Topics Started by steve2
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When did "The Last Days" of JW Organization Begin? Will This Generation See It End?
by steve2 ina growing discourse on this forum has been around what "the end" means.
as jws, many here spent varying proportions of our lives waiting for the end when an unsettling realization was that the end that approaches is more likely to be from old age than the world's end.
through the centuries, group after group, has claimed it has "inside" information on the end of the world, drawing in the desperate-for-comfort like moths to flames.
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The Key Text on JW.Org Leaves Out The Most Important Part!
by steve2 inperhaps the one scripture most often quoted by jws is matthew 24:14: "this good news of the kingdomwill be preached in all the inhabited earth and then the end will come.
" even after decades away from the kingdom hall, i can still rattle off that verse.
i daresay all 8-plus million "active" jws can also recite it, plus the untold millions who have left or become inactive across the decades.. it is among the top cornerstone texts used in jw communications.. but now there's a significant shift in the use of that text: jws often focused heavily on the part of the scripture about the end coming.
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The Irony of 2017's RC "Don't Give Up" Theme
by steve2 inif the end is oh-so-very-near why the exhortation rammed home during the convention to "don't give up.
if humankind is poised right on the knife edge of the end, the sense of urgency in the organization would be breathtakingly palpable.
urgency?
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Thought Bubbles Then & Now
by steve2 inmy thought bubble in the 1980s:.
"how can i engage with worldly people when they are just not interested in discussing these important topics as featured in the watchtower and awake?.
my thought bubble in the 2010s:.
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Comparing Total Numbers Baptized During the 1990s and the Last Ten Years:
by steve2 insometimes, comparing raw numbers provides a more clear-cut numerical picture of growth or otherwise than percentages.
below are the numbers for peak publishers (rounded off so that 4,1 represents more than 4,100,000) for each year throughout the 1990s and those for the last ten years.. year: peak* baptisms.
* peak publishers abbreviated - simply to show annual baptisms in relation to peak publishers.. the main point: .
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Census & Publisher Trends for JWs in Australia, Canada & New Zealand: 1996-2016
by steve2 ini have graphed jw census and average publisher data from 3 countries with similar western democratic governments: australia, canada and new zealand (nz).
the census data is sourced from respective government publications and average publishers from jw organization yearbooks.. census data is incomplete either because a country did not have a census in the year under review or results from 2016 for that country are not currently available or i have not been able to source the data.
i welcome others filling the gaps!.
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Complete this sentence with only one word: THE TIME REMAINING IS...
by steve2 inthe time remaining is... elastic.. .
stash: /intesoft-inc.appspot.com/post/f0315d7a1cdf4d6498064881689ea032.html
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The Rank Hypocrisy of JW Rank and File
by steve2 inwtf?
russian jw mr novik is shown in full view on jw org wearing the "parental glory" badge with its prominent cross pattee on his lapel - and not one word of caution is sounded.
similarly, jw forums are abuzz singing the praises of mr and mrs novik and their brood after they received the parental glory honor from no less than jw-oppressor, mr putin.. from the stinking gb heaven all the way down to the dusty rank and file, the hypocrisy is sky-high.
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Do JW Public Family Obituary Notices Include Names of Disfellowshipped Family Members
by steve2 ini have read some heart-rending accounts on this forum - and on reddit - of ex-jws not finding out about the deaths of their jw family members - especially elderly fathers or mothers - until sometimes weeks after the deaths, if at all.
and even then, they learn of the deaths via tersely communicated messages delivered probably due to a skerrick of remaining conscience by the jw-family spokesperson that the "decent" thing is to let the disfellowshipped individual know their own father or mother has died.. a whole range of painful issues are stirred up by that topic alone.
but it has also raised in my mind other related issues:.
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The 4 Horsemen - Cartooned Watchtower White-Wash
by steve2 inthe watchtower (no.3 2017) bangs an old, very tired drum in its efforts to stir up interest in the "meaning" of the 4 horseman of the apocalypse.
it joins a cluttered stage of drummers - present and past - who claim to have the final and true word about this psychotic vision of 2 thousand years ago.. if you can get passed a casual, eye-rolling read, you'll note some changes in this latest regurgitation - with some astonishing changes given what is left out.. here's what i spotted:.
soothing words about claimed cataclysmic events (e.g., "[the vision] is not designed to scare you.