bemused

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Posts by bemused

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  23

  Why the Governing Body caught a frightful fright

  by Saintbertholdt in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  it has been extensively reported on the forum that there has been a marked increase in effort over the past two years by the governing body of jehovah's witnesses to encourage an increase in monetary donations.

  this has also been accompanied by the stripping of financial capital from the local congregations.

  as has also been reported on this forum, this has in all probability been done to facilitate the financing of the vast new hq building project as well as the financing of the shift from a publishing company to becoming an internet based charismatic multimedia company which produces lame pixar/disney animation knock offs while simultaneously parading the governing body's ever expanding waistlines, blingy accoutrements and stupid grins.. meanwhile the financials of the organization remains as murky as ever.

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  bemused

  The IRS document: 'Instructions for form 990T' only refer to assets as treated as if sold at fair market value

  If the figures are indeed current market value, not cost value, then the fall of some 12% in asset values from 2013 to 2014 (two years for which the graph says actual reported values are used) is interesting. I assume that most of WT's wealth is in property, with some other investments, but S&P indices indicate that commercial property prices were slightly up over the period, while equities showed strong gains. Why WT should see its assets fall by more than $100m is therefore mystifying but one possibility is that a major financial problem hit the WT between September 2013 and August 2014.
  
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  46

  November Study WT "Train You Child to Love Going Door 2 Door"

  by JW_Rogue in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  been catching up on some jw reading and found a gem in the november study wt in the first article, paragraph #11:.

  yet, you might look beyond the obvious and ask yourself, does my child enjoy the ministry or only the breaks?

  if you discern that the ministry could be more interesting or more rewarding for your children, set goals with them.

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  bemused

  I'm in the UK and a never-in. I don't think I've EVER seen a child as young as the one in the picture doing Field Service. More recently, I've seen quite a few of the trolley carts that are used these days - all staffed by adults only, generally older adults at that.

  With the emphasis on child protection in the UK these days, it would be very surprising to see young children going door to door, whether under adult supervision or not.
  
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  7

  Jah-Jireh UK JW Hospice: A damning report

  by Room 215 in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  self explanatory:.

  http://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/new_reports/aaab3073.pdf.

  apologies if this has been previously reported.

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  bemused

  A rating of 'Inadequate' is the lowest you can get - puts them comfortably in the bottom 10%.

  The summary report reads as if the staff (who are all JWs) are trying their best; unfortunately they are pretty inept and lack training. They are very good at saying prayers though.
  
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  17

  MY suggestion for Muslims entering this country.

  by James Mixon in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  first of all immigration is a privilege not a right, the same as obtaining a driving license it's.

  a privilege not a right.

  my suggestion all muslims that seeking permanent resident or a visa.

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  bemused

  How would you know that they're a Muslim?
  
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  16

  More than half of UK population is non-religious

  by bemused in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the british humanist association web-site has reported on the results of the british social attitudes survey, which is a major annual survey, the latest report covering the year 2013:.

  https://humanism.org.uk/campaigns/religion-and-belief-some-surveys-and-statistics/the-british-social-attitudes-survey/.

  for the first time, those people saying they are not members of any religious group are in the majority in the uk, up by three percentage points from 47.7% to 50.6% in just one year.

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  bemused

  The British Humanist Association web-site has reported on the results of the British Social Attitudes Survey, which is a major annual survey, the latest report covering the year 2013:

  https://humanism.org.uk/campaigns/religion-and-belief-some-surveys-and-statistics/the-british-social-attitudes-survey/

  For the first time, those people saying they are not members of any religious group are in the majority in the UK, up by three percentage points from 47.7% to 50.6% in just one year. Furthermore the survey indicates that 62.4% of people never attend religious services, so some of those claiming to be members of a religion must be completely inactive.

  I was never a JW and I'm not sure what this means for the WT. However it seems to me that a lot of WT teaching criticises other christian groups, saying they have got it wrong on the trinity, dates etc. - this would seem to become increasingly irrelevant given the decline in those faiths. WT may have to shift focus to attacking the non-religious, but that's a less easy target as, by definition, they have no one set of beliefs..

  WT may benefit possibly in the short-term from catholics and anglicans looking for other homes as their churches empty, but ultimately it's hard to see how a decline in religiosity in the UK can be anything but bad news for the JW faith.
  
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  9

  Songs that have a JW meaning?

  by GrownMidget in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you have any songs that you have listened and then thought that it also works from an apostate point of view?i have always liked this song, but one time realized that i was thinking how it sounds awfully familiar, if you think about those who have lost family/friends due to leaving.this song was originally made/written because one of the actors died in a car accident.

  movie was still being filmed and many spots he was needed were never finished with him.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgkafk5djsk.

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  bemused

  My Generation by The Who is pretty clear that a generation covers only people born in a short period of time (and certainly doesn't overlap). Furthermore the song contains the line 'Why don't you all fade away?', which is an excellent question for JWs to consider.
  
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  35

  Hey! Wanted to say Hi!

  by Miss Worldly in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey!

  i've been hanging around her for a while.

  this is the third attempt at my 'hello'.

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  bemused

  Hi. I'm also a wordly - never was a JW and most certainly never will be. I think there are probably quite a few of us who visit here because we have relatives, friends and/or spouses in the WT and we benefit from the insight we can gain from the still-ins and apostates. (Of course, some of the apostates on this site have been out so long they could be classified as honorary wordlies.)
  
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  14

  Catholic Funeral - Rosary and Viewing

  by Gram in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  tonight i attended a rosary following the viewing.

  it was held at the funeral home.

  the rosary is a series of prayers led by a priest.

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  bemused

  Whoa, hold on a moment. I've never been to a JW funeral (but have been to plenty of others). Are you saying that the deceased is not discussed at a JW funeral? People don't relive their memories of that person? WTH is said then?
  
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  14

  Taken from pro JW forum

  by username in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  now this is embarrassing.. after being cold in the truth for many, many years, and getting back some 2 years ago, my wife and i, decided to auxiliary pioneer last year during the memorial campaign.

  we were quite impressed that we made the 30 hrs.. last month, we decide to do it again.

  after handing in our application forms, and being approved, our service overseer asks me, "how many hours are you going to do?".

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  bemused

  A different (better) moral would be don't go back to the Org.

  I had to laugh at the fact that he and his wife are alone when pioneering. Nobody talking to them I guess!
  
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  5

  UK Watch Tower branch financial info

  by paradisebeauty in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  taken from http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/showcharity/registerofcharities/charitywithpartb.aspx?registeredcharitynumber=1077961&subsidiarynumber=0.

  i wonder what exactly the uk charity commission is looking into.

  just financial data or also practices of the watch tower?

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  bemused

  Thanks Memphis, I hadn't appreciated there were three investigations.

  With the seeming never-ending series of child abuse scandals in the UK, it's hard to see how the Commissioners can do anything but come down very hard on the WT's practices.

  The legal responsibilities point is an interesting one. As I understand it, each UK congregation is a charity in its own right, with a board of trustees. Being a trustee is quite an onerous duty and carries with it a significant degree of personal risk if things go wrong. I wonder how easy it will be to recruit future trustees if things go badly for the WT here.