Posts by neverendingjourney

44

It's Over Johnny....The Demise of Jehovah's Witnesses

by ctrwtf in

jw
friends

i think i've mentioned before that from time to time my commute on the bqe takes me past the old factory buildings and the soon to be former headquarters building.

i was struck the other day with how shabby they've become.

even 25 columbia heights, still currently occupied, its facade is filthy.

neverendingjourney

I don't think "demise" is the word I would choose, but there is a mountain of evidence that points to clear cash-flow problems and a gradual morphing of the religion's structure. Their model for generating cash is dying. People are increasingly consuming information online, which means they've had to significantly scale down their printing operations. This in turn means the advantages they once had given the economies of scale they were operating with have likely disappeared.

Couple that with the least educated membership of any major denomination and it's clear to see why they need to sell of properties to increase the amount of cash available to them. Literature "sales" are down and their members are not in a position to contribute lavishly.

This doesn't mean that the religion will cease to exist, but it will by necessity have to morph into something different. I think this is what we're currently seeing: selling off prime real estate, building cheaper buildings where the cost of land is cheaper, and attempting to build and online presence to sell their brand. They may be forced to relax their stand on higher education soon. They need membership to contribute more.

33

Within one minute JW with trolley directs me to JW.org

by steve2 in

i live in relatively small seaside community (regional population around 45,000).

in my ten years here, i've had witnesses call on me perhaps twice (not special visits but during door-to-door).

whereas they once canvassed door-to-door much more frequently - and in larger size service groups - there is quite a decline in their door-knocking - at least in this region.. with the advent of the "trolley" work, their visibility has increased - but i'd estimate only marginally.

neverendingjourney

How sad.

The peak of my involvement was in the mid 90s and I already felt back then that a changing of the guard had taken place.

I was in the salvation business. I believed every word of what they taught and approached field service with that mindset. Yet probably 80 percent of the publishers were there just to count their time.

It was discouraging, but I got the impression that the battle had already been fought and the time counters had won. I remember old-timers who spoke of the not-so-distant past when every publisher was expected to explain the major doctrines plainly using only the Bible.

By the time I left, roughly ten years later, the percentage of time-counters had gone up to 90 percent or more and the old-timers rarely brought up those stories anymore.

By the reports I read here, it seems like are few if any JWs in the salvation business business anymore and who can blame them? How can you remain zealous when the doctrine you supposedly believe no longer possesses any basic internal coherence?

77

New LDC Meeting KH Video

by wifibandit in

been away from the site for a few days...because i have been busy getting these!!!!!!

(pixel, thank you!

) they did not make it easy, plus technical difficulties.. for the main attraction:.

neverendingjourney

I'm inclined to view this as a cash-grab, an effort to receive perpetual rents from the congregations and to construct buildings that are easier to sell (and reap the windfall of the free labor that was used to build them).

If they are this hard-up for cash, when do they change their stance on college? Better educated members generally leads to membership with higher salaries. Better-paid members would in theory be in a position to contribute more.

I'm not envisioning an LDS wholehearted embrace of higher education, but perhaps encouraging young ones to consider two-year degrees in trades and eliminating the stigma around bachelor degrees.

3

Site Update: Feb 5, 2014

by Simon in

just a quick update .... there was an issue with password reset / email sending not working which is now fixed.

if you've tried to do anything with your account that involved getting an email and instead got a server-error then it should be fixed now and can be retried.. my apologies for the inconvenience..

neverendingjourney

Thanks. That took care of it.

3

Site Update: Feb 5, 2014

by Simon in

just a quick update .... there was an issue with password reset / email sending not working which is now fixed.

if you've tried to do anything with your account that involved getting an email and instead got a server-error then it should be fixed now and can be retried.. my apologies for the inconvenience..

neverendingjourney

I haven't been following these threads closely and maybe this has already been addressed, but I'm showing 7 messages in my inbox when I actually don't have any new mail.

30

I just had a thought about the new KH design

by JeffT in

i've been trying to figure out the purpose of the new (bland, commercial style) building that the gb is pushing.

it is not a design that attracts attention, nor does it offer a lot in future resale value.

it will be more difficult to build than the wood residential style buildings, meaning they can't use their cheap unskilled labor force for a lot of the work.

neverendingjourney

Making money in flipping properties requires doing something to the property that makes it more valuable.

How about building properties with free labor and selling them at market value? Is there any money to be made in that?

30

I just had a thought about the new KH design

by JeffT in

i've been trying to figure out the purpose of the new (bland, commercial style) building that the gb is pushing.

it is not a design that attracts attention, nor does it offer a lot in future resale value.

it will be more difficult to build than the wood residential style buildings, meaning they can't use their cheap unskilled labor force for a lot of the work.

neverendingjourney

It is not a design that attracts attention, nor does it offer a lot in future resale value.

I'm not in the real estate business, but I think the question to ask here is whether this style of building is more marketable than the current design. Seems like there would be a smaller market for the windowless buildings they use today.

Also a pertinent question: Are there other designs that would provide a greater return? In other words, what other design, if any, could they construct using their unskilled workforce that would result in a greater profit upon resale?

This scheme might not be brilliant, but it still might improve upon their current real estate flipping model, if not outright maximize its potential.

49

Ode to the trolleys in Feb's broadcast

by konceptual99 in

check out the song about the trolley at the end of this month's dubcast.. http://www.jw.org/download/?fileformat=mp4&output=html&pub=jwb&issue=201502.

.

neverendingjourney

I watched 10 seconds of that....on mute...and felt deeply uncomfortable.

I can only wonder what my family members think when they watch that crap. It's no longer the religion I grew up in, that's for sure.

90

Some screenshots from new KH meeting!

by pixel in

.

they just put up a link to watch a replay of the "new kh meeting", here some screenshots.. .

.

neverendingjourney

Every time someone has proposed a theory of the governing body that suggests they are cynical masterminds carefully manipulating the masses for their own gain, I kept coming back to the fact that they have a multi-million member volunteer work force at their disposal that they employ in the near-fruitless activity of peddling published propaganda. If the GB were really cynical, my defense would go, they would use that workforce in a way that actually generates revenue. Such as, for instance, building kingdom and assembly halls with free labor that could then be quickly flipped and sold for a profit. The day I saw concrete steps in this direction would be the day I would begin to entertain the GB-as-cynics theory.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, this appears to be a paradigm-shifter for me. These buildings have all the hallmarks of being designed for usage other than kingdom halls. It's harder to sell windowless structures like they currently use. These buildings could easily be converted to other uses, which makes them more marketable (easier to sell). I'll be watching these developments with a keen interest with an eye towards real estate flipping activity. We should expect to see evidence of this within the next few years.

The bulk of my posting history has seemingly disappeared or else I'd link to a few examples of me raising this argument in the past.

96

21 Years as an Elder, 5 as an MS, I will never be that guy again.

by James Jack in

i was deleted as the cobe after i let my adult child move back home and he admitted that he fornicated under my roof while my wife and i where away on a rbc project.

of course the elder mode in me kicked him out of the house.. the elders moved quickly to remove me because i was too involved in "theocractic activities", i had neglected my adult son.. i accepted this primarily because i didn't want to serve with a boe that did not want me.

i was devastated however because it was the only life i knew.

neverendingjourney

My parents are pushing 70 and have nothing but social security to live on. They raised me in a cult that pushes a hard line no-college stance. Despite this, I put myself through college and professional school without ever receiving any financial assistance or moral support from them.

I'm now several years into my career and am pretty well set financially. Despite providing them tens of thousands of dollars of financial assistance throughout the years, they're still living day-to-day in a house that's crumbling around them. The end is always just around the corner ready to fix all their problems.

I won't let them starve, but I'm done going out of my way to help them monetarily.

What's the point of this story? It's that I'm glad you seemingly realized the truth about this religion in time to spare your children from this fate.