Slimboyfat,
All good questions. I know it has been speculated that it is the vendors around the Watchtower that are profiting and benefiting.
on another thread shepherdless sketched out the past business model of jws and its demise.
until 1990 they were a straightforward publishing business with the tremendous advantage of free labour in production and free distribution agents.
since then they've been relying on donations for literature to keep the old model going.
Slimboyfat,
All good questions. I know it has been speculated that it is the vendors around the Watchtower that are profiting and benefiting.
my study conductor lectured me about my attitude this morning!!!!
apparently some sister complained to her that my attitude was irritating.
the sister in question is just bothered by the fact that i ignore her along with her four daughters.
Esmeralda,
The deeper you get drawn in, the more stuff you will get ‘counseled’ on! Oh joy!
As I may have said before, I have found true peace of mind is having little to nothing to do with this organization or the victims trapped in it. I'm concerned about you as many here are. You’ve better endeavors to spend your youth and energy on.
jehovah's witnesses are purportedly 'active' in 240 'lands', quite a remarkable feat for a planet with only about 200 sovereign states (206 if you count all that are recognised by at least one un member, of which jws are present in 166).
more than half of all jws worldwide are in just 10 countries.
over 90% are in 45 countries.. to achieve this mathematical miracle, various places that are not separate countries are counted as 'lands'.. tahiti is counted as a separate 'land' though it is part of the society islands, which is part of french polynesia, which is part of... france.
to all congregations.
re: new songs for memorial.
dear brothers:.
hello,.
i've posted the 2016 yearbook service report in excel format for public download.
here's the link: http://www.filedropper.com/2016yearbookofjwinexcelformat.
put aside all the stupid rules,beliefs,doctrines and practices of the jehovah's witnesses.this is one of the main reasons why i stopped attending all meetings!
boredom.
monotone speakers.
I remember during a public talk the speaker said, "Some people say the meetings are dry as kindling..."
And I thought, even as a mentally in JW, they just might have a point.
He followed it about by saying, "Not really..." And then went on how meetings are interesting if you prepare for them, and then be engaged by participating. It's not enough to merely attend, you have to spend hours in preparation for the meetings and be prepared to raise one's hand and talk into the microphone at least once.
And where is any of that in the Bible?
after sitting through last sunday's watchtower i got so sick of seeing the bobbing/nodding heads when talking about the pictures.
they act like god himself took the picture.
there must have been 10 comments about the group in service and the one brother was looking at his phone with a smile, which is a dead give away that he was reading something interesting.. what got me was how the older brother in the posed picture had a bible in his hand had a stern look on his face looking at the young brother.
I remembered the black and white drawings in the Acts publication of Festus or Felix or Agrippa...one of those. People were commenting on the character of these individuals based on the drawings as if the drawings were somehow an accurate depiction of how these people looked 2000 years ago and one could indeed divine something about them from a still drawing.
Darryl,
If you are who I think you are, then I'm on your Facebook friendslist and we used to be in the same congregation. Of course, I'm semi-anonymous on here, so don't blow my cover! :) I know people could figure it out without too much effort, but then I'm not making it that easy.
i'm posting this both as an anecdote and also to see if, by chance, this person reads this site.
(if you do, it'd be great to catch up since you now live fairly close to me!).
i've got a friend who until very recently was actively serving as an elder in hall close to bethel, and on a body heavy with bethelites.
It happens quite a bit!
coucou,.
i hope you are well?!
i have a few questions that i'd like to adress (if you don't mind of course).
B.For the born-in's/raised-in1.has the idea of you leaving the org and becoming what the "friends" refer to as apostates ever crossed your mind?
I was born-in. Third generation JW on both sides of my family. According to the dictionary, an apostate is simply a person who leaves the religion they are in. When I found out the Watchtower was not The Truth, mentally I left, then eventually I stopped attending meetings. I attended another church for a while. So technically, I am an apostate.
As far as the picture Apostate Boogeyman that is painted by the Watchtower and haunts the minds of JWs, no, I am not that.
2.when you saw wordly people getting converted, was it for you some kind of reassurance that you were in the right path or did you think they were crazy?
When I was in, yes it was reassuring. I was happy because I believed it was the truth and they were getting on the path to life.
3.were you strong in your faith or were you looking for the next opportunity to leave the organization.
I was pretty strong. Of course, I had cycles were I was not as active, but I was always active in meetings and service and tried to play by all the rules. I was a ministerial servant for a couple stints in my life. I regular pioneered for a time. It was only when I realized it was not the truth, that I looked toward the door.
4.what
type of jw were you(the zealous type? The Spiritually-weak type? The Moderate
type?the Potential fader? The holier than tough type? The humble &
well-meaning type?...)
I believe I was the humble and well-meaning type. And a moderate. In JW terms, when I became a low hour publisher eventually because going out in service was so anxiety inducing, in the Watchtower view, I was viewed as “spiritually weak”. But I was still active and doing my best.