More JW bragging about the Landover, MD. convention. Please have barf bag at the ready before reading

by AndDontCallMeShirley 55 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  AndDontCallMeShirley

  The following e-mail is circulating among JWs about the International Convention at FedEx Stadium in Landover, Md. Note the all-too-familiar JW claims: everything they do (including the simple act of parking cars) is proof of Jehovah's™ blessing, and everything WT did at the convention was the fastest, greatest, best ever. Oh, and the never-fails-to-get-mentioned alleged 'persecution'/resistance from some unnamed authority who tried to get in Watchtower's way and hamper the effort...but JWs prevailed anyway (as always):

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  Subject: International Convention in Landover, Maryland To:

  Brothers, Some interesting facts and photos from the International Convention in Landover, Maryland. Truly it was directed by Holy Spirit. On Friday morning it seemed that the parking of all those in attendance would be chaotic at best all weekend. The authorities were poised to take control from the volunteers. But with cooperation and Jehovah's Holy Spirit, adjustments were made in the initial direction. From that point on there were minor issues that were quickly resolved by our brothers in administration and parking. On Sunday Jehovah's people parked an estimated 22,000 cars and 182 chartered buses - the most at any event in FedEx history. We also set another record. The fast ingress and egress of cars and buses in FedEx history. Truly a testimony to Jehovah's name and the direction of His spirit. The cooperation of departments, volunteers and our brothers and sisters coupled with Jehovah's spirit and direction has made an impression on all involved. This is not confidential information. Please share with the brothers and sisters.

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  The claims are easily debunked. .

  >The parking lot at FedEx Stadium only has 22,000 parking spaces. Of course they were all filled.

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  > The stadium has a seating capacity of 91,000; there were aprox. 50,000 JWs in attendance. How can this possibly constitute "the most at any event in FedEx history" when the stadium was only at a little more than 50% capacity?

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  > Regarding parking: "The authorities were poised to take control from the volunteers". Patently false. A quick call to the stadium management revealed they had nothing to do with the parking arrangement and had no interest in 'taking control' from the JWs.

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  > "We also set another record. The fast ingress and egress of cars and buses in FedEx history." Compared to what? Notice that no evidence is offered, just a claim based on heresay. Fast compared to when a crowd of 91,000 people are using the stadium? Maybe. But since the parking lot only holds 22,000 cars regardless of the number of people attending events, no doubt filling the parking lot takes about the same time no matter who's doing the parking.

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  > If filling the parking lot to capacity and having a stadium filled to 50% capacity is evidence of direction by "holy spirit", does this mean organizers of the Super Bowl, Nascar races and soccer games with 200,000+ in attendance also have Jehovah's™ backing? Maybe even more than WT does? "Evidently".
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  SafeAtHome

  The arrogance of these people knows no limits. How absurb to think that a loving god would be concerned with parking JW cars rather than do something about...say children dying from famine, social injustice, poverty, you name it, but by golly those JWs got their cars parked, "evidently" setting records along the way!
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  OnTheWayOut

  Holy Spirit sent directions that needed to be altered and there were still minor problems. What a joke.

  I suppose authorities are always poised to take control of all situations depending on how you look at it. If a murder occured in parking, authorities would take control. But meanwhile, they aren't even necessarily on scene.

  "The most at any event" must mean that they never had every single parking space filled AND 182 charter buses parked. The buses are the record.

  You make a great point that the ingress and egress "record" offers no statistics and no way of comparing or checking. It's just another smurf-doll-walking-out-of-a-kingdom-hall story.

  Let's add a few- The JW's set a record for most hotel rooms in Maryland filled at the same time, most cups of coffee served in a single morning at the local McDonalds, the most kids in hotel pools with proper adult supervision of each and every one of them. Heck, because all these JW men were at the convention, regional statistics indicate the fewest number of reports of sex-crimes involving minors during that weekend.
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  sparrowdown

  All thanks and praise to The Great Parking Attendant in the sky.

  Finding a good park has to be one of the most pressing issues facing mankind today, and it is obvious

  the UN are just turning a blind eye to the worldwide parking problem (so typical of that toothless tiger).

  I always found at DC's the exit at the end of each day to be quite miraculous in it's speed and efficiency.
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  Magnum

  Let's see... so Jehovah can't get dates right and has been trying for decades to define the word "generation", but he can damned sure park some cars.

  And yeah, it is barf-inducing.
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  passwordprotected

  Pity Jehovah and his holy spirit can't coordinate a campaign to end global hunger and war. But parking? Like a boss.
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  bohm

  passwordprotected: Just my thougths!
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  steve2

  The original JW post uses upper case first letters for holy spirit: "Truly it was directed by the Holy Spirit". Wow! An unintended nod to the Holy Trinity?! Oops!

  This is typical American self-congratulating religious narcissism: "Look at us! Look at us! We're special! We receive direct help from God!"

  Their loving God uses his "Holy Spirit" to intervene in the smoothly unprecedented flow of massively polluting motor vehicles owned by well-fed, privileged American Witnesses, but His "magic touch" ain't to be found in less privileged corners of the globe where "His" people languish in prisons for obeying the Watchtower.

  As they say, If it don't happen in America, it ain't worth reporting. American JWs might be politically neutral but they're as doggedly American in their arrogance as the next person.
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  OUTLAW

  On Sunday Jehovah's people parked an estimated 22,000 cars and 182 chartered buses -the most at any event in FedEx history.

  We also set another record. The fast ingress and egress of cars and buses in FedEx history.

  Truly a testimony to Jehovah's name and the direction of His spirit.

  ...............................................

  

  ..........................................................................................................................................OUTLAW
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  dozy

  " On Friday morning it seemed that the parking of all those in attendance would be chaotic at best all weekend. The authorities were poised to take control from the volunteers. But with cooperation and Jehovah's Holy Spirit, adjustments were made in the initial direction. From that point on there were minor issues that were quickly resolved by our brothers in administration and parking. "

  OK - so lets re-write that ( written after 10 years experience working in parking at conventions ).

  On Friday morning the parking arrangements were the usual total shambles as quite a few of the volunteers didn't turn up and the amateurish organisation as usual didn't anticipate the numbers of vehicles that came. Coupled with the Friday morning commute , the traffic back-up was so bad that the local police got involved and demanded to see the assembly overseer to see what was going on. The problem was compunded by the number of JWs insisting on premium parking places as close as possible to the stadium.

  Eventually the traffic subsided and enough volunteers came along to direct things. The weekend was much easier as it wasn't combined with a working day , so the traffic was a lot lighter.