Is this HARD evidence that the INTERNET is hurting the Watch Tower Society?

by cedars 87 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  cedars

  Sayswho and ScenicViewer - I would agree wholeheartedly with both of you. I had doubts about the organization BEFORE checking the internet based purely on my own observations and ponderings over the literature. However, it isn't until you check out websites such as the marvellous jwfacts.com and download the Crisis of Conscience PDF that things really start to crystallize in your mind, and you can finally shake free the mental chains.

  As already explained on this thread, I have also seen firsthand how the internet can swiftly terminate a bible study, and I'm sure I'm not the only one to have experienced this phenomenon whilst I was a "zealous publisher".

  I believe there is a very real trend of the internet damaging the Watch Tower Society, whether this information is proof or not. Long may it continue.

  Cedars
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  ScenicViewer

  Cedars said,

  I had doubts about the organization BEFORE checking the internet based purely on my own observations and ponderings over the literature.

  Doubts....me too. Things like, What would the Society do about the generation of 1914 if time ran out? Something would have to give. Would there be a re-thinking of 1914? If not, what else could change?

  There should have been a re-thinking of 1914, but no. To my amazement the definition of the generation changed. Then changed again a few years later. And again soon after that. I felt it had become ridiculous and unbelievable. Nothing more than controlling what people believed.

  And I recall a CO visit where he said that to have the Truth you had to have the NWT of the Bible. From there things became more organization oriented, which is to say you had to believe everything the Organization said. More emphasis was being placed on the WTS being guided by holy spirit. The Bible was effectively taking second place to the GB, a very fault the Society had found with Church leaders.

  Too many doubts to mention really.

  The doubts cracked open the internet, where a world of provable facts against the WTS awaited. Using the internet to examine the Watchtower is the best thing I have ever done.
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  Sayswho

  cedars ...yes the other forms of information were very helpful and solidified what I was learning. For me the combinations of information avenues are what enabled me to start knowing what was true or at least truer...very disconcerting to learn what u thought was true...is not.

  JWFACTS.COM was the best site I found and I let as many as I can know of it.

  Over 50 years in...

  Edited...I also had doubts because of the changing in teachings throughout the years but always believed this was Gods Chosen Org...what a mind controlling group.

  Sw
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  steve2

  cedars, a lot of hard work on your part with some tenacity with your arguments.

  But, correlation doesn't equal causation. Sociology 101 teaches about explanatory third variables. You posit the witnesses and 'interested ones' as bothered to even check out what's on the internet about the Watchtower whereas I'd suggest what internet coverage and slowed growth have in common is (thrid variable) more affluent societies where there is more likely to be apathy than apostasy.
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  cedars

  steve2 - Yes, I've been agreeing (either with you or someone else) that "correlation doesn't equal causation" throughout this thread. When I posit that interested ones and Witnesses are brave enough to check the internet for answers, I am obviously merely projecting from personal experience. Of course, not everyone is so brave or "curious", but even if a percentage are, then this would be enough for the internet to be allowed to do its job. I think the Society knows this, which is why they attempt to demonize the web so vigorously.

  The simple answer to the question posed in the OP is "no", this ISN'T what you would call "hard evidence" that the internet is hurting the Watchtower. Such hard evidence would need to come in the form of a far more stringent test whereby the internet activity of all who are interested in the Witnesses is monitored in a "control" group, or nation. Obviously, that ain't gonna happen!!

  These figures do, however, show a very definite trend whereby countries with high internet penetration figures are experiencing much slower growth. I personally believe that this cannot be simply dismissed as coincidence, although if anyone on here thinks it is coincidence, then they are welcome to this opinion.

  Cedars
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  JW GoneBad

  Cedars: "I believe there is a very real trend of the internet damaging the Watch Tower Society, whether this information is proof or not."

  I agree with you, absolutely. And yes, long may it continue!
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  Babyruth

  Wow Cedars! I'm impressed by your interesting graphs and information. It seems to me that the WTSociety is calling the kettle black in warnings against the internet while they have their own internet site for providing religious consumption. It reminds me of a quote from Sigmund Freud: " The more the fruits of knowledge become accessible to men, the more widespread is the decline of religious belief"
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  cedars

  Thanks JW Gonebad and Babyruth. As I have learned since starting this thread, the Watchtower's website is a fairly recent attempt at engaging the Internet on its terms. However, the figures indicate that the grand experiment appears to be failing. The Society would prefer to have absolute control over what JWs read and listen to, but they just can't prevent the curious and inquisitive few from slipping through their net of internet-demonization.

  Cedars