Posts by konceptual99

67

Recent mistakes of the Governing Body contributing to the decline of JWs

by slimboyfat in

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.

konceptual99

If it were another business that had made some strategic mistakes but fundamentally had a sound product then changing strategy, downsizing and other changes, if properly implemented, should result in future growth.

The problem they have is the foundation is built on sand. The WTS is a corporation. It was a publishing house, now it's a property development business. However, they is a dependence on a membership to provide cashflow, labour and to front it as a religion.

They have a product that is a sham. They have a product that is being exposed over and over again as mumbo jumbo. Less and less people are interested in it.

They can survive financially for years, decades probably, but they have fundamental issue with their message. I think they have a two way choice:

1 - continue as they are, stagnate and decline into a shadow of their former glory in 20-30 years.

2 - change the record. Become open, inclusive, drop major doctrines, stop being a millennial cult and more like a more mainstream protestant religion, stop the moral judgements and hope that being a nice social club is enough to keep people happy

IMHO the chance of them ever going down route 2 is slim to none.

15

Moore's Law And The Survival Of The Watchtower Corporation? When Will Instant Processing Push These Dumb Bastard Into Bankruptcy?

by Brokeback Watchtower in

the internet value increases with this moore's law doubling effect and information is there for the picking.

how long do you think these old geezers on the governing body can keep this currant generation of members in the darkness of stupidity?

the human mind while it has it's fault will pick up on fraud at least on the unconscious level and stop giving time and money to these clowns.

konceptual99

The WTS can go on for years simply on the fact that the majority of the the members are held mentally captive and will ignore the glaringly obvious time after time after time. I think this will be the case even with stagnation or even growing losses.

Having said that, the youth in the organisation, whilst following patterns set by previous generations, do not have the investment in the organisation that their parents have and are far more likely to be more apathetic and liable to investigate the religion on the internet. I can see from what is happening with young people I see all the time that the desire to focus on a life in WTS centric activities is low. When I was a teenager, it was more common for young men to be "reaching out", now I think the balance is the other way - few young men are that interested in pushing to servants and elders.

I am certain that the GB can see the writing on the wall and are trying their best to stem the flow with increasingly desperate measures like banging on about loyalty, keeping the pressure up on shunning, shameless emotional blackmail through saccharine paradise videos, spreading FOG through things like the bunker videos, eking out time through change and distraction, demonising those who question and so on.

It's true they have always done much of this however the recent changes to the WTS have seen them move to highly emotional messages using video. This is way different to the past. The problem for them is that this is low hanging fruit. It's captures the attention and the minds of some but only for a short time before reality kicks in again. Not only that but for any who don't buy straight into it, it simply breeds cynicism and opens the door for critical thinking. It's a short term strategy and i wonder how long it can really last as people get increasingly frustrated with the lack of real depth to anything.

69

There is a new letter to elders about Child Abuse

by ttdtt in

anyone see that there is a long letter on how to handle child abuse?.

konceptual99

The WTS don't like sending very specific information out at anything under country level. It's easier for them to have the local elders phone in and then they can tell them precisely what laws apply or don't apply.

Beyond that there are also things they have to consider like how to ensure the elders don't do anything that will increase the risk of litigation against the organisation.

Time and time again it has been demonstrated that the elders are so brainless that they have to be told what the law is.

44

Things I remember growing up in the 70s

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

i remember sitting on my daddy's lap and driving an imaginary car, i also remember sitting on my mummies lap on the front seat, without a seat belt whilst my dad drove a real car.

i remember we bought fish and chips from the chippy wrapped in yesterday's newspapers.

i remember bouncing up and down on my space hopper in the garden.

konceptual99

You might like this, especially if you were growing up in the 70s in the UK...

https://www.facebook.com/kevmond/videos/10154474615383054/

69

There is a new letter to elders about Child Abuse

by ttdtt in

anyone see that there is a long letter on how to handle child abuse?.

konceptual99

Thanks Saltheart as well. You live up to your namesake so very, very well.

69

There is a new letter to elders about Child Abuse

by ttdtt in

anyone see that there is a long letter on how to handle child abuse?.

konceptual99

5. Legal Considerations: In some jurisdictions, individuals who learn of an allegation of child abuse may be obligated by law to report the allegation to the secular authorities. In all cases, the victim and her parents have the absolute right to report an allegation to the authorities.—Gal. 6:5; ks10 chap. 12 par. 19.

So still nothing that at the very least instructs the elders to proactively encourage, support or assist the victim to report the matter to the authorities.

Apologists bleat on that it's the parent/victims responsibility, the elders are not policemen, no one is stopping them reporting blah blah blah but the reality is that there is still every chance that the victim and their family may feel, even if mistakenly, that they would somehow be causing unnecessary trouble for the elders and the congregation if they do anything that they are not specifically instructed to do.

These instructions do NOTHING to push the WTS forward into any form of best practice as almost universally operated by similar organisations.

When will these people ever learn???

10

Trenton NJ Convention... Some Brief mpressions

by Room 215 in

peak attendance (sunday): 5,645; 26 baptized.

general impression: "convention light"-- i.e.

entertainment value:(previously nil) now enhanced by leavening the boring talks with interspersed video.

konceptual99

0.46% baptism rate. That's the best part of twice as good as some other results we've seen. NJ must be bathing in the light of extraordinary JW growth.

13

CoC Promotion BUS at the gate of District Convention in Seoul, Korea

by intropist in

jw
friends

.

our korean brothers are very shy.

they reacted as the above ^^;;.

konceptual99

Presumably that's the WT blocking the ad. Just the mere fact they do that should raise a flag to people. If what they have is solid then they should not be afraid of critical views. Hiding it simply says "we are too scared to let you know this even exists". The hypocrisy when they spout on about freedom of speech is overwhelming.

16

Another brother steps back

by konceptual99 in

jw
friends

so at the meeting this week it was announced that a certain brother was no longer serving as a ministerial servant.. this is a guy who was brought up in a different country as his family went to serve where the need was greater.

this is a guy who was home schooled and went straight into pioneering.

he then went and worked on building projects in various places in europe and africa.

konceptual99

Thanks BB. I'm happy with what I've said so far but the reminder is good. It's not wise to be complacent.

46

Queued for Processing ....

by cofty in

if a new topic hangs for ages with spinning icon at "queued for processing " should you give up and post a new copy of the thread or will the eventually result in two threads?.

if it has cleared the first tick "uploading post" can you safely click away from the page?.

servers seem a bit slow recently?.

konceptual99

I get the point of it Simon and don't have a problem with it. It's obvious why you've designed it and it get's over a number of issues.

The only issue is that there is no information provided as to what is actually going on. I've not seen any information on what the limits and rules actually are. Normally I have zero problem posting either replies or new topics. Right now I can post replies fine yet I've just tried to post a new topic (different one to before) and I've got the spinning icon on queuing with no information on how long it might be before it posts or why it is queuing (e.g. "You have posted x new topics in the past hour, your new topic will appear in approx 1 hour")

In the past 24 hours I've posted 10 replies. The only new topic I've tried to post is the one on the brother stepping down. I tried posting that first at 4am yesterday and it appeared 9 hours ago according to my topic posting report (I guess around 8pm). I've just tried posting a new topic and it's queuing. Do I have to wait 14+ hours?