Length Of WTS Indoctrination Program

by Sunspot 6 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Sunspot

  I posted this on another board and got ZERO replies:

  But I was curious. When I was in the WTS, we were instructed to only allow a person to "study" the WTS bible-aids for a period of six months. The WTS felt that by that time, the person would have made significant committment to either warrant continuing on or dropping them as studies.

  The thrust was that "our services were needed" in so many other places, and we were SO busy---- that basically, we should not be wasting our time (with the time so short) with those that are not talking "baptism" talk.

  (The point being: if the indoctrination program hadn't taken effect in six months---in all likelihood it wasn't going to)

  I NOW see potential converts on another board that have been "studying" for YEARS...a far cry from the "six-month-limit" we had to follow....so what is up with that?

  Is the "time" not as URGENT as they used to teach it was?

  Are there even MORE "requirements from Jehovah" to be learned before taking the Big Dip?

  What seems to be the "latest WTS stance" on this?
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  alanv

  I thankfully have not had any association with the witnesses for over 10 years now, but I imagine things will be different now. Years ago there was much increase in the borg in the western world so if someone did not accept the 'truth' in 6 months the advice was to move on and spend time with someone who is more teachable. Now days there is little or no interest in the west so I am sure the borg would advise spending as much time as possable with someone to get them on board.
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  Sunspot

  I have been out now for over seven years, so we're pretty much in the same boat on this one.

  Does anyone still "IN" know what the take IS about this.
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  unique1

  It is pretty much up to three months minimum now with the brochure instead of the book. However, if a person makes continous progress, you may study with them for as long as needed. If the study hits a stalemate then they suggest trying another book. So if a person comes to the memorial then Sundays 6 months later then All the meetings 6 months later then service 6 months later, the study is still going somewhere.
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  WTWizard

  This is called getting desperate. Back in 1995, there was growth. People were coming in fast enough that, if one was not in within 6 months, the time was best spent elsewhere. Now that growth has stagnated, they can no longer afford to do it like this. If anyone is going forward at all, the study is to be maintained. Otherwise, there would be no studies and nothing for the people to do. The last thing the Puketower Society wants is for the publishers to be in a pickle at 6:30 AM with nothing left to do but go home or on a coffee break that lasts all day. So, they have those old studies that would have been dropped reactivated.

  Even with this arrangement in place, they are in a pickle in many places. Canada had negative growth last year. Australia and Japan, too. If they had to drop those studies after 6 months, there would be nothing for the publishers to do all day. And they might start going off to the movies, the library (horror of horrors, they might even get online!). Before long, a typical day of service might be doing door to door on houses that have been visited just the other day, with more wasted time on not interested calls. And the downslide would really get going. So they have to keep hounding those calls as long as necessary.

  I wonder what's next--perhaps reactivation of all those who faded out. All it takes is for this to be added as a new feature of the misery, and all bedlam is going to break loose. Anyone who has missed two consecutive meetings or hasn't been out in service within the past week will start being hounded and harassed, so they will not drop out of the publisher ranks. And those who have been inactive for more than a year will see serious houndings as they get re-indoctrinated. The hounders will be particularly aggressive with those, since they were once Witlesses. And those re-studies will last indefinitely. It is "Come back or we'll pester the s*** out of you for life--and don't try any crap to get disfellowshipped or disassociated or we'll assign you a host to ensure you will not be able to do anything like that."
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  moshe

  Siince it is not about gettting someone into the true religion, but recruiting new blood for the WT empire, they want to maximize their recruiting effort. I still think they don't want to invest more than a year with anyone. If they aren't going to meetings and out in service within a year, then it's, adios amigo!
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  Gordy

  Yes, I recall when the "Knowledge" book was brought out. It was all about you study this book 6 months with a person. If they hadn't decided by then, end the study.

  But likewise mentioned above I have contact with people who have had studies. They say they did the "Knowledge" book, then another book, then another, then another. I recently met a lady who had been "studying" with two JW pioneers for nearly 2 years. Started with the "Knowledge" book, then a couple more, and was just coming to the end of "What Does Bible Really Teach?".

  I got the feeling the two pioneers were just doing it for the hours etc. Though the study has stopped the two pioneers still call round for "a chat".