Mormons in decline because of the Internet

by slimboyfat 36 Replies latest jw friends

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  mP

  zid

  few religions are ever leaders in anything good. when wilberforce was fighting slavery in england the lords temperal were against him because of the large investment and assts held by the church of england. im having a hard time thinking of any social improvement that was the iniative or result of any religion. churchea always follow. one major'component why europe had the dark ages was because of xianity. its no coincidence that franch made rapid improvements after the revolution which eliminated the power of the church and the king. the countries of europe that became powers are the ones with less religion. england with its moderate clergy when compared to other fundamentalist countries like spain or italy gave us most of our social reforms, like schooling for all, anti slavery measures and so on.
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  Qcmbr

  My evidence that the uk is collapsing :

  1/ of the 170+ people I baptised on my mission in the UK 0 are still active when I last checked.

  2/ in my home ward we had an average attendance of 140 when I used to believe. This is now 100. This is over a 5 year period where about 15 people joined the local church.

  3/ during that 5 year period 4 core families went less active (3 with returned missionaries), 2 more core families are suffering divorces where one spouse is now less active. Half of the above post with me on Facebook and we've had very illuminating chats.

  4/ several members have come to me - online and face to face - to try and reason with me to return and have therefore been introduced to NOM and MormonThink. Bishop had to ask me to stop talking to one guy as he had gone to bishop now sufferring doubts.

  5/ discussions online go far further than anything said quickly one on one in private and there have been lots of flashpoint discussions especially over the uk gay marriage laws. Most born in members of the church are fairly well educated and socially aware and seem embarrassed to defend anti gay church dogma just as those who know about the racial history of the church normally fall back to an admission of no understanding but that god works in mysterious ways.

  6/ most members have computers and are very active in a social sense. It is only a matter of time before they see material that traditional methods cannot present ( they'd need to buy books, go to library or read anti Mormon pamphlets ). There has been no significant church response to the scientific and historical evidence of the church's dubious origins.

  7/ small indicators of general indifference exist - weakening of the attendance criteria to be considered active, fewer home teaching visits, falling church magazine orders, temple sessions regularly cancelled due to low attendance, youth activities are now more 'worldly' to keep kids interest, general conference is now seen by many as a day off at the beach ( they can always listen online after ;) . Generally the zeal and confidence are gone, talks from the stand are much less doctrinal and much more focused on love and family.
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  steve2

  My evidence that the uk is collapsing :

  Thanks Qcmbr. Many of the points you astutely make can also be applied to the JWs in western countries: There's a palpable air of complacency and ennui.

  The availability of information on the internet probably doesn't help but I don't think it's a significant factor in the collapse you talk about. Seeking out 'apostate' information of itself suggests an active,inquiring mindset that is anything but apathetic, whereas the decline I observe among the JWs is driven more by sheer apathy than anything remotely apostate in intent.
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  Shawn10538

  Mormons are crawling all over Long Beach, CA. I see them almost every single day out and about. Tons of them. They were a huge student population at CSULB too. They have a giant building right on campus, plus a dorm for just Mormons. They invite other students to "classes" that turn out to be just Mormon services. I see them in cars as well as bicycles. I've been to their services too, I dated one in college, and their congregation was huge. And there are at least three major churches in Long Beach with probably thousands of attending members, not counting the buildings they have at CSULB AND Long Beach City College. So I doubt they will be going away any time soon.

  And in case anyone forgot, there is one running for president right now and everyone is deathly afraid of saying so much as one word against the Mormon religion lest it be labled as hate speech. So apparently religion is just off limits as far as using a president's religion to prove how crazy they are.

  I think the polls all show that most Americans could not care less that we may have a Mormon president.
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  slimboyfat

  Did anyone see the programme The Mormon Candidate on the BBC? I always thought Mormons were tamer than JWs but that programme made them out to be pretty extreme.
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  steve2

  I've said it before but never tire of saying it:

  If a religion were assessed as "true" on the basis of physical looks alone, the Mormons would win hands down. Mormon missionaries are invariably very nice looking, bright, well-dressed young men who look as if butter wouldn't melt in their mouths and who come in range of appealing colors. Almost worth agreeing to a home visit or two....
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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  I hear that the Mormon "magic underwear" doesn't have the powers that it used to.