What is the Future of the Watchtower Society?

by jwfacts 42 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  proplog2

  Jehovah's WItnesses are only a mega-terrorist attack away from credibility.

  Something like a nuclear weapon destroying New York City would throw the whole world into a spin.

  Such an event has enough likelihood that insurance companies have calculated it into their risks or exempted themselves in their policies.

  Tightly run organizations are attractive in times of distress. Right after 9-11 I saw people at the KH I hadn't seen in years.

  But, if nothing happens they will lose their grip. The only reason people will sacrifice a "normal" life is if they feel they are in some kind of survival mode.

  The Watchtower emerged as an organization because they felt the end was imminent. Even though they failed at the date setting they persist in declaring it is "so close".
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  AuldSoul

  proplog2,

  Even though they failed at the date setting they persist in declaring it is "so close".

  I agree with you about what causes many to hold on and what causes others to return. Many returned after 9/11 in the States (Colonies, for the sake of you Brits), but when the dust settled they left again in as great a number.

  "So close" lost its momentum as a motivator after the change in understanding about "generation." There is no terminus. "Well, we know for sure it will end before ________!" The blank can't be filled in other than "total annihilation by nuclear war or plague." I believe "so close" still hooks some people, but I don't believe as many stay on the hook as in times past.

  "So close" to a God for whom a thousand years is as one day could mean anything at all, especially is this so if the Last Days could possibly refer to a period spanning over 90 years (23 years beyond average life expectancy, as of 2001). The organization is losing steam, this is an End Times cult and its days are numbered.

  Respectfully,
  AuldSoul
• 

  What-A-Coincidence

  you make a great point

  seems like the WT has placed expirations dates on itself (unlike anyother religion/org) though. people just need to see that it's gone past the expiration date.
• 

  VM44

  I predict a large drop in JW numbers after the year 2014, the 100th anniversity of the "End of the Gentile Times"! People will realize that The Watchtower doesn't know what it is talking about when it comes to Biblical prophecy and chronology. --VM44
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  metatron

  As proplog says, they could exploit any major tragedy into a revival.

  However, what about the "opposite" of this idea?

  Suppose stem cell treatments are developed to repair or replace any organ? Suppose they create a functional immortality that way?

  Suppose new renewable energy sources are created on a large scale, such as ethanol, butanol, and new batteries?

  Suppose hard evidence emerges of life on other planets?

  At some point in this progression, men become the practical equivalent to "God". What happens to all religion then?

  I say that religions like Buddhism will do very well. The Watchtower won't.

  metatron
• 

  Country Girl

  JWfacts:

  You are looking at the big picture. That's good that you are examining the scope of this fraud. However, you are projecting something you feel in your mind. That's okay, we all do that. However, facts speak louder than words, and the JW's are NOT growing in the countries with the most money: Europe, China, Canada, and the US. They are actually experiencing negative growth as their youth go out of the religion. Where they are experiencing the MOST growth is in the third world countries. The Witnesses rely on bulding their base on people with little or no education, and milking them for every hour of time, or every dime, that they have.

  The future of the Watchtower Society in this country is in that less than 5 years, they will have to move their multi-million dollar presses OUT of this country, and into a third world nation so that they can continue to publish without paying high taxes, supporting people on $25 a month, etc. They're going to make slaves of the brothers in the third world countries as opposed to having to deal with the American government in tax battles in the Court, and they'll most likely be a long-forgotten nightmare on the landscare of America. Good riddance to them.

  CG
• 

  jwfacts

  Great points.

  Country Girl, I stayed at Mexico bethel when they were increasing the size. The Bethelites were so happy there, for them being in Bethel was like being a millionaire, not like the Aussie Bethel which has high turnover and discontentment. It would make sence to move where there is less tax, less regulation and people willing to work for a few cents a day in return for food and shelter.

  James, I agree, I was speaking to a life coach who said that it is dangerous to get a person to leave the JWs if we dont have something to offer them, otherwise they possibly will slip into even worse straights. People often need a community, and it takes working with one at a time to give the attention they need to successfully move on in life and find the right community for themselves that does not work on mindless manipulation.
• 

  cabasilas

  jwfacts,

  an interesting topic. just to comment on the comparisons to other groups.

  the seventh day adventists were a mixed bag on the trinity. while the majority of them in the nineteenth century were non-trinitarian, some were trinitarian (especially their leader ellen white). this is similar to the advent christian church in the usa which russell's group arose from. to this day they have congregations which are non-trinitarian...though most of them are trinitarian these days. so the sda change was not a total change. it was a solidifying into one camp over the other.

  true, the worldwide church of god went through a lot of changes in the last couple of decades. it has survived but it's a shell of its former self.

  i personally question whether the rank and file witness will be able to celebrate the centennial of christ's return in 2014 without major doubts arising. how the watchtower society responds to this will be very interesting. it's too early to say how it will impact things but i think it could be major.

  i remember when i was first associating with the jws the district assembly talk (1966) was "What Has God's Kingdom Been Doing Since 1914?" perhaps a future assembly talk will be entitled: "What Has God's Kingdom Been Doing Since 1966?"
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  Konrad West

  The Internet will have very little effect on the WTS, since the availability of information never was a significant factor to their success in the first place. JWs have never been physically restricted from information; they have always been able to walk into a public library or a bookshop and find countless books that show in different ways why JWs don't have the truth.
  Cults can work by physically restricting access to information, but it's not very effective. A much more effective way to control people is to <b>remove the desire to access the information</b> in the first place.
  JWs are conditioned through the indoctrination of meetings, personal study and especially witnessing to others to filter out anything that conflicts with their beliefs. Cognitive dissonance removes almost any possibility of being affected by conflicting information.
  I think that as long as they are able to keep up the indoctrination and social isolation, they will stick around, no matter what happens to their actual teachings.
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  thecarpenter