Yeah, and the "hissy fit" wasn't from me.
Death Knell -- the Internet for the WTS
by Francophile 43 Replies latest jw experiences
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Francophile
So, back on topic...
Does anyone know from the inside whether elders are having to counsel more doubting sheep, due to the Internet?
I would think that more and more witnesses would be presenting Web printouts to the elders in their "sessions," which would show increasingly difficult-to-answer critiques of the WTS.
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proplog2
Liberal and conservative are NOT just political orientations. The reflect deep thinking styles and temperament. Like any organization there are conservatives and liberals among JW's. And in the same proportions as you will find in any organization. So you can safely assume that at least half of JW's take a regular excursion into the internet and satisfy their curiosity about everything including their beliefs.
Look at this chart.
Activity, % 12-17 18-28 29-40 41-50 51-59 60-69 70+ Avg Go online 87 84 87 79 75 54 21 72 Online games 81 54 37 29 25 25 32 36 School research 73 60 61 48 33 14 57 Instant message 75 66 52 38 42 33 25 47 Text message 60 44 29 15 11 8 35 Get info
about a school57 59 42 50 40 30 14 45 Download music 51 45 28 16 14 8 5 25 Read blogs 38 41 30 20 21 19 16 27 Download video 31 27 22 14 8 8 1 18 Create a blog 19 20 9 3 9 3 4 9 Get health info 73 84 80 84 68 72 79 Travel reservations 50 72 64 64 59 60 63 Job research 44 59 59 54 31 13 51 Use gov sites 41 56 64 60 55 45 54 Bank online 38 50 44 37 35 22 41 Religious info 26 30 38 24 28 28 28 30 Use email 89 88 92 90 94 90 89 91 Get news 76 72 76 75 70 74 68 73 Product research 79 80 83 79 74 60 78 Online purchase 43 68 69 68 67 65 41 67 Job hunting 30 62 51 40 36 17 2 44 Use a photo service 39 38 31 32 31 30 34 Rate a person
or product36 34 27 31 24 8 30 Search for a person 31 31 23 23 24 29 27 Participate in
an online auction26 29 25 20 18 6 24 Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project It would seem that in the parts of the world where large populations have access to the internet that 72% of JW's go on line. The big drop off point is the over 60 population - baby boomers.
If they use the internet at all its probably for E-Mailing. That represents the generational change in the organization. Assuming JW's reflect the national demographics then the over age 60 members = about 46% of total membership. The low-internet users are the past. The high internet users are the future. It is interesting that those who visit religious pages are close to the same accross all age groups around 30% So you can figure that about 15% of JW's that live in countries with easy internet access are checking out religious issues on a regular basis. In another 10 years that will probably increase to around 30% and internet accessibility is growing world-wide at a rapid pace. So it appears any high informational control group whether religious or governmental is going to have serious problems. The age-group that has the highest "religious" activity on the internet is the 29-40 age group. This is the group that usually become new converts. They are vulnerable to joining a church of some sort because they are now committed to raising a family. This is the age-group that is trying to clean up bad marriages and rebuild their lives. And it is the age group of most new elders in the congregation.
Here is another thing to consider. There are multiple effects of the internet. While information accelerates the departure of some it slows down the departure for others.
Because of groups like this forum, people don't have to feel the full pressure of alienation. They don't experience the "crisis" in isolation. They can plan their exit by fading and they get to swap support experiences with others who are "stuck" due to family situations. Being informed allows the JW experience to become more of a shared culture rather than a dogmatic religion.
The waning influence of the baby-boomers is in parallel with the centenial of 1914. The sky IS falling.
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dozy
Does anyone know from the inside whether elders are having to counsel more doubting sheep, due to the Internet?
I would think that more and more witnesses would be presenting Web printouts to the elders in their "sessions," which would show increasingly difficult-to-answer critiques of the WTS.
Purely anecdotally (sp?) , there certainly is a small impact , but it is limited. Generally people don't test out their core beliefs by researching negative sites - whether these are religious , political or in any other area - rather , they tend to look for reinforcement. The WTS has also done a good job in "demonising" the net , so few brothers would actively look up "apostate" sites. The tone & language of such sites is often a big turn-off as well - I remember when I first went online in the late 90's doing a bit of surfing and immediately being repelled by some of the sites around (and I've always regarded myself as being fairly liberal).
There is certainly an element of under-reporting as well - "doubting sheep" are hardly likely to present elders with reams of internet info as this could well lead to disfellowshipping - I'm guessing many doubters are just fading and giving other reasons (depression etc).
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sass_my_frass
You might underestimate a person's willingness to obey the organisation. All a JW needs to be told is that there are apostate websites, and they'll be mostly unwilling to go googling Watchtower. The fear of apostates is very powerful.
But anyway, welcome!
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ninja
hey frank o'phile...are you Irish?
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penny2
I would think that more and more witnesses would be presenting Web printouts to the elders
Francophile, I don't think this is happening at all. Those who have doubts are too scared to bring them up lest they be labelled an apostate and shunned by family and friends.
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DannyHaszard
http://www.topix.net/forum/who/jehovahs-witnesses I think this forum is just about the only place active JW's can hit and run no registration needed practically unmoderated
Pretty high rank too,so go ahead post away all active EXJW's too.
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OnTheWayOut
I would think that more and more witnesses would be presenting Web printouts to the elders
Francophile, I don't think this is happening at all. Those who have doubts are too scared to bring them up lest they be labelled an apostate and shunned by family and friends.
Definitely the case. I am sure that rank-and-file are much too afraid to admit their surfing. I believe Crumpet said
that many would rather surf porn than anti-JW sites. That's probably true, but once disobedient, twice disobedient.
It could open the door. The average JW is learning not to tell the elders everything. Many view R-rated movies, go to concerts, associate with
DF'ed ones, etc. etc. They just don't talk about it. I view these ones as much more balanced than the gung-ho types. -
BizzyBee
Sorry but the cat's not out the bag. Most active JWs steer clear of "apostate" sites and are as brainwashed as ever.
penny2
Active JW's do not always do what they are told, thank God!
Active JW's are the apostates of tomorrow!