im sure that many have had an experience where we try and keep little kids "occupied" while on a boring trip, such as a car ride or plane flight.. we come up with "games" like..."lets see how many green cars we can count", or "lets try and see who can sit still for the longest time".
"the winner gets a prize!".
obviously, until they are wise enough to cotton on, all we are doing is keeping them occupied to prevent them asking things like "are we there yet?!".
The dubs are distracted by all the busywork and are punch-drunk from all the changes.
So the Spin Doctors are piling it on while they have them dazed and confused.
Plus...How dare a publisher question anything during this grand centennial year of 2014!
I mean we are having International Conventions, a never-before-seen JW.org campaign, maybe the last memorial, etc. etc.
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.
We should write NOOO! in the amount section.
It will look like you are writing zeros
im sure that many have had an experience where we try and keep little kids "occupied" while on a boring trip, such as a car ride or plane flight.. we come up with "games" like..."lets see how many green cars we can count", or "lets try and see who can sit still for the longest time".
"the winner gets a prize!".
obviously, until they are wise enough to cotton on, all we are doing is keeping them occupied to prevent them asking things like "are we there yet?!".
I agree with the distraction thing.
I thought it was just to distract dubs from the 2014 embarrassment, but obviously they have more up their sleeve.
what if right in the middle of rolling out their latest money-grabbing scheme, there was an uprising demanding financial transparency?.
i thought jehovah was a god of organization and numbers.
isn't that why we report time and have all these annual reports?.
What if right in the middle of rolling out their latest money-grabbing scheme, there was an uprising demanding financial transparency?
I thought Jehovah was a God of organization and numbers. Isn't that why we report time and have all these annual reports?
Where's the Accounts Report from the the world headquarters of Jehovah's earthly organization ?
Aren't those some pretty freaking important numbers?
What are they hiding?
What about the net worth or financial statements of the Governing Body members and other top officials.
If they have taken a vow of poverty - prove it. Where is the openness and honesty?
I mean if they are going to ask for an income stream from congregations, shouldn't the congregations rightly expect a report of exactly what funds are coming in and going out and what the funds are specifically being used for?
just to share a little about me:.
i was recently appointed an elder, about 6 months ago now, and that is exactly two years after my awakenning, but funny that the appointment came also about 2 years after i had completely lost all faith in god and had been leading a full time anti-jw life .
makes you wonder the role of the holy spirit in the entire nomination or appointment process.. .
Interesting take on things, but it won't last IMO.
I too am serving and am having big problems with it all. Going through the motions is crap, and what's worse, the more I hate it the more "privileges" the body wants to give me.
I have been doing the other plan of disallowing "lording it over" types - even involved in removing one from being an elder and formally counseling another.
I will not be able to do it forever. But like you, my home is connected to dubs, my work, immediate and extended family on both sides, friends, etc.
What a mess. I get completely depressed at times.
It's interesting on paper what you are doing. Playing the villian as opposed to the hero. I would imagine that would be heavy on the conscience, though, unless you have sociopathic tendencies.
Good luck to you.
the jw date-worshipped memorial has just completed its bleak worldwide commemoration.
that wasn't a dust cloud you saw; it was a millionfold hearts limply beating themselves into another round of great tribulation expectations.
i was knocked into a deep, deep sleep by the imagined experience of being at several thousand consecutive kingdom halls as the platformed drones spat forth the predictable sludge that, once released, hits and stains white clothing and bleach is useless.. we know that memorial attendance worldwide has dipped for two consecutive years since 2011 when it reached a high of 19,374,737 and for the promised land, obama's usa, the all time memorial attendance high was also 2011 when it hit over 2.5million (2,563,518) but shrunk in shame back to 2,502,055 in 2012 and spluttered upwards a handful or two to 2,504,114 last year.. so, what was attendance at the date-obsessed bore-fest this year in your neck of the woods?
At least 15% drop at mine
the speaker at the memorial tonight stated straight up that the 144,000 is a literal number as we will stop celebrating the memorial when jesus 'arrives' and takes the few remnant with him.
how can the society change the 144,000 to figurative without blowing themselves out of the water?.
It really is sad. These people WANT to believe something. Anything.... to not have to face the scary world out there.
They will swallow whatever the GB serves up. It's an emotional thing not a rational one.
new donation arrangement (tithe) asked my elder about it he hung up on me.
.
http://jwsurvey.org/cedars-blog/governing-body-instructs-congregations-to-pledge-fixed-monthly-donations.
AndDontCallMeShirley,
Watch and see after the letter is read how many JWs interpret the WT's statement to mean that 13,000 KHs are needed annually, so they must donate like mad fools to meet the demand.
Exactly. They always use the tricky inflated numbers to sell with. The r&f will walk away thinking 13000 khs are needed right now.
I'm sure the holy spirit guided this tricky language and manipulation.
It's turning into a full fledge ponzi scheme, the only difference is they never actually pay dividends to any contributors. All that comes in the future!
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.
If there is no lack of money - then the only other explanation is greed/running their business (not religion) more profitably.
Either way they aren't "waiting on jehovah" to get them more cash.
Russell had more faith than these guys....and ...gasp....he wasn't even part of the FDS!
although i have been out for 8+ years, my recent experiences with this have taught me quite a bit.
i believe most here would claim this is what mind controlled people do when they are in contact with a known "former" believer, so i think some deeper understnding of what is really going on is in order.. i always asked why is the "mind control" so effective and how do the organizations that intiate it, learn how to?
i never really could find a satisfactory answer.
I once met and stayed in the home as a guest of a brother who was a retired lawyer (litigation) and had served at bethel for three years doing legal work voluntarily.
He had very interesting things to say, but boy do I wish I could have asked more. That was like 20 years ago or more. I was too naive then to know any better.
We went in service together the following day and he said that the field ministry wasn't for the householders - it was for the witnesses. That statement never really clicked until recently.
There is no telling what i could have learned from that man. He is probably dead now.
