Doubting Bro

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Posts by Doubting Bro

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  31

  Why JW's Rave So Much About Conventions

  by freemindfade in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  "it was so beautiful, we are truly blessed!

  now, they also plaster these affirmations all over social media, "this is the best life", “so blessed”, “best convention”.. why the gushing?

  have you ever heard anyone say, “mmmm it was ok”?

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  Doubting Bro

  All good points. Because I'm an ass, I ALWAYS follow up that statement with the questions Sir82 listed. Usually, you get the answer that it was all great or some other generic response. Sometimes I will follow up with more pointed questions about the program and press them. Otherwise, the person usually changes the subject pretty quickly.

  Its a real sore spot for me because even as a Kool-Aid drinker, the conventions were exhausting and usually not that great. So, I know they are only saying it's the best because of all the reasons above.

  Wait, could this be why people don't like me?????
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  3

  Court of Appeal Civil Division UK - "A" v The Trustees of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and Ors 7th July 2016

  by Paul Bonanno in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in june 2015 the high court of justice in london awarded damages of £275,000 to an unnamed women known only as 'amelia' alleged stewart abused her from the age of four and threatened that she would be "damned as a sinner" if she told anyone about the abuse.

  the abuse ended only when stewart was arrested for offenses against another child.

  the court held that the watchtower society failed to warn the members of the congregation about their knowledge on past abuse by a child molester in the congregation.

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  Doubting Bro

  So what happened? I'm assuming the appeal was denied?
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  41

  Convention Weirdness

  by BlackWolf in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well i just got back from 3 days in hell, and geez was this convention strange or what?

  im sure someone's probably made a topic about this already but i can't believe that there weren't any new releases besides the movies.

  has that ever happened before?

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  Doubting Bro

  This was definitely one of the weirdest conventions I've attended. Very few local "experiences", just a couple of interviews. Lots and lots of videos. I will say the production quality has increased dramatically and so has the acting. They really pounded on being loyal to the organization and mentioned several times how people are "going through the motions" (a direct quote from the last speaker). Also, in several of the videos, you saw active JWs who had expressions very similar to what must be on my face at the meetings. And all those folks ended up leaving, so maybe there's hope for me!!

  It's clear to me that the GB realizes that one of their biggest problems (outside their terrible handling of pedophile cases that is costing them $$$) is that they no longer have control over the rank and file like they used to. This RC was an all out attempt to drive JWs who believe but are slowing down back into a more controllable state. The problem with emotional manipulation is that while it can be very effective in the short term, it doesn't really work in the long term. And the more you use it, the less effective over time it becomes. I remember at the International Convention a few years ago here in the US, they showed a video with people being resurrected and there was hardly a dry eye in the house. This year, the last video I really didn't see many people crying at all. Actually, the only time I saw any tears was in the first drama when the poor parents lost their little boy and grandpa in a car accident.

  My guess is there will be a 2-3 week increase in attendance after the RC then back to normal.
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  23

  What was the point of the bunker video

  by Crazyguy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  they get caught by the bad guys at the end anyway, don't get what thier point is to the video?

  of course i haven't seen it all they way either.

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  Doubting Bro

  In speaking with some true believers after the RC, the fear worked. These are generally "balanced" JWs, active yet younger and do their own thing many times. However, they were all talking about how frightened they were at the prospect of having to be in a bunker (their words).

  As much as I know this religion is BS and even watched some of the bunker videos here, I have to admit I got a knot in my stomach. It reminded me of dreams I had when I was a kid. Of course, now I think that Brother Brown (or whatever the service group overseers name was) would have handed out the Kool-Aid as the authorities were coming!

  The ending was so weird. You would think that the police would have either overlooked the room or dropped dead when they entered. Seems like the JWs just made it easy on the cops. Why gather together if you aren't going to be protected?
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  44

  Expanding number of DC/RC's

  by DwainBowman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  according to my elder in law, by next year the number of dc/rc's will increase by 143. the size of conventions will get smaller.

  the elder in law says the goal is to make them all have around 2,000 or so at each.

  they are going to make more manuals detailing each job and it's responsibilities.

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  Doubting Bro

  Makes sense. They are already using AHs in many places so just push more to those venues. Although, I know for a fact that many cities offer substantially reduced rates or subsidize the rental of venues to attach RC business. The RC held closest to me does that. In those cases, the WTS makes a killing because they lead the attendees to believe that it costs quite a bit to even rent the facility when the reality is that they spend so little they may not be able to host it themselves in an AH at a lower cost.

  It's all about MONEY. These RCs generate a ton of income for the WTS. They are just looking to squeeze a bit more out.
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  135

  I've been found out!

  by pale.emperor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  well, thats it folks.. my identity on here has been rumbled and reported to the elders.

  someone, somehow, has figured out that im a member of this site and - rather than speak to me - has promptly reported me to the elders.

  i just feel sad for my daughter.

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  Doubting Bro

  Agree, you can deny and it would be hard to prove otherwise unless you confess to 2 witnesses.
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  44

  For those who are still in... What do you do about field service?

  by Wait For It in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for those of you who are still in because of family circumstances, what do you do about field service?

  do you still go regularly, sporadically or not at all?.

  if you do still go, how do you manage?

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  Doubting Bro

  I put in a fake report each month. No one has said anything.
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  100

  Is it Time to Declare that The Great Tribulation Has Started ?

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i don't really engage in doctrinal discussions about jw's anymore.

  they seem to say some pretty crazy stuff.

  but i have read some threads discussing doctrinal changes and how watchtower is really out of ideas and money at the same time.

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  Doubting Bro

  I think it would be easier for them to change the preaching from a "message of hope" to a "message of judgement" than it would to rework the GT prophecy. Of course, they have reworked their teachings so many times over the years that they can literally change anything they want and be fine.

  But, if the goal is to reduce the printing operation and reduce staff and locations, they can simply change the preaching work to just be public preaching (carts/trolley) and the internet along with studies and RVs on people that expressed interest. Keep the WT as study only and eliminate the Awake. Change the midweek meeting to local groups doing the book study again with a once month "service" meeting. Or eliminate the midweek all together and just have a weekly broadcast.

  The preaching work as it is currently handled is their biggest infrastructure issue. Drastically changing it would allow them to cut way back on physical assets. Certainly they are trying to reduce the number of KHs used. And if you went to one meeting a week, you could really utilize those buildings even more. Or in areas with AHs, you could have congregations with hundreds of people.

  I still think they have lots of options but they need to be more strategic than they have been in the past. They simply make too many bad business decisions.
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  17

  Our Bunker video spoof!!! 😃

  by Christian Gutierrez in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hey everybody, here is our latest video on the jw summer conventions as well as our bunker skit!!!

  :).

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz1mio38jts.

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  Doubting Bro

  LOL - very funny!
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  69

  All 2016 Convention videos in English and all Talk outlines for download

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  all convention videos in english and all talk outlines for download.

  http://avoidjw.org/2016-regional-convention/

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  Doubting Bro

  Awesome leak!