Post your percentage opinion: How many JWs REALLY . . .?

AuldSoul

Our Kingdom Ministry, April 1992, p. 4, par. 7
Keep Spiritually Strong, Stay Clean for Jehovah’s Service
7 The benefits of these meetings are multiplied when they are combined with good habits of personal and family study. As a minimum goal, all of us should read and consider the daily text, keep up with the Bible reading program set out in the Theocratic Ministry School Schedule, and prepare for the Congregation Book Study and Watchtower Study. Each family will have to determine how that is going to be organized, making sure that it is done on a regular basis. Also, the family head should see that the study program is tailored to meet the specific spiritual needs of the family. In this way the "household will be built up. . . . It will prove firmly established." (Prov. 24:3) If we are conscientious in our study habits as individuals and as families, we can be confident that Jehovah will bless us and his spirit will help us to endure various trials successfully.—Jas. 1:2, 3; 1 Pet. 4:11.

How many JWs do you believe REALLY do the minimum? My opinion: 5%

How many family heads REALLY tailor the program to meet the family's needs? My opinion: 1%

slimboyfat

I did it for about two years around the time I was baptised.

Then I discovered girls and stuff. Later came apostasy.

yknot

I will second your stats AuldSoul !

Personally, I tried to stay 3 months ahead.

With children I focused on weekly items and overall Bible themes

My "head" is not a JW.....

Quirky1

I tried for several months or years, who knows, and then realized I couldn't keep up or compare. So, I just did what I needed to do to squeak by.

AuldSoul, I believe that your estimate is probably very accurate. I know from my personal conversations with other JWs throughout the years that this regimen that is prescribed by Brooklyn is quite burdensome in the minds of many JWs. They did not explicityly say this, but they often lamented how difficult it was to keep up on all of the Watchtower printed material.

I would like to add a very important point to this discussion. I would assert that the vast majority of JWs will feel more guilt in not keeping up with the presribed regimen of publication reading than they would in failing to keep up with Bible reading. Think about it: do any of the other friends see a person not keeping up with their Bible reading? No. Can other people see when a JW has not studied their Watchtower or bookstudy lesson? Yes; by the lack of underlines on the pages. Many JWs feel "squirmy" when they attend a Watchtower study with a Watchtower without any underlines or highlights on it.

Numerous ex-JWs have analyzed the amount of Bible reading versus the amount of Watchtower publication reading that is assigned by the Governing Body. Publication reading (in terms of total pages assigned per year) out numbers the amount of Bible reading by a ratio of something like 3 to 1.

Is it any wonder why the Governing Body discourages private study and reasearch of the Bible without their publications? Also, is it any mystery why so many JWs leave the organization after reading the Bible without filtering it through the Watchtower?

IronClaw

I was never good at family study. 5 meetings. Service. I needed time for Football you know. Isn't that why God made Sundays. Sabbath, rest and Football.

The Claw

Quandry

Can other people see when a JW has not studied their Watchtower or bookstudy lesson? Yes; by the lack of underlines on the pages. Many JWs feel "squirmy" when they attend a Watchtower study with a Watchtower without any underlines or highlights on it.

You are so right, Jeremy. My husband was the WT study conductor for quite awhile, and we usually studied ours. If for some reason I did not-of course my husband still did-I would quickly underline-hardly mattered what-so that I would not be found out. You betcha-didn't want that "squirmy" feeling.....had to look the part-what would people think if the study conductor's wife hadn't studied?

I tried to do all the required reading, but fell short, and always felt guilty, guilty, guilty.....

LisaAnn

Auld Soul,

I don't know... I think you're off base with your estimate. Mine would be more like 3% max! If you consider quality- actually reading and trying to understand, 'meditating' as they call it- I'd drop it to 1%. Everyone I knew who did the bible reading read it through really fast, and underlined the answers without any 'study' at all.

Course I can't blame them. We used to have group WT preps at our house that were really fun- with young ppl in the hall- because we enjoyed research and deeply discussing how it applied. But it took 3 or 4 hours to get through the WT!!

Again, they try to keep you so busy 'studying' that you don't have time to really study.

wozadummy

Let's see ,take the amount of local elders ,divide it by the amount of elders wives discontent with their husbands ,add the publishers who don't do it at home but cover it only when they go out in field service group ,deduct the amount of publishers who put in bloated field service reports ,deduct those who say they do on the platform but don't actually do it ,add the arse kissers reaching out notably ,yep I reckon you're pretty close .............

eyeslice

The reason they don't do it is that what the Watchtower dictates is impossibly hard for the average person to keep up with. The only people who I have ever know who did everything the society demanded were head cases not balanced individuals.

The galling thing is that the Governing Body cannot see how Jesus words to the Pharisees, "you bind up people with heavy loads but don't give a finger to help them" applies to them. Religion should be about supporting people not burdening them.