Wow Oroborus21 how is your project for JW renewal coming on?
It seems to be going in the opposite direction.
in my experience, the jws always seemed to shy away from much association from the term "russellites".
most are wiling to accept that bible students took on the name jehovah's witnesses, but they seem to disavow much association with the term "russellites".. is this perception true?
does anyone know if there is anything in their literature after 1931 where they admit they are the same group as the russellites?
Wow Oroborus21 how is your project for JW renewal coming on?
It seems to be going in the opposite direction.
they have made so many strategical mistakes it's hard to keep track.
some changes within the last decade or so that are contributing to declining numbers of jws:.
1. elimination of book study groups, the most informal, enjoyable and sociable of the jw meetings, contributed to loss of sense of community among jws.. 2. policy of consolidating kingdom halls.
They have made so many strategical mistakes it's hard to keep track.
Some changes within the last decade or so that are contributing to declining numbers of JWs:
1. Elimination of book study groups, the most informal, enjoyable and sociable of the JW meetings, contributed to loss of sense of community among JWs.
2. Policy of consolidating Kingdom Halls. I know someone in Europe who has been assigned to three different congregations in the past three years because of consolidation. Now she knows hardly anyone and has stopped attending regularly. Has this happened elsewhere?
3. Abysmal handling of abuse problem both in policy terms and media relations. Many JWs are reading reports in the media and can't help but agree with the criticisms made of official policy.
4. Cart Witnessing is so outrageously unproductive it is clearly demoralising to even the most longstanding JW stalwarts. I know one JW who has stopped preaching altogether after getting fed up with it.
5. The new generation teaching is so embarrassingly stupid that even the most loyal JW is not interested in discussing or defending it on any meaningful level.
6. Crass videos that imply children should give their pocket money, people who leave JWs are useless pieces of bread, gay people need to dispose of the gay at the new system check in. The GB stepped out from behind the curtain and for many the spell is broken.
Please add your own!
Maybe JWs were due to begin declining anyway, but these changes probably helped contribute to decline. I am really interested to see the reports for next couple of years. If they continue publishing the numbers!
the internet value increases with this moore's law doubling effect and information is there for the picking.
how long do you think these old geezers on the governing body can keep this currant generation of members in the darkness of stupidity?
the human mind while it has it's fault will pick up on fraud at least on the unconscious level and stop giving time and money to these clowns.
I agree that technology will make (is making) the Watchtower bankrupt, but not (mainly) because of exposure of their flaws on the Internet.
The Watchtower Society was essentially a book publishing business. The first hammer blow came in the 1990s when they had to stop cover charges on the literature. But the Internet and digital content is the coup de grace. Everyone is on their tablets, they are reducing print publishing dramatically. What next? Consolidation and decline, and pretty rapid too by the look of it.
i think this would be a great question to ask active jws.
they love to say how the world would be so different if everyone was a jw.
however, what if we flip the question and ask, would the world really be much different if the jw faith never came into existence?
Has anyone ever worked out how many millions of trees it took to produce all the WT literature over the past 140 years?
a nice jw old boy knocked the door and asked me how i was, said they were giving out invites, i refrained from mocking him for the total waste of time such "work" is.. he mentioned that " we don't know when the end will come" , so i just said i was sure my new grandson would grow up, go to university, get a good job and his kids would do the same, by which time i shall be long gone.. "you are sure of that ?
" asked the jw, "oh yes", i replied.. i know we cannot be sure of anything, except death and taxes, but there is loads of evidence that my scenario may well play out, there is no single shred of evidence for an "end to the system" as envisaged by jw's, their weird view coming from a totally discredited source, the bible and mainly its final book, what nonsense..
The real deterrent for an all-out nuclear war is that there are no winners. Nobody will come out on the other end with more land, or more money, or more oil, or more prestige. it's all gone.
In what way is this a deterrent to a suicidal religious fanatic in control of weapons, or one who works out how to hack the nuclear arsenal of a nuclear power? Or to a secular dictator whose back is against the wall with nothing personally left to lose?
Most rational people in almost all situations would of course never use nuclear weapons. Unfortunatley this does not cover all people or all situations. It's a waiting game.
If you think nuclear war is highly unlikely, surely the historical examples when we came very close should cause some pause for thought. Like the Russian nuclear submarine under fire during the Cuban missile crisis, when two out of the three Russian generals wanted to respond with nuclear weapons. Or the various false alarms that were only recognised at various late stages. Or the war between India and Pakistan that could easily have escalated.
a nice jw old boy knocked the door and asked me how i was, said they were giving out invites, i refrained from mocking him for the total waste of time such "work" is.. he mentioned that " we don't know when the end will come" , so i just said i was sure my new grandson would grow up, go to university, get a good job and his kids would do the same, by which time i shall be long gone.. "you are sure of that ?
" asked the jw, "oh yes", i replied.. i know we cannot be sure of anything, except death and taxes, but there is loads of evidence that my scenario may well play out, there is no single shred of evidence for an "end to the system" as envisaged by jw's, their weird view coming from a totally discredited source, the bible and mainly its final book, what nonsense..
Steve, the "21st century" comment may be similar in form to the infamous WT statement about the 20th century that was later revised, but utterly different in content and probability, I would suggest.
All generations view their own time as unique and are aware of new risks. But the invention of the nuclear bomb was a game changer. Humans now have the ability to end our planetary civilisation in minutes. We have come incredibly close to doing so a number of times. It would be foolish to think we will not come close again, or that we will avert the worst every time. It's just one of those things better not to think too much about I suppose, but nevertheless very real.
Astronomer Martin Rees gave various scenarios and reasons for suspecting humans would not last another century, but by far the most worrysome to me is nuclear conflagration.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Our-Final-Century-Civilisation-Twenty-first/dp/0099436868
a nice jw old boy knocked the door and asked me how i was, said they were giving out invites, i refrained from mocking him for the total waste of time such "work" is.. he mentioned that " we don't know when the end will come" , so i just said i was sure my new grandson would grow up, go to university, get a good job and his kids would do the same, by which time i shall be long gone.. "you are sure of that ?
" asked the jw, "oh yes", i replied.. i know we cannot be sure of anything, except death and taxes, but there is loads of evidence that my scenario may well play out, there is no single shred of evidence for an "end to the system" as envisaged by jw's, their weird view coming from a totally discredited source, the bible and mainly its final book, what nonsense..
I agree JW Armageddon is not coming anytime. But if Trump becomes president I wouldn't be so sure of the rest.
In fact even if he doesn't become president I doubt the prospects of humans surviving the 21st century.
Is that unusual?
terri o'sullivan was interviewed by croydon radio for a programme called "leap of faith", it was broadcast on sunday.. she does a great job of showing how wacky and weird the jw beliefs and practices are, the interviewer asks perceptive questions, either he was well briefed by terri or he is an ex jw !.
she also gives info.
on her meetup group for xjw's, great fun !.
I'll be gone in a huff or I'll be gone in a minute in a huff.
terri o'sullivan was interviewed by croydon radio for a programme called "leap of faith", it was broadcast on sunday.. she does a great job of showing how wacky and weird the jw beliefs and practices are, the interviewer asks perceptive questions, either he was well briefed by terri or he is an ex jw !.
she also gives info.
on her meetup group for xjw's, great fun !.
Okay I guess there's no welcome for reasonable discussion or honest feedback here. My bad, forget I said anything.
terri o'sullivan was interviewed by croydon radio for a programme called "leap of faith", it was broadcast on sunday.. she does a great job of showing how wacky and weird the jw beliefs and practices are, the interviewer asks perceptive questions, either he was well briefed by terri or he is an ex jw !.
she also gives info.
on her meetup group for xjw's, great fun !.
Totally agree and understand it's reasonable not to share everything. But the point was actually emphasised that the reason for being thrown out and totally shunned was missing just two meetings and coming home late once. That makes JWs seem even more crazy than I have experienced them to be. It does seem a bit incredible to be honest. It should be possible to keep private details private without going out of the way to make JWs appear even more extreme than they are.
But I enjoyed the interview and Terri did a really good job.