Posts by Doubting Bro

60

Hear Ye!!!Hear Ye!! WONDERFUL GOOD NEWS!!!!

by mouthy in

my jw daughter called me this afternoon!!!!!

!i am just over the moon.

her hubby not a jw has cancer & was operated on today!!!!.

Doubting Bro

Mouthy, that's fantastic news!

I'm struck by how sad it is that something that would be a normal family communication ends up being a big deal because of the WTS hurtful policy. And they say it doesn't destroy families???

25

i just thought i'd share this; my mom has dinner with her jw friend on tuesdays and apparently the jw wasn't in a very good mood today... the reason for this as she told my mom is because she wasn't invited to the agm.

she's been a jw for 25 years, doesn't pioneer, but is very dedicated to the cause.

she also explained to my mom that 2 other sisters one of whom is 80 yrs old and has been a jw all her life wasn't invited either.

Doubting Bro

So, in the US and Canada all publishers and their minor children were invited (except in apparently some cases where there were spaces issues and small children weren't allowed). In the UK, only specific individuals were invited. What about other English speaking countries?

They mentioned something like 99 countries where the program was heard but I assumed most of the non-English countries just had their Bethel staff/missionaries/big wigs going like they normally do.

But in the UK, you have assembly halls and the ability to stream video (or at least replay a video that was downloaded). So why restrict it in one country and not in others? The only thing I can think is they didn't have enough Bibles to distribute.

This is a US religion and while I'm an American and think the world revolves around me () I know that's really not the case. But it has always seemed to me that the WTS treats other countries like second class citizens. It's still very American-centric although only 1 in 7 JWs are in the US and Spanish is about 25% of them which makes the English speaking Americans an even small percentage of the overall number.

22

Bible printing, a loss of money for the WTS

by oppostate in

so i brought this up in another thread... but i think it needs its own discussion.. having had one of the new grey leatherette and silver edged bibles with the new appendixes in my hand.

i immediately thought of all the custom covered nwt bibles you see some publishers sporting at meetings.

also the fact that the co's and wives who'd been given one had to turn it back in seemed very off-putting.. .

Doubting Bro

How did I miss this? So, the RNWT wasn't really that well kept of a secret after all!

24

So Why Do You Think They Needed This New Revision?

by minimus in

jw
friends

are they simply trying to make their bible more readable, or do you think there is a more sinister motive?.

Doubting Bro

I was listening while at the AGM and don't recall hearing any donation suggested. They did mention a few times that there were contribution boxes available.

I think the original NWT was done to match their theology with bible verses and some of the videos they showed especially the Herd "Trip down memory lane" interview session with old timers said how they would read verses that didn't match with their knowledge because the scriptures were inaccurate. Once the NWT was release, those scriptures then matched JW theology.

All bible translations get revised from time to time. Their cheaply produced versions were the source of complaints and they realized they needed to produce something a little better when it came to the Bible. All the hoopla surrounding this was a marketing ploy to increase contributions. They could have announced the release at the district convention (which I'll bet they wanted to have one ready but it must have gotten delayed) and made it available 10-1. But inviting everyone in the English world to the AGM and creating a buzz certainly produced more donations than if it just been made available at the literature counter.

29

Watchtower Farms Cemetery

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

did someone post this already?.

the list of the watchtower farms cementery.... http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&gscid=2403939.

gorby.

Doubting Bro

Don't they call it the "launching pad" or something like that?

16

Why the need for a new font?

by Splash in

so with everything else being dissected, i want to know why it's important to have a font that can be copyrighted?.

the font used is very similar to a number of others, like tahoma, ms sans serif, and arial etc, so what benefit is there to employing (in the loose sense of the word) a team in japan to create a brand new western set of glyphs?.

will this help with their prosecution of those who copy/paste nnwt verses?.

Doubting Bro

One of the GB members inferred that in his part. That they needed a new font to copyright it.

30

A small observation from the AGM...

by sir82 in

jw
friends

...but it struck me as significant anyway.. i attended at a jw assembly hall, and was sitting behind a pretty typical jw family.

2 kids about ages 8 & 5, frazzled hen-pecked husband, and....the mom.

the lady of the house.

Doubting Bro

Yeah, I thought it was really strange with all the applause. THEY CAN"T HEAR YOU MORON!! My wife commented how the GB seemed more laid back (except for Morris & Losche who are clearly pricks). One person actually cheered when they held the bible up. Really??? Ok, it's nicer than the Bibles they had been producing for the last few years but don't you already have a copy of that book?

I'll tell you what, I'm getting sick of looking at Facebook and Instagram since for the last 24 hours, people have been posting pictures from the event holding up their Bibles. And commenting on how God blessed them with the new revision. Uh, did it fall from the sky? did you see a giant finger writing it out in that lovely grey book? Well, then maybe it wasn't God but the WTS. Oh wait, that's the same thing. My bad.

I will say that depending on the financial take from the weekend, you can guarantee this will be an annual event for all publishers (edited to add all publishers - wait we don't like brackets anymore do we?). Say what you want, the WTS knows how to whip up JWs into a frenzy.

7

Why no children allowed at the annual meeting?

by not bitter in

i've never even heard of this annual meeting or whatever its called.

is it a new thing?

sure it wasn't around in my day.. my elderly parents must have gone to it yesterday.

Doubting Bro

That is simply not true. I went and there were a ton of kids. Maybe they weren't allowed at the Stanley but all the tie-in locations had kids. 3 & 1/2 hours with no breaks does not make for happified children.

69

"The excitement is PALPABLE"

by Separation of Powers in

got caught at the supermarket (in between the martini olives and snack crackers ) with several bottles of hard liquor in my basket along with some red licorice by a sister that has known me for years.

still respects me, not knowing that i am in full fade mode, or at least not recognizably knowing.

anyway, when she sees me, her eyes get all big and she heads in my direction, nearly ramming my liquor laden cart with her vegan oriented basket.. "hey sop, how are you doing?

Doubting Bro

It's historic in the sense that they've not invited the rank and file before. But, I seriously doubt anything of note will happen other than the new bible. Even that will likely just be a revision and an attempt to raise money!

5

"The end of the preachingwork is here... TODAY!"

by DeWandelaar in

well... not yet (it was just a thing that was bugging my brains today).

do you remember as a child or teenager that every time we preached and asked when it would stop the answer would be: "till jehovah tells us it is no longer necessary"?.

the amount of literature is dropped... there are no old bibles... they sell all kind of keylocations all across the globe etc etc etc ... all money is getting centered to one spot one way or another.. also... if shit is gonna happen worldwide (maybe a "normal" world war or something) it is actually not a strange thought that one day soon they may announce something like the following:.

Doubting Bro

Right it is about busy work and control. As long as they are making a profit on whatever literature they are producing, they will continue. I honestly think that they will change it over time to just be the distribution of tracts. I think the next phase is the discontinuing of the public WT and only have the Awake offered to the public.

You have to keep the service piece because 1) you use it to measure a person's devotion to the religion (ie - appoint ms/elders based on the time spent), 2) gives women a place in the organization since pioneer is really the only thing they are allowed to do and 3) allows you to identify people who may be wavering based on their hours.

It's highly ineffective for making new converts but every effective for measuring and controling the flock. Until they come up with something else that accomplishes that purpose, there's no way they drop the "preaching" work.