There'll probably be some guilt tripping involved... 'Brothers, even though we have made our pledges anonymously, Jehovah knows. We have made our pledges to Jehovah and if are not fulfilling our vow to Jehovah then he will see it'.... (or words to that effect put in Borg-speak).
tornapart
JoinedPosts by tornapart
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16
Speculation on future donation arrangements
by respectful_observer inin the aftermath of this year's annual meeting and the recent tremors of cash shortfalls within the organization, i began thinking "what could they do next to bring in more $$$.".
many here have speculated that we're seeing incremental moves toward "tithing" (of course they would never call it that).
a recent thread (can't find it right now) highlighted that they recently raised the "suggested per publisher donation" at the circuit assembly significantly (tripled it?)..
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This morning's magazine trolley encounter..
by GodZoo inwas just out shopping and came across two middle aged female witnesses with their magazine trolley..
i approached them and they were all glee and smiles and ready to hand me a couple of magazines.
one moment ladies i have just a couple of questions..
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tornapart
Yes, I do know what you mean. When I first learnt TTATT I offloaded onto my mother. She just wasn't really ready for it.probably never would have been. Now she's gone and all I remember is the hurt she felt for me, thinking I was going to lose my eternal life! I meant no malice toward her, I just wanted her know what a corrupt, hypocritical and poisonous religion it was but to her it was her life. I try and be very careful now about 'bursting their bubble'. For some people it works but I've come to realise the ones it happens to are those who are ready and open for it or who have something happen to them that makes them ready for it.
Maybe those ladies will go back and think about what you said with open minds. I really hope they do.
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This morning's magazine trolley encounter..
by GodZoo inwas just out shopping and came across two middle aged female witnesses with their magazine trolley..
i approached them and they were all glee and smiles and ready to hand me a couple of magazines.
one moment ladies i have just a couple of questions..
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tornapart
You know what.... I actually feel sad for those two ladies. You felt good... but maybe those two ladies went home feeling really depressed.
I know what it felt like learning TTATT. 4 years on and I'm still struggling with it.
If I offloaded all that on two JWs.... maybe two genuinely lovely kind people... I couldn't feel happy about it.
Sorry but I don't like this post.
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My Mother Died Two Weeks Ago
by Perry innone of my jehovah's witness relatives called to tell me or my family.
just found out this morning.
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tornapart
So very sorry to hear of your loss Perry. What a cruel way to find out. My heart goes out to you. Will keep you in my prayers.
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WT Society SEC Records : Hedge Funds, Cayman Islands, Financial Losses - Links
by flipper inso my wife and i were curious so i researched some financial links and found records indicating that the wt society has been operating at a loss since the year 2012. as you read the links it shows a loss of 10 million $$$ in 2012, about 16 million $$$ in 2013, and a whopping loss of 56 million $$$ in 2014 - where the expenditures exceeded the revenues for each of those years in the amount i've mentioned.
also there is a link on this same website with the sec records indicating that the wt society and it's representatives funneled 40 million $$$$ into hedge funds in the cayman islands as early as 2007. if you look online on other sites you can see evidence that indicates the wt society attended hedge fund conferences to look into more shadiness in 2011 and isn't it curious that by 2012 the wt society started showing losses.
anyway here is the link : https://www.watchtowerlies.com/the_watchtower_revenue.html .. feel free to check this link out and other links on that link indicating the cayman island connection.
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tornapart
From the first time I found out about the hedge funds about 3 years ago I thought they'd end up losing lots of our contributions! -
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The new changes is a clear indication that we are one step closer to the end...
by RobertT18 inthat was today's topic over a group chat of my cong's young jbots.
apparently the rumors are circulating everywhere i go, even people from the spanish congs are talking about it.
what's really sad is that the majority of people are already seeing this as "clear" signs of the end coming.
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tornapart
In our congregation there's been two camps, one camp getting all excited saying 'this is it, Armageddon's coming, they want all of us out in the field service, pioneering', isn't wonderful!' and the other camp who have seen right through it and realise it's because the funds are disappearing and they're having to make cuts. It'll be very interesting to see how it all pans out. -
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Basic JW Doctrine
by crolson inhi, i am not a jw, but i am a student studying the jehovah's witnesses.
i was wondering if a jw could answer a few questions for me about your doctrine?.
where does your teaching come from (which writings)?.
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tornapart
hello Crolson, I'm a born-in JW, middle aged now, so know the doctrines well (but have rejected many of them). I still associate occasionally (for my husband's sake) but inside no longer consider myself one.
Anyway, here's the basics... They believe in an Arian God (no trinity) whose personal name is Jehovah. that he's the Almighty with a balance of qualities such as love, wisdom, justice and power. Jesus Christ is the Son of God but created by God, as a prehuman they believe he was Michael the Archangel. They believe he was solely human while he was on earth (albeit perfect, like Adam). They believe he was resurrected as a spirit (not a physical body, they believe that was consumed by God). Any body he had after his resurrection was a materialised one the same as they believe the angels have. They believe Christ is a ransom buying back the perfect life Adam lost, so that they can have perfect life again forever on a paradise earth. (Only 144,000 get resurrected to heaven). Death is the end of life, non existence. A life can only be regained by resurrection in the future. Salvation comes by belief in God and Christ, putting faith in them, dedicating oneself to God (meaning having to preach, attend meetings etc) It is a very works based religion... (although caring for the poor and needy is not that important, preaching is). Salvation also comes by being part of what they consider 'God's Organisation', one has to be faithful and obedient to it. Anyone that doesn't, won't have salvation and will be destroyed at 'Armageddon', God's war against mankind. After this war the earth will be restored to a paradise under God's Kingdom (Jesus as King along with the 144,000 resurrected from the earth). God's Kingdom is a government that is in heaven. During 1,000 years all the dead will be resurrected to earth along with the nucleus of the 'Great Crowd' (Jehovah's Witnesses) that survived Armageddon. After the 1.000 years anyone who doesn't worship God will be destroyed (again). All their teachings come from their interpretations of the bible, along with all their publications, especially the Watchtower magazine. The Holy Spirit is seen only as God's power, impersonal but can guide us. Sin is a missing of the mark of perfection inherited from Adam. It will only be completely gone when man becomes perfect at the end of the 1,000 years.
Hope that helps :)
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How will many JW's react ?
by Phizzy ini did not believe i would see the demise of the wt in my lifetime, and maybe i will not, they may be able to ride out their present problems.. but how do you think this will affect the average, loyal, believing jw ?.
usually most things just wash over them, if there is a slight niggle, they use their well-worn way of explaining things to themselves as in "the end is near" or "jehovah knows best" etc etc.
but the huge sea-change in corporate policy that we see unfolding, all construction work stopped, except warwick and maybe their biggest project, chelmsford u.k. huge bethel layoffs, and the lifestyle of the remaining staff reduced to virtual slavery, more bethel closures, spiritual food reduced for the public as well as the r&f, and all of this being the opposite of what they have claimed was evidence of jehovah's blessing ???.
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tornapart
I wasn't going to say anything to my elder husband about this until it seemed official but it came out... from him. We had the CO visit and he worked with him on the FS at the weekend. The CO told him about it. I'm going to wait to see what else happens to find out what the effect is on my husband. I think from the way he is that this will affect him quite a lot. -
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My Mom Is Dying
by minimus ini just wanted to say that my dear 89 year old mom is terminally ill and will soon pass.
she is on morphine and hanging on.
she has been a devout witness for about 60 years and a wonderful mother.
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tornapart
So sorry Minimus, I was in the same place as you earlier this year and know how hard it is to watch your beloved mother suffer and then to lose her. It's heartbreaking. I feel your pain. Will be keeping you in my thoughts
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A simple explanation for the financial changes
by JeffT inas i've mentioned from time to time, i'm a retired accountant.
i have tried many times to come up with some logical, sound business reason why the wtbs has made the big changes in its financial arrangements: taking the congregations savings, the monthly donations per congregation etc.
i finally came up with the answer.. the leadership of the watchtower society is batshit crazy.
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tornapart
Maybe it's got something to do with getting involved in hedge funds from 2010 onwards and their investments have all gone pear shaped.