Posts by Doubting Bro

22

More Brooklyn properties sold

by recovering in

and the money keeps rolling in.

http://nypost.com/2017/08/16/jehovahs-witnesses-sale-of-brooklyn-buildings-nets-millions/.

Doubting Bro

ShirleyW - looks like the hotel is at 60 Furman St so a few blocks from the old WT property although I thought that 360 was being turned into condos.

Fisherman - Seriously? To suggest that NYC was going to take over the WT buildings because it hindered growth in Brooklyn is a real stretch. Brooklyn is full of development right now and while Brooklyn Heights has always been nice, those buildings were not critical to the growth of Brooklyn. Plus, I would love to see an example of eminent domain being used against a religious organization to hand over several non-connected buildings to commercial interests.

The reality is that the WT is cashing out. Why is the question. Maybe because they think they can get maximum value now. Maybe because they are facing a cash flow issue and those buildings are too expensive to maintain. Or they need the cash for balance sheet purposes. I'm not of the opinion that some shadowy "real" owners of the WT want to cash out their investment since that seems just as ridiculous as the big bad Brooklyn government looking to seize their property via eminent domain.

Plus, you do realize that when the government goes through that process in the US, they have to provide "just" compensation right? So even if what you are saying is true, they would be compensated but at fair market value.

29

What would happen to a JW who respectfully refused to fill out a no blood DPA?

by Island Man in

i know you'll be involuntarily disassociated if you unrepentantly accepted a blood transfusion; and i know you'll be disfellowshipped for apostasy if you openly disagreed with watchtower teaching.

what if you have done none of the above but simply respectfully refused to fill out the dpa without giving any reason for your refusal - so they can't accuse you of openly disagreeing with the no-blood doctrine and df you for apostasy.

they don't know why you're refusing and you're not giving them the reason - and you're being very respectful.. what can they do?.

Doubting Bro

Even when I was a true believer and the secretary, I never provided a copy for the congregation. When asked, I always say that I've handled with my doctor and lawyer who also handled my will and that I'm not comfortable providing anyone else with the document since it's a "legal" document.

No push back. And for the record, I tore mine up several years ago. There may be things that are worth dying for, the WTS isn't one of them.

42

The special talk is now BEFORE the Memorial

by wifibandit in

august 11, 2017 to all bodies of elders re: 2018 memorial invitations and date of special talk .

fyi:.

the 2018 memorial will be held on saturday, march 31, 2018.. the 2019 memorial will be held on friday, april 19, 2019..

Doubting Bro

It's never special anyway. Once delivered, it goes into the regular rotation of PTs.

23

Aust 2016 Census observations: JW's getting older, more kids leaving, and 30+ group aren't returning

by shepherdless in

1. median age.

experts will tell you that if you want to know if a population is in growth or decline, the best single number to look at is the median age of the population.

i have extracted aust census data and calculated the following approx median ages:.

Doubting Bro

Londo makes a great point. Children have never really been a focal point of the religion. Other than a few books and now some videos, nothing is ever really directed towards them. Certainly those held in higher regard (Bethelites, missionaries, COs) typically don't have kids. It's rare that Brother "Has a ton of kids" is viewed as an example.

But, a cult doesn't operate to the good of its members. It uses its members to the good of the organization.

I'm not so sure they are concerned with the liability as many other religious organizations have figured out how to deal with youth groups. I think they just don't care because kids are a huge investment and one that may not pay off.

The whole organization is set up to recruit. They have always counted on larger numbers coming in than leaving. However, in most industrialized countries, that's simply not the case anymore. Couple that with kids being discouraged and the ones that are around being ignored with little to no growth from the outside, this is what you get.

It almost seems there is a faction within the WTS that realizes if they don't either 1) increase recruiting or 2) increase retention, they are in deep trouble. Of course, the default is to increase recruiting but the average JW is apathic towards recruiting so that really isn't going to work. They don't seem to understand that it takes much less effort to keep a customer than it does to get a new one. After all, the sale has already been done on the existing customer.

23

Aust 2016 Census observations: JW's getting older, more kids leaving, and 30+ group aren't returning

by shepherdless in

1. median age.

experts will tell you that if you want to know if a population is in growth or decline, the best single number to look at is the median age of the population.

i have extracted aust census data and calculated the following approx median ages:.

Doubting Bro

This trend is pretty obvious in the US as well. Just go to a RC and see the elderly seating section. It used to be fairly small, now I've seen places with huge swaths of seats reserved. Lots of grey hair at the local KHs.

I'm pretty sure the WTS is aware of the trend and while they are using videos and pushing kids to get baptized earlier, its really not enough. Many very restrictive and conservative fundamental Christian groups use a variety of youth programs to keep their young folks at least interested. What does the WTS do? Make videos. Really nothing else.

If they wanted to make an impact, they would organize youth groups, have an elder assigned as a "youth pastor", organize activities beside just FS and maybe even have a section of the mid-week meeting where they break off into various special interest groups (youth, elderly, parents, singles) and have programs directed specifically at their needs as opposed to the one sized fits all type of programming they do.

Because the organization has always been focused on recruitment, they have neglected retention. And because retention is low, they have nothing in the pipeline for the future.

The other thing the aging trend does beyond losing members is losing those who can step into leadership positions. Which puts pressure on older elders to do more, in turn burning them out or at least creating apathy. It's a vicious cycle of decline.

They don't seem to have anyone with a creative bone in their body that can come up with different ideas. They go back to the only thing they know, beat their members.

18

Books are not dying out and this is not the reason for the WT turning to tablets

by slimboyfat in

there's a popular misconception that books in general are in terminal decline, that this is the reason the wt organisation has turned to tablets instead of print, and this in turn has created a financial crisis for the organisation which traditionally relied upon publishing books for income.

this is wrong on a number of levels.

firstly physical books are not in terminal decline, they are as popular as ever with consumers.

Doubting Bro

The decision to not charge for literature was likely the biggest financial blunder the WTS ever committed. Because, once that horse was out of the barn, it wasn't coming back. They could have continued charging and just charged sales tax and remitted like a normal business. But, they likely mistakenly thought that the voluntary donation "arrangement" would generate sufficient funds because JWs would continue "donating" the same amount for literature as they used to. Remember, you paid for the literature upfront and then sold it to the public. Of course, there were some that donated whatever they received but most didn't. What happened is that without the specific charge associated, JWs stopped giving that amount and thought their normal contributions were covering the cost of the literature.

For example, if the rags were 50 cents each and you got 5 sets a month,so that's $5 to the literature servant. Then say you donated $10 per month to the worldwide work. OK that's $15 total. What the WTS thought would happen was that the WWW donation would move to $15. What happened was it stayed at $10.

15

Islam terrorist finally gets it right

by _Morpheus in

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4642504/amp/isis-suicide-bomber-kills-12-comrades-wishing-luck.html.

Doubting Bro

Karma is real then!

15

Far and away the best video I have seen explaining cults

by jwfacts in

this 5 minute ted video perfectly explains what a cult it.

it does not mention jws, but perfectly aligns with them.

it is put in a manner that would make some understand why jws are considered a cult.

Doubting Bro

Really well done.

26

Last of the big conventions?

by NikL in

jw
friends

had lunch with some friends during today's waste of time convention.

they spoke of the rumor floating around that the jws will move away from these big regional conventions and have them at assembly halls and tie them in to kingdom halls.. they seemed to believe it was a pretty reliable source.. i think it would be too good to be true but who knows?.

anyone else heard this rumor?.

Doubting Bro

Keep in mind that in some cities (at least in the US), city departments of tourism will subsidize a huge portion of the rental cost as an incentive to attract profitable convention business. The impact on some cities from hosting RCs can easily offset the cost of the rental. This is a tactic used by the WT (and anyone else bringing a convention to a small-mid-sized city). The tourism dollars from hotel stays/restaurants, etc can add up. Someone has posted here before examples of cities doing that. That's likely why you see many RCs being held in smaller markets. For example, in the NYC metro, they get so much tourist business, they aren't going to offer any incentives. But, Albany in the summer likely gets few visitors and is more inclined to go along.

66

How Knowledge is Dissipated in Talks

by Cold Steel in

londo111 » each congregation has a “talk coordinator”.

talk coordinators will coordinate with other talk coordinators in order to find speakers to give the public talk on sunday.

typically, they come from the general area: the circuit or a nearby circuit.

Doubting Bro

Exactly Londo! This is one of the things that makes it a cult. It's really difficult for non-JWs to truly understand the level of control they exert. Just check out the beard discussion. I still can't believe I ever allowed them that level of control.