a number of public statements by the governing body indicate that they are experiencing financial difficulty and they have appealed to jws to donate more money.
public information on the financial situation of the watchtower society is limited.
but what does the information they do publish indicate about their situation?
Interesting stuff!
If only Watchtower were an open and transparent organization that did not practice "theocratic warfare" especially when it comes to numbers.
Then again, if it was, it wouldn't be the type of organization that we'd have to worry about.
i've noticed that within the past couple of decades, i don't see a lot of interracial relationships (ir, for short) in the org.. i, myself, was involved in an ir over 2-3 decades ago and was engaged to get married [my ethnicity is: african-american and latina; my ex-fiance's ethnicity is: scottish and italian].
he broke off the engagement, after three years of friendship and two years of dating, because his uncle and another brother (who was a temporary volunteer at bethel) pressured him to end our relationship [p.s.
: his mother was quite close to my mother, one of my sisters and one of my close cousins.
This was the stance at one time in the organization and my parent's sentiments were like (discouraging me to date anyone black, while swearing up and down were not racist). But from the 90's onward it seemed interracial marriage was more common than any other in my area, including mine in 2001.
It seems Anthony Morris's family have an interracial marriage and in the publications nowadays seems positively portrayed from the illustrations of married couples.
odd.... friends of mine recently became members of an evangelical church.. up until they got baptised in this church, they still were visiting the jw meetings on a regular basis.they weren't really fading in the true sense of the word.. they came out of the closet about their new conviction quite publicly and even didn't shy away from getting in debate with the elders on biblical topics.. the elders are obviously very aware about their position and as they still were attending the meetings not so long ago, they clearly can be considered as people associated with the jw organisation.. as far as i know it seems they won't get disfellowshipped.
as long my friends don't harrass fellow witnesses with their 'renegade ideas' and 'false religion', elders seem to comply and leave things as they are.. this puzzles me as defecting to babylon the great always has been one the most worst offenses a jw could possibly commit.. could this be a case of local elders interpreting/applying things their own way or is there a (new) general policy trending ?.
anyone who knows about similar cases ?.
As said, it is viewed as disassociation (which is the consequences as being disfellowshipping, namely shunning) if the elders decide to go after them.
The question is why they haven't gone after them. I think John Free pinpointed a possible reason...they've are overworked. I believe quite a few elders don't actually want to play judge, jury and executioner, and sometimes will procrastinate doing so or defer their responsibility to someone else.
Of course, when the CO comes to town, he might prod the elders into action...
this is a true story.
it's about a sister named henriette venema.
she was a very loyal jw.
I've heard of this happening. Since Watchtower teaches that attending all meetings and assemblies is essentially a prerequisite for everlasting life (as is monthly "field service"), the meeting becomes more important than life itself when the reality is they are a waste of living.
Not as dramatic, I've seen an older CO feel faint in the middle of a Thursday night talk and have the PO take over for him from the outline. I've seen another older CO feel faint, almost fall, but he decided to give the rest of his talk sitting.
most of us are desperately waiting for the availability of a legal crisis of conscience.
deborah dykstra provided us with two updates.
on december 12, 2015 there was a clear statement about the copyright which stopped all illegal activity in spreading electronic versions & prints.. finally, she promised a new update by or before may 6.. so far no new update.
my story is i've been df'd for about 20 years.
a couple years after i started attending church and found it to be a tremendously uplifting experience.
from the people to the music, message everything drew me in.
It's been my experience (based on observing and attending various churches in mainline Protestantism) that in most places, there is a diversity of views and generally people are free to hold to their individual view, even if it different than the official church or denominational creed. I've seen differing views voiced and nobody sweats it. In general, people aren't too hung up on doctrine.
The motto seems to be: In essentials unity, In non-essentials liberty, in all things love.
the new broadcast is - predictably - about being loyal to the gb.it's a shut up and sit down message.. one of the funny things they keep bringing up is the correlation between the gb and moses.those who don't listen to the gb are like korah.. this is a false choice, why?let's look at a quick comparison.
(this is from the point of view of the bible).
was moses directly picked by god?- yeswas the gb directly picked by god?- well no, we actually are not told how the gb are picked and why the qualify.. did god talk to moses?- yesdoes god talk to the gb- no, they admit they are not in direct communication.. did god inspire moses to write laws and judge.- yesdoes god inspire the gb to write laws and judge.- no, they admit they are not inspired, and they are always wrong and need to change things all the time.. did god give the israelites undisputable proof that moses is his channel?- yes, many miracles visible to everyone one around happenddoes god give jws undisputable proof that the gb are his channel?- no, there is no proof, actually contrary.. was moses ever wrong?- nohas the gb ever been wrong?- every time.
I remember articles years ago discouraging people from doing a individual "fleece" test toward questions like, "Should I pioneer?" For instance, individuals taking the selling of their home by a certain time and certain price as evidence of God's will that they should pioneer.
And yet, the Governing Body is evidently doing the very same thing.
i have argued with several jws who are now being trained to deny the org ever said the end in 75, what is your approach?.
If only JWs were not indoctrinated to basically run from discussions they cannot win. Otherwise it would be a simply matter of pulling up all the publications leading up to that time.
But the pattern is seen time and time again: the party line will be given (and very defensively at that), "The organization never said that, only a few individuals ran ahead..." After that the conversation will close down.
the new broadcast is - predictably - about being loyal to the gb.it's a shut up and sit down message.. one of the funny things they keep bringing up is the correlation between the gb and moses.those who don't listen to the gb are like korah.. this is a false choice, why?let's look at a quick comparison.
(this is from the point of view of the bible).
was moses directly picked by god?- yeswas the gb directly picked by god?- well no, we actually are not told how the gb are picked and why the qualify.. did god talk to moses?- yesdoes god talk to the gb- no, they admit they are not in direct communication.. did god inspire moses to write laws and judge.- yesdoes god inspire the gb to write laws and judge.- no, they admit they are not inspired, and they are always wrong and need to change things all the time.. did god give the israelites undisputable proof that moses is his channel?- yes, many miracles visible to everyone one around happenddoes god give jws undisputable proof that the gb are his channel?- no, there is no proof, actually contrary.. was moses ever wrong?- nohas the gb ever been wrong?- every time.
If Jesus became King in 1914...
If the organization is a manifestation of his rulership of what he has been doing since 1914...
If how he rules the organization is a small scale prelude to how he would rule the worldwide paradise in the 1000 years...
If he appointed the GB as the Faithful Slave in 1919...
Why doesn't he do a better job in ruling and giving direction? Why do the GB virtually need to look for signs and omens and read tea leaves for direction?
This would not bode well for the Millennial reign.
they have made so many strategical mistakes it's hard to keep track.
some changes within the last decade or so that are contributing to declining numbers of jws:.
1. elimination of book study groups, the most informal, enjoyable and sociable of the jw meetings, contributed to loss of sense of community among jws.. 2. policy of consolidating kingdom halls.
In this internet age, a slow decline is inevitable no matter what they do.
Many decisions are reactionary, some decisions might mitigate monetary loss and keep longtime members in the pen.
Other decisions are in desperation as things slip away. I fear how desperate things might get when the decline becomes really apparent and they grasp at the reigns harder.
