride a sin?
Today I had a visit from un elderly brother. He had been a very dear friend of me for many years. I think he visited me to encourage me to take up service again and come back to the meetings. This in spite he obviously knew that I am un apostasy. For almost two days we talked about nothing. Then after breakfast he took up the very reason for his visit. It the end of times, very late, and all things were going to be destroyed in Armageddon.
I replied that,: wouldn´t it have been better if god had made that 10-20-30 ýears ago, since the earth’s population is increasing with approx.. 10 million children, women and men every year. And that JW,s only have a growth of 200.000 – 300.000 a year. I mean that for every year god will have to kill 10 millions of people who have not the “mark”. He replied that he didn’t know what was in the heart of god and that he couldn´t decide who god will kill or not.
I asked him but the principle is still that, all those who are not JW,s will be destroyed in Armageddon? He mentioned something that god Is good and no one knows what is going to happen.
My question is, have the society changed their view on this matter lately?
Bugbear
i had the oddest experience today.
i was walking down the street and there was a group of christians standing in front of a boxcar nicely painted with their logo and website.
they had brought loudspeakers and mixing system, and were playing some loud semi-techno stuff while they were dancing like crazy (literally, there was an old guy jumping around with an umbrella doing a rolling stones impersonation).. i did the only sensible thing and stopped to see what was going on and take a picture.
How could you be humble when you knows that god is with you?
Bugbear
the other day, we (my df wife and i) take our baby to his firsts vaccinations.
since he born, my parents-in-law ( former witnesses) .
violated the prohibition of talking with us and there are more close to us than before.
I must say I´am in favour of vaccines. We have today almost destinguished deseases like bubonic plauge, polio and others, thanks to vaccines discoveries.
One hundred fifty years ago, when nobady had acces to vaccines, millions of people died in their childhood becouse there were no threatment for these deaseses. Consequently mans life span has increased with more then 20 years. Look at the upraising polio epedemia in Syria, due to lack of vaccines. About 20 children has been discovered having polio the latest days. This a consequense due to the civil war there. We thought that we had destinguised Polio as well but when vaccines stops comming - polio is comming back. Sorry for those 20 children..
Bugbear
for me it is the smugness.
it's their inability and refusal to admit they are wrong....ever...even in the face of irrefutable evidence.
isn't pride a sin?
Their absolute ignorance of facs.
They wont listen, they wont hear, they wont look on facts that contradict their believes.
I dont know if this comes from that they are just dumbheaded, or if it is that the Soc. have pumped their heads full of hay. Maybe their are just afraid of loosing their "status" in their org.
Bugbear
it cracks me up if you bring this subject up to a witness , they always try to convince themselves that i'm reading into this!!!.
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpqwknq31ie&feature=youtube_gdata_player.
In sweden I know that two assembly halls are sold. One of them strangnas was sold to un estate company. The other one( jakobsberg) is today a mosque. Unfortunately the ( Strangnas hall) was sold to a company that didn’t have the cash to pay. And this company made bankruptcy. I don’t know how much the society lost on this transaction. But I know that many brothers and sisters were disappointed. They had spent many month in voluntary jobs to make “the world’s largest” JW assembly hall.
Today the congregations associated to “the world’s largest” assembly hall are ordered to travel 2-3 hundreds of km to a winter resort in the northern Sweden, paying for the Hotel rooms about 100 $ per night. When over 100 persons are coming to these circuit assemblies, the company that owns the Hotel is willingly to let their conference hall for free. That’s good business for the WBTC. Of course the CO,s and others that are the organizing people are eating and sleeping for free in the largest suits. This arrangement of course in done only under low season. But it is a money maker.
Bugbear
i know that this has been discussed in the past but i wanted to get some fresh opinions.
there are many out there that recognize the "rot" that is in watchtower but still feel that there is a "wholesome" side to it and are trying to bring about change or reform from within.. in 2002 when the rose colored glasses came off for me and i truly started to understand ttatt, i still felt that there was some redemable aspects of the organization.. i felt that russell had some doctrinal things right.
i don't feel like that anymore.
I think I have to ad something.
They way Jehovah is ruling the world could be described as a well known methot of ruling namely
"ruling by fear"
Bugbear
i know that this has been discussed in the past but i wanted to get some fresh opinions.
there are many out there that recognize the "rot" that is in watchtower but still feel that there is a "wholesome" side to it and are trying to bring about change or reform from within.. in 2002 when the rose colored glasses came off for me and i truly started to understand ttatt, i still felt that there was some redemable aspects of the organization.. i felt that russell had some doctrinal things right.
i don't feel like that anymore.
Sorry for not have been able to watch this site for a week.
My figures where wrong. I just took what I had in my brain for the moment. But they where not "that"wrong. The basic stand.
about 90.000 witnesses are challenged to witness to 9.500.000 new humans born every year. The ratio today is at least 1000 hours to witness to get a new babtism. Yove got to have a deep believe to think that this is possible.
If you look at it from a human point of view. You will find an impossible god. A god that will destroy, kill, murder, about 9.400.000 newly born people every year becouse he has settled a time for harmageddon. No matter if they are children, mothers, fathers, teenagers, trying to understand the "Bible" or just ignorant atheist. They are all evil humans that doesn´t like they way he is trying to leed the world. It remainds me about Abraham, who was ordered to kill his son Isak, just to proof that he loved god more then his son?!"!!
Sorry to say i dont want that kind of a god.
Bugbear
i know that this has been discussed in the past but i wanted to get some fresh opinions.
there are many out there that recognize the "rot" that is in watchtower but still feel that there is a "wholesome" side to it and are trying to bring about change or reform from within.. in 2002 when the rose colored glasses came off for me and i truly started to understand ttatt, i still felt that there was some redemable aspects of the organization.. i felt that russell had some doctrinal things right.
i don't feel like that anymore.
Is the JW-cult going to drop away or are the cult leaders able to transform the teachings to a more acceptable and people winning teachings?
The answer is simply the cult is going to be washed away by the time and people flood.
According to sources available on the net, the earth today contains about 8.500 000 000 (8,5 billions) of humans. The average population increase is roughly 1.1 % per year. That gives in or about 9,35 millions (9.350.000 )new earthly human beings to preach to for the witnesses per year. The WT society claims that all their preaching works of 7.000.000 (7 millions) witnesses result in 1.2% increase or growth in numbers of witnesses (in some countries even reduced) 7 million times 1.2% means that the number of witnesses starting to preach to all these 9.350.000 new human beeings is 1,2 % times 7.000.000 is 84.000 !!!
The history is full of cults that just time will drown away, look at the talibans, amish, kelts, the Viking cults, a.s.f.
Time is the worst of enemies a cult can have. Time is a snare and rackets for The WBT.
Bugbear
my wife doesn't read literature.
i think it is such a shame because reading is one of the joys of life so i have been encouraging her but am meeting resistance.
is there a general prohibition on reading 'wordly' books?
The GB has "blocked" the mind from all theirs supporters, not to read anything else then publications from the watchtowers. This is brainwashing, and a number of totaliaran regimes use this to keep their inhabitants in their mind-prison. Remember the communist, the Cambodians the chinese and the talibans?
