TheOldHippie

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Posts by TheOldHippie

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  48

  What do Baptists believe?

  by quellycatface in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm thinking about going to church again because i'm really interested in god (today)!!.

  sometimes i'm so confused and feel like there is no god, other days i do and want to try and get to know him.. i guess i'm scared because of all the bs that went on in the kh.. there is a local baptist church near me that seems nice.

  i'm in the uk.

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  TheOldHippie

  i think they believe you have to be baptised.
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  20

  Yearbook Chart Re-posted - Math explained. Top 7 countries account for 50% growth

  by Westenddave in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  sorted from high to low.

  net increase in publishers2013 ave. pubs2012 ave. pubsincrease/ decrease in publishersincrease in pubs cumulative.

  % increase cumulative columnabcde =a-b mexico (g-31)777,429749,58527,84427,84417.47%legend united states of america (e-32)1,167,7231,156,15011,57339,41724.73%red: latin/spanish landscongo, dem.

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  TheOldHippie

  Nice chart, but THIS is utterly wrong:

  "the net increase (ie baptized less Df'd)."

  Baptized and df'ed can NOT be compared to net increase. You need not be baptized to be a publisher, and the number of baptized publishers in some countries make up perhaps 75-80 % of the total number. So you must not mix the two groups together, you must not compare one with the other. Also, number of deaths is seldom commented. 1 % of a population die during a year, so that number would also have to be included in your statement - but as said, even then it is not correct, as they are incomparable.
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  16

  2012 & 2013 MEMORIAL ATTENDANCES LOWER THAN 2011: Strategies for Beefing up the Numbers

  by steve2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  worldwide attendances at the witnesses' annual memorial in 2012 and 2013 were lower than in 2011. in 2011, 19,374,737 attended, whereas in 2012, 19,013,343 and in 2013, 19,241,252 attended.. true, attendance does fluctuate from year to year - but it is less common for the numbers to show decline for two consecutive years.. given the memorial is touted as the most important "display" meeting on the jw calendar, what additional push will be exerted this year to get the numbers up?.

  reports of attendances at meetings, memorials, district conventions are incredibly vital to the organization's image of itself as a successful answer to christendom's allegedly nominal membership and poor attendance.

  when you criticize other religions in terms of their reported apathy and/or state of decline, you've got a lot of money on your own religious "health" - as shown by numbers, numbers, numbers.

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  TheOldHippie

  Last year, 2013, the talk was way better than the couple of years before. And also, you have to consider the day of the Easter week. If on a weekend, more will attend, if mid-week, fewer will, as the not-so-hard-core-ones make up a large proportion of the attendance, and they tend rather to go vacationing than listening.
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  40

  2014 Yearbook Stats - 7 Countries account for > 50% growth

  by Westenddave in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i thought i'd share the 2014 yearbook stats.

  i converted the file to excel format & sorted the increase in publisher's column from largest to smallest.

  as i suspected, the growth is limited to a very few # of "lands.

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  TheOldHippie

  Before you make way too much fuzz over Slovakia - the figure is totally and utterly wrong! The decrease is 38. Check the YB and you'll see. So no -10,038 but only -38.

  So a lot of pet theories will have to be stovced away, I am sorry. :-)

  A thing infrequently mentioned, is the massive exodus of particularly men aged 20 thru 40 from all the East European countries to Western Europe in search of jobs. Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia, Rumania, Bulgaria in particular lose a lot of their male and young population each year.
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  7

  WWI - The Great War - Really....?

  by konceptual99 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  interesting article on the bbc website debunking some myths around wwi.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25776836.

  lies, damn lies and statistics perhaps but interesting anyway.

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  TheOldHippie

  Interesting points. But one can still argue that the Taiping rebellion did not threaten world peace or shake the foundations of the major world powers, although it was a huge tragedy. "The Great War" WAS a world war, and not comparable to the 30-year War or Crimean War or various Chinese uprisings.

  But it is always refreshing to have some myths shaken loose.
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  40

  Did You Ever Hear An Elder or Bethelite's Comments That Made You Question ??

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  years ago, the society's speakers used to give many off the cuff statements.

  a lot of personal opinions and questionable remarks.. anything ever stand out for you in this area?.

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  TheOldHippie

  Mosquitos all come from the ones produced by the Egyptian priests back in the days of Moses, since God would never have created anything living on blood.
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  3

  Was Brooke Foss Westcott who did the JW bible related to William Wynn Westcott (enochian magic founder)

  by EndofMysteries in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  brooke foss westcott (12 january 1825 27 july 1901) was a british bishop, biblical scholar and theologian, serving as bishop of durham from 1890 until his death.

  he is perhaps most known for his co-authoring of the new testament in the original greekin 1881.. .

  william wynn westcott (17 december 1848 30 july 1925) was a coroner, ceremonial magician, and freemason born in leamington, warwickshire, england.

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  TheOldHippie

  "did the JW bible" ?
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  11

  JW. Org logon to email them

  by sherrie11 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it doesn't allow anyone to register.

  are they to scared of the feedback from those who know ' the truth about the truth'.

  it seems to me they should not even have a contact us function (especially if your main form of contact is email, which is the norm for 2013) who designed this thing................. are the elders and the privileged jw's sent their logon details... i would love to know the secret squirrel shite.

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  TheOldHippie

  "Access to what extras?"

  KM, letters.
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  31

  2013 Report - difference in av. pubs compared to % of baptisms

  by likeabird in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i just took the first page of the 2013 report and added two new columns to look at alternative ways of calculating the 'increase'.

  first column: 2013 av.

  pubs minus 2012 av.

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  TheOldHippie

  You cannot use number of baptisms to calculate increase, because publishers are exactly that - publishers - before they are baptised. Baptism candidates come from the ranks of publishers, and added to that, some start as publishers and are baptised within the same service year, whereas others "cross the year border".

  Additionally, nobody when doing these calculations seem to bother about the fact that around 1 % of a population die during a year. Hence, a 0 % growth "in reality" is a 1 % growth because the 1 % that have died have been substituted. a 3 % growth therefore "in reality" is a 4 % growth.
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  8

  Yearbook increases and deceases: Top lands

  by Londo111 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  looking at the percentage of average publishers of 2013 over 2012 (not the peaks):.

  brazil 1.46%.

  nigeria 2.60%.

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  TheOldHippie

  And this - very interesting:

  http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/indicators/SP.POP.GROW/compare?country=jp