Posts by TTATTelder

14

The True Nature of Shunning

by done4good in

jw
friends

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.

TTATTelder

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.

29

Creative ways of counting field service time

by 4thgen in

jw
friends

there was a sister in my congregation that signed up to aux pioneer one month to put in 60 hours.

we couldn't figure out why she was never at the arrangements, but yet she said she got in her time early in the month.

we found out later that we wrote a letter that took her an hour.

TTATTelder

How about doing some grocery shopping and leaving a tract here and there as you go.

Benches by the door.

Seats by the pharmacy.

An occasional stray buggy...lol

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

Basically its been big business selling "the end".

That product isn't selling anymore (as far as bringing in people), but they have a flock already that is socially and emotionally dependent on the organization that "need" a place to worship.

Why not try to monetize that more with a devised income stream of pledged payments from each publisher. In other words, if you want us to keep babysitting you, telling you what to think, what to do with your life, and spanking you when you're bad then you are going to have to pay $$$ for it.

Congs with paid for halls will be reminded that it isn't "their" hall. So pony up your lease/franchise fee.

This is obviously to bring in more money. They will sell it as "better for the friends."

There will never be an accounting of the funds made publicly available.

The GB will siphon off/set aside whatever millions they see fit to comfortably provide for themselves for decades regardless of the ultimate fate of the org.

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

good one searcher...

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.

.

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

Jesus had to die? Really?

by punkofnice in

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.

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