Elsewhere, Thanks for the stats. One stat I would like to see is hours in field service per baptism over time. I bet anything it takes a lot more hours to gain a baptism now than it did forty years ago.
What do you think the Society's future holds?
by KW13 46 Replies latest jw friends
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BizzyBee
Communes? Hmmmmmm..................an announcement that Armageddon happened invisibly? That we actually are in the New System?
Nahh..............I vote for a slow erosion of numbers...............and then there will be a small core of faithful long into the future.................
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garybuss
It's interesting to watch the change. The Society's message to the Witness people seems to be:
Message #1 . . . You're all a bunch of screw offs.
Message #2 . . . We need money . . . NOW! -
truthseeker
Good questions KW13.
I feel that they are losing money and members.
But what they're also losing is hearts and minds. We've heard the same message for over 125 years. What is there that's new, compelling, thought provoking?
The emphasis of the cult is on works - their works, preaching, pioneering, studying - little in the way of help, kindness, thoughtful acts that benefit humanity.
They are in severe decline. Their ideology is outdated in our modern world.
The old days of being a JW are gone - I was too young to even know about the ":good ol days", although my father remembers them.
There is no social cohesion - no social events of any kind are organised. In effect, it becomes a part time job for many, something they have to do rather than want to do - for others it is a full time job.
With no social glue to hold members together, is it any wonder that people are disaffected, feel the lack of love and go inactive?
The other thing is that they have made chronology such an issue that you can no longer seperate it from their ideology.
1914 - Jesus came in Kingdom power, kicks out the demunz and has been "ruling" ever since.
If Jesus is ruling over heaven or earth, where are the effects of his kingdom rule today?
They have also tied themselves down with the 1935 cut off date for anointed ones - what happens when there are no more partakers? What will they say, do and preach then?
The Generation of 1914 is gone, dying, dead. Who remembers the prophetic pronouncements at Cedar Point, Ohio, and who cares?
They have cast themselves into a net with their odd, unchristian dates and they must reap the consequences.
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OUTLAW
The future will remain the same..A lot of Pain for everyone involved...OUTLAW
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willyloman
Dubs have already demonstrated their resliience and unwavering loyalty to Brooklyn, even in the face of scandals (Dateline) and institutional apostacy (UN), so I do not expect a sudden, swift fall. I like elsewhere's charts, although I have no idea what data they are based on. But that sort of gradual decline squares with what I've seen in this part of the world in the past several years so it seems a likely progression.
"Mainstreaming," a gradual but steady move towards "normal," will keep them going for a long, long time. As someone said another post, change will come one funeral at a time as the old boys die off and the lawyers get even more involved in WTS management.
p.s. By mainstreaming, I don't mean wholesale abandonment of cherished dub doctrines; it will come by gradually moving more of the "don'ts" into the "conscience matter" column, which has been their pattern in recent years.
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Sunspot
Sadly, what I would LIKE to see and what I think will happen, are vastly different. I would like all the JWs to AWAKE UP and see just who and what they are following....but this will not happen. The stranglehold the WTS has on the JWs is far too ominous and fearsome to see THAT occur.
Smart and informed JWs will be leaving in droves.....and will be believing what they have learned from the "dreaded and evil" internet...
...and new ones will be told that to "listen to" anything negative about the WTS is Satan's way of keeping them from "the truth they desperately need to hear" that can come "ONLY THROUGH THE WTS".....
So I am afraid it will be a case of same-old same-old for a long time to come, even though I do firmly believe that the ones leaving will far outnumber those that are coming in or are remaining as "loyal and obedient JWs" (tm) to the Masters of Crapology based in Brooklyn.
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Elsewhere
I like elsewhere's charts, although I have no idea what data they are based on.
The values from 1945 - 2005 are based on reports from the WTS. Everything after that is based on extending the downward trend from 1985 - 2005. I also gave the WTS some benefit of the doubt by starting my estimates at a higher value than I should have.
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willyloman
...that the ones leaving will far outnumber those that are coming in or are remaining as "loyal and obedient JWs" (tm) to the Masters of Crapology...
Some coming, some going; that's TWO groups. But there is a third group that I believe is rapidly expanding, and that's the number of dubs who are still "in" physically but emotionally and intellectually have wandered away from the organization's teachings. Twenty years ago, there was a fairly large contingent of True Believers in each congo, probably 35% or so. These were "serius" dubs as measured by JW "spiritual" qualifications. When I left three years ago, we were of the opinion that the number had shrunk to 20% or less and that the real growth was in the Nominal Dub category - people who say they're JWs but to them it's just a religion, one they probably inherited from their parents.
For them it's most a social club or a business/job network. It is now become common for many dubs to pay lip service to JW doctrine but not really believe it, much like mainstream church-goers. The difference is that dubs dont usually broadcast their personal feelings, except to family and those in their tight circle.
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KW13
it appears that around the 9/11 time they experienced a peak, but thats no suprise.