DJS

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Posts by DJS

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  113

  Are you religious or are you spiritual? Wake up to what?

  by Deltawave in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  there is a huge difference between been religious and been spiritual.

  been religious is about been superior to others in the sight of god.

  however, been spiritual is about self awareness, inner peace and unity with the natural world.

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  DJS

  Cofty and Viviane:

  
  
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  113

  Are you religious or are you spiritual? Wake up to what?

  by Deltawave in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  there is a huge difference between been religious and been spiritual.

  been religious is about been superior to others in the sight of god.

  however, been spiritual is about self awareness, inner peace and unity with the natural world.

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  DJS

  Viviane,

  It's amazing that, with zero exposure to the BK teachings, managed to pick a user name very specific to their teachings and then promote their very specific teachings in your postings, even promoting them as you attempt to deny them.

  And all of this on their very first day with their very first OP. Yeah, sure. I'm not buying it. Not for a second. The scenario DW presented about sitting through a boring WT yesterday morning could have been crafted within a few minutes simply by reading a few posts.

  But I'm with LisaRose, welcome to the forum BK-DW. I suggest that you cinch it up and prepare for Viv and Cofty. Good luck. You will need it.
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  35

  behind the curtain: literature offer for the month

  by Magnum in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was an extremely sincere, zealous pioneer.

  i really cared about the people in the field.

  i thought their lives were in danger.

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  DJS

  Blondie,

  Thank you for the historical perspective. It seems that nearly every congregation had an overstock of these old, long, Franz-era books. That is too much of a coincidence for me to be a coincidence. I suspect that the ego and narcissism surrounding Franz and a few of the other old-timers drove most of this over-stock. I doubt seriously if it was a 'pull' from the congregations.

  Franz and a few of the others had somewhat of a mystical prophetic force field around them for decades. That, IMHO, is what resulted in the overstock. The smoking gun of proof is if they printed even one of these during that period.
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  35

  behind the curtain: literature offer for the month

  by Magnum in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was an extremely sincere, zealous pioneer.

  i really cared about the people in the field.

  i thought their lives were in danger.

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  DJS

  Magnum

  Ditto. I felt exactly the same. I thought it was a greedy grab for $ to get rid of an overstock of old material. I also thought it was driven largely by narcissism and ego - look how smart we are (or at least the top guy in the cult Fred Franz with his type/anti-type nonsense). I wonder if they continued printing this tripe; I suspected at the time that they did, which disturbed me. Like you, no one in the field was going to benefit from it.
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  12

  Dating

  by Indy98 in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  i have been brought up as a jehovah witness and want to date this boy who isn't a jehovah's witness.

  we have talked about the trials we could go through and i was wondering because i am a unbaptised publisher could i date him without any consequences?

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  DJS

  Consequences? Certainly. You could: get pregnant, get an STD, become married to a loser, become a victim of domestic violence. Oh, you mean congregation consequences! Yes. Lots. To avoid such consequences: a. Stop turning in FS reports and being an unbaptized publisher; b. Stop going to meetings; c. NEVER EVER GET BAPTIZED (sorry for yelling); and d. Make your escape from the cult as quickly and quietly as you can.

  Enjoy. But guard against those STD/pregnancy thing-ies.
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  11

  It's a "lose / lose" situation!

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so the org is on a big "beg for money" drive right?.

  so either they are running out of money and will eventually cease to have as much influence, or, it is evidence of a lack of backing from "god", so they will eventually fade away?.

  either way, it's a "lose / lose" situation for the org!.

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  DJS

  Vidiot,

  I voraciously absorbed all things Tolkien several decades ago. And King supplies a lot of my sick humor. Glad you noticed.
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  11

  It's a "lose / lose" situation!

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so the org is on a big "beg for money" drive right?.

  so either they are running out of money and will eventually cease to have as much influence, or, it is evidence of a lack of backing from "god", so they will eventually fade away?.

  either way, it's a "lose / lose" situation for the org!.

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  DJS

  The Dark Lords rode their business design to financial success for decades. It was built on free labor, no taxes, literature sales, donations and food sales at conventions and the money left to them by long dead widows and widowers who had bought into the false promises. Real estate purchases have also enriched them. Brooklyn was a dive for decades; it is high rent now and when they sold.

  They still have free labor and no taxes. Selling off assets and either investing them or building new brick and mortar, as I've mentioned, are one time events. They won't use this for O&M costs. When they do they are desperate and dying.

  They can't sell literature and sandwiches where it matters. That leaves donations and wills and return on financial investments (see the above). It becomes less likely with each passing day that the rank and file are going to bequeath anything to the Dark Tower; the older gen of dubs HAS to be resentful and angry. At least the ones with a functioning brain.

  The rank and file at the congregation level likely also feel a lot of resentment to the Dark Tower. Most of them avoided college and decent paying jobs for low pay and no future. And the years keep passing. Retirement draws nearer and there isn't much in the retirement account. And paying for your kids to go to college? Forgetaboutit.

  Do any of us think for a micro-second that the typical dub will change their views regarding donations?

  The Dark Lords are delusional, IMHO.I hope they become more shrill and demanding in their pleas for $$$. It will be entertaining for us.
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  35

  New on here

  by Tony Stark in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hey so i'm new on here.

  just wanted to introduce myself.

  in my 20's and was rasied one, and very popular among the jw community.

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  DJS

  Welcome,

  If you are really Iron Man you're going to do ok.
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  13

  Stephen Lett admits income/expenditure shortfall as he reminds Witnesses to donate “valuable things”

  by defender of truth in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it's well worth taking a look at the article, it will only take you a few minutes.

  but i would particularly like to highlight this part: .

  if you are going to divulge a shortfall in funds, particularly with the aim of leveraging more donations (or valuable things) from a pool of supporters who are already lagging in this regard, the least you can do is treat them like adults and give some hard numbers.

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  DJS

  None of us ultimately know the financial status of the Dark Tower. As some of us have pointed out previously, many of their actions are typical of organizations facing a cash flow problem. Closing branches, convention centers, etc. and consolidating others suggests this. The streamlining of the org. (COs, DOs, etc.) does as well. The greedy grab for the congregations' accounts also strongly suggests a reactionary fear based mentality, as does the commitment from each congregation about 'donations' that I've read about here. Reducing and eliminating conventions is another tip, as they used to be cash cows to the Dark Tower. Reducing or eliminating these suggests the till isn't as full and they are either costing them $, they have found a 'break even' point or a point where they can maximize the profitability of each. If the conventions were continuing to be extremely profitable, they wouldn't be reducing their numbers or lengths.

  Throw in the potential costs of the abuse lawsuits and the Dark Lords may be operating in fear mode.

  Some point out the large real estate sales as evidence the Dark Tower is financially strong. They seem to be re-investing' this in other brick and mortar, so a lot of this may simply be a transfer. Even if they are squirreling it away, organizations avoid using capital gains for day to day operational and maintenance expenses. Doing so suggests a very weak financial position.

  That's where they appear to be hurting. Good for them. The rank and file should stop donating. Completely.
  
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  130

  Atheist Miracles

  by Perry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i reworded a variation of a common critique of atheists to my own liking.

  no, i do not hate atheists, i love them!

  they keep me from getting bored.

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  DJS

  Cappytan: "Perry, you and I need to go grab a brew or two at a local watering hole and have a nice time and show these folks that atheists and you can get along."

  I bet Perry is a good egg. Just don't mention Viviane.