https://realty.newsru.com/article/26dec2017/iegov_med.
(the following article is translated using google translate).
the building selected in "jehovah's witnesses" in st. petersburg will be given to scientistsdecember 26, 2017 publication time: 09:42. in a building selected from a banned organization in russia, "jehovah's witnesses", will soon be able to read scientific lectures.
As much as I dislike the WTS, any government seizing privately owned property is frightening. Today, the WT. Tomorrow, you. I am glad that I don't live in a country where unpopular ideas are subject to governmental shutdown.
Punish the actual behavior and compensate individuals that have been harmed by its practices. But, to outright ban a group and just take their property is wrong.
Thanks for sharing. I haven't had the time to read all the various provisions but I look to be making out pretty well. I live in a low tax state to begin with so the limitation on the state/local taxes doesn't really hurt me. The lower tax rates across the various levels helps quite a bit.
Honestly, for most of these things, people's reaction to change is in direct correlation to how they are personally impacted. Same thing with the WT cult.
I'm now officially in favor!! (not that it really matters)
“the first episode will be about jehovah witnesses and another episode will be about nxivm, a controversial self-empowerment group, according to the source.”.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/leah-remini-returning-to-ae-to-investigate-other-cult-like-religions/amp/.
amnesian.
AWESOME!!
earlier this week a new post on this forum announced that the 2017 worldwide annual service report was available on jw.org.
wow - that's earlier than the statistics for the 2016 service year which appeared in the 2017 yearbook last january!
good effort, jw organization!
OrphanCrow brings up a valid point about the hours reported and even the active publishers. For example, I turn in a FS report and haven't actually participated in any form of FS. Why? Because it's less hassle to do it that way then to go "inactive" and deal with questions. When I was the secretary, I know for a fact that people were making up time. But, there's really no way to police it. The person could say they "informally" witness to a neighbor/workmate/someone in line, etc. You simply can't verify the information.
Which begs the question of why they report hours at all. They do it to 1) rank the members of the congregations "spirituality" and as a qualifier for additional responsibilities, 2) because if they don't force a report, members won't go out at all, and 3) likely some sort of proof that they are indeed doing charitable work in countries that require that as a condition for tax exemption. That doesn't apply in the US since religious organizations have tax exemption and there are just a few things that would knock that out. I would imagine this is not the case in some countries.
The hours are likely way over inflated and active publishers are as well. However, baptisms can't be faked. When you see that number decreasing, then they will have real issues.
How many remember when the branch numbers were published monthly in the Kingdom Ministry? They went from that to highlights to nothing. As the numbers start to be negative in the future, look for that. It seems they are already doing it if they don't publish branch numbers.
Also, how many remember when they would put the reports in the middle of a WT and the congregation would make comments on various aspects of the report? LOL - we know why they don't do it now. Hard to get excited over a less than 2% increase isn't it?
2017 grand totals.
branches of jehovah’s witnesses: 90. .
number of lands reporting: 240. .
It would be really interesting to find out what portion of the new publishers and what portion of the baptized are born-ins as opposed to converts. In English US and likely majority languages in EU countries and Japan, I would guess based on my observations that the overwhelming majority of the growth are coming from born-ins. In the 3rd world countries and non-majority languages in the industrialized countries, I think there is still a good amount of convert growth.
Because of this, I would imagine that there is enough growth in the 3rd world countries still to offset any retention issues and lack of converts in the industrialized countries. Only when the convert growth slows down in the 3rd world countries will we see a decrease.
2017 figures released to bethel families worldwide:.
peak publishers: 8,457,107. total baptized: 284,212 .
regular pioneers: 1,225,279 .
I thought they were not going to do the yearbook anymore? Is this that the 2018 version? They announced something along that line during the annual meeting but I wasn't really paying much attention.
2017 figures released to bethel families worldwide:.
peak publishers: 8,457,107. total baptized: 284,212 .
regular pioneers: 1,225,279 .
Agree sir82. That's why I actually believe the numbers they do put out. If they were making up the numbers, then they would report them all. By doing highlights, they can focus attention on anything that can be spun as positive.
I was at a circuit assembly within the last few weekends and with an attendance of 1900, there were 10 baptized. so .5% I suspect the growth is coming from the 3rd world countries and not from the industrialized lands which means that contributions aren't really growing.
If they are not reporting individual countries (or "lands") then I think that tells us growth in the important countries in terms of size (US, EU, Japan and Mexico - who have a lot of JWs but not all that wealthy) must not be very robust or may even be negative.
i saw an article in the news yesterday that laws are going to be passed subjecting the police to being recorded by anyone while performing their duty or enforcing the law and encourages citizens to sue if they interfere.
some law enforcement agents become angry and confiscate recording devices from people recording them while making an arrest, etc.. it does seem that the work that the police and other government agents do is public and not private or confidential so there should be nothing to hide from the cameras.
on the other hand, how can one distinguish being shot by a camera or by a weapon until one is hit?.
Of course they should. There are many fine members of law enforcement but as in any profession, there are also a few bad characters. These methods can help weed those folks out and protect both the citizen and the officer.
Morph - that was a great idea to have you on speaker when your son was stopped. I think that more parents should do that. If you get caught committing a traffic infraction, then a ticket and fine is in order. A bullet is not.
today we hear a lot about red lines in political commentaries these days.
but for those of us who are pimos, what be your red line?
what would be the doctrinal change or event that would tip you over the edge into leaving for good, regardless of the repercussions?
Tithing would be my red line. It's one thing to occasionally go and zone out for a few hours but there's no way I could justify giving them one red cent.
just spent 8 hours in a 1 day elders school last weekend.
clarification given: "moving forward any elder, ms, or pioneer who themselves or someone under their roof enrolls in higher education, may no longer qualify for privileges in the congregation.
their qualifications will have to be reviewed by their boe.".
100% agree with Dozy. While the WTS has continued to demonize education in a variety of ways, the shortage of elders makes the implementation of this very difficult. You could easily end up with a war and multiple deletions or resignations and NO ONE on the typical BOE wants to see fewer elders because that means more work for everyone else.
I've seen the fights on BOEs over much less.
