8 million - The Population of Honduras

by bemused 9 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  bemused

  I sometimes look at the magazines on jw.org to see what the WT are saying now. The latest Watchtower is a good old fire and brimstone, Armageddon is coming any moment now issue, but it was a short article in the April 2015 Awake that caught my eye. It features the country of Honduras and is quite an informative little read (though failing to mention the very high crime rate in that country). Like me, I imagine most people would struggle to place Honduras accurately on a map, name its capital city or describe its history - it's a poor country with virtually no influence.

  I noticed that the population of Honduras is just over 8m, which I believe is around the number of JWs worldwide and it seems to me that the JW religion is about as significant to most people's daily lives as Honduras is. I don't suppose any active Witness reading Awake will draw the same analogy, but it makes me wonder whether Witnesses ever ponder just how small and unimportant their religion is on a world scale, and why that might be.

  I was never a Witness, so I can't answer that question. What do you think? Does the small size of the religion, despite massive preaching efforts, ever cause JWs concern? Do Witnesses ever discuss why, if the evidence is so strong and the story so compelling, 999 out of every 1000 people in the world follow another religion, or none?
  
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  carla

  I was just thinking the same thing the other day! well, not about reading anything from their website as I don't like to give them any ranking with Google.

  Barbara Anderson posted something and in the article it said that there were about 1 million jw's in the US. Only one million?! really?

  So I had to Google the population of Chicago (nearest large city) just to see, the population of Chicago is 2,695,598. All the jw's in the US would fit in Chicago with room to spare!

  Warms my heart to see how few there really are in the US.
  
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  WTWizard

  That is what happens when you pick a rubbish country or a rubbish religion. People do not care what happens within them. Unless you are from that area, you do not know much about the country. And, unless you know the religion or have been involved with it, you know little about it.

  Now, take a country which is about half as big population-wise. This country lies southeast of Australia. Many people know what it is, and quite a few know its largest city. I would be willing to bet that more people know where New Zealand is, its capital city (and no, it is not Auckland--it is Wellington), the biggest city (which is Auckland), and a brief description of its history than know the above about Honduras, despite its being located in Central America. And yes, New Zealand has more influence than Honduras.

  Ditto with the jokehovian witlesses. This religion claims 8 million, though I would bet fewer than 25% of them are sincere. Now, take a religion that far fewer people know of. This is the original religion, and abides by the laws of nature and attempts to use the forces of the universe to predict and control, not enslave and destroy. Despite its tiny following, it is having so much effect that even the Pope is worried about it. Turns out that spiritual Satanism, though currently far smaller in members than the jokehovians, is having more of an effect on those religions than the jokehovians ever will.

  Also, there is the analogy of the silver market. Relatively few are in this very tiny market. Yet, most people know something about the spot price of an ounce of silver despite the banks being worried sick about it. Are they worried sick about the price of other commodities that are bigger markets? No, because they are not as important. That silver market, as tiny as it is, is so important that, were it allowed to run to its fair value, it would expose the whole fiat system as toilet paper. You don't see that in, say, the mercury market because mercury is so unimportant in price that no one even knows what mercury is selling for (unless you research it).

  People do tend to notice the things that are capable of ruining the status quo. The jokehovian witlesses cannot do this, hence the lamestream establishment leaves it alone. As with the market on mercury--which is why they never directly smash its price down or buy it up the way they do with silver. If the jokehovians were capable of destroying the status quo, I am sure the lamestream establishment would have crippled or destroyed it. Yes, it gets banned--because they are such a nuisance, they commit real crimes, and promote communism, not because they are a threat to the establishment.
  
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  SonoftheTrinity

  There are smaller religions than jws with much larger cultural influence.

  Without Jews there would be no Hollywood, and without Rastafarians there would be no Reggae music, without Zoroastrians there would be no Bollywood, but if the Jehovah's Witnesses disappeared I doubt anyone would notice.
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  ctrwtf

  It's quite compelling to note that the Almighty God Jehovah has only managed to attract the attention of a mostly marginalized 19th century American cult.
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  StarTrekAngel

  Approach a JW and tell him his religion is tiny. He will direct you to Mathew 7:14

  Go to a meeting or assembly and you will be showed how this "unparalleled growth" is fulfilling the words of Isaiah 60:22
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  Slidin Fast

  Just consider that this is a religion that is obsessed with growth, they spend all their waking hours figuring out how to achieve growth. This is the stupendous result. Yawn.
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  Vidiot

  StarTrekAngel - "Go to a meeting or assembly and you will be showed how this 'unparalleled growth' is fulfilling the words of Isaiah 60:22."

  Makes me wonder if the assemblies and conventions are really just to reassure the R&F that they're still relevant simply by virtue of seeing lots of JWs in one place.
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  redvip2000

  It's quite compelling to note that the Almighty God Jehovah has only managed to attract the attention of a mostly marginalized 19th century American cult.

  In fact, jehoober is not even able to make his organization knows to most of the world. The creator of the entire universe is not even able to warn 8 billion people that he has an organization. If this creator of the universe really existed and had unimaginable power, how long do you think it would take him to warn 8 billion people? One day?two? Ok fine, let's say a week if he is really busy.
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  BluesBrother

  As StartrekAngel said ........Is 60.22

  The little one will become a thousandAnd the small one a mighty nation.I myself, Jehovah, will speed it up in its own time.”

  
  

  J W 's 8 million

  LDS started about the same time with similar doorstep campaigns- over 15 million

  Who is getting the "blessing" ?