Doubting Bro

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Posts by Doubting Bro

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  55

  Cults in our Midst

  by Lee Elder in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is related to a comment i made in a previous thread.

  cults exist in many diverse parts of society.

  this includes politics.

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  Doubting Bro

  Maybe it's my JW upbringing, but I have believed for quite a while that politics in general exhibits very cultish behavior sometimes. It's not a right/left thing for me at all. I have a deep distrust and dislike for all politicians They all seem to be interested in either separating me from my hard earned money or trying to control every aspect of my life. Of course, I see the need for laws and understand that you need regulations on the behavior of people and businesses because if you don't, there are those that will take advantage. But, the slavish "my party is always right" type of mentality that seems to grip politics at least here in the US, is frightening. Even on this board, I see more debates along the lines of " Trump is awesome - no he's a trainwreck" than any actual debate on real issues. The ironic thing is that if Trump does something similar to what Obama may have done, its considered brilliant by Republicans and outrageous by Democrats. And vice versa. Just so much hypocrisy! Having lived my life under a system where hypocrisy was a daily event, I have very little tolerance for it now.

  I try to see all angles of a debate and usually fall into a moderate position where I try to take some good ideas from the left and from the right and mush them together. That's literally heresy for both the Republicans and the Democrats.
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  18

  "This Good news Of The Kingdom Will Be Preached In All The Inhabited Earth" ........

  by smiddy3 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ..".for a witness to all the nations and then the end will come" .matt.24:14.. the religion of jehovah`s witnesses kid themselves into thinking they are filling or have fulfilled this prophecy/scripture .. given that you take the jehovah`s witnesses and the international bible students association as one and the same religion , then they have been preaching their message primarily within lands that are predominantly christian based.....and certainly do not cover "all the inhabited earth " as their are many populous non christian nations nations that do not allow, even forbid any proselytizing in their lands.

  i would estimate about one third of the current world population.. but that is not all .. given that you take the jehovah`s witnesses and the international bible students association as one and the same religion ,then they have about 140 years of preaching their beliefs to the public specifically to preach "this good news of the kingdom " as they claim to do in obedience to j.c.commands at matt.24:14.. take a survey no matter where you live on this planet earth of the people in your locality and if you asked them "what was the message jehovah`s witnesses left you and no one would be able to say "they told me about and explained to me the good news of the kingdom" and what it would mean to me.. no one would be able to say that .after 140 years of preaching and witnessing by what is now 8 million plus jehovah`s witnesses .. what a waste of time and energy and lives .. after 140 years of preaching what do the public know about jehovah`s witnesses ?.

  they don`t take blood transfusions .

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  Doubting Bro

  I think the public knows even less about them than the OP suggests. They know that they 1)knock on doors to distribute the WT, some may know that they don't take blood or don't celebrate holidays. That's it.
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  21

  For Those Claiming That the GB are Simply Naive - Another Philly Story

  by berrygerry in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  http://www.philly.com/philly/news/jehovahs-witnesses-child-sex-abuse-stephen-lett-chessa-manion-20180620.html.

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  Doubting Bro

  This is a PR nightmare for the WTS and the way they are handling it is the worst possible way. It's as if they are so wrapped up in their belief they are God's chosen ones that to think they made an error in how things are handled and need to apologize to the victims and rethink their procedures is almost unimaginable. Society in general is much less willing to turn a blind eye to abuse as they have in the past. Organizations like the WTS and others need to change or ultimately they will be forced to by either external pressure or internal pressure.

  Well written article
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  29

  Anyone think Assemblies will stop?

  by blownaway in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  not completely but the expensive renting of halls or assembly hall ownership.

  maybe with streaming they could have assemblies at the kh and stream the program.

  i bet they cut costs in a lot of ways.

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  Doubting Bro

  No way would they dump the assemblies. 1) makes the members feel like they are part of something bigger than the local congregation and 2) (MOST IMPORTANT) they make a ton of MONEY$$$$.

  If the assemblies ever stopped being a major source of revenue or if they can come up with a new scheme that costs less to operate and brings in more revenue, then they will stop. That's the only reason.
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  138

  LEAKED: WHQ Accounts: 2016-2020 Budget

  by Fay Dehr in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 1 of 5] https://youtu.be/g08tw2v3b4s.

  leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 2 of 5] https://youtu.be/rpceb5v0vbe.

  leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 3 of 5] https://youtu.be/2xa08ukc_6i.

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  Doubting Bro

  Couple of thoughts:

  1 - Why do they ALWAYS use some cherry picked portion of a scripture to support EVERY SINGLE thing they talk about. Jesus, common sense tells you that you need a budget especially to run a multi-billion dollar organization. Its just so annoying.

  2 - These guys take boring and dull speaking to new lows. I would give them a W on multiple speech counsel points.

  3 - They definitely have overspent in the past. How much, not sure yet. Did they borrow money that was coming due? Likely given the liquidation of assets.

  Cofty's assessment is right in line with my thoughts. They have certainly peaked. They are in the beginning stages of decline. They are doing things they have to now in an attempt to right the ship. But, their long term prospects do not look good. That doesn't mean collapse in my mind, it means them shrinking.

  It would be great if it was a house of cards. But my wishing it was doesn't make it so.
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  36

  I've graduated at last

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after a bit of a kerfuffle over a procedural matter, my university has awarded me a degree.

  (the procedural problem was caused by my independent selection of what i wanted to study).

  award : bachelor of arts.

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  Doubting Bro

  Congratulations!!
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  138

  LEAKED: WHQ Accounts: 2016-2020 Budget

  by Fay Dehr in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 1 of 5] https://youtu.be/g08tw2v3b4s.

  leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 2 of 5] https://youtu.be/rpceb5v0vbe.

  leaked: whq accounts: 2016-2020 budget [part 3 of 5] https://youtu.be/2xa08ukc_6i.

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  Doubting Bro

  Marking for viewing later. This looks interesting.
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  78

  So What Drastic Money Change is Next?

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  okay, they cheapened the product by getting rid of hardcover books.

  they reduced printing of mags.

  they drastically reduced the number of pieces of printed paper that members would "place" in people's hands in various ways, the biggest one being that they put them on a cart and don't encourage people to take them.they cut d.o.

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  Doubting Bro

  I would overhaul the entire thing, create special programs for youths and other special interests, fundamentally change service to include community service that inspires members instead of being a dread, change Patterson to be a small private university (get it accredited) similar to what the LDS does with BYU, encourage careers to help members increase their net worth and institute tithing to take advantage of that new found wealth.

  The average JW is apathetic and going through the motions and not donating much. They could shake that up but their end times belief get in the way.
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  78

  So What Drastic Money Change is Next?

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  okay, they cheapened the product by getting rid of hardcover books.

  they reduced printing of mags.

  they drastically reduced the number of pieces of printed paper that members would "place" in people's hands in various ways, the biggest one being that they put them on a cart and don't encourage people to take them.they cut d.o.

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  Doubting Bro

  Their "business" model has always been to maximize revenue from publishers. When the borg was growing at a fast clip, their revenues increased year over year. Plus they had converts who were more materially successful than an average born-in. Now that the convert rate has dropped to almost nothing in the 1st world, the growth is coming mostly from births and 3rd world converts with little cash.

  Because they were not very good at business, they over built ignoring the steady drop of new converts which translated to increased revenues. All the cuts were probably necessary just to right size the organization. At some point, the cuts will either stop because they will end up cutting muscle as it were.

  They could do a bunch of things to create a new revenue stream but I think they believe their own BS that Armageddon is coming soon and all they need to do is hang on. They aren't going to dump CA or RCs because they make a ton of cash off of those. I could see them moving the RCs to 2 days and save a little cash that way. Also, change the CO to a part-time local CO position and reestablish the DOs to oversee those folks.

  Definitely, they will come up with some way to charge for the website or create a tithing system. That will at least provide a regular source of revenue. The congregation per publisher "contribution" is already tithing light and I think provides them with a pretty stable revenue stream. What we don't know if really how much money they need. The downsizing along with the congregational monthly contributions + the worldwide cash grab may have been enough to allow them to stabilize. Since they aren't transparent with their finances, we have no way of knowing. Their behavior is amateurish is it's difficult to read too much into it. They simply are bad at business.
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  46

  Season 1 Episode 1 A&E Cults and Extreme Belief (Video)

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  https://www.aetv.com/shows/cults-and-extreme-belief/season-1it will post soon on site..

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  Doubting Bro

  Watched with my wife. She's of the mindset that while JWs are not the only true religion, they are just like any other religion. She's definitely what I would call a social JW. As we watched, we discussed. Both thought the story was real without any over dramatization of what happened to this lady. The program consistently calling JWs a cult bothered her. I explained some of the things groups labeled cults do and the control they exert which is why people put JWs in that category. After going back and forth, I said I prefer the term high control religion which she agreed with.

  The ending was a bit dramatic for me. But, that's because I knew there was no way in hell that anyone at Warwick much less the GB would agree to met with this lady and a camera crew! As they were driving, my wife said the same thing and that they are doing it for effect. I agreed but pointed out that to someone not a JW, it would seem reasonable that a church leader would want to met with someone who was so distressed and offer reassurance that things have changed. I think that point really sunk in.

  At first, I thought the exchange at the gate was fine. The guard was polite and called for someone. We both thought the first part was fine. It's after 40 minutes where the truck was just sitting there and they gave up that was a problem. The "guard" couldn't have handled that much worse. I get that this guys overseers are cowards and should have come out to address the lady and left him hanging in the wind. But, he should have shown some compassion. That part really disturbed my wife.

  What I thought was interesting about my wife's reaction is while she took offense that the report was implying abuse is wide spread, saying that wasn't her experience as a born in, she then proceeded to give me several examples of her friends that were abused. In one case, by an elder who is STILL an elder. She got kinda quite after that.

  Barbara, if you happen to read this, please know that your hard work and sacrifice are not unnoticed.