Posts by dropoffyourkeylee

24

Jdub Growth In USA?

by freein2004 in

does anybody have any information on recent growth in the jdub religion?

other than their own reports?

or, can you point me to the right post here?

In the US in my region (midWest rural) there isn't any growth. Kids getting baptized, some foreign language growth (I hear) but besides that there are very few converts like in the pre '1995-or-so' days. I believe the increase on publishers that are being printed are due to:

1) making it easier to report time. 15 minutes at a time is allowed, and both parents can report time for their bible studies at home with kids. and

2) encouraging, reaching out to, former publishers who have gone inactive in service but still attend meetings for family reasons. There are many, many people in each congregation like that who have started reporting again, maybe just an hour or two.

The result is an increase in numbers of publishers, but I wouldn't call it growth.

39

The Real History of Mormonism - Outstanding Lecture

by cofty in

if you think the mormon church is off-the-scale crazy you probably don't know the half of it.. the historical information in this talk by david fitzgerald is fascinating.

the good news is that, just like the watchtower, their growth is being stunted by the internet.. grab a coffee and be amazed at just how gullible millions of people can be.. lucy harris has become my new heroine.

don't miss the section from 8:50.

dropoffyourkeylee

Just listened to the entire thing. A bit on the sensational side, but interesting.

It's a shame that he doesn't bring out the JW roots in the 'burned over' district of upstate NY, though he does mention the SDA connection.

5

Connections between blood transfusion and sexual repression in the Victorian Age.

by dropoffyourkeylee in

here is an interesting essay (seems to have been written by a college student) which explores the topics of sexual repression and its relationship to blood and blood transfusions featured in the 1897 book dracula:.

the importance of blood during the victorian era: blood as a sexual signifier in bram stokers dracula by by nilifer pektas.

http://sh.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:16204/fulltext01.pdf.

dropoffyourkeylee

TD, I had completely forgotten about HG Wells's comments. He was very well known at the time.

5

Connections between blood transfusion and sexual repression in the Victorian Age.

by dropoffyourkeylee in

here is an interesting essay (seems to have been written by a college student) which explores the topics of sexual repression and its relationship to blood and blood transfusions featured in the 1897 book dracula:.

the importance of blood during the victorian era: blood as a sexual signifier in bram stokers dracula by by nilifer pektas.

http://sh.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:16204/fulltext01.pdf.

dropoffyourkeylee

Actually, the connection of the vampire horror stories and sex has been written about before, so the author of the essay referred to in the OP isn't original in that respect. But he or she does make more of a specific connection to blood transfusions than I have read before.

Thanks for commenting. I think for some reason the WT leaders in the 30's and 40's had a gut level abhorrence of blood transfusions without really understanding why. It is quite possible that it was a subconscious feeling on their part that was based on sexual repression.

For the record, Fred Franz was born in 1893, Rutherford in 1869.

5

Connections between blood transfusion and sexual repression in the Victorian Age.

by dropoffyourkeylee in

here is an interesting essay (seems to have been written by a college student) which explores the topics of sexual repression and its relationship to blood and blood transfusions featured in the 1897 book dracula:.

the importance of blood during the victorian era: blood as a sexual signifier in bram stokers dracula by by nilifer pektas.

http://sh.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:16204/fulltext01.pdf.

dropoffyourkeylee

Here is an interesting essay (seems to have been written by a college student) which explores the topics of sexual repression and its relationship to blood and blood transfusions featured in the 1897 book Dracula:

The Importance of Blood during the Victorian Era: Blood as a Sexual Signifier in Bram Stoker’s Dracula by By Nilifer Pektas

http://sh.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:16204/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Since many of the WT leaders (notably Fred Franz) were born or grew up in this time period, this sheds some light on how they may have been preconditioned to view blood.

8

WTBTS denies Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe is baptized

by Listener in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbsv4z03sau.

youtuber peter rose called bethel and asked them if it was true that peter sutcliffe was baptized.

the brother who answered didn't think so but went off somewhere to check and came back to say that it wasn't true.

dropoffyourkeylee

While I don't have any knowledge of this case, I do know that in the area where I live, the local elders conduct a weekly meeting at a correctional facility (prison) near here. There have been a number of inmates out there who have accepted the faith and been baptized in prison. There are also quite a few, both baptized and unbaptized, who report field service time.

17

Jehovah's Witness pi$$ing contest

by hoser in

jw
friends

ok more about the jw wedding i attended.

there were these two couples at our dinner table that were having an all out pissing competition as to who was the most spiritual.

they were comparing who was in "the truth" the longest, who pioneered where and for how long.

dropoffyourkeylee

Was this in Ohio by any chance? I know of some in Ohio with children in Congo (there can't be many) so if so I probably know them

68

What I Saw & Heard in the Oral Argument Hearing on January 14, 2015

by ABibleStudent in

im not an attorney and i could not record the hearing, so please forgive me if i make mistakes in relating what i remember of the oral argument hearing for jane doe (i.e., candace conti) versus the watchtower bible & tract society on january 14, 2015 and the length of this post.. i arrived at the civic center/union plaza in san francisco, ca about 7:30. the area is very nice with a few homeless people sleeping in the park across from the courthouse.

it took me about 10 minutes to find the clerks office for the court on the first floor, which opened at 8:00.. once the clerks office opened, the two clerks who i talked with were very polite and helpful.

the arguments for jane doe (i.e., candace conti) versus the watchtower bible & tract society were scheduled 5th out of (i think) 8. while i was in the office a cameraman and another person for nbc arrived asking about the hearing for candace contis case.. the courtroom for the 1st appellate court is on the 4th floor and takes up most of that floor.

dropoffyourkeylee

Thank you ABibleStudent Robert, for being there and recording your observations. Wow, good job!

31

Does anyone have the 2014 stats from the 2015 Yearbook yet?

by berrygerry in

does anyone have the 2014 stats from the 2015 yearbook yet?.

(isn't it usually out by now - or are they waiting to celebrate new year's day?

).

dropoffyourkeylee

Hmm, for some reason I wasn't expecting the baptisms to go down this year. In these parts (midwest US) I have seen more baptisms this year than in recent years. Mostly born-ins, as they seem to be on a push to get them baptized. But that is just what I have seen personally.

56

A Brief History of Racism in Watchtower Publications

by cedars in

i've just completed a lengthy article on the history of racism in the society's publications.

many people (including myself, until recently) aren't aware that the society's early publications were brimming with racist rhetoric, and this only calmed down as the public mood towards racism changed, most notably with the civil rights movement in the 50s/60s.. a few "headliners" from the article are:.

russell segregated blacks from whites for viewings of the photodramarussell believed that the skin of a black man would turn white during the millennial kingdomunder russell, the society's publications portrayed the black races as "degraded" and the white race as "superior"rutherford viewed the blacks as a "race of servants", and spoke of "sobering the southern negro" in an article against prohibitionunder rutherford, the golden age slammed uncle tom's cabin (a work that helped end slavery) as being "the work of satan"; the same article branded spaniards a "backwards race"rutherford accused "jewish business men" of "oppressing the peoples of many nations"in 1929 the golden age (acknowledged by the society as essentially the same magazine as the modern awake!

dropoffyourkeylee

I would chime in with Terry on this one, having been associated with the WT religion almost as long as he has. The WT quotes from the 30's and earlier sound really stupid and racist now, but at the time they were not much different from the prevailing culture of the US. Was the WT more racist than anyone else? No. Was the WT a leader in race equality? No. It simply reflected the time period, and it's leaders reacted to the societal changes (slowly) and gradually integrated. I have known JWs who still had a racial prejudice, but at the same time I knew many who were virtually colorblind. While growing up I had many friends and associates of different ethnic backgrounds, and never thought twice about it.

That being said, I have personally known people who remember the time in the US South when there were still segregated congregations. This still was the case as late as the early '60's, at least in south Georgia. The WT was a little slow in integrating in those parts.