PUBLISHERS

by Frenchy 44 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  freeman

  Well-done Frenchy,

  You have illustrated exactly the true motivations behind these activities, ‘sales, conversion and continuing indoctrination’. If the true motivation had been to spread the good news as written in the Bible, the WTBTS would use the most modern and effective methods known, not ineffective door knocking. Television is by far the most effective, followed by radio. The most cost effective is probably the Internet. However all of these methods have one serious flaw from their standpoint, they don’t provide full control and that is why there is strong resistance by the WTBTS to use them more then they have.

  Freeman
• 

  sadiejive

  .
• 

  borgfree

  Hi Frenchy,

  I totally agree.

  Moman,

  You said: "The WT iz not unique in this. All religions demand that one give up their individuality for the collective common goal. They all use BRAINWASHING in one way or another az ones FREEDOM iz destroyed!"

  I have not experienced that at any church I have been to. Maybe it is because I have not chosen to join any church. I attend, but haven't joined.

  Borgfree

  "Without knowledge there can be no genuine faith--only superstition on the one hand or speculation on the other" Robert Banks
• 

  picosito

  Frenchy:

  Your summary made very life-like visual and audio vignettes of my own experiences in the congos I've been in dance through my mind. BravOH.

  "If they move, kill'em!" Pike Bishop, 1913 (not Bishop Pike).
• 

  Frenchy

  Thank you all very much for your kind words. They are deeply appreciated.
• 

  RedhorseWoman

  Frenchy, you have very succinctly summed up the raison d'etre for the WTBTS and its publishers.

  These were some of the reasons why I found it so difficult to go back after I first became inactive. Everything revolved around "hours worked" and "sales made". I kept hoping that a "lost and battered sheep" would be of importance to the congregation, but in my heart I always knew that if they couldn't "count time", I would not be considered important.

  I had hoped that people would be the most important thing in "God's organization", but only sales and converts counted.
• 

  Will Power

  Boy oh boy the loyal ones hate this analogy.
  Try when talking:
  exchange WT or society with the words printing company and see how
  everthing fits! Its alot easier to understand why they would need an army of lawyers!
• 

  Scully

  What dawned on me at one point was the actual "value" of a morning spent in going door-to-door, meeting attendance and so on.

  For example:

  Being working people, my husband and I together had the earning potential of about $70/hour - at that point in time. Two hours in field service cost us (because we CAN work just about whenever we like, he being self-employed, and me working as a nurse in a hospital) $140.

  Using our vehicle for field service, averaged approximately 40 km for the same two-hour period. My husband's business (for sake of reference) reimburses his mileage on the vehicle at a rate of $0.35/km. 40km x $0.35/km = $14.00

  Those two figures combined total $154.00/week, or approximately $8000/year.

  Of course, we had to have special clothes for meeting attendance, since we had really no other reason to dress up as though we were going to a special occasion three times a week. Our clothing and footwear expenses alone that were specifically for meetings and service (including our children) easily amounted to $2000/year.

  Now, I'm not complaining about the expense per se, however, the WTS thinks NOTHING of putting the burden of these expenses on a family. When I volunteer my time someplace, they keep a record of it, and every now and then receive an acknowledgement of some kind for the contribution of my time and personal resources. Not so the WTS. Being a charitable organization, they could issue charitable donation receipts for such 'volunteer' work. But no. They want all the tax deductions FOR THEMSELVES. They don't give a hoot that they could have helped less fortunate JWs by issuing a receipt for their volunteered time and effort and wear and tear on their personal vehicles and the clothing they have exclusively for use in advancing "Kingdom Interests". $10,000 a year savings could go toward a family making a downpayment on a home of their own, instead of having to pay rent. $10,000 a year covers a heck of a lot of post secondary education expenses. Yet, the WTS is willing to wiggle through every loophole they can find in order to keep from paying Caesar's things to Caesar. When it comes to their followers, it's tough luck, Brother and Sister, just keep putting money in the contribution boxes...

  Once we figured out how much we were "contributing" on 'advertising the King and his Kingdom', we decided that it was contribution enough. We actually STOPPED putting money in the boxes, unless we had some that was collected as donations from going door-to-door. We started returning magazines to the KH that we didn't place when in service, saying that the pioneers could use them as 'sample copies'. (Besides, I was glad to have the extra space in my closets )

  Maybe it's time every JW started doing the same. MONEY is the only "language" the organization understands, and if people start putting the screws to the WTS in this manner, they're going to collapse eventually.

  Love, Scully

  It is not persecution for an informed person to expose a certain religion as being false. - WT 11/15/63

  A religion that teaches lies cannot be true. -WT 12/1/91
• 

  Frenchy

  Thanks, Red. To date I have been inactive for a year and a half and no one has ever come to ask why the presiding overseer of the congregation is inactive now.

  WP: Yes, it’s scary once you realize what they really and truly are.

  Scully:
  Quite correct. I believe the main reason for dropping the subs is so that they can save the postage. So what if it costs the publisher time and money to hand deliver the mags, the point is it doesn’t cost THEM a dime to have the mags delivered. Just like when they shop for a convention site. They don’t care if it means that the majority of the families will have extra expense in going further as long as they make more money off the deal with the facility and with the kickbacks on the motel rooms.
• 

  TMS

  Thinking about these words of yours, Frenchy: “After that I realized that we were not studying the Bible with our Bible Studies but were merely using the Bible (which in my area is still revered by the majority of people) to validate what was being ‘preached’ by the book. It was a book study, not a Bible study. Once the householder ‘progressed’ to the point of no longer questioning what we told them, the Bible was seldom used after that. The book did the proclaiming and the teaching, we just read the questions off and listened to the answers.”
  **************************************************************************

  Was this not sometimes referred to as a “systematic” study of the Bible? Once the householder accepted one point, another point was layered on top with “proofs” and illustrations to support. Some points were relatively easy to prove and the proofs were actually overkill. The student would have to almost say: “I get it! I get it!” But, this overkill was merely setting up the more speculative points for acceptance, as by that time, some credibility had been established, a comfort level. The “teacher” might simply say: “You will find these cited texts most interesting in establishing when the last days began.”

  TMS

  ps: Tanalyst, Yes, 253,922 of us crammed into Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds for the 1958 assembly. Hope you hadn’t forgotten that!