The internet and new coverts

hubert

I wince when I hear how many of you ex-jw's have finally woke up after serving the Watchtower Society for 10, 20, 30, even 40 years!

I realize that was because before the internet, there wasn't much information available to research the j.w. "religion", so it was easier for the j.w.'s to dupe you and keep you in.

I wonder how long it would have taken you to see the real truth about the Watchtower Society if the internet was available when you started doing bible studies with the j.w.'s.?

I am wondering if because of the internet, that the life-cycle of a new convert has shortened to maybe only a few years, or 5 at the most? Are there any statistics that can show the turn around of newer members since the birth of the internet?

Hubert

Alpaca

Why are you wincing? It's a good thing.

Information has always been the force that has threatened the entrenched and the established.

What cracks me up is the BORG's criticism of the Catholic Church for their hold on knowledge in the middle ages and the way that they were forced to relent during the Renaissance.

hubert

Ohio, what I mean by "wincing" with no disrespect at all, is I feel bad that people have wasted so many years in the Watchtower when maybe they would have been able to get out sooner if the internet was available, which of course, it was not.

When I first started researching the W.T. Society, all I could find was a few booklets in Catholic religious stores, which, by the way were in my opinion, absolutely useless for using to anti-witness. I know, I tried using them and got nowhere.

So, until I started using the internet for research, and old book stores for finding old W.T. material, I had no way to know if the W.T. was the one true religion, also.

Sorry to sound disrespectful. I am glad you all found out about the W.T. and are out now, I just wish it would have happened sooner for you.

Hubert

lavendar

I would be interested in knowing that too, hubert......since my son has been duped into this cult.

I would LOVE to hear the "life expectancy" of a JW convert is now only a couple years!!

Lavendar

StAnn

I have a good friend who was "in" for only three years. When she approached her elders with honest questions from stuff she learned from the internet, she was accused of apostasy and threatened.

Three years in did a lot of damage, though.

Serena

hubert

Lavender and St.Ann, this is why I ask these questions, also. I too, have a daughter studying with them, and I hear from sources that she has been "slacking" on meeting attendance, and I am also wondering if she or her hubby are finally doing some real research and finding things that don't make sense. And they are in the 3 to 5 year range, also.

I was never a j.w., so I can't say how long it would have taken me to see the light, either. Maybe it would have taken me many years too. I'm just glad I didn't have to go through that. It must be a tough deal to take when you realize you've been had by a book publishing company for so long.

I am Catholic, and although I'm not the "perfect" parishioner, I can't imagine researching it to see what is wrong with it. I guess it's because mainstream religions are just that, mainstream, and not cultish like the W.T. With that said, I imagine it would have taken a lot more years to find wrongful material if it weren't for the internet.

Hubert

steve2

Availability of information and willingness to consider it are 2 very different things. Heard about leading a horse to water but not being able to make it drink? Or (the words of a song) "a man believing what he wants, and disregarding the rest"?

If religious affiliation were purely a matter of logic, yes: The more information that could be accessed, the better. But we know that huge barriers stand in the way of JWs searching the internet: Fear is one, but the other possibly bigger barrier is...Apathy.

WTWizard

I could have researched the Suffer Forever book, cross referencing everything that is in that book, before committing to a study. A minor error here and there is forgivable, but if there are core doctrines that blatantly contradict the Bible (after the religion claims to have a monopoly on abiding by the Bible), then it would lead to other questions about their honesty and integrity in other areas.

And, I could have been much stricter in holding them to their promises. For instance, I could have told them that, after promising to help me with the opposite sex, one strike in keeping them away from me or telling me to just meet other men would automatically nullify my baptism (and dedication), even writing it down and having them sign it as a condition to my continuing the study. I would have to keep one copy, so they couldn't destroy their copy and claim they never signed such a contract. If I was not yet baptized when said offense happened, I would immediately discontinue my study, and be free to spread the word of lack of fulfillment to the mainstream news media. (Like Time magazine).

Clam

Hi Hubert.

Slightly going off on a tangent here but although the internet didn't help me, as it was practically non existent when I exited, I'd never appreciated how the Borg so devastated peoples' lives. The net has given me new vigour to "anti-witness" and has given me the information and knowledge to do so effectively. But Steve summed it up - "Availability of information and willingness to consider it are 2 very different things." If you finally escape though, then you can become a far more effective apostate imo.

Clam

hubert

Hi Clam, good to see ya.

That's my point. The information is here now, so it's much easier to access it if and when you are starting to have doubts, rather than before the internet.

I think that no matter how hard you try NOT too see apostate material, it's almost impossible not to come across some when doing searches for other stuff. So, it must be more tempting for new converts to "sneak a peek" at what is so terrible that the W.T. tells you to avoid at all cost.

Hubert

The internet and new coverts

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