How Does The Message Attract New Converts In Field Service? (page 2)

lisaBObeesa

I know my parents were scared to death about world events when they converted to the Jehovah's Witnesses....-Vietnam, people growing long hair (noooooooo!), society changing too rapidly, etc...- it was all too much for them. They wanted to be safe from the crazy stuff they saw around them...

I thought that maybe the times now were similar to those times, so there would be an increase in JWs. But no. Their message changed, and the new message is just not quite as motivational as the old message...

OLD MESSAGE: "You are right to be scared that it seems like the world is ending with all this crazy stuff going on...THE WORLD IS ENDING.....and it's ending in 1975! That's in like 2 years!!!!! And it could come even sooner!!!!!! Remember, 'no one knows the day or the hour!' Terrifying, right?? Don't worry! The Jehovah's Witnesses have a magic shield that will protect you and your family through the terrible distruction that you just KNOW is going to happen...any second now!!! Thank goodness we got to you and told you this before it was too late!"

NEW MESSAGE: We know the bible better than anybody and if you want to be good and if you want God to like you, you must join us. Also, if God likes you, you will get a super-duper prize: living in paradise forever with tigers and stuff! Seriously, you have to do this, or else you just are not really a good person.

^^the new message just isn't cutting it. It's not frightening enough.

undercover

Foreign language congregations in the US fare much better, particularly those whose targets are recent immigrants. JWS offer an "instant community" to replace what the immigrants left behind. In such cases, the JW message is completely irrelevant - people join because they have found a group which offers support (baby-sitting, transportation, assistance finding employment, etc.) with little monetary cost.

That was my observation as well, when I was still active. But the downside to that, from the WTS perspective anyway, is that because it's 'instant community' and a 'social network', many of the new immigrant converts don't hold to the party line. They are quick to deviate from the norm. And if they get rubbed the wrong way, they make no bones about it. The numbers may be up for their meeting attendance, but they're not fully indoctrinated cult zombies. They'll walk in a heartbeat if they get the urge.

WTWizard

It's the "end of the world". Now, if only they realized that it already happened this past February without any consequences that are any worse than the change of seasons, they would be in for a mighty big disappointment. Yup, the "end of the world" actually means "the end of the Age", and that happened when we entered the beginning of the Age of Aquarius. Once the witlesses realize that, it is going to be 1976 again.

So you don't think it happened? I believe it did, and one symptom is the increase of awareness of left-hand path religions even within myself. I see it on these forums--people are starting to realize that much of what religion has taught them is wrong, and that Christians, Jews, and Muslims are all in the same boat. They are all teaching and being taught lies, and the question "I go to church 2 or 3 times a week, I tithe, I participate in all church activities, I read the Bible--SO WHY AM I NOT FEELING ANYTHING SPIRITUALLY? If enough people ask that question and research, they will find the answers--and that is starting to happen.

LongHairGal

Bubblegum:

I believe (in the U.S. at least) that the converts the religion gets in field service these days are people who have special "needs" and who imagine the JWs is some kind of charitable organization. The very kind JW sister at their door might inadvertently give this impression. Of course, these people also like the idea of the "paradise" and the "new system" but I wonder if this is secondary to other things!

Also, from what I have seen the few times in recent years I visited the hall, the "new" studies some of the women had fit this description exactly. As others have said, the new "converts" could also be newcomers who are glad for the visit and even some who want to practice their English. I had a return visit like this. I knew it but didn't care much because I was able to count my "time". In hindsight, what a waste of time and gasoline!

Captain Obvious

It doesn't.

tec

Well, I was looking for the truth. They promised it. I never made it to get baptized though. But almost.

Peace,

tammy

NewChapter

I can answer what attracted me. I was surrounded by bible believing Christians that were always talking about being born-again and hellfire. Frankly I was a bit freaked out, because there seemed to be no way I could experience this 'born-again' sensation, therefore I was going to Hell. This notion became a real problem for me, because unlike the Christians I knew, I was concerned about those I had loved that had died. I wasn't content to just save myself, and worried about my grandparents and dead friends nearly as much as I worried about myself. And lets just not get started on my daughter. The thought that I could somehow save myself and live in bliss, while my daughter was burning forever was unbearable. She was just little, but how was I to know what life choices she would make?

Anyway this is the state I was in when they knocked. Low point? Possibly, but not due to anything obviious. They convinced me that hellfire was not a bible teaching, and I gulped the koolaid. So Christianity shoved me into the arms of this cult.

I did notice that toward the end especially, those getting baptized that were not born-ins, were the neediest of society. Mentally ill, lonely, physically ill, socially awkward, poor. Some had made such messes of their lives, they saw this strict lifestyle as an answer. It was very rare to get someone that had an okay life and social skills getting baptized.

NC

baltar447

NewChapter, a question. The idea of 99.9% of the world's population dying in a genocidal war didn't bother you?

I know hindsight is clearer, but I'm just curious. I was born in so didn't have that perspective.

NewChapter

Baltar---it did bother me, very much. However when compared to the notion that my loved ones were buring in torment forever and ever, while I skipped around without a care, was much more grievous to me. And for that matter, the notion that they were buring and screaming for mercy even while I was still on earth, feeding my child, going to work, watching a movie was just too much at times.

As it turns out, I still agree with JW's for the most part. The dead are dead. That's okay. It will be just like before I was born.

NC

Disillusioned Lost-Lamb

Their message means dick!

If you set out to find vulnerable people to manipulate, even if your message preaches genocide, you're going to have at least some success.

Remember there's a sucker born every minute.

How Does The Message Attract New Converts In Field Service?

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