Jehovah's Witnesses - how did they get so much money?

[Thinktank]

115 Cardinals vote for the guy who gets to be god of one billion Catholics for a while.
the Catholics, JWs and Mormons all get different answers when they pray to God.

When decent people with good intentions give their money to God, they expect that
money to go to....God, but the Catholic church probably diverted more $billions of dollars
from God to the bank accounts of lawyers than all other churches on earth combined.

And no - women can't vote. When they voted to see if women would be allowed to vote
it ws 115 to zero. Only one woman probably could have voted - Mary - but she's not here.

[kibbs]

JWs and Mormons all get different answers when they pray to God.

Happy chocolate egg hunting day ! better than Halloween when your a kid .Too bad for JW kids.
Ok ,we get it dude you dont like the cults.the Catholics the Jews .who do you like and what do you believe in? Do you believe in any kind of god ?Do you believe in Santa and the Easter bunny or just their attempt to coerce our children to behave in between holidays.mom still gets me a rabbit lol.

[Thinktank]

If there is one absurd thing that is the most unbelievable about the JWs it is this:

JWs are forbidden to read things about other religions not written by the Society—unless you are a Society writer. Then you can read anything you want .


JWs are forbidden to read things about other religions not written by the Society.

Are they serious?

[Thinktank]

Happy chocolate egg hunting day....and what do you believe in?

God.

Some things in the bible.

Prayer.

I believe in thinking ( thinktank) because I have a lot of time to think when working in trees.

[unclemarty]

ThinkTank,

You've posted alot about other people and their money.
Here's a Psalm you might appreciate:

The Message Version of

PSALM 73

No doubt about it! God is good—
good to good people, good to the good-hearted.
But I nearly missed it,
missed seeing his goodness.
I was looking the other way,
looking up to the people at the top,
envying the wicked who have it made,
Who have nothing to worry about,
not a care in the whole wide world.

Pretentious with arrogance,
they wear the latest fashions in violence,
Pampered and overfed,
decked out in silk bows of silliness.
They jeer, using words to kill;
they bully their way with words.
They’re full of hot air,
loudmouths disturbing the peace.
People actually listen to them—can you believe it?
Like thirsty puppies, they lap up their words.

What’s going on here? Is God out to lunch?
Nobody’s tending the store.
The wicked get by with everything;
they have it made, piling up riches.
I’ve been stupid to play by the rules;
what has it gotten me?
A long run of bad luck, that’s what—
a slap in the face every time I walk out the door.

If I’d have given in and talked like this,
I would have betrayed your dear children.
Still, when I tried to figure it out,
all I got was a splitting headache . . .
Until I entered the sanctuary of God.
Then I saw the whole picture:
The slippery road you’ve put them on,
with a final crash in a ditch of delusions.
In the blink of an eye, disaster!
A blind curve in the dark, and—nightmare!
We wake up and rub our eyes. . . . Nothing.
There’s nothing to them. And there never was.

When I was beleaguered and bitter,
totally consumed by envy,
I was totally ignorant, a dumb ox
in your very presence.
I’m still in your presence,
but you’ve taken my hand.
You wisely and tenderly lead me,
and then you bless me.

You’re all I want in heaven!
You’re all I want on earth!
When my skin sags and my bones get brittle,
God is rock-firm and faithful.
Look! Those who left you are falling apart!
Deserters, they’ll never be heard from again.
But I’m in the very presence of God—
oh, how refreshing it is!
I’ve made Lord God my home.
God, I’m telling the world what you do!

Happy Easter / Passover

[ferri]

i want everyone to cool it! there are some posts here that are getting pretty darn close to personal attacks. just because someone believes something you don't is not a reason to belittle and insult. knock it off. now.

[1nick]

Way to kill a thread ferri it was just getting good ;)

[kibbs]

You’re all I want in heaven!
You’re all I want on earth!
When my skin sags and my bones get brittle,
God is rock-firm and faithful.
Look! Those who left you are falling apart!
Deserters, they’ll never be heard from again.
But I’m in the very presence of God—
oh, how refreshing it is!
I’ve made Lord God my home.
God, I’m telling the world what you do!

i really like this psalm . it spoke to me.i gave up worrying about what others had or thought of my lot.
I am just so thankful for everything I have .

[Thinktank]

I was in a small church once that was praying for about ten people who were in the
hospital - and needed prayer. I would have thought such a small church would have had
less people with health problems, considering how often Jesus 'healed' people in the bible.

But I do think one of the best things we can do is to 'pray for people we know.' If we don't know
the person it's no use praying for them. If someone in a big church makes an announcement to pray
for people we don't know - don't bother - because you have to know the person.

And the equivalent of prayer - only opposite - is 'shunning.' The JWs are famous for shunning,
but every church has their own way of 'ganging up' on an individual. One time I saw a bunch of chickens
gang up on the weakest chicken, and they all pecked at it until they killed it. That's what churches do because
no matter how many phony prayers they do in a church, people everywhere still want to be better than the next guy.

When someone meets up with a group of people three or four times a week like the JWs do, for maybe ten years
and all of a sudden they are 'booted' - it can be a traumatic experience. So if every cult and church out there provides 'instant friendship' when you join their church, they also provide 'instant booting' when something goes wrong,
and it's not a pleasant experience.

Everyone thinks their own church doesn't do bad things - until it does bad things. Twenty years ago the Penticton
Herald had a story on the front page of several people who invested a couple hundred thousand dollars in total with
one of the guys in the church - and lost their money. One guy who was quite old and lost his life's savings - died a few
weeks later. Yup - churches ( or Kingdom Halls) are famous for having people that got 'screwed over' by someone in the church.

If there's one thing I learned from being in a church - it is to be 'wise as a serpent.'

[1nick]

Or evil like a Hobbit

[kibbs]

Everyone thinks their own church doesn't do bad things -

I am very aware of what the church I belong to has done in the past. My concern is what they doing now to make amends.
Change comes within. jw is too rigid to even allow you to change your mind.

[Thinktank]

How did JWs become worth $billions?

Not everyone works for free. I'm sure they hire accountants and
pay them good money over there in New York, and I'm sure those seventeen
guys who vote on everything - the governing body - get paid. No one can afford to work for free.

I'm sure not everyone with the JWs is a faithful slave.

[kgcayenne]

They there are free accommodations in the society-owned facilities and a monthly stipend for personal necessities.

[kibbs]

They there are free accommodations in the society-owned facilities and a monthly stipend for personal necessities.

Sounds pretty much like an indentured life of servitude.Without any reward or pay other than belonging to this cult.
I can see people taking a vow of poverty and doing good for all humanity but I don't see that here.

[Thinktank]

someone at the top is making a fortune.

The governing body probably take a hundred thousand each per year - no one would know.

and everyone else is a faithful slave.

I hate that word slave.

JWs love that word.