Is it possible that the WT society will soon collapse like a house of cards?

by BonaFide 37 Replies latest jw friends

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  Dagney

  I would have bet my life some calamitous thing would happen at WBTS a few years ago, and the whole thing would correct itself or go away.

  Now I realize what they do really means nothing in the global picture. Whatever they do about the 1914/587 issue, will not affect the R & F for the most part. It is a social cultural meeting place for most.

  I was around a few JW's this past week. They are excited about how close the end is and are trying to sell their house and pioneer full time. They just listen for the propaganda and would not pay attention to the fine points or a footnote dealing with any significant change we might see. I don't see them losing steam for any reason.

  As a personal decision, it all depends on how much precious time anybody wants to give them.
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  jamiebowers

  IMHO, the only way the Watchtower is going to crumble is if governments all over the world require the WB&TS to pay for health insurance and retirement benefits for the Bethelites and to pay their fair share of taxes, as any corporation should. And the global recession would have to last long enough for the sheeples to be sucked dry by the governing body.
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  Olin Moyles Ghost

  Well, anything is possible, but I'm afraid it ain't gonna happen. At least not any time soon.

  For example, how many JWs were there in 1974? Here we are, almost 35 years after the big 1975 disappointment and there are 4 times as many JWs as there were before! That's a 400% increase. I think the JWs will continue to have some increase over the next several years. There are plenty of territories full of poor, uneducated, desperate people.

  And it's only a matter of time before China starts allowing more freedom of religion. When that happens, missionaries of all faiths are going to have a feeding frenzy. No doubt the JWs will get some portion of the converts. Think about it, even if only 1 out of every 1,000 Chinese accept the JW message, that would be 1.2 million new JWs.

  So, I hate to be a 'wet blanket' but we should probably accept the fact that the JW/WT religion is going to be around for a while. There's a sucker born every minute.
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  People have short attention spans. The Catholic Church thing was huge, but it's old news.
  Tom Cruise and Scientology- people know he is one, but don't know nothing about Scientology.
  
  JW's and the NBC Nightly News- as much as it was talked about, nobody outside of a small circle really remembers it.

  Twitter and gossip about JW's can have a big effect, but it can be forgotten in days, weeks, months.

  I do feel, though, that a current trend is to question religion and assume guilt when news breaks about religious organizations.
  I think that trend will make the big JW news even bigger. I think it will cause many to look at their own religion, even among the faithful. Rick Fearon tried to have a big conference call on sixscreensofthewatchter about the mass exodus and encouraging it this year- his call broke down into a bunch of heavy Christian doctrinal disputes among Christians and the focus was lost.

  Still, I think that it's a mixed bag. While the public forgets, the JW's don't. Hear enough and you question it. Question it enough and it's just a Google away to find answers. There's Brooklyn property sales, Branch closures, there's more than enough legal concern about health and social security benefits for longtime Bethelites. I think there's gotta be more lawyers sniffing at the settlement issue over handling of pedophile cases. If WTS would settle once, they would settle again. That's what lawyers' dreams are made of.
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  Doubting Bro

  I highly doubt it will collapse anytime soon. Growth has really slowed down and I could see it turning slightly negative after 2014. But, I also see it as a slow fade. Nothing short of a major schism on the GB in which a portion of them wanted to start their own cult would cause a collapse. But, looking out 20 years, I see the WTS getting much smaller. The younger ones who are in are not really all that in and the older ones will largely be gone in 20 years. As mentioned, being allowed to be out in the open in China could have a profound impact on the numbers.
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  BonaFide

  Interesting points people. So I wonder what the chances are of a GB member defecting? Probably zero. I saw brother Lett a couple of months ago giving a special talk. Nothing but 100% devotion to the Organization.

  Unless as you all said, there are some big settlements.

  Sometimes it seems like the whole WT Organization is really having major problems and may collapse. Then I go to a meeting or assembly and I see how many still believe.

  I do think there is a possibility, a good one, that something big will happen soon. There is just too much Internet pervasiveness, and I think that "general awareness" is growing and growing. I might be wrong, because as one of you brought out, people who doubt and try to tell someone else are disfellowshipped. But what if there are thousands of them?

  BF
• 

  Colton

  First of all, the Watchtower has a huge problem. It has become stagnant. There are no new prophecies to agitate the waters. The rank and file is getting restless. Every meeting repeats the same old Armageddon predictions ... "soon!" "very near!" "any moment!". They are tired. They want their reward for the hard work. 1914 has faded into history ... another "mistake" for the books. The organization is losing members and money.

  Their magic formula is gone. Everything has gone stale.
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  Elsewhere

  I have predicted that the WTS will die slowly and in the end will finally die with a quiet whimper that almost no one will notice. The WTS will go down in the history books as nothing more than a curious footnote.
• 

  MadGiant

  “People don't care much about an relatively obscure religious sect that doesn't much bother anybody else outside their membership.”

  I agree with sir82 on this one. Until 9 mounts ago I, didn’t knew anything about the witnesses. I though (and I think that most “worldly” people do), that the religion was a little awkward, but still a harmless one.

  Take care,

  Ismael
• 

  ziddina

  "and BAM, the whole WT comes CRASHING DOWN...."

  Oh, I WISH!!! I Wish, I Wish, I Wish, I Wish!!!

  Zid