How effective the internet is in preventing the spread of the Lie

by dgp 12 Replies latest jw friends

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  dgp

  I wonder if there is a way to know just how effective the internet has been in preventing people from joining the Watchtower. In my personal case, it did a lot; it was, I would say, crucial. Maybe I would have bought into this if I hadn't done some googling myself. But, how effective do you people think it is in general? Are there any indications that someone will take a Watchtower study and then ask uncomfortable questions, such as "But, how do you explain the Overlapping Generations?"

  I would appreciate any thoughts in this regard.
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  flipper

  DGP- Good question, good thread. One indicator I believe is just think about how many newbies have joined THIS board in the last several years - many indicating they have stopped attending JW meetings because of seeing it's a lie or suffering unjust treatment. I would venture to say that thousands or hundreds have joined this board in the last few years . It seems like at least 10 - 20 newbies join each week from what I've noticed.

  So in answer to your first question- a resounding YES ! the Internet IS helping people have access to information they would not have had access to stuck in the witnesses. And that's a good thing- access to information. Free minds = free people
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  OUTLAW

  The Internet..

  Is Choking the WBT$..

  ....................... ...OUTLAW
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  Satanus

  When i started researching the wt and religion in general, on the net, i was like in paradise, in the candy store, in the bordello w a free card.

  S
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  wasblind

  I think even if they get a new Bible study, warning them about staying off the internet is gonna make them go straight to it

  and if they tell a family member about their study it's more than likely that family member who is against it will show them whats

  on the net, it use to be a time when new bible studies were warned by their families, but the family did'nt have anything to back

  them up, now they have back up, the internet. This religion will always be around, but with the net. it ain't gonna be what it is today

  give it a few years.
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  Found Sheep

  the internet.... if i had it when I was 15, or 18 I would have known the truth and the truth would have set me free
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  garyneal

  It helped me a year ago when I did not know what religion was the true religion. Greek and Hewbrew interlinears online showed me quickly how the WT changed words in the Bible to fit their doctrines. Then I found where the WT did not consistently translate the Greek text the same way in different places in the Bible, again because it went against their doctrine.

  Then I began reading more about the Society and any chances of my becoming a witness were dashed.

  My wife says that I turned to Satan's System and that was why I was misled.
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  WTWizard

  It helped a little. I remember using it to kill one study--that was just starting to go to boasting sessions. I suggested a trip to Six Screens of the Watchtower, and the study went. And that was the end of that study.
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  badcompany

  The internet and particularly this site saved me from going back. When I re-married my wife was interested in my old religion. She started studying and we started going to meetings (I had disassociated many years earlier). It was around 2000 that I started researching the net for all things JW. After discovering the UN flap, the blood issue in Bulgaria and the multitude of doctrinal changes since I left I could never go back again. Luckily my wife lost interest on her own.
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  Nathan Natas

  I think the internet is a very valuable tool against cults, but to be useful a tool must be used. Many "good" people are unwilling to dirty their hands with discussions of the evils and failings of The Watchtower; they have the misconception that to be a good Christian gentleman they should not speak ill about any man. To me it seems they are forgetting that their Hero threw the money-changers out of temple with considerable violence.

  So it is NOT ENOUGH to make your exit, walk away and live your life. As The WATCHTOWER itself once said, ""When persons are in great danger from a source that they do not suspect or are being misled by those they consider their friends, is it an unkindness to warn them? They may prefer not to believe the warning. They may even resent it. But does that free one from the moral responsibility to give that warning?" - THE WATCHTOWER January 15,1974

  I'm not suggesting that someone is obligated to be on JWN 24/7 posting 12,000 comments a year (not that there's anything wrong with that), but a person should at least tell their story and tell what they personally know about the organization and the people who run it. One that has been done, any "duty" is fulfilled.

  As long as good people do nothing, evil will persist. This is one of the great lessons of history.