Yes, I can confirm. We just had a remodel at our KH, see one of my previous posts. The literature counter was completely eliminated, replaced with a small IKEA cabinet, literally no more than 36” wide. Self-serve only for the basic items.....tracts, magazines, a few brochures. Everything else we have been instructed to download and use electronic versions.
Tech49
JoinedPosts by Tech49
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25
Can This be Verified?
by Atlantis incan this be verified?
just speculation so far, so i was just wondering.. .
https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/bawoeu/getting_rid_of_the_literature_counter_all_together/ .
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Short-sighted WT ?
by Tech49 init has always struck me that wt is so very short-sighted in many things.
often, they are very re-active, and not so much pro-active in their reasoning and the way they plan for the future.. just thinking today, and have kicked this one around for a while now.. is the watchtower organization truly sustainable?
is a new monetary structure on the horizon?
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Tech49
Its definitely the disposal of the tangible, finite, hard assets that will come to an end within a given period. Like sir82, the first thought that popped into my head was 10 years. It doesn't seem logical that this particular business model can go more than around 10 years. Now I'm not saying the sky is falling and WT will go out of business. But I do believe that there will be a DRASTIC change in the way they obtain funding in the near future.
The obvious ones come to mind, I'm sure there are many more ways that are being dreamed up by the Holy Quarum: mandatory tithing, in whatever form they want to call it..., electronic printing across the board, no more physical publications and all that goes along with it (printeries, binderies, presses, supplies, etc)...…., online KH's, with actual physical brick and mortar buildings becoming a rarity, much like the assembly halls...…..online and internet-based meetings from a central location, with a subscription fee...…….. pay-to-play visits to the NY headquarters, admission fees to the holy mecca with a yearly mandatory visit for all "true" Christians (following the example of the first century xtians of course)…….
Anyways...….. I can see changes coming.
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Short-sighted WT ?
by Tech49 init has always struck me that wt is so very short-sighted in many things.
often, they are very re-active, and not so much pro-active in their reasoning and the way they plan for the future.. just thinking today, and have kicked this one around for a while now.. is the watchtower organization truly sustainable?
is a new monetary structure on the horizon?
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Tech49
It has always struck me that WT is so very short-sighted in many things. Often, they are very RE-active, and not so much PRO-active in their reasoning and the way they plan for the future.
Just thinking today, and have kicked this one around for a while now.
Is the Watchtower organization truly sustainable? Is a new monetary structure on the horizon? Here is why I ask this, and welcome all of your thoughts....
FACT: Cash donations coming from the congregations are meager at best.
FACT: With every month that goes by, more and more KH’s are sold, with none being built.
FACT: The growth of the organization has slowed or halted, and sometimes gone in revers, in most 1st world countries.
FACT: Multi-million dollar lawsuits and subsequent pay-offs are occurring almost weekly.
As was mentioned by Stephen Lett not long ago, the organization’s expenses are exceeding their income. Probably far more than they are letting on. Is it sustainable?
In order to keep and maintain the carnivorous budget requirements, including the construction and continued maintenance of a multi-million dollar corporate headquarters in addition to other facilities, the cash has to keep flowing in at an unprecedented rate. Hence the perceived "need" to consolidate and sell off properties. But that too, by its very nature, is not sustainable.Doesn’t it make sense that within a reasonable amount of time, at some point, all the “extra” and “superfluous” Kingdom Halls will have been sold off.? Even as they are selling properties, the total brought in cant really be that much, given what they are giving up. It takes quite a few KH buildings to make up for legal expenses and payoffs of lawsuits. Example: Lets say a KH property can be sold for $500,000 USD. Those funds can get eaten up pretty fast when you start talking lawsuits, outside legal fees, payoffs, etc. But the bigger thing to consider is that is a one-time cash grab. That particular building is now GONE, forever. You cant make money off of it again. However, another lawsuit can pop up in place of the other one... TOMORROW!
And so ok, what if they have a bunch of cash tied into stocks. Right now, things are moving along well, and maybe they are making money. But what happens when, not if, but WHEN, the stock market or housing market takes a nosedive like it did 12 years ago?
From a business model perspective, the whole mess is unsustainable and severely lopsided in its construction. Realistically, its like a bad gambling debt that just cant be dug out from. I'm sure there are plenty of other analogies that illustrate the point, but I think you can understand the issue.
I guess the other aspect of all of this is that the sheeple in general are completely oblivious, its almost as if they don't WANT to see the crash coming.
What say you?
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2019-March-File!
by Atlantis in2019-march-announcements and reminders.. https://we.tl/t-ezzkzv9q6n petra!
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Tech49
Boys, boys. Settle down... FOCUS....focus........…. (points over there...>>>>>>> .) Look, something shiny!
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2019-March-File!
by Atlantis in2019-march-announcements and reminders.. https://we.tl/t-ezzkzv9q6n petra!
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Tech49
There it is.! No more WT Libraries on DVD/CD-ROM.
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10
RBC... something I heard this weekend and I want to confirm
by StarTrekAngel ini have not been around much or even cared to dig into jw land.
i been working on moving to a new place and leaving behind my old jw past, even the neighborhood where it all happened.. but something i heard this weekend had me thinking.
my mother in law has a small, run down wooden home near the kh where we used to attend.
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Tech49
Food services are no longer included in RBC (now LDC) builds or remodels. All food service kitchens and stoves, etc are gone, sold off. Now, congregations are "assigned" the "privilege" of providing food for the site workers on a daily basis. That means that individuals become responsible for cooking and preparing food, so you never know what kind of quality or cleanliness you end up with. It can be pretty scary at times.
Housing: yes, they have supposed "standards" that your home must be up to in order to have "guests" working on the project. There is a pretty loose code of what that standard is, open to interpretation by the Project Coordinators and such. Yes, it is an area where lots of toes can be stepped on and feelings hurt over your home "not being good enough" to be used.
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Why can JW's attend funerals or weddings in a church?
by QuestioningEverything inwhat is the reasoning/policy behind the practice that a jw can't attend an event such as funeral or wedding in another church?
i know of someone that didn't attend her older sisters funeral because it was held in a baptist church.
she waited outside until the service was over and then went to the family dinner afterwards.
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Tech49
Recently my wife and I went to attend her step-brother's wedding. They have grown closer over the last few years, making up for lost time. He isn't religious, but his fiancé/wife wanted a church wedding. They were married in a little church in the country, with a quaint group of close friends and family. It was very cool, and very photogenic. We took pics, they took pics, etc etc. Vic never even skipped a beat! When I asked her how she felt about it being in a "church", I had to smile when she said "who cares??!!, it makes THEM happy, and no one else needs to know where we went! I'm just tired of being afraid to do ANYTHING!"
You see, JW's CAN do anything they want, despite what some might say. I really get exasperated when JW's say " we CANT do this or that"...like you cant make any decisions on your own... Do whatever the hell you want! It's just a matter of not SHARING what you do with anyone else. It's none of their business. STOP sharing every aspect of your life on FB and Instagram! Stop allowing other people to dictate your happiness and tell them to stay out of your personal space!
STOP giving power to people who don't deserve it.
Jack Harper, Tech49
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There is something I don't understand about the selling off of Kingdom Halls
by Tameria2001 ini have been reading where the watchtower is closing down kingdom halls.
there is something that i don't understand, or maybe i am just misunderstanding it.
can someone clear this up for me?
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Tech49
Yes, you are correct. When a KH is sold, ALL of the proceeds/profits go to the Watchtower corporate entity. Even when land has been donated by some elderly couple, to build a KH on, it all goes into the pockets of WT when it is sold. Nothing, zero, gets returned to any of the congregation or volunteers.
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Blondies Thoughts on Generous Giving WT article for Octobeer 21, 2018
by blondie inquotethe word christ signifies anointed.
anointing means designation to official position in god’s arrangement.
the christ is the instrument or channel for the blessing of mankind.
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Tech49
I would like to make a comment about paragraph 18, the one that "quotes" researchers, with no notations as to source material. Firstly, just horrid writing skills, again with the 5th grade level writing.
Here we see a typical method of quote mining, one that I absolutely hate. No where in life would you get away with writing a paper on a subject, quote someone else's work, and then not cite your source. Except for WT writers. I remember way back when they listed the sources for their quotes on the back page of the magazines. Ya, not any more. The sheeple just lap this stuff up and never check any sources! Its almost comical.... any time I see this stuff, I pull out my phone and do a quick search!
Here is why they don't quote their source on this particular item. If you do a word search for the phrase in paragraph 18 that is "quoted" (people report a significant happiness boost after doing kind deeds for others), it brings up only 1 article on Altruism from a UC Berkley website, with that phrase intact. The reason, in my humble opinion, that they don't cite the source, is that the same article says a whole lot more. It discusses evolutionary processes that contribute towards this activity in the brain. It also discusses this as a positive effect on higher education, success in achieving financial benefits, and also a key to having good sexual relationships, and MORE SEX
.There is a whole lot more, here is the direct link, so that you can see for yourself: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/altruism/definition#why-practice
The other 2 phrases "quoted" in the paragraph are from different sources, but all can be found in other Berkeley articles on psychology. Or maybe just freelance writers that have been published on UCB websites? Now, we couldn't have all you JW's reading about any of THAT stuff, so lets just take one tiny partial sentence out of context from several different source articles, and insert it into our study to "prove" our point. Its almost as bad as quoting their own literature to "prove" a point. Ridiculous and sad. I'm definitely NOT saying that the point they are trying to make is not genuine.... but why go to such lengths to "not disclose" the source materials?
Again, as someone else on this site mentions frequently, if you have to cheat to show that you are right, then maybe you are just a liar.
Furthermore, WHY do it in the first place? Just to make yourself look learned and scholarly, like your writing department knows more than everyone else? Anyone with half a brain can do a quick fact check! Classic example of treating their subjects like simpletons. Then again, if the shoe fits...…...
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"New Kingdom Halls Being Built Around the World.........."
by The Fall Guy inthat's what a very elderly jw sister said to me this afternoon, in response to all the sell-offs.
i didn't contradict her - she's far too close to the end, but if it had been a younger jw i'd have suggested this:.
"isn't it a pity that the society doesn't have a section on its web site where it could post photographs of all the new kingdom halls that are getting built every week/month?
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Tech49
HaHa! Nope, it will go to the woman in Montana that just won the sex abuse case, and will be shared with her lawyers. No Kingdom Halls to be built with that money! Millions and millions going to settle child abuse and sex abuse lawsuits all over the world. Shame shame, WT.