Posts by neverendingjourney

39

The Current State of the Watchtower & The Cynicism of Soviet Communism

by cofty in

i am reading a book by victor sebestyn called "revolution 1989 - the fall of the soviet empire".

if you lived through the astonishing collapse of communism in the late '80s i highly recommend it.. what has struck me is the description of life under communism in the six soviet satellite states of east germany, poland, czechoslovakia, hungary, romania and bulgaria.. here is a couple of paragraphs that really stood out to me as a possible parallel to the current climate in the regime of jw.org.. ---------------------------------------------------------.

once idealism or revolutionary fervour had disappeared - certainly by the soviet invasion of czechosloakia in 1968 - the system stagnated.

neverendingjourney

I think we're just using "cynic" in different ways. To me Benny Hinn is a cynic. The guy doesn't believe an ounce of what he's saying but he's acting in his self interest by using the gullible masses to line his pockets handsomely. Joel Osteen is a fantastic businessman. He get's what people are looking for in religion and he's supplying a product for that market.

What you're describing, I think, is more of situation where religious truth has become irrelevant to the men who head the Jehovah's Witnesses today. That concern has been supplanted by the desire to maintain their authority and to preserve the structure that allowed them to ascend to such power in the first place. Perhaps they were once ardent believers, but they are now less concerned about truth and almost solely focused on maintaining power.

The latter doesn't require that they be great businessmen or evangelizers and I hope they never become either. They're certainly not particularly good at it today.

39

The Current State of the Watchtower & The Cynicism of Soviet Communism

by cofty in

i am reading a book by victor sebestyn called "revolution 1989 - the fall of the soviet empire".

if you lived through the astonishing collapse of communism in the late '80s i highly recommend it.. what has struck me is the description of life under communism in the six soviet satellite states of east germany, poland, czechoslovakia, hungary, romania and bulgaria.. here is a couple of paragraphs that really stood out to me as a possible parallel to the current climate in the regime of jw.org.. ---------------------------------------------------------.

once idealism or revolutionary fervour had disappeared - certainly by the soviet invasion of czechosloakia in 1968 - the system stagnated.

neverendingjourney

Which is my point. They have a free labor source at their disposal. Any businessman with half a brain would put that force to use in ways that are financially renumerating. You could accomplish both goals at once: make money and keep the r&f busy.

By maintaining the ineffective field service program in place, these guys act more like brainwashed buffoons who keep the status quo in place because that's what other "inspired" servants of god set up in their day and by gosh they're gonna keep doing god's will.

39

The Current State of the Watchtower & The Cynicism of Soviet Communism

by cofty in

i am reading a book by victor sebestyn called "revolution 1989 - the fall of the soviet empire".

if you lived through the astonishing collapse of communism in the late '80s i highly recommend it.. what has struck me is the description of life under communism in the six soviet satellite states of east germany, poland, czechoslovakia, hungary, romania and bulgaria.. here is a couple of paragraphs that really stood out to me as a possible parallel to the current climate in the regime of jw.org.. ---------------------------------------------------------.

once idealism or revolutionary fervour had disappeared - certainly by the soviet invasion of czechosloakia in 1968 - the system stagnated.

neverendingjourney

I don't buy into the GB-as-cynics theory. If this were true, why do they continue to deploy a free labor force of millions into a service that provides next to zero results (field service). If the GB were cynics and businessmen, wouldn't they deploy the labor force into projects like building kingdom/assembly halls or otherwise deploy that labor in a way that strengthens the bottom line?

Now that being said, if they continue to beef up their online presence and show true business savvy in other ways, I might begin to change my opinion.

113

Elders receive a report that I am openly displaying false religious symbol

by confusedandalone in

when you look at the image above what do you see?

a sneaker or an outward display that i am now following after another religious group?.

well yesterday i had a 10 minute conversation with an elder who finally got the balls to call me.

neverendingjourney

What about driving a Mercury?

39

The Current State of the Watchtower & The Cynicism of Soviet Communism

by cofty in

i am reading a book by victor sebestyn called "revolution 1989 - the fall of the soviet empire".

if you lived through the astonishing collapse of communism in the late '80s i highly recommend it.. what has struck me is the description of life under communism in the six soviet satellite states of east germany, poland, czechoslovakia, hungary, romania and bulgaria.. here is a couple of paragraphs that really stood out to me as a possible parallel to the current climate in the regime of jw.org.. ---------------------------------------------------------.

once idealism or revolutionary fervour had disappeared - certainly by the soviet invasion of czechosloakia in 1968 - the system stagnated.

neverendingjourney

The constant "churn" of membership has historically helped isolate the Witnesses from succumbing to the same fate, I think. It has re-supplied the organization with a fresh set of true believers to prevent it from becoming completely ossified.

I suspect that's coming to an end, though. The growth has slowed down tremendously over the past 20 years. If the constant stream of new believers dries up and leadership doesn't do anything to instill a renewed sense of vigor, I have no doubt they'll eventually go the way of the USSR. Actually, the Worldwide Church of God is probably a better example, but that's a topic for a different thread.

97

Unconfirmed 2014 Year Book Numbers - Peak Pubs, Baptized, Hrs, Reg Pio & Studies

by OwnAccord in

jw
friends

i bethelite sent this email out - can't really give out names.

we wrote these figures as quickly as possible, but could not keep up 100%).

you get to check these figures out when you get your 2014 yearbook.

neverendingjourney

Perhaps even ask the mormons how they actually spend time in more useful things such as having 10,138 Welfare Service Missionaries mssionaries in 179 countries providing relief in projects such as neonatal resuscitation training, clean water projects, wheelchair distribution, vision treatment and measles vaccinations.

Why help people who'll be destroyed in Armageddon soon?

97

Unconfirmed 2014 Year Book Numbers - Peak Pubs, Baptized, Hrs, Reg Pio & Studies

by OwnAccord in

jw
friends

i bethelite sent this email out - can't really give out names.

we wrote these figures as quickly as possible, but could not keep up 100%).

you get to check these figures out when you get your 2014 yearbook.

neverendingjourney

I didn't know that about "peak publishers."

As with the 15 minute arrangement for the infirmed, there are games the society can keep playing to massage the numbers, but you gotta think at some point they'll run out.

97

Unconfirmed 2014 Year Book Numbers - Peak Pubs, Baptized, Hrs, Reg Pio & Studies

by OwnAccord in

jw
friends

i bethelite sent this email out - can't really give out names.

we wrote these figures as quickly as possible, but could not keep up 100%).

you get to check these figures out when you get your 2014 yearbook.

neverendingjourney

Interesting. If the numbers are real, they're still outpacing the global population increase rate.

Again, assuming the numbers are legit (by that I mean they weren't fudged by the Society), the growth has to be coming from the third world.

All evidence seems to suggest that in the developed world the "growth" is coming from within, children born in the religion. But you would think this wouldn't be enough to keep pace with those publishers who die every year and those who are DF'd or simply fall away.

52

Wasting Time In The Ministry--How Did You Do It??

by minimus in

jw
friends

i know of a couple of elders that regularly went out in the ministry throughout the week.

no matter which street they were on, they always seemed to be near the same spot.

someone here talked about the michael jackson moonwalk.

neverendingjourney

I struggle with serious, deep, chronic depression.

I would not ring the bell or knock at all .

There was an MS/Pioneer at my hall who battled through serious bouts of depression himself.

Handing out tracts during the very early hours of the morning at the parking lots of local grocery stores and gas stations was popular in my area. On one occassion I found him sitting in his car, alone, no tie, with the windows up just sulking.

Other times he would arrange the group so that he would be the odd man out. Rather than fake knocking he would drive around making sure "the sisters were okay." Kind of like a rent a cop.

I used to really loathe the guy (he was an a-hole in a lot of other ways), but with time I've come to realize he was suffering from something he couldn't really seek treatment for.

He eventually went to MTS and found ways of skirting difficult assignments. Last I heard he'd been DF'd. I lost touch with him about a decade ago.

52

Wasting Time In The Ministry--How Did You Do It??

by minimus in

jw
friends

i know of a couple of elders that regularly went out in the ministry throughout the week.

no matter which street they were on, they always seemed to be near the same spot.

someone here talked about the michael jackson moonwalk.

neverendingjourney

I was raised by inactive JW parents, but at 16 I bought into "the truth." At that time, field service was to me a life-saving work. I would walk around with a 20 pound briefcase full of books (in two languages) and brochures to cover every possible topic that could come up. I would get into arguments with householders and would implore them to accept the lifeline i was offering.

By the time I was finished my first full year of pioneering (I was 18), field service had morphed into an exercise in counting hours. I remember the exact moment when it reached a tipping point. It was August 31. I needed 10 hours in field service to finish out my 1,000 hours for the year. It was summer. School was out, so I swapped out unbaptized children of various JWs throughout the day and went out to field service with them. That way I could continue to count my time. In the evening when I was finally done, I took one of the kids to a Chucky Cheese type establishment to celebrate.

It was not a joyous occasion for me, though. I realized the pointless nature of what I was doing. I'd gone from believing that I was saving people's lives to finding ways to game the system and waste time to maintain a "privilege." I never completed a second year of pioneering. I was done.