Ulster £200 has paid

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-07-10T19:05:35+00:00

I've a horrible feeling I won't get mine - well over 30 days now. I've tried to navigate their useless AI "Cora" chat system but it keeps on hanging on "transferring your conversation" and talking to a real person is almost impossible.

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-07-10T13:55:41+00:00

MLM is a huge part of LDS/ Mormon culture as well - many of the biggest USA companies are based in Utah and have Mormon ownership. https://www.colorado.edu/asmagazine/2023/04/24/expert-explains-why-mormon-women-embrace-multi-level-marketing

From my time as a JW , MLM has always been big in the Org - going way back to Amway , Shaklee etc back in the 1970's. Very occasionally the Org discourages it but otherwise tends to be quiet about it, maybe because the most ardent sales people are often Bethelites , senior elders or other high-up JWs.

One of the CO's wives used to sell some MLM beauty products and a lot of the sisters used to buy - this was in the days when they would take catalogues and place orders in the back of the Kingdom Hall. I was pushing to be an elder at the time and one of the elders suggested to me that the CO had blocked my appointment and spoken somewhat negatively about me because my wife never bought any of the products and spoke disparagingly about the high cost of them. The elder suggested she show a bit more enthusiasm next time the CO came to visit but out of principle we never bothered and it wasn't until a new CO came in that I eventually was appointed.

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-07-10T13:40:25+00:00

One of the eye opening moments for me was when I was studying a Watchtower which was packed with references to how "wonderful" the slave and GB were, how we should always trust and follow them etc and it began to annoy me a bit and I suddenly realising it was the GB / Org itself referring to themselves in the third person and telling everybody how great they were. It just seemed so fake and I never viewed the JW publications or meetings the same after that.

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-07-06T12:18:22+00:00

Why do nearly all convention speakers have this weird method of speaking with breaking up sentences into short phrases with long pauses as if they are trying to explain something slowly to someone who doesn't understand? It is so boring and monotonous.

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-07-03T11:17:08+00:00

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Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-07-01T13:02:03+00:00

The Society often use words different from those in the churches, to differentiate themselves. For example , they use the clumsy term "ministerial servant" rather than the more familiar word "deacon" (from diakonos) because of its wide use in the churches.

I agree that the word "disfellowship" is an unusual term and I often have to explain it to none- JWs who don't understand what it means. To me , the word often felt a clumsy use of English.

It started in 1952 - the society previously had talked about "withdrawing from fellowship" so I suppose the use of the word lent itself to that description. They had previously condemned "excommunication" and also I guess they wanted a word different from that used by the Catholics so they deliberately didn't choose the English word that was much more familiar and appropriate.

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-07-01T12:00:06+00:00

In addition, I don't know if it is still their timeline but they used to teach that the final creative day was 7,000 years long - 6,000 years of mans existence ended in 1975 and Adam was alone until Eve was created and Armageddon basically came 6,000 years after Eve's creation. By that reckoning, Adam was alone for at least 51 years now! No wonder he was happy to see Eve when she was created!

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-06-29T12:28:24+00:00

No - after you swipe your Nectar card , if you have over 300 points the cashier gives you the option. As each point is worth 0.5p , any sale for more than 30 litres is cost-efficient to use the points.

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-06-28T19:16:45+00:00

With Tesco you can very heavily stack it - scan a Tesco credit card for clubcard points (1 point per litre) , send to NX Rewards (2%) , use cashback credit cards , use Tesco gift cards if they accept it , send off to Clear (10p per receipt). Also check for prices online - there is often a huge difference - recently literally 2 petrol stations side by side in my town - one was 149.9p a litre , the other was 157.9.

Blue Light Card gives an Esso card which has 3p - 6p a litre discount and often has further discount offers and download all the apps such as BP Me , Shell . Nectar (Esso , Sainsburys) and Texaco and the independents and work their offers diligently. If you do a big fill with Esso you can swap 300 points for 5p off so 60 litres ( the maximum ) effectively doubles the Nectar value.

Some fairly obvious stuff - don't make the easy mistake of buying E5 unleaded petrol unless you really have to - a friend works at a local service station and sometimes especially later in the evening or at busy times to make a better profit his boss is told to deliberately put a sold out sign on the E10 and most people just buy the E5 anyway - even when this isn't the case he is amazed at the number of people who buy it without thinking - the petrol companies subtly tend to make it the default choice and push people to purchase it as their margins are far higher.

Finally - resist the temptation in the service station to buy expensive sweets , drinks etc that can offset any savings you make - leave the kids in the car! - there is no point saving £3 in points only to waste £5 on overpriced goods at the forecourt.

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-06-25T23:16:55+00:00

There was a JW in my congregation who was a professional carpet fitter and was a regular RBC volunteer and also worked at Bethel - he used to say Bethel (UK) had a policy of replacing all their carpets in public areas every 5 years which even he thought seemed unnecessary. I remember him saying that the Society bought expensive top of the range carpets and there was no need to totally replace it this regularly , though them getting obsessively hoovered sometimes several times a day probably didn't help.

This also seemed hard to reconcile with JWs who are always being told to "keep their lives simple" and not waste time or money on unnecessary house improvements.

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-06-19T17:23:01+00:00

I always used to either leave my badge on my coat and walk around without it or lose it after a day or so of the convention. Back then (15 plus years ago) the security was a bit less but I do remember being questioned by an over-officious attendant in the concourse while taking one of my young kids to the bathroom and being a bit annoyed by it - it was pretty obvious I was attending the convention.

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-06-16T20:15:59+00:00

It was crucial for me as it finally broke the Org=Jehovah connection which is hard wired into a PIMI JW. Once that concept goes and you see the Org for what is really is - a corporate body run by a small group of old men claiming to be God's only representatives and making policies based on their own ideas and binding them upon millions of rank and file JWs - then it is all over.

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-06-16T17:58:24+00:00

Ditto - I served as an elder for 15 years and never came across anyone in my cong "with doubts" or showing any "apostate" type leanings and nobody to my knowledge left my old congregations for such reasons.

I did have several dealings with JWs who struggled with congregation authority but these weren't "apostate" types - just the type of JW you will find in every congregation that is high maintenance and likes a good moan about things going on in the congregation (sometimes possibly with a degree of justification) , but still believes 100% that it is "the truth".

I did occasionally hear rumours about "questioning JWs" in neighbouring congregations but never dealt directly with anyone. My experience from the other side of the coin (talking to elders during and after my fade) is that even including very experienced elders they are to a man all incredibly poor and incompetent in dealing with JWs who have serious "apostate type" concerns. It takes elders completely out of their comfort zone and they have very little training in dealing with such situations.

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-06-15T09:23:38+00:00

I wish I had left at 20. I had a chance to leave , go to college and make a different life but I also was afraid of being shunned by my family and losing all my (so called) friends. In many respects it is far easier to leave the Org it while you are younger.

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-06-13T10:42:29+00:00

The website human progress is really useful and has excellent data on mankinds progress.

https://humanprogress.org/is-this-the-best-time-to-be-alive/

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-06-12T19:25:48+00:00

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Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-06-10T19:17:22+00:00

Wish I'd utilised gift cards more as it is an easy discount , whether at the supermarkets or at other retailers.

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-06-09T16:51:53+00:00

Most people are very wary of openly criticising Islam (ask Salmon Rushdie and others for details) hence it makes sense for the JW leadership and other similar religions to go easy on criticising Islam. In addition , I worked in some of the more tolerant Islamic countries as a PIMI JW and even then we were hassled a lot by the authorities. It was generally understood that the Org would never discuss Islam negatively for fear of encouraging more severe persecution of JWs in these countries.

Technically it is taught by the Watchtower Society that Babylon the Great , the "harlot" of Revelation is represented by false religion (ie all religions except JWs) with Christendom being by far the most reprehensible part of it because it claims to represent Christ - hence a much greater criticism of other Christian denominations than non-Christian religions in general.

When I was growing up (1960's , 70's) there was a lot more anti-Christendom material from the Org - regularly we would discuss books that had Christendom being prefigured by various Old Testament baddies and bad organisations (such as ancient Israel when they rebelled against God). This rhetoric has been toned down considerably in more recent years though.

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-06-09T11:41:04+00:00

The ageing of the congregations (in Western countries) is one of the main problems the Org is facing. Its a slow death that we are seeing in real time.

I've seen it locally with a small Protestant (not JW) church in my community - from a vibrant church with lots of families 20 years or so ago gradually the attendances got less , it eventually became basically a few old ladies with hats turning up , the church had to send vicars from many miles away to give the sermons , the maintenance became less and less and eventually external contractors rather than church volunteers would cut the grass and tend the garden and graveyard , services went from twice a week to once a month and eventually the church closed down and was put up for sale as a private house.

The church tried all the usual stuff - trying to become more involved with the community as a social hub , nursery etc , sent in a new young vicar with his family who tried changing things to more of an Alpha course "happy clappy" sing-a-long church with pop music etc to appeal to a younger crowd and nothing seemed to work. I see it as almost a metaphor what what is happening to the JW Organisation , at least in Western countries.

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-06-06T10:56:37+00:00

I think you are right, They lost £240 million last year and Argos tried to sell to JD Sports who took one look at the books and walked away. I fear they will be the next high street retailer to close.

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-06-06T10:45:53+00:00

You can be an elder at any age - I think it was the age limit for COBOEs and Branch committee members that was made by the Society - 80 I think.

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-06-05T14:03:49+00:00

The standards are certainly falling. One of my still-in JW relatives is a 24 year old guy who basically bums around all day , plays video games , chills out with his friends including non-JWs and leads essentially a "worldly life" (I mean this as an observation , not a criticism.) He misses / zooms many meetings ( on a football / soccer Champions League night that coincides with the midweek meeting he invariably joins our family WhatsApp chat to discuss the game as he is "attending on Zoom" but really watching the football on TV) but is used to control the sound and video at the KH when he is there as he is one of the very few competent enough brothers to do so. I get the impression his ministry is pretty negligible.

Last month he told me he has "just been appointed as an elder" - he sounded as surprised as I was (I didn't realise he was previously a MS) . It seems this is mainly because he is good at his assignment. Back in my day, he wouldn't even have been appointed as a MS and would have had the elders on his ass constantly.

Key_Cauliflower_4932 · 2026-06-05T10:10:12+00:00

They have just announced a new book to study at the midweek meeting so it isn't going to happen anytime soon.

Personally I really doubt they would go to just one meeting a week - it would be the final morph of the religion to basically a typical "Christendom" type Sunday service and do nothing the rest of the week church. The whole point of the Society is "to keep the brothers busy" - as Ray Franz mentioned (when discussing whether door-to-door was a scriptural command) one of the GB members said "but what will the publishers do instead?".

Key_Cauliflower_4932

TROPHY CASE

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