Mormon view of JW.ORG

by konceptual99 42 Replies latest jw friends

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  millie210

  Very interesting sir82.

  And those results are supposedly with angelic direction.

  Meanwhile the SDA are at well over twice the members - almost triple and with far less effort expended.

  insidetheKH: "need" is probably a figure of speech in this case. Mostly I am wondering what the heck I have been doing for the last many years! I am leaving a religion that I gave a lot of time equity to. I pioneered at different points as I was able, the last being a 9 yr run just before I gave up.

  Was anything I did then meaningful? I mean, I felt like it was the most important work in the world at the time and I brought 4 other people in to the "truth". Fortunately I dont think I ruined any lives because 3 of them have left and the one that remains makes the truth work for them instead of them working for it, so no harm no foul there.

  So did I waste my time on a mere "feel good" notion? Apparently.
• 

  blondie

  Yes, I can remember the days the WTS "encouraged" evening witnessing, weekend afternoons and arranged a time for that. My husband was assigned and no one, no one, not even the elder who gave the part showed up.

  Even the CO and his wife no longer go out in the evening (non-meeting) or Sunday after the meeting.
• 

  sir82

  InsidetheKH,

  That could well be. However, I'd like to see some evidence of your assertions. Do you have any data to back them up? If not, what are you basing the assertions on?

  I mean, it sounds reasonable, but I can make up all sorts of reasonable-sounding speculations which are utterly meaningless without empirical evidence.
  
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  insidetheKH

  @sir82 the changing political situation in eastern europe and the change for the better for the JW's during the 90's, as well as their growth, is a well known fact.

  Just take a look at the yearbooks and check it yourself,.. i just grabbed two yearbooks ('94 and '96) from the 90's (figures of 1993 and 1995) from the bookshelf reporting 29% growth in 1993 for the countries of the former Soviet Union in 1995 50% growth in the 10 countries of the former Soviet Union
  

  Also there are studies about the changing in households as i mentioned.

  In my country (a typical industrialised western democracy with a thriving economy) a special government agency, called the central bureau of statistics, keeps track of such data and its a fact that nowadays both spouses work instead of just one with a main income during previous decades.

  That means that in previous decades much more people were at home during the days.
  
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  breakfast of champions

  It will be interesting to see the effect that cart/table witnessing has on growth over the next several years.
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  millie210

  Yes it will BOC.

  I think what we will see the public "snacking" on religion at the cart much the way people buy a hotdog from a vendors cart nowadays. No real meaningful exchange taking place.

  Since many witnesses cannot "man" the cart due to health reasons or their feelings of inadequacy (much easier to ride around in the back of someone elses car and accompany them to a not at home) less of the JWs will be active.

  Ironically, this will make them more like the SDA and the LDS where only a portion do the proselytizing.
• 

  Vidiot

  millie210 - "Ironically, this will make them more like the SDA and the LDS where only a portion do the proselytizing."

  That's funny.

  x

  Is it just me, or does it seem like the louder the rhetoric they use to try to distance themselves from "Christendom" (historically, a major selling point of the WTS), the more like them they become?

  If that's the case, it - in turn - even further removes incentive to stay affiliated with them, 'cause at that point, WTF's the difference?
• 

  OrphanCrow

  insidetheKH: reporting 29% growth in 1993 for the countries of the former Soviet Union in 1995 50% growth in the 10 countries of the former Soviet Union

  I don't think that those numbers reflect actual growth.

  The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and it was that event that revealed the numbers of people inside the Soviet Union who still viewed themselves as JWs. They were not new converts to the religion - they just became visible to the rest of the world.

  And, some of those congregations that had self-identified as JW in the early 90s, later 'defected' because the doctrinal stance of the Watchtower had changed so much in the years that had passed by without contact from the Watchtower.
• 

  millie210

  Is it just me, or does it seem like the louder the rhetoric they use to try to distance themselves from "Christendom" (historically, a major selling point of the WTS), the more like them they become?

  If that's the case, it - in turn - even further removes incentive to stay affiliated with them, 'cause at that point, WTF's the difference?

  Cant seem to get out of my own quote box but I wanted to reply. Guess I will have to try another post................
• 

  millie210

  Alrighty then, what I wanted to say after I quoted Vidiot is that this reminds me of something an old man said to me 40 yrs ago when I was standing at his door.

  He said "Right now you all are a young religion but give it another 25 years and let some money start rolling in...you will eventually end up mainstream like all other religions do."

  Who would have thought he was right but he was.

  .