Posts by slimboyfat

192

Question for SBF

by Fisherman in

slimboyfat, it appears that wts is going, gone digital.

can you show your view what is wts next move after they are completely gone from kings county and settled in warwick?

- this thread is your if you want it..

I think it's mainly money that stopped Gilead. They just couldn't afford to keep adding, what, eighty or so missionaries year after year, to their ongoing financial commitments. Plus the converts that missionaries made were in poorer countries and a financial burden to Watchtower. So that was a double financial incentive to cut Gilead.

I think we shouldn't underestimate the impact of Gilead missionaries in the past for promoting growth in places like Japan, Nigeria, Brazil and so on. So the removal of Gilead will contribute significantly to declining numbers.

When Watchtower still sold the literature I think even the poorest countries probably at least broke even in terms of money raised covering costs. So it made sense to make converts all round the world. But now when poor countries are a net loss to their finances they are not as eager to push for growth in poor countries any more.

192

Question for SBF

by Fisherman in

slimboyfat, it appears that wts is going, gone digital.

can you show your view what is wts next move after they are completely gone from kings county and settled in warwick?

- this thread is your if you want it..

slimboyfat

My prediction is basically more of the same, and considering the ultimate consequences if current trends continue. If there are more and more cuts, and decline gets worse and worse, then I think a crisis is inevitable at some point. The other possibility is that they manage to reverse the trend. It's difficult to see how that will happen. Then again the future almost never fails to be surprising.

All sorts of other events could have a huge impact: fallout from abuse scandals, geopolitical developments (war, including nuclear conflict?), high level defections or expulsions from GB, technological innovations beyond what we can imagine (life extension, space travel or whatever) or who knows what else. The most important factors may well be the ones we cannot even imagine.

192

Question for SBF

by Fisherman in

slimboyfat, it appears that wts is going, gone digital.

can you show your view what is wts next move after they are completely gone from kings county and settled in warwick?

- this thread is your if you want it..

slimboyfat

What happens next? I would never have guessed they would get rid of print literature to the extent that they have. Or that they would drop Gilead or DOs or close so many branches. I am not good at predictions, especially about the future. (That's meant to be funny, by the way, since predictions are always about the future.)

But here goes anyway.

It depends how much money they've got left how long it takes to play out. From the sales of property and raid on KH funds, they may have quite a bit. But since their revenue is poor I think they will face a shortage sonner or later.

They will reduce printing even further. Maybe eventually they'll stop printing altogether and use commercial firms to print a few select items. They may get local congregations to print their own small items. (In fact they are already doing this. Watchtower recently announced that sheet music for the Kingdom Songs will soon be released as PDF and brothers should print their own. There is apparently no plan for the Watchtower ever to print this material, it's all on the brothers now.) The elimination of print literature really signals the demise of JW culture to a significant degree. For most of their history the very identity of JWs was bound up with the books and magazines: their public ubiquitousness, display in JW homes, use in meetings and ministry, studying and underlining, devotion to the literature as important items even to the extent of smuggling it during persecution and bans and so on. The demise of the literature is a huge development.

As money runs out they'll close down more congregations and take more money. Congregations that struggle to send money to the Watchtower will be top of the list for closure. The number of JWs worldwide will start to decrease, especially in western countries. Maybe they'll stop publishing the numbers when decline becomes entrenched. (Within 5 years) More JWs will disbelieve the organisation and leave. Dissent and lack of respect for the leadership will grow among those who stay. The GB will crack down more and more, insisting on shunning apostates and insisting the great tribulation is very near. Eventually money will be so short and they will make such drastic cuts that ordinary JWs will begin to suspect Watchtower is in real trouble. They will close most branches, stop paying any missionaries or circuit overseers, sell assembly halls and KHs. At this point there may appear rifts and splits among the leadership and power struggles, including various official and unofficial attempts to explain the desperate situation of the organisation as a trial from Satan or conversely as some part of God's plan. How this plays out may depend on the complexities of the legal structure of JWs, including obscure aspects of the legal foundation that only become apparent under stress.

At this point I don't know what happens. Complete disintegration, splinter groups, transformation, or who knows? I think all this could happen within 10 to 20 years.

What do you think?

9

Why do some British journalists ...

by LoveUniHateExams in

jw
friends

... go full retard whenever an arabic name appears on the autocue, and 'give it the full arabic', so to speak?.

rageh omar is a british somali of sunni muslim heritage so it's understandable when he pronounces arabic names with an arabic pronunciation/accent.. but what about people who have nothing to do with arabic - huw edwards, emily maitlis, moira stewart, etc.?

they don't speak arabic, do they?.

slimboyfat

The reason why some foreign names are anglicised whereas as others retain original pronunciation? Familiarity, mainly.

For example everyone's heard of Vienna, so don't use Wien.

Whereas few people have heard of Sankt Poelten, so there's not an English version. (As far as I know)

It works the other way round too. Many languages have their own version of Edinburgh. The French say Edimbourg. (With accent over the E) But they don't bother having a French version of Cumbernauld. (Again, as far as I know)

So it's mainly down to familiarity and prominence whether names are modified across languages or not.

During the Egyptian revolution (of 2011?) there was some discussion on the BBC about whether they should anglicise Tahrir Square or give it the local guttural sound. Less of an issue for Scots and more of an issue for English people who sometimes struggle with this vocalisation.

There are endless debates about Gaelic pronunciations too. For example the people of Mallaig apparently wish the BBC would stress the first syllable rather than the second. (As is their custom) Linguistically it apparently means the difference between a Gaelic name and a Norse one. Properly it's Norse. (So I'm told)

Other disputes go beyond mere pronunciation. The BBC attempted some sensitivity for example around the Derry/Londonderry issue, and decided to use Londonderry in the first instance and Derry subsequently in news reports. This even applied to reporting of the funeral of Martin McGuinness.

In New Zealand there's been bitter dispute over the addition of a letter H to W(h)anganui so that it conforms to traditional Maori usage. Is it largely symbolic? And if so does that make it any less important?

There are some famous Arabic names that are routinely modified into English so that they differ substantially from the original: Cairo, Damascus, Mecca and so on.

Many famous Indian names have been changed because of colonial legacy, from Bombay to Mumbai and so on.

10

JW All seeing eye property

by wwjdnwt in

https://youtu.be/t0nfxs7cans have you guys seen this?

i googled it on my pc and pulled same thing.

crazy stuff.

slimboyfat

Oh for crying out loud LOL!

35

Be loyal when a relative is disfellowshipped

by UnshackleTheChains in

well.....they showed that shunning video again.

you know...the one where goldilocks gets disfellowshipped- and the parents look across the hall at her with disdain.....yeah that video.. i was interested to see what kind of answers would be given during the discussion after the video and some of the reactions.

everyone sat there gormlessly staring at the video.

slimboyfat

It is a shocking video. Ruby what was the reaction to it like at your hall?

Are you sure it was only £3 a year? Not per month or per week? Even that seems incredibly low.

Not sure what it means in terms of their financial difficulty. I'm sure they must get more than £3 per publisher. Did they maybe mean £3 extra? It's difficult to make sense.

8

Help ... maybe

by vienne in

dr. schulz and i are pushing to finished volume two of separate identity by mid-2018.

to make this book the best it can be we need material that we haven't been able to find.

1. a tract on spiritism by n. barbour published about 1881 or so.

slimboyfat

I have not the slightest idea where to find the items you are looking for, but I wish you well on your project. I think it's interesting and important work, because regardless of our perspective on current Watchtower, more knowledge about its origins enlightens everyone.

20

Why the verb shun is missing from the JW lexicon

by cognisonance in

so my parents when i confronted them about how unhappy i am at them shunning me, responded by saying: "you keep using the word shunning, we're not shunning you.

"i am a bit confused how they can say that.

i'm an ex-jw and an atheist.

slimboyfat

Aha that's it! Highly significant that they begin to own this word, in my view.

35

Be loyal when a relative is disfellowshipped

by UnshackleTheChains in

well.....they showed that shunning video again.

you know...the one where goldilocks gets disfellowshipped- and the parents look across the hall at her with disdain.....yeah that video.. i was interested to see what kind of answers would be given during the discussion after the video and some of the reactions.

everyone sat there gormlessly staring at the video.

slimboyfat

That is a chilling quote from the "God's Love" book.

20

Why the verb shun is missing from the JW lexicon

by cognisonance in

so my parents when i confronted them about how unhappy i am at them shunning me, responded by saying: "you keep using the word shunning, we're not shunning you.

"i am a bit confused how they can say that.

i'm an ex-jw and an atheist.

slimboyfat

I think there was a recent WT publication which did use the word to describe shunning DFed people. It stuck out to me because I'd not seen them own the word. I wish I could track down the reference.