i was just reading over the "cellular phones" thread, and this came from the ypa article:however, as 17-year-old henna discovered, "the bill can suddenly get very high.".
are people like henna real people or are they made up by the society?
have you ever known anyone who's example was used in a wt publication?
I've been in on a couple of the interview sessions they do for YPA articles... an elder took all the teens and 20-somethings in the hall into the library, started a tape recorder, and then asked questions and anyone in the group who wanted to speak volunteered the answers.
I guess that if he thought that any of the answers were "good", he would get together with the kid and they would hammer it out into the sort of polished, WT-acceptable quote that you see in the articles.
there seems to be a lot of local differences between what witnesses are allowed to do and what they aren't.
i'm in a situation where elders in one area are incouraging a course of action, and elders in another area are totally against it, saying it is a disfellowshipping offence.
anybody been in a situation where elders disagreed like this?
Actually, if the CO's are in conflict, it would probably go directly to the Society.
I've never figured out what the heck the DOs do.
if the governing body arrangement had never been implemented could ray franz have become the president of the watchtower after his uncle or henschel died?.
i believe in coc ray franz said that if knorr had been president the events of 1980 would probably not have turned out as they did.
so do you think it is possible that by now ray franz would have been the president of the watchtower if the gb arrangement had not taken place?.
I think your overall point is well-taken, DannyBear, but just for the sake of accuracy:
Russell saw the need for tighter control over the congregations, thus instituting the colporter/traveling representative to keep the congregations in line.
First of all, you seem to be thinking of pilgrims, not colporteurs. (Pilgrims were the predecessors of the modern-day Circuit Overseers; colporteurs were the predecessors of the Pioneers.)
Secondly, I don't believe that the pilgrims were--except perhaps in a very general, suasive sense--a control mechanism. Their job was only to give talks, not to 'inspect' the congregation; and if memory serves, they were only sent to congregations that requested a visit.
Russell no doubt controlled the Society with a firm hand; but, with occasional lapses--such as when he urged the congregations to study his publications rather than the Bible--he showed excellent restraint in not attempting to exercise authority over the congregations, especially considering the reverence in which he was generally held, and the control he could have exerted if he had wished to. Just IMHO.
if the governing body arrangement had never been implemented could ray franz have become the president of the watchtower after his uncle or henschel died?.
i believe in coc ray franz said that if knorr had been president the events of 1980 would probably not have turned out as they did.
so do you think it is possible that by now ray franz would have been the president of the watchtower if the gb arrangement had not taken place?.
I didnt realise the president had all the power, I thought even his ideas were subject to the majority vote.
The Presidential dictatorship was until 1976. After that, the President's ideas were indeed subject to majority vote.
(Of course, now the President isn't even on the GB, so it's a moot point.)
as i was growing up in the troof.
there were sayings used over and over again to control my behaviour.
the biblical on bad associations spoil useful habits and another on just because everyone else does it doesnt mean you have to do it to, would you jump off a cliff just because other people do what were the sayings that bugged you?
voluntary donations (an oxymoron like there are forced donations)
Wouldn't that actually make it a redundancy, rather than an oxymoron? (Sorry, had to.)
One that I always hated was: "I don't tell anyone in the congregation about my entertainment choices, so as not to stumble them." What that actually meant, of course, was: "I'd rather be a hypocrite, instead of facing the wrath of all the judgmental gossips who would twitter about how 'unspiritual' I am..."
"i have a philosophical secret!".
jerry: well, ursula, come on.
tina: jerry, today i want to tell him.... .
ROFL I think I've seen that one around before, but it's been a while. Truly great stuff!
unfortunately i am seeing no visual decrease in the meeting attendance at kingdom halls, assemblies, etc.
i am hearing stories of packed district assemblies, and am seeing bigger attendance at the kingdom hall, not less as i might expect due to all the scandals and exposing of false prophecies etc.
it's very depressing.
I'll add... I used to attend a KH in NY that was shared by three English congregations... they're being merged into two, because they were just getting too small.
it seems to me that they are holding fast to their legalistic views.
what will the result of this be?
i think that the result will be a more closed society.
I dunno. The liberalizing movement of the mid-90's, led by the legal and PR people, got crushed. But there's been another, more ideological, liberalizing movement afoot that's persevered (see e.g. the Draw Close to Jehovah book). There's no way of predicting the outcome of this political struggle in the short term, but in the long term I think that the younger members of the GB are probably in support of this movement.
unfortunately i am seeing no visual decrease in the meeting attendance at kingdom halls, assemblies, etc.
i am hearing stories of packed district assemblies, and am seeing bigger attendance at the kingdom hall, not less as i might expect due to all the scandals and exposing of false prophecies etc.
it's very depressing.
The Disctrict Assemblies are packed because the Society holds them in small facilities now.
Most congregations in the US have well-below-100% meeting attendance for the weekday meetings; and since those figures count kids and others who aren't publishers, you have to discount it even further.
The national average for hours in the US is on a slow decline... I think it's down to about 9 or so, after being around 10 for the longest time.
I was at a DC a couple of weeks ago; the attendance was 5,000, and there were only about 20 baptized. If you assume the same rate at CAs and SADs, that's still barely enough to keep up with the death rate.
Here's the kicker... the US had negligible growth last year. Now 20% of US congregations are Spanish, and those are growing by leaps and bounds. So if the overall growth is almost nonexistent, that tells you that the other 80% of English-speaking congregations have got to be bleeding members.
There was a brief activity spike after 9/11. But that will subside.
have a look to see if your car has been caught anywhere!!!
just checked mine - i'm still okay click on the web link below, and use the login and password below.. .
national computer for speed tickets.
Okay, I was trying to figure out what the big joke was, but all I got was: "Sorry!! The web site you are looking for does not exist.
