by eyeslice2 29 Replies latest jw friends
Why this obsession with standardization ?
Because organized religion equates to power and money for men.
These renovations are also used to encourage people to re attend,
" Say did you see the new renovations at are Hall recently ? "
We now have new chairs, new carpet, new lighting and a new PA system with huge video monitors at the front stage area.
Had this happen to me when my old hall was renovated and mentioned by my still in father.
I can imagine that standardization is a way of control. However, when we were still "in" we were told that the bOrg bought chairs and equipment in bulk, so that's why all those particular things were standard.
But I also remember way back in the day (60s, 70s, 80s) that KHs were built and decorated with local talent, sometimes with disastrous results. One in particular was replaced by a new hall built about a mile away. The old KH was such a disaster (and grandfathered-in to an older residential neighborhood) it took two years to sell.
So, if I'm running a business that builds properties with the eye of reselling them when necessary, I'm going to build generic buildings that will meet commercial design and codes so that when I want to sell them, a doctor, preschool, or even another church will find them in turnkey condition. You can make more money in less time that way. But I'm going to sell it to the sheep as being an upgrade that's to their benefit, so they'll keep contributing.
Blondie
At a KH build the original chairs ordered were cancelled and another type ordered. It turned out that the elder who did this picked cheaper chairs and kept the difference. He did this without consulting anyone, and no one was brave enough to challenge him
I don't know the details but some years back (12 yrs maybe) something similar happened in ours. Wonder if it was for the same reason?
Anyway they've just replaced the chairs in what was my cong BUT there are less of them and they have to be arranged in a certain fashion. The number of chairs is based on the average number attending and if you aren't in in time you have to sit in a different room. I think they are doing this to make sure people feel they have to get there early to grab the best chairs.
Someone asked why they couldn't buy a few more chairs so there were plenty to go round. They were told it would not be fair on the African brothers because 1 extra chair bought for a UK cong could by whatever for the African brothers. So someone suggested buying the chairs from Africa because they are cheaper there.
Bottom line is - get there early or no chair.
It makes sense from a business point of view. the more they buy in bulk, the more they save. And, when you are operating an organization of millions of people - then structure and standardization is important so that people have directions to follow, the same decisions do not have to be made over and over, everyone does their job in the same way, and the desired result is not derailed by personal preference. Scalability requires standardization.
It is why McDonalds, Starbucks, Costco, Olive Garden, Home Depot, etc are successful. Each of them are like the other and customers have come to expect a consistent product. Without standardization, that is impossible. And the quality of the service or product suffers.
Great for businesses - terrible for religion.
Here is one I hate. It's not necessarily dreary, but it sucks chunky munkey ballz:
I know exactly what you mean. I absolutely HATE that "song". It is what I term an "ear worm". It gets in your ear and burrows in and will not leave. I also remember when the JDubs prided themselves on, "We are not like other religions who base their belief on feelings and emotion. WE base our belief on reason and fact!" Just another lie!
Hi FedUpJW
A fact can be true or false. You have to assess the facts.
They do conjuring tricks with words. Just as the hand is faster than the eye with magicians, so a word, which people understand in one way, gets its meaning shifted around in their sentences. They are brilliant at it.
Yes they lie, they do not tell the truth. But they do deal in facts and in doing so mess up reason.
Wow, Anna Marina. I think they are trying to shame the ones that come late by not having enough chairs. What do they do if the "odd" non-jw drops in or traveling jws who want to keep up on the meetings? Or what about jws who try to save chairs for late family or friends?
Or what about jws who try to save chairs for late family or friends?
A jack-ass ( AKA an elder) always referred to (Habakkuk 2:3) "It will not be late. Then he would proceed to rant about how Gee-HO'-Vuh will not be late, and neither should any JW. That is one reason I would stand at the door until everyone stood for the song and THEN stroll in.
FedUp, I used to do that at one point, but always waited until after the prayer, and then left just as the song was to be sung at the end of the evening and/or morning. It made meetings more endurable until I realized not going was better.
Yes Blondie they are trying get them to get in and sat down fast. It's like musical chairs, make sure there aren't quite enough.
If anyone can't get a chair they are turfed out into a back room where they have to watch it on tv. There is zero tolerance on this, in other words, no, they are not allowed to bring a folding chair. This is making some of the usual late comers highly fed up and grumpy.
It is ironic that before the chairs were changed, there used to be more chairs. So they have deliberately bought fewer chairs.
