Circuit Assembly this past weekend (page 4)

OUTLAW

"God forbid that if they ever vote that the $ go to a needy family in the hall.".. JW`s look so hard for truth,one look at that quote and they`d find it..I doubt they`d like it,it`s true..LOL!...OUTLAW

Jourles

This thread hasn't died yet? Let me address some of your questions....

If you're so anti-Watchtower why bother attending meetings?

As it is, I rarely attend all the meetings. I've been to the book study about 4 times over the last 12 months. I go to the service meeting around 1-2 times a month. Sundays come in at about 2-3 times a month -- and that is at the high-end of the scale. It does not kill me to sit there and pretend to benefit from as to what is being said. From my point of view, I think to myself while I am at the meetings, "What a load of crap. I can't believe he just said that! Oh, here we go again with the FDS being god's only channel on earth." I actually find it amusing to hear what is being said and wonder to myself if anyone else in the hall is thinking the same way. Some meetings I just sit there and look around at people's expressions and try to guess if they are hardcore pro-WT or if maybe they have severe doubts. The ones who I think may have doubts are the ones I try to have conversations with after the meetings. Typically, the extreme hardcore ones barely squeeze out a "Hi" in passing.

While you are attending these conventions, are you still able to sing the songs, or do you just mouth the words?

Heaven, what do most witnesses do at sporting events when the national anthem is played? They get up and go to the snack counter or the bathroom, right? I try to do that at least twice a day during the assemblies. At the meetings, I will gear up my voice and spew out the rhymes to make people around me think I may not be all that bad afterall. When I get to a stanza that I don't agree with, I pretend to cough so I don't have to sing it. Usually something along the lines of FDS this, organization that, blah blah blah. At the end of most prayers, I don't say "Amen." I have always understood this to mean that you do not agree with what was said in the prayer. Face it, most prayers given at the meetings have no merit. They usually say "We thank you jah for giving us the fds and for giving us this food at the proper time." Would you say amen to that? I think not.

It is unfair of some of you to expect Jourles to publicize his reasons for attending this Assembly, which may be far too complicated for him to explain to a public discussion Board. If he wants to attend Assemblies or meetings, does he not have the right to do so without having to defend himself or justify his actions?

Exactly. It is my choice. I don't go around telling people they can't have abortions and asking for the reasons why they might be thinking about it. This is a Pro-Choice board. And it all depends on the mood I am in. I can say that the longer I have been here, the more information I have volunteered about myself. Not to mention the people I have met here also, in person. I have always wondered who would know me if I just came out and announced who I was, the congregations I attended, and where I've lived in the past. I'm sure there would be a few on this board -- including lurkers -- that would know I was, personally. That time is still yet in the future. But it will come at some point. It will be one helluva coming out party when it happens though!

Jourles

Oh, how could I forget the most important thing at the assembly? The baptismal count ----------

Attendance: 1,180 (peak)

Number of baptized: 12

For a grand increase of 1%!!! Where the hell do they keep coming from? Oh, that's right. It's the poor kids who get pressured from their parents.

Prisca

Jourles,

I've always regarded you as one of the gentlemen of this board, so I have alot of respect for you. I understand that your wife is still a JW? In that case, it wouldn't be easy for you to know what you do, to believe what you do, and still "toe the party line" in order to keep the peace in your family. We have seen on this board the strife that occurs when a spouse decides they no longer want to be a JW. I'm sure we wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Whether you go to the meetings or not, is your decision alone. It's not for anyone to say how you should live your life. After all, if it wasn't for ones like yourself, how else would we know what's being said at the current meetings?

(edited for spelling Jourles' name incorrectly...grrr)

Jourles

I've always regarded you as one of the gentlemen of this board, so I have alot of respect for you.

Why thank you very much. I pretend to be one very well!

I understand that your wife is still a JW?

Oh yes, or else I wouldn't be in the situation that I am. I probably would not even be on the board for that matter. My doubts didn't come until after we were married. It was reaaaaaal close, but I was still mentally 'in' prior to getting hitched. If I had waited another year, I would have DA'd myself or found a way to become DF'd.

ozziepost

where's all the money go? If the the doddering old codgers on the GB aren't stashing it away, which they supposedly aren't, who's getting it?

Perhaps I can help there, Dansk for I have intimate knowledge of how the Society invests its funds.

Firstly, there would be no truth in the wild assertion that the members of the GB receive secret funds.

Secondly, so where does the money go? Buildings! More and more of them. And more and more people to populate them.

Thirdly, investments.

Money is moved around the world at the discretion/direction of the senior officers of the Society, so that if money is needed, say, in Mexico, funds will be remitted from, say, Australia where there are currently surplus funds. This, of course, makes it quite difficult to get a "real handle" on if ever an investigation were to take place.

Cheers, Ozzie

dedalus

After reading the brochure and conferring with the Charitable Planning Office, many have been able to assist Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide and, at the same time, maximize the tax benefits of doing so.

LOL! Is it me, or does this quote sound utterly ridiculous? I realize most of what the Society prints is ridiculous, but still, this one seemed especially worth a chuckle.

Nothing like storing up "treasures" in heaven and on earth, eh?

Dedalus

marc20783

Just to set the record straight truthfully without the obvious anti-JW bias. Truth can never be reached if there is a pre-determined agenda.

1) The reason their is generally a deficit is that most people do not contribute until the end of the program. The accounts report is done on Sunday afternoon and reflects the monies collected Saturday through Sunday morning. There would obviously be no way to read the accounts report at the end of the program because the final collection would not be made and the program would be over. Can you think of a better time to announce the report that would reflect all the contributions?

2) Obviously there are bills that have to be paid in connection with the program. Some circuits are larger than others so rather than a set amount the amount is based on the number in attendance. Can you think of a fairer way to do this?

3) There seems to be a great deal of issue taken with the finances of the organization; however, the fact of the matter is no one is obligated to contribute anything. It is all based on voluntary donations. One can attend the Kingdom Hall all their life and never contribute a penny. Contribution boxes are used rather than a passing of the plate. 2 Kings 12:9-12 is the scriptural basis for this method. Is the method used in the churches somehow less "money-grabbing" than this?

BlackSwan of Memphis

Hey Marc,

you wouldn't by any chance be a jw now would ya ?

Welcome to the board.

OnTheWayOut

To clear a few things up-

I have been to many financial meetings of elders at circuit assemblies. WE did not use the headcount for
computing standard donations. Our assembly hall had an operating cost divided by the number of
assemblies, and that was taken off the top of funds on hand- in order to create that deficit to be announced
on Sunday, along with the money that elders voted to send to WTS and any funds above standard costs that they
voted to donate to the assembly hall. EVERY CIRCUIT IS INSTRUCTED TO ANNOUNCE THE DEFICIT.
It is simply the difference between the expenses and donations this weekend and the money taken in at a certain
point during this assembly (usually that point is Sunday morning). Funds on hand are irrelevant. BUT if the
rank-and-file hear a large amount of funds-on-hand, they donate less, so those funds are usually spent by sending
a vast amount of them to WTS. When they hear about the deficit, the faithful JW's remember to give their (slightly
larger than intended) donation.

I was at a elders financial meeting once where we voted NOT to send funds to WTS. It was right after a major
disaster (forget which one) and one elder asked if we could forego the standard donation to the WTS and earmark the
donation to entirely go to disaster relief. The measure was voted on and passed. Since then, the WTS has instructed
the rank and file (and elders) to send disaster relief money directly to the worldwide work fund, let the WTS have a free
hand to do what they need with it, instead of sending it to a specific fund. Sorry for rambling about money, but I can't
believe I used to go along with such measures without questioning it.

Circuit Assembly this past weekend

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