While chucky Russell was around since the 1800s the Jehovah witnesses haven't really been around for 100 years yet. Remember before they became JWs they lost half their members in 1925. That large of an exodus won't happen again. But I do expect the watchtower to close up shop before I die. Of course the JW theology will still be floating around. They may take the money and run, an become an online religion with no hierarchy or shunning. Just loosely affiliated congregations who study the borgs online publications.
kneehighmiah
JoinedPosts by kneehighmiah
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17
LONGEVITY IS A HALLMARK OF STUPID RELIGIONS
by steve2 inwe credit religious believers with far too much interest in and/or ability to engage in reasoning.
we overlook two hugely compelling factors that drive and revive "faith": emotional need for religious meaning, including to be consoled over awful events, and being born into the religion.
raised from day one to recite stupidity, it is then hard to assess stupidity for what it is.. that is why there is no shortage of stupid religions who turn date-speculation into a near-art form.
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62
End shunning or lose tax free status
by kneehighmiah inwhich would the watchtower choose if it came down to this in the united states or europe?
losing tax free status would mean losing millions of dollars.
ending shunning means people would leave by the boatloads.
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kneehighmiah
Yes my topic for discussion was purely hypothetical. I was wondering if the watchtower prefers money over mind control.
As far as shunning goes, it is open to debate. Many things were at one time allowed in the Untied Statea including slavery and polygamy. the government cannot force a JW to talk to you. However, the question is does continued shunning of an ex member/ disciplining a member for leaving violate that members civil rights namely freedom of religion. i believe it does. I also think the WT knows it does as well. That's why if you wish to leave, but threaten to sue if they make you face a committee or read your name off, they are instructed to leave you alone. I also believe they ask you at judicial committee hearings if you accept their authority. Do not go to a judicial committee
of course if your family doesn't want to not associate with you that's their own choice. But an organization is on shaky ground by attempting to hinder the civil rights of ex members. You cannot punish people who are no longer members of your group. Remember though, getting D'fed does not terminate membership. You are still a member if you get disfellowshipped. But if you make a conscientious decision to leave, they cannot disfellowship you unless you agree to it.
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The WT Isn't Going Away (sorry got long)
by LostGeneration ini've seen more threads and comments in the last week about the "demise of the wt" than in some time.
several were on threads about the donation arrangement and how its going to backfire in some way on the wt.
oh and the lone elder who was pissed in some sort of passive-aggresive manner about it when he presented the resolution.
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kneehighmiah
The next step is to sell Kingdom Halls. If congregations are not big enough to generate income, the best option would be to merge it with another congregation and to sell the building of the unproductive hall. Remember all building decisions now come directly from the branch, not the RBC.
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The WT Isn't Going Away (sorry got long)
by LostGeneration ini've seen more threads and comments in the last week about the "demise of the wt" than in some time.
several were on threads about the donation arrangement and how its going to backfire in some way on the wt.
oh and the lone elder who was pissed in some sort of passive-aggresive manner about it when he presented the resolution.
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kneehighmiah
Lol lost generation. I actually made an old post about the Instabragging as I call it. Some of the biggest braggers who are doing the most #serviceflow post are the ones getting d'fed becUse they're leading double lives. Social media is all about status. People post their spiritual resume on their profile, like anyone cares. Most people live fake likes on social media to increase their status. The more status you have as a JW the more attention you get from the opposite sex. Guys are posting public talks they gave, but are in the club with a pioneer sister grinding on them the next weekend. And I've been on a few out of town trips And seen some things. What happens out of town stays out of town. You're right though, JWs aren't really spiritual it's all for show. Other friends are depressed, and they gain fleeting comfort by having people comment and compliment them on their posts of them doing service or studying.
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The WT Isn't Going Away (sorry got long)
by LostGeneration ini've seen more threads and comments in the last week about the "demise of the wt" than in some time.
several were on threads about the donation arrangement and how its going to backfire in some way on the wt.
oh and the lone elder who was pissed in some sort of passive-aggresive manner about it when he presented the resolution.
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kneehighmiah
You guys are ignoring the elephant in the room. They can't recruit because no one besides a few mentally ill people are buying what they're selling. the statistics show this. Check out jwfacts. you guys are all basing your models based off of past years when the organization could recruit. If the organization could still recruit at the rate of the early 90s, membership would be over 14 million. They've lost out on 6 million new recruits! They've crunched the numbers.
I hate to be morbid, but if you can't get new recruits your members age and die. I'm under 30. You guys who've been around since the 70s will all be dead within 20-30 years. This is what's happening. Think this weeks watchtower about caring for elderly parents. please tell me how the organization will continue to grow its membership? I've yet to hear anyone tell me where future growth will come from.
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46
The WT Isn't Going Away (sorry got long)
by LostGeneration ini've seen more threads and comments in the last week about the "demise of the wt" than in some time.
several were on threads about the donation arrangement and how its going to backfire in some way on the wt.
oh and the lone elder who was pissed in some sort of passive-aggresive manner about it when he presented the resolution.
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kneehighmiah
Kaik. Sorry but there's no way they collect 2.4 billon. That would mean every publisher donates $25 a month. So that would mean my congregation of 120 should contribute 3000 a month. They didn't, in fact it was nowhere close to that amount. But let's pretend they did. Much of that money would still be eaten up to pay bills. So the branch wouldn't receive that full $3000 it would need to reach 2.4 billion. My congregation typically sent around $600-800 to the branch each month and paid kingdom hall expenses of about $600 a month for a total of $12-1400 total deposited in the boxes Each month.
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The WT Isn't Going Away (sorry got long)
by LostGeneration ini've seen more threads and comments in the last week about the "demise of the wt" than in some time.
several were on threads about the donation arrangement and how its going to backfire in some way on the wt.
oh and the lone elder who was pissed in some sort of passive-aggresive manner about it when he presented the resolution.
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kneehighmiah
I want someone to answer me how the watchtower plans to replace the boatloads of young ones who walk away each year. the organization is like the United States social security system. It unsustainable. The majority of JWs are over 50 years old! That is a fact. Go to JWfacts and look at the statistics. We haven't had a large recruitment spike in nearly 20 years. Yes if youre a baby boomer the Borg May not fold in your lifetime, but it will eventually fold as have many billion dollar corporations.
The governing body does not run the organization. They are a bunch of goofballs that's why they were fired back in 2000-2001. The real watchtower rulers are smart guys If the smart guys behind the scenes expected more growth, they wouldn't be cashing out and stealing alL The money from the congregations. Investing in income producing funds is a retirement/exit strategy. it works so that you can maximize your liquid assets before you die/go out of business. In my financial management class what was one of the strategies that retirees are encouraged to do? Oh yeah that's right, get a reverse mortgage, or sell your house and move to a smaller one. Hmmm what did the watchtower just do? The game is up and they know it. But they are wisely not getting caught with their pants down. with one letter they just stole Everyone's money and claimed ownership overly every kingdomhall in the world. The proceeds from the sell of any hall, now goes straight to them. On top of that they call all real estate shots at the branch level, no more RBCs.
I can't believe how no one can see what they're prepaRing for. remember even here in the United States most witnesses are not wealty. We never sent off anything close to $1500 to the society per month and nobody donates anything at the memorial. At a memorial of nearly 300 people we recieved $70. I was accounts servant in an all black congregation, so maybe we are just cheap. Most educated people in the US are not JWs. Trust me, the watchtower is not making as much money as everyone claims they are. If they were, they wouldn't feel the need to do what they just did. Remember the guys behind the scenes are smart.
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End shunning or lose tax free status
by kneehighmiah inwhich would the watchtower choose if it came down to this in the united states or europe?
losing tax free status would mean losing millions of dollars.
ending shunning means people would leave by the boatloads.
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kneehighmiah
Which would the watchtower choose if it came down to this in the United States or Europe? Losing tax free status would mean losing millions of dollars. Ending shunning means people would leave by the boatloads. Remember shunning probably hurts the ones forced to do it more than it hurts the ones on the receiving end. Most people wouldn't shun their own children if they didn't feel they had to. I think the warchtower would chose to end shunning. Always follow the money.
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45
After leaving did the feeling go away?
by committeechairman inthe feeling that you're never good enough.
the feeling that you're wicked and evil.. .
because i'd give anything not to feel this way.
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kneehighmiah
That's the feeling that I had when I was a true believer. Everyone is different I guess. I didnt abandon my belief in God. I think it's important to find something to believe in, whether it's faith or helping people.
im technically still in but what has also helped is that I realized that they are the ones wrong, not me. If you still believe in God, read the bible more especially romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Hebrews And James. These bible books blow merciless, self righteous JW doctrine out the water and can help you battle your negative feelings.
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Detroit International Convention, June 6-8 - IS the public invited?
by Faithful Witness inmy mom was worrying out loud, about inviting the "public" to this event.
she told me they were announcing that people were not booking their hotels fast enough, and "we don't want to make the jw's look bad!
she told me about a promotional video they all watched, full of propaganda about the ford field house and all the arrangements that had been made for transportation and parking, and the city of detroit.
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kneehighmiah
Public is invited. The tradition invitation/busy work campaign will take place.