Posts by TTATTelder

324

Is this new donation arrangement for real?

by nugget in

just read a post on jwsurvey about the new donation arrangement.

congregations are to pledge a monthly amount to be sent to the society to fund the building of assembly halls and kingdom halls.

congregations who already have a loan from the society will no longer have to pay back the loan but the amount pledged should not be less than the current monthly repayments to the society.

TTATTelder

Undercover,

I agree with what you are saying... I will add this though... The anonymous survey (guilt-tripped obligation) is already reality or will be shortly in thousands of congregations.

Add this...There are already ways to make donations through JW.org either one time or recurring. These donations are made with credit/debit card so obviously include name/address etc.

I again agree it it quite a leap from where we are to - tax return auditing - but you can see the road the org is creeping down.

You have to wonder what the next step down this road is, and where it will end up.

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Maybe future surveys are not anonymous? Maybe future donating is not anonymous?

Digital donating is already in place online and at conventions. Surely it will pop up at the hall at some point. The anonymity of donating is already fading.

Could we see digital-only donating at some point? They could say that it is safer to not have the brothers handling cash.

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Just speculating, but its not hard to imagine a day when the elders know exactly who donated and how much and whether it matches their "pledge".

Back-Door Tithing is on the horizon...

324

Is this new donation arrangement for real?

by nugget in

just read a post on jwsurvey about the new donation arrangement.

congregations are to pledge a monthly amount to be sent to the society to fund the building of assembly halls and kingdom halls.

congregations who already have a loan from the society will no longer have to pay back the loan but the amount pledged should not be less than the current monthly repayments to the society.

TTATTelder

They are just devising a way to amass more funds.

They are guilt tripping the congs with paid for halls to give more And simultaneously trying to convince congs with saved cash to hand it over.

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Sorry... "Give me the money now and I promise to take care of you later" is the oldest scam in the book.

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I talked to another elder about this and he actually defended it. His cong is planning a 50k plus remodel and he said " "hey we won't have to borrow the

money and we might get a 100k remodel instead and just pay them what we a can afford."

I was a bit taken aback by the entitlement nanny-state mentality that automatically kicked in. (But I am in the US lol )

Its totally a franchise/rental-landlord hybrid business model being rolled out progressively.

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I wonder how long the remodel/repair request list will get and how quick. It will be funny to watch.

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Its kind of weird though. They act like such a conservative religion and then want to raise taxes and play Robin Hood like the libs.

8

FINE-TUNING our thinking by clarifying our VOCABULARY of conscience

by Terry in

jw
friends

are you confused?.

is your thinking and reasoning ineffective because of ambiguity?.

do you sometimes find yourself unclear about what certain words mean?.

TTATTelder

Good Post...thanks for expanding my thinking today

85

i admit i no longer believe in god and holy books.. thinking of the made up 'universal sovereignty' thing, surely if god existed in the way the holy books describe him then he could have thought of something better than humankind suffering thousands of years and the slaughter of jesus?.

couldn't god have said: 'well, satan is a very naughty boy but you all know how great i am so we can end it now.

i will lovingly kill satan and his mates and that's that.

TTATTelder

This is part of the OP of a thread I started awhile back that ties in with this discussion:

A lot of attention is given to how big the sacrifice was on the part of Jesus and God when Jesus laid down his life. As the story goes, Jesus gave his life for our sins and then was miraculously raised back to life a couple of days later.

Consider this. Normally, when a parent loses a child, the parent doesn't get the child back 3 days later.

I'm not minimizing the weight of having to watch your child die, but isn't the biggest sting of death the permanance of it? I mean would we be nearly as distraught after a loved one died if we were going to see them again before the end of the week?

We had a talk today at our hall, and the speaker said, "Jehovah takes forgiveness seriously... he gave up his son for it."

My first thought was: but he has his son. He didn't give up his son permanently. He wasn't without him even for a week.

Everyone knew the resurrection was coming 3 days later. It was prophesied. Jehovah knew. Jesus knew. I'm assuming everyone in heaven knew. My point is - everyone knew this whole thing was temporary going in.

The whole thing just sounds like a news story that would have this headline:

- Son Gets Tortured, Leads to 3 Day Coma -

It honestly doesn't seem like a storyline that could hold up for thousands of years - strange to me.

40

Letter to Governing Body .Recorded conversations with Elders

by Watchtower-Free in

i found this on youtube...very good example of twisted reasoning by elders.. .

recorded conversations with elders by a former pioneer....a series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw8amuphqis.

TTATTelder

episode 5 of second meeting is up

59

what is the best line to say to a JW handing you an invite to the memorial

by nonjwspouse in

jw
friends

i have some ideas, but want more to choose from..

TTATTelder

Oh yeah thanks.

I am usually hungry and thirsty around sundown.

28

JW.org Propaganda video " The Best Life Ever" PUKE WARNING

by Watchtower-Free in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8wmz3nvlek.

TTATTelder

That's a straight up commercial.

It is fun to go abroad and see other cultures, and I have personally seen how some cultures are very curious about the bible which makes field service a very different experience for these jdubs. (of course they would stop and listen to any westerner approaching them most likely and certainly to any bible message)

Kind of embarrassing though to have to return to the local village and explain how what you told them last month is completely bogus now. It seems that "new light' has come out on the other side of the world. lol

Oh if it were only as simple as a 3 min video with musical backtracks...

18

The Battle of Armageddon LOL.

by transhuman68 in

jw
friends

i was looking through a watchtower publication that i bought recently, and found this quote about children & armageddon:.

our theme "rearing children in divine favor" does not refer to the rearing of the children of armageddon survivors in that new world when all surrounding conditions and all forces in operation will be toward helping those who live to do righteousness.

no; but it refers to rearing children who are born now before the battle of armageddon.

TTATTelder

I remember the 1986 "International Year of Peace' and how that was supposed to be the filfillment of the prophecy at 1 Thess 5:3. - "Whenever it is that they are saying, “Peace and security!” then sudden destruction is to be instantly on them"

I remember there was some specific day that year where the proclamation was official - I don't know if it was when the world leaders came together to pray or what, but I was scared to go to sleep that night.

What made it worse was when I woke up the next morning, I jumped up to check if everyone in my family was alive. My dad was sleeping in a weird way where it looked like he had grasped his chest or something. I thought he might be dead, so i woke him just to be sure.

Sounds silly now, but what a great traumatic childhood memory from my stupid ass religion.

11

Anybody have experience selling on Ebay or Amazon?

by EndofMysteries in

jw
friends

there are a few collectibles i am wanting to sell.

my concern is that if i accept payment w/ credit card, etc, that i ship the item and they either open it (destroying the value), or just lie about not getting it, or any other thing to cause ebay/amazon to chargeback.

i was wondering if anybody sells on them is there a protection for sellers and how often does that type of thing happen?

TTATTelder

Mostly use common sense and you will be fine.

It is best to have some dialogue with the buyer to feel them out a bit. If something seems fishy it usually is.

Also from experience paypal is pretty tight with their customers. A person with a good standing with paypal is almost always legit.

I have sold thousands of items through amazon, ebay, and websites.

I am in the U.S. Very few problems overall.

Largest percent of problems were with out-of-the-country purchases either directly or through freight forwarders.

35

Critical Differences: JW's Today Vs The Past

by metatron in

jw
friends

jehovah's witnesses have always been a fringe, anti-intellectual movement, almost by definition.

there is nothing new about faddish health concerns, attitudes that ignore history and science or even beliefs that defy common sense ( false prophecy for what, 130+ years?).

however, there are two differences with jw's of the past that will prove critical for the survival of the organization today.. 1) poor financial conditions - in the past, it was possible to hold all sorts of nonsensical beliefs and still be a functional member of the human race, generally.

TTATTelder

I wonder which direction they will take when numbers begin to fall.

They could say "we are being refined...you are the chosen few" (said with echoing God-like voice).

Or they could just cook the books. I wonder how long they could cook the numbers and keep people thinking there is "growth".

I would say for quite a few years.