Baptismal candidates at the South Korea international convention symbolized their dedication in giant bibles
Baptismal candidates at the South Korea international convention symbolized their dedication in giant bibles

Photos have been released online showing a curious arrangement of bible-shaped baptism pools at the recent 2014 international convention in South Korea.

It is unclear precisely who made the “bible pools,” or how much time and expense was invested in their construction. What is certain is that they were a prominent feature at the Watchtower-sponsored event.

The bizarre structures seem to have doubled-up as elaborate props for announcing the release of the revised New World Translation in Korean.

The video below shows volunteers removing a black cover from one of the giant bibles to reveal the latest silver design against a backdrop of applause.

 

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This website has already noted the extraordinary lengths Watchtower is now going to in promoting their international conventions. The rulebook regarding kingdom hall decorum has been thrown out the window, with big-spending delegates entertained by ‘worldly’ music, and even line dancing, by some congregations. Souvenirs and trinkets are also becoming the latest craze, with the JW.org logo assuming a prominence on badges, bracelets and pendants that would have been considered idolatrous a few years ago.

As the organization continues to depart from its more austere traditions and encourage a frenzy surrounding its website and promoting the JW.org brand, those of my generation (and previous generations) will be left scratching their heads at the apparent hypocrisy of it all. If Armageddon is truly imminent, due to strike at any moment, and warning people of this mass slaughter is the primary occupation of Witnesses, why is it proper to spend so much time, energy and resources constructing giant bible-shaped stage props?

 

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Further reading…

125 thoughts on “Bible-shaped baptism pools take center stage at the South Korea international convention

  • September 7, 2014 at 6:18 pm
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    Giant inflatable GB members sounds like a great idea.

    Maybe they’ll start selling Faithful Men of Old bobbleheads too. With the JW.org logo, of course.

  • September 7, 2014 at 9:05 pm
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    Cedars I see nothing wrong with JWs having a little fun and now and then. I don’t think it’s hypocritical at all. You seem think that JWs need to live like “robots” or otherwise they’re not putting Kingdom interests first. Didn’t Jesus and the apostles have some fun and enjoy life now and then? For example attend weddings, drink wine, etc? Are you going to say they should have spent that time preaching instead? Are you Really Cedars with threads like this one, and your assertion in a previous that that the GB created the no blood doctrine just to be different from other religions, puts your activism in a bad light. If you can, imagine what people researching JWs (who aren’t JWs) are going think. This kind of stuff discredits you.

    • September 7, 2014 at 11:36 pm
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      I can think of much better ways to have “fun” than spending my spare time building a giant bible-shaped baptism pool.

      I suspect you DO see the hypocrisy in this, but want something to criticize me over. The truth is I can remember all too well what the “JW Cedars” was like, and he would have found this stupidity appalling – having grown up in a religion where time was of the essence and all efforts were to be thrown into the preaching work in the last dying moments of this system things before the annihilation of billions.

      A quick glance down the other comments reveals that JW Cedars wouldn’t have been alone in reacting that way to this story. But, out of curiosity, what subjects do you prefer to see me write about?

  • September 8, 2014 at 12:17 am
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    I find this very interesting… As some have commented, why spend so much on a display…no better than the churches they condemn for ostentatious display. I have a like minded person in my midst… What shall I do when she is gone…?

  • September 8, 2014 at 2:22 am
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    Brother David, are you one of Jehovah’s Witnesses? I am or (have been) and this is (was) like for me here in my area in the U.S: We are not allowed to talk about any hobbies (can have hobbies in the New World) movies (don’t have time for them either) books I have read other an the Watchtower or Bible publications (shouldn’t have time for that either) vacations (showy display) and on and on. If I talk about anything other than going in service (never enough time spent unless you are a pioneer) you are a “discouragement” to the “spirituality” of the congregation so if a person actually does anything “fun” you had better not talk about it or you will be looked down as bad association. The only thing you can talk about and not get a disparaging eye is “theocratic” stuff like service or Bible studies or return visits or anything like that. Other than that, you have to keep your mouth shut.

    These people could have spent their time and money doing something “fun” but they couldn’t. They spent their time making these big expensive “pools” that took time to make, take down and dispose of. Where were their families while they were wasting their time on this “showy display”? Or was that their “fun” for the summer.

    Cedars is right. If you are a “Witness” our time is supposed to be spent on more “worthwhile” things like reading the Bible, going to meetings and going in service. Anything else is frowned on.

    It isn’t about having “fun”. These brothers did it because somebody came up that brain fart and they all went along with it, thinking they were doing it for Jehovah.

  • September 8, 2014 at 2:59 am
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    Go the full hog get Bouncy castles for the kids,to take there mind away from the boring assemblies,just imagine it behind the platform kids heads popping up and down while the speaker is on lol

  • September 8, 2014 at 4:53 am
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    Sure, it’s not a big story, Like another date for armageddon
    but as we’ve spent decades with these guys. We like to know
    what our old pals are getting up to. Keep us informed John.

  • September 8, 2014 at 5:13 am
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    Brother David, I had another thought about how much “fun” it would have been for those people to build those pools and on 2nd thought, compared to what their lives are normally, it probably was “fun”.

    Around here in my area, the only “hobby” anybody can talk about that seems to be okay is hunting. They can talk about the 10 deer that they shot during deer hunting season and how the filled up their freezer with all that meat, plus all the “friends” in the “truth” freezers and nobody will criticize them for it, even if they take off of meetings to do it, even though these people have more than enough money to buy their meat at the grocery store.

    But if a person has enough money and time to take a “vacation”, it should be preaching in unassigned territory or spent at vacations and if it’s not for attending assemblies, then if they are traveling, they had better take clothes along so they can attend the meetings wherever they may be at the time.

    No matter what the circumstances are, we have to be going to meetings, out in service or working on a Kingdom Hall project or going to see Bethel or whatever, as long as it has to do with the “kingdom”.

    We are not allowed to do anything fun in this “system” because the preaching work is supposed to be our prime goal and we will have all kinds of time in the “new world” for that, right?

    Now, our time is to be filled with saving the world of mankind from Armageddon. So, it probably was “fun” for those people to build those pools in compared to what their drab lives are usually. I think it would be more “fun” than going in service or meetings.

    But the problem is, it was a waste of time and energy. If they had the time and energy for that, nobody should begrudge them time to do something that would have been fun, not making them feel guilty over not “working” on this complete waste of time and energy, something that will be dismantled and disposed of, and for what? Just to impress a bunch of Bible students with a “showy display”, just like the Catholic Church would do to gain converts.

    • September 8, 2014 at 9:09 am
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      Exactly….we must try to “out righteous” each other!

  • September 8, 2014 at 6:01 am
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    Brother David, you seem to think that making giant bibles for baptismal pools is having fun, OK, I thought baptism was a serious matter?

    and have a showy display is having fun also, to bad they don’t practise what they preach.

  • September 8, 2014 at 10:21 am
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    anonymous,

    The showy display of the Catholic Church is not there to make new converts! It’s there because they have been a religion for thousands of years and they spent their cash on things that the people thought was the right thing to do. What you call a “showy display” a Catholic would call a sincere attempt to bring glory to God.

    Please, don’t retain the “let’s bash Catholics” part of your previous Witness persona.

    I am also appalled at some of the actions of the Catholic Church, but don’t forget that the works of art and churches were designed and built by people who thought that what they did was for the glory of God.

    Now, Brother John, to your comments.

    None of us are desirous of JWs not having fun. However, we have all experienced to some degree the scenario so well written by dear anonymous. Don’t watch films, don’t read books, don’t have hobbies etc etc.

    JWs are constantly reminded of the imminent arrival of Armageddon, and they are told to preach beyond any other consideration.

    Remember, this “War of God the Almighty” will result in the death of potentially billions of our fellow human beings.

    How does a bible shaped baptism pool help bring folks to salvation exactly?

    As you are here, can you answer some questions for me?

    Who will survive Armageddon?

    Who will die? Will children be killed? Will disabled people be killed? When, in your opinion, is it coming?

    anonymous, I really admire your moral stance and I truly enjoy reading your comments. My critique is in no way meant to be insulting. I am sure that you will take it the right way.

    Peace be with you

    Excelsior!

  • September 8, 2014 at 10:37 am
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    Hi Excelsior. I am not insulted by your comment. I am not familiar with how the Catholic Church works and didn’t deliberately mean to say anything bad about them. I was only saying that we were always told how “terrible” the Catholic Church was with their cathedrals and such and how different we were because our Kingdom Halls were “simple” and plain and to me, the Governing Body is resorting to the same things to attract “customers” just like the churches of Christendom do. I only mentioned the Catholic Church as an aside.

  • September 8, 2014 at 11:05 am
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    @Excelsior and anonymous: The Witnesses have had an anti-Rome rhetoric that has carried on as long as their history and has been a time honoured cornerstone of Protestant practice going back to the start of the Reformation. Protestants took over Catholic houses of worship and ripped out all the art work (images=idolatry) in favour of a more austere setting. JW’s took it a step further by eschewing stained glass and everything else besides a year text and pot of flowers.
    Witnesses then went on to lampoon the Protestant “mega churches” and their showmanship and grand standing.
    Excelsior, THIS I believe is what anonymous is roasting, the same as Cedars: the complete reversal and aping of what the WT Society formerly castigated. Pop music and dance on the podium, as well as corny oversized props formerly labeled as “undignified,” “wordly,” “detracting from the all important work of kingdom preaching.”

  • September 8, 2014 at 11:10 am
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    PS. MAYBE it is a bit of a Korean thing. Having visited Korea briefly, I couldn’t help but notice a penchant for karaoke, as well as many older folk wearing head to toe colourful “hiking outfits” to match their husband/wife.
    HOWEVER, it does fit in with the global JayDub milieu developing of podium line dancing and convention brick a brack.

  • September 8, 2014 at 10:30 pm
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    First let me say I’m no longer a JW. I disassociated myself around 5 years ago. I don’t think it’s productive to point out the hypocrisies of JWs. All religions are hypocritical. My comments about JWs having fun and enjoying life were about Cedars thinking it was hypocritical to have dancing, line dancing, and other entertainment at assemblies or at the Kingdom Hall. Who cares!? It’s not important. So what. Are we going to get all bent out of shape about seeing an elder at a 5 star restaurant or driving a new Mercedes Benz and report that as being hypocritical? I hope not. If we do, it only makes us look petty. People aren’t going to decide whether to join JWs on such reports. People will think twice about things like shunning, blood transfusion refusal, discouragement of going to college, discouragement of associating with non-JWs, policies that let pedophiles get away, etc… Those are the things that make JWs a bad religion, not that they have Bible pools for baptism. BTW, I think the Bible pools is brilliant marketing. No doubt they got a lot of local press and people interested when going door-to-door ministry about that gimmick. Well worth the time and effort they spent for that gimmick in terms of generating press and a topic of conversation with the general public.

    • September 8, 2014 at 11:20 pm
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      It sounds from your comment like you’re one of those many Ex-JWs who has left the organization without doing any substantial research. I find it difficult to imagine anyone thoroughly researching the organization and its history (by reading Crisis of Conscience, etc) and concluding that the Witnesses are just a “bad religion.” They are a destructive cult that turns families, the most precious commodity we humans can have, into weapons of religious control. They place children in harm’s way through their child abuse policies, and even take lives by their insistence on refusing blood.

      “Bad religion?” Huh…

      Please do some research Brother David. If you HAVE done research and nonetheless find it productive to troll activists like me when we point out Watchtower hypocrisy, this video’s for you…

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dyN1boeRKg

  • September 9, 2014 at 1:58 am
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    Brother David, to “old timers” like me, articles like this are very interesting to see how “liberal” the Society is becoming or at least in “appearance”. I see it as tactics to gain new and naive’ converts into believing how “liberal” we are as a group but we all know it’s only a marketing tactic for new or young ones. We all know it’s a cult and it’s just a “lure” and once you are in it and baptized, then you are faced with the real “truth” and you can’t get out. I for one, see the line dancing and Bible pools as evil “gimmicks” as you so aptly put it.

    • September 9, 2014 at 3:30 pm
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      Overall, I think we have to conclude that a “rebranding” is occuring. The Witnesses have done this before. If they “lighten up”, they can attain converts, then “tighten up” once they are snared. Those of us who have been at Bethel and been elders over the decades find this more interesting than recent disenchanted converts, methinks. Excellent comments.

  • September 9, 2014 at 7:33 am
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    Reading the selected scriptures that the W,T, uses, One would
    get the impression that the Bible was a wholesome book
    produced by a loving god.

    But reading the whole, It contains accounts of a nation exulting
    in indiscriminate slaughter of men, women, and children,
    ( No one left alive .) Atrocities that exceed anything that’s
    going on today. And this at the direct orders of their god
    Jehovah. Joshua 8/24-29.

    Years ago if I was being baptised in one of those Bible baptismal
    pools. I would have thought I was undergoing something
    spiritually cleansing. But now it would be like stepping into a
    pool of poison.

    It’ s wise to get the complete picture, especially before making
    a life long commitment.

  • September 9, 2014 at 1:28 pm
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    Gotta say that the singing and dancing was pretty poor, I would be embarrassed if I were a JW . They could have at least arranged for professional singers with all the money they have and at least put on a decent show . If I were an international delegate I would have considered it an insult ;-)

  • September 9, 2014 at 3:38 pm
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    :)

    When I was at Bethel in an East European country, one of the branch committee members used to say that when he is having fun, he reads the Bible from a different perspective…

  • September 9, 2014 at 7:05 pm
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    I don’t want to step on anybody’s toes, but my first thought on seeing the BibleFonts was that it showed the same type of megalomania that you see in Central Africa when they build huge caskets in the shape of Mercedes, 747 aircraft, or even a 16′ foot long 4′ wide ear of corn for a wealthy farmer’s final place of eternal rest.
    I have to come to Mr. Cedars defense, to note that a group which has tried so hard to take the fun out of childhood, married intimate relations and such, has made an abrupt left turn, in practice, to now encourage adult silliness, and personally I LOVE SILLINESS and FUN. To go off on the most incredibly fair and generous guy I know, for pointing out the left turn is dishonest and a bit pompously arrogant. I like this direction that JW.com seems to be going, maybe they can drop all the punishing rules such as forced shunning or those that kill as in banning blood transfusions and breaking up families. Ya think?

  • September 9, 2014 at 7:17 pm
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    Thank you Ted for beating the same drum I have been banging for years. It seems that so many Biblical semi-experts manage to ignore all the frivolous pain and death brought about by this temperamental God, who Loves Us All. How can you blame the big guy for rewarding Jacob and son’s for their masterful trickery in ordering all the men in the city to undergo circumcision to then kill the men rolling in pain and their animals, and then kidnap all the women. Of course he killed 70,000 Israelites because their leader David, took a census, and then the real funny one causing a wall to fall killing 20,000 Syrians.
    I fail to see how we can become so conditioned to ignore the horror to then worship this god, but we have all been at some time. Tragic

  • September 9, 2014 at 8:30 pm
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    You said it best when you said they have thrown out Kingdom Hall decorum and allowing worldly music and country line dancing (something talked against when it was popular back in the 80’s) Maybe the jw.org thinks that some of us who were in the org in the 80’s have severe memory loss and have forgotten what we were taught back then mainly that the internet was baaad, worldly music and dancing was baaaad, and all forms of recreation were baaaad! What I don’t understand is why so many witnesses are able to play instruments and learn these worldly songs when all along the society has said not to waste time in pursuits that take away from serving Jehovah. I swear there is a secret society among Jehovah witnesses where it is OK to flout the rules that apply to everyone else! These are probably Elders and their families because we know they are never publicly reproved and get away with so much more than the average publisher!

  • September 9, 2014 at 8:32 pm
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    They certainly would have not made it on The Voice or any other show like that!

  • September 9, 2014 at 8:41 pm
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    But the singing and dancing are important to those of us who were condemned years ago for doing EXACTLY what is being done in Kingdom Halls today with this singing and dancing routine. So it matters a lot! It was drilled in our heads for YEARS that worldly music is of Satan. Many of us have had to throw out our own music because it was worldly. I shudder when I think of the music I had to get rid of in order to serve Jehovah. Much of the music I got rid of was no worse than what is being sung at the KH today with these “parties” being put on for the conventions. I think about weddings and how so many couples chose NOT to have music at their wedding because of the worldliness of it. I think about my own wedding and how we agonized over the music so that it didn’t offend anyone. I think about those who have stopped listening to music altogether because of the societies direction on music and how it is satanic. It matters VERY VERY much especially to anyone who has been in the org for 20, 30 years or longer!

  • September 10, 2014 at 1:47 am
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    My recollection of bygone days are
    Then: The kingdom hall was to be used for pure worship. Weddings and Funerals. Music was to be tasteful and so was attire worn in the hall.
    Now: Kingdom halls are being used for dancing and singing.
    Wedding dresses are inappropriately skimpy.
    Then: Recreation should be family orientated, after putting Kingdom interests first. Large gathering are not recommended. Parties and Disco are definatly no no’s
    Now: Young people meet up in large crowds at the pub. Centre Parcs is a favorite for large gatherings of young people and families. Parties are going on all the time in the form of BBQ’s down the beach, fancy dress, whole crowds meeting together to listen and dance to bands that have formed.
    Then: The internet was a place to avoid, in case the mind becomes infected by this tool of the devil.
    Now: Facebook and such is the place to be. The stuff the kids discuss on fb leave me cold. Look at photo’s that the young ones put up. So very many have drink in their hands.
    Internet is now encouraged, but only to look at jw.org…yeah right.
    Then: Elders and MS should be of sound mind, mature spiritual men.
    Now: Once these experienced mature elders, with good old school training reach 60, do away with them. Elders are youngers these days.
    So what on earth is happening. And does it really matter. Well yes it does. Because all the “then” rules still apply. I have not seen any watchtower saying all the “then rules are now obsolete. (Apart from it being ok to look at jw.org)
    So rules are being broken, and I have to say this is now a young persons organisation, being run by young people who ignore the GB and just get on with their own set of rules.

  • September 10, 2014 at 2:11 am
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    Hi Patrice. I think this making of huge Bible pools, may just be a “Korean” thing because maybe there, they just like going all out for things like this but since it’s been posted online, I see it as “taking off” all over the world as the “thing to do”, maybe next year and on and on.

    I am torn as whether it’s the younger crowd just “doing their own thing” like the line dancing but from what I gather, it’s the Governing Body, encouraging such a thing, in which case it’s “old farts” having a “sinister” plan in all this.

    I only wished it was the younger set, deciding what they want and don’t want but I very much doubt it. I see it as a “trap” to entice the younger crowd into something that they think will be a “fun” organization but I don’t see any way the Society can change it’s policy on shunning disassociated ones. If it was the younger crowd taking over, then maybe they might decide that they won’t listen when it comes to shunning and maybe if an underground understanding can take over like that, the Society would either crumble or change.

    The younger crowd does have a lot of power but they are taught by the older, completely indoctrinated crowd who will follow the shunning rules, even if it means that they will shun their own children and grandchildren. Once that child is baptized, they are a really bad position. Go against what they have been taught and get shunned or go along and fit in.

    It’s only after they get baptized is when they see the real underbelly and not before. Those dances at the Kingdom Hall are only an evil “lure”. I am absolutely convinced of it. And it’s coming straight from the top, I am also convinced of.

  • September 10, 2014 at 2:17 am
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    Hi Patrice again. I remember maybe 8 years ago when everyone was going on to the Society’s website and printing out all the scriptures being used for the book study and Watchtower instead of looking them up and everyone was printing it out and reading off their printed pages and the Society said not to do it. We were to look up the scriptures instead in the Bible and not to bring those print outs to the meetings. Do you remember that? Now they are bringing their little computers to the meetings and reading everything off their little computers for everything and the Society says it’s okay to do it from the platform! Talk about hypocrites. As long as the Governing Body says it’s okay, then it’s okay. If anybody on the Governing Body needed a transfusion, I wonder if the policy would change or maybe none of us would ever know?

  • September 10, 2014 at 3:42 am
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    I think these baptism pools are a colossal waste of money. How much in contributions was wasted producing them and how often are they actually going to be used?

    The time an effort taken to produce them would certainly outweigh the regularity of use. They are just not required.

    Cedars, do we have a figure for the number of baptism candidates?

    Kate xx

  • September 10, 2014 at 3:45 am
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    Folks,

    The WTBTS will do anything it can to maximise its profits. Rules are never applied equally to all, we all know that.

    If bible shaped baptism pools bring in more converts then expect them at every Convention.

    The point about older ones is very valid. I wonder what percentage of JWs are of the “1975” generation now? Even if they are still around, as soon as they get too old, they lose all responsibility and influence in the congregation.

    If the WTBTS wants to continue its multi billion dollar business it needs new converts, and many more than can be bred by the poor Sisters. So, if music works, do it. If dancing works, do it. Etc etc

    I am extremely sceptical of the WTBTS stopping its shunning policy. They try to hide it from those outside the Organisation and they will continue to find new ways to do so.

    Peace be with you

    Excelsior!

  • September 10, 2014 at 6:27 am
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    Are the seven princes or dukes (make your choice !), I mean the seven GB Members who are “already sitting on their heavenly thrones”, are they really able to manage financially such a dollar multi-millionaire corporation as the WT?

    Besides harping on about the same things again and again ( I was about to forget the new heavenly lights) to the ears of their so much beloved co-dometics all over the world , after having got them to accept a contractual enslavement through a water bath in pools (without or with a bible shape), yes, I am asking : besides that, what are the seven “holy ones” (hem!) really able to do ?

    To lead financially a Corporation like the WT that is running on billions of dollars, there is a need of seasoned businessmen. Nobody can already be sitting on a heavenly throne and at the same time act as a seasoned businessmen.

    Where do the WT seasoned businessmen of the WT hide themselves? Or are the seven WT Governing Members in reality mere seasoned businessmen and nothing more, like Pastor Russel and Judge Rutherford were in their time ? With much arrogance mixed with a veneer of biblical culture ?

  • September 10, 2014 at 6:55 am
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    Can you imagine Jesus being baptised in a scroll shaped pool?

    Obviously there are worse things in this world but for sure that is not a respectful form of worship.

    There are dozens of scriptures that command God’s people to give to the poor (not leaving it only to the authorities) but JWs and other america cults thinks is better to keep the extra cash to finance their propaganda.

    They are doing all their best to sell their product with the convention super advertising but being Christian is about being free, being accountable only to God. When people join these cults give up their freedom for a piece of blue sky.

    If you respect God you do not teach ever changing human ideas and interpretations as truths. If people follow this approach following a religion is completely a waste of time.

  • September 12, 2014 at 6:17 am
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    I just found a video produced by JWs that demonstrates how far under mind control they are, and that makes the large bibles look mild. This video was made by JWs and tells the story of someone publishing during the “Millions now living will never die” campaign of the early 20s. The result is that a young husband who lost his wife and is raising their 2 young daughters is contacted, listens to the message about the resurrection, and the family all become witnesses. At the end of the video, we see the 2 young girls, now very elderly, showing pictures to their JW friends and family. Nobody seems to get the fact that the man died waiting several decades for the promised resurrection, which was supposed to come at any time. In fact, you hear the audience clapping when this man becomes a witness. If they applaud the way that family was so blatantly defrauded and duped, they truly are fast asleep. Here is the address of the video.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifNadWsHV8M

  • September 12, 2014 at 8:25 am
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    This again doesn’t suprise me at all after understanding the motivations of the WTBTS. This cult (aka religion) has always had a sales-like pitch with everything. This just looks like props at a sales convention to ‘wow’ the audience. SELL SELL SELL as Rutherford once said.

  • September 12, 2014 at 10:55 am
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    Sell, sell, sell, indeed. Spend decades selling this religion (aka cult) and you should be able to sell anything. :)

  • September 12, 2014 at 3:57 pm
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    E3
    Interesting video, funny in places, especially as the guy with
    phonograph looked like Harold Lloyd the silent movie actor.

    Tragic though, the man living in hope of seeing his wife
    resurrected, but dying himself without the hope being realised.
    That point failed to register with the applauding J,W’s .

    As we. know thousands have and are still dying, lives ending in
    dissappointment . My sister, a J,W, for 55 years, died recently
    from Pancreatic Cancer, I went to see her in the hospice and
    her words to me were, “Who would have thought I would end
    up here.?

    Barren hopes, How can people keep falling for the same lies that
    were on that old phonograph ? I think that when one becomes a
    J,W, emotion takes over and reason is abandoned, That’s why
    it’s nigh impossible to reason with them, they don’t do it any more.

  • September 13, 2014 at 1:54 am
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    Interrogative?,

    The WTBTS has a plethora of different corporations, and nome of them have been officially run by GB members since around the year 2000, I think. There are articles on Wikapaedia that go into the different corps.

    There are faceless men who run all the corporations so that the GB can be “volunteers” and not be personally sued for their decisions.

    Theocracy, it seems, is all well and good. But when it eats into profits? Well, then it’s time to appoint men behind the scenes to run this multi billion dollar property empire!

    Peace be with you

    Excelsior!

  • September 13, 2014 at 4:00 am
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    Excelsior,

    Surely there is a lot of information regarding Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania to glean on Wikipedia that offers so many references (153). I think it will be a new field of research for me, an opportunity to make some pauses between my classical piano training. And surely an help to increase my knowledge of English. Thank you.

  • September 13, 2014 at 5:13 am
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    i think the so-called “brother” got it all wrong…go study the history of JWz..then u’ll be in a better position to yap anything u want.

  • September 13, 2014 at 6:00 pm
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    The high-and-mighty opinion that all-things Watchtower must dominate conversation remains as it ever was. I recall casual gatherings where the air of conversation was saturated with talk about the latest and greatest products and trends from Watchtower HQ, not to mention latest seminar talks, if a Sunday after-meeting-dinner. Reading extra-curricula literature and magazines without a Watchtower copyright was deemed far over the line by many, while others dabbled in a few news-centered magazines and most ethnic JW’s smuggled in an ethnicity magazine or two. I remember my awakening when a scholarly critique of a research paper revealed my bias of material from Watchtower HQ [what?? isn’t this where the teacher praises me for my Jehovah’s Witness views extracted from literature instead of encyclopedias?]. I rewrote the paper, which naturally took a more objective turn, after including more objective, and opposing viewpoints on the subject matter.

    And, let’s get real–is building an inflatable or automated, opening larger-than-life “bible” equal to a night on the Las Vegas strip or Riviera? A fun night of nailing and gluing boards together versus dinner and drinks with unconditional-love dispensing friends?

    2014 – 1844 = 170 years and counting…

  • September 15, 2014 at 10:41 pm
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    What gets me is that i come from a generation where fun was frowned upon, it was all very strict etc, what i beleive is happening is they are trying to attract a new generation, using web sites etc, we even had a recent CO encourage us to preach to the foreign workers & young people, get a tablet & use that in the door to door work, you get the feeling that they want the old to go away, look at all the new study aids, they are all soft & cuddley, no serious doctrine anymore, look at all the recent sudy articles, no meat for the long term JW, i find it quite boring actually, the best thing about having a tablet at the meeting is surfing the net, remeber the days when they frowned upon using lap tops, as they distract, i do think those pools are ridiculous though.

  • September 17, 2014 at 4:34 am
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    “…what subjects do you prefer to see me write about?”

    Now that’s a tough one…

    What about money? How much money do you make from your website and YouTube channel? You could perhaps reveal the secrets behind ‘successful’ campaigning, and how to turn a hateful obsession into filthy lucre.

    There must be plenty of scope to talk about the entrepreneurial aspects of producing endless pettifogging articles and videos. Trash into treasure, that sort of thing.

    There you go-that’s my suggestion. Hope it helps.

    • September 17, 2014 at 5:21 am
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      My YouTube channel turns in $50 to $60 per month to my Google adsense account – not bad, but hardly a king’s ransom.

      Every now and then I receive PayPal donations on JWsurvey. The smallest I’ve received is $1, the most is $1,000. It all goes through my business and gets churned into making the site successful, or helps cover my regular business costs. I pay corporation tax on all proceeds as business income. Due to donations I’ve recently been able to upgrade my computer and video-making equipment. We’ve also just completed a 5-month, $1,000 dollar adwords trial campaign to place ads for the site on Google (which brought an extra 9,000 unique visits to JWsurvey). So rather than this being a huge money spinner, any money I receive gets ploughed straight into helping JWs like you out of their indoctrination.

      Now that I’ve answered your questions, will you be answering the “Cedars Challenge?”
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ2lMsmjQY0

  • September 17, 2014 at 7:33 am
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    Cedars, We love what you have done here and you deserve $1,000 donations all the time and nothing less. You have saved many lives through your efforts. With $1.00 donations, at least they want to help with the effort.

    • September 17, 2014 at 7:41 am
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      Thanks. I should add that all donations are helpful, even the small ones! :)

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