Posts by cookiemaster

22

Could this be the future for the Watchtower?

by C0ntr013r in

been researching the mormons a little since they are quite similar to the jws.

they have a similar webpage and many videos to "help" the mormons in their faith.

i found this video done by abc4 news:.

cookiemaster

I know the numbers from a single congregation can't be considered representative for the religion as a whole, but where I'm from, the congo used to have 60-70 members when I was a kid and now it barely has 25-30. I've heard the elders say that they apostates have attacked us hard, LOL.

Most members of the congo today are old. Less than ten are younger than middle age. Also, there are about 5 pioneers sent here by the borg, so the real numbers of the congo would be even smaller. The only baptized in the past decade or so have been a young family (they poor and wife's mother was JW) and a 14 year old girl who's parents managed to successfully ruin her childhood.

That's all, and it's laughably pathetic for an area with 20,000+ people, constant pioneer presence and many "studies". I've grown up with these JW's and from a large number of kids who became adults, there are maybe 3 left that still attend. I remember when there were so many attending that there weren't enough seats in the hall and now there are about 15 people at WT study. Couple that with ultra aggressive elders and members so old that there's one dying every month and you get a congo about to go extinct.

In a county with about 300,000 people there are now so few JW's that in a 50 km radius you can't find more than 30. I sincerely and deeply hope that they're having the same loses everywhere.

17

Convention Invites are Idiotic

by cookiemaster in

so, like every year, there's a campaign going on about giving people convention invites and urging them to attend the convention.

what an utterly moronic waste of time.

we live 500+ kilometers away from the convention hall.

cookiemaster

So, like every year, there's a campaign going on about giving people convention invites and urging them to attend the convention. What an utterly moronic waste of time. We live 500+ kilometers away from the convention hall. To attend, members of the congo need to be away from home for several days, need to find accommodations, pay for fuel and the dozens of other issues and expenses that occur.

Who in their right mind would believe anyone from these parts will attend? Honestly, I don't recall anyone ever doing that. Yet, every year we waste tons of paper and time, just to give away these ridiculous invites that people mock outright. Of course they find it laughable. Who wouldn't? It's a significant effort for most JW's to attend. Clearly, no sane "wordly" people would do that. So, why do they keep this idiotic practice going year after year?

14

How old were you? What was the happiest year of your life?

by Esse quam videri in

what year comes to your mind as the happiest?

maybe some special place you lived, being with special people, an unforgettable period that made it your happiest.

cookiemaster

I'm 22 and the happiest times in my life have been my childhood and the time I fell in love with the woman I love.

35

THIS IS WHAT WITNESSING HAS BEEN REDUCED TO IN 2015

by steve2 in

threads on the newer jw face of public "witnessing" have shared in common the astonishment that jws safely park themselves behind their literature trolleys and exercise incredibly little contact with passersby.

whether the poster is talking about europe or the united states or australia, descriptions here are the same.. literature stands are protective sheilds behind which jws huddle, talking to each other, sipping on their espressos, whilst the disinterested world passes by.

neither the jws nor the passersby catch each others eyes.

cookiemaster

Steve2 - Around these parts, it's not that many. Sure, you do get a lot of interest the first time people see you, especially in small towns, just because they haven't seen this kind of weird thing before, so it's something new. I live in a small town, with about 2500 people. The first time they set up their JW stand a few years ago, they gave about 60 books to "interested people" in a manner of hours. Once the novelty wore off, in days/weeks, people wouldn't even give them a second look. Now they're lucky if they can give away 10 pieces of literature in a month. Everyone ignores them.

41

If you found out TTATT at 80 and spent your entire life at Bethel, what would you do?

by John Aquila in

would you do a ray franz deal and write a book or keep quiet and live out the rest of your life in bethel?.

would you keep reading the watchtower magazine?.

cookiemaster

I'd f@ck as many whores as I could find until approaching death, poison myself with something that gives you a nice death and just before dying I would take a shotgun and blast every GB member. Would go out with a bang, LOL.

20

Street Witnessing - did you ever do it?

by Muddy Waters in

i remember in our congregation, there were a few older pioneer sisters who would start counting their time early - even before the service arrangement - by standing at a street corner and holding the magazines up in front of them and hoping that any passersby might stop to take one on their way to work or whatever.

as a fresh, new dub, i had heard about this "street-witnessing" work, but there was only one time i ever actually saw one of these older sisters doing this.

and even then i was shocked and embarrassed for her.... because this poor old sister was standing there, all by herself, holding up the watchtower & awake magazines, yet looking as sad and depressed as she could possibly ever look, her whole mouth was turned down just totally sad as she stood there, observing all the "dead" people walking around, hurrying to catch buses, get kids to school, get to work, etc.

cookiemaster

Here in Romania, in the city where I lived, we would actually walk for miles on the street talking to basically everyone we'd encounter, offer them mags, etc. It was deeply embarrassing and it pissed off most people, as on Saturdays there would be multiple couples of JW's on the same streets, bugging off people constantly. Eventually, the people had enough and complained to the city hall and eventually street witnessing has been banned in that city.

35

THIS IS WHAT WITNESSING HAS BEEN REDUCED TO IN 2015

by steve2 in

threads on the newer jw face of public "witnessing" have shared in common the astonishment that jws safely park themselves behind their literature trolleys and exercise incredibly little contact with passersby.

whether the poster is talking about europe or the united states or australia, descriptions here are the same.. literature stands are protective sheilds behind which jws huddle, talking to each other, sipping on their espressos, whilst the disinterested world passes by.

neither the jws nor the passersby catch each others eyes.

cookiemaster

freemindfade - Exactly like that.

35

THIS IS WHAT WITNESSING HAS BEEN REDUCED TO IN 2015

by steve2 in

threads on the newer jw face of public "witnessing" have shared in common the astonishment that jws safely park themselves behind their literature trolleys and exercise incredibly little contact with passersby.

whether the poster is talking about europe or the united states or australia, descriptions here are the same.. literature stands are protective sheilds behind which jws huddle, talking to each other, sipping on their espressos, whilst the disinterested world passes by.

neither the jws nor the passersby catch each others eyes.

cookiemaster

Believe it or not, a brother here in Romania actually has his own commercial stand in a nearby market and he places a JW cart next to it, and apparently talks to interested people while selling his own products. And he counts the time. And the elders congratulate him for that. God damn, if this is witnessing, it has really gone down the toilet. The dude basically does what he would do anyway as part of his business, but attaches a JW cart and he's suddenly a pioneer. People can pull hours out of thin air nowadays.

43

G Losch: child baptised at 5, reg pioneer since!

by fifth.column in

at the end of april, there was a zone visit in france, with tv broadcast in all kh.. g. losch told he received a letter from a girl, 10 years old, baptised at 5, reg pioneer since 4 years !

what a fine example, he said....... let s imagine the faces of the parents in the kh!

i was happy to see i was not the only one to find it crazy.. if you have a child, you know how mature he is at 5. how can a child preach 2.5hours/day after 7hours of school and homework to do??

cookiemaster

Blondie - That's nice. I didn't know you had such a program in the US. We have many third world migrants, as of late, here in Europe, but there are no classes to teach them (not in my country, at least).They either baptized them as they are (illiterate) or the brother/sister they're studying with teach them how to read. I have to commend you for your work. Education is one of the best things we can give to people.

43

G Losch: child baptised at 5, reg pioneer since!

by fifth.column in

at the end of april, there was a zone visit in france, with tv broadcast in all kh.. g. losch told he received a letter from a girl, 10 years old, baptised at 5, reg pioneer since 4 years !

what a fine example, he said....... let s imagine the faces of the parents in the kh!

i was happy to see i was not the only one to find it crazy.. if you have a child, you know how mature he is at 5. how can a child preach 2.5hours/day after 7hours of school and homework to do??

cookiemaster

Blondie and the rest that raised the issue of being able to read, this might not be a thing you hear in America or whatever western country you're from, there's this thing called illiteracy and you don't actually need to know how to read to be a JW. There are lots of people in poor countries that didn't have the chance to get an education and don't know how to read.Some of these are JW's. I've known some myself. So, she doesn't need to know how to read. The problem is with understanding, not reading. At 5, you can't even cross the street by yourself (or shouldn't be allowed), so how the hell do they think you can make such a huge decision? It's their double standard crap. I've seen 7 year olds get baptized. The story might not be bullshit, but their teachings on this matter sure are. What a filthy hypocrisy to practice when you claim to follow Jesus' example of baptism, and then baptize five year olds. And, they can't motivate this by saying the Armageddon is coming. Didn't they used to say children are saved by the virtue of their parents? Certainly this extends well into the age of teenagehood. So, they're basically admitting to child abuse.