Ten Years From Now .......

Phizzy

What with the very low baptism rate, many leaving, many waking up and staying in for now, but not "zealous" any more, the WT/JW religion/scam is without doubt moribund.

I do not foresee a sudden end to the WT but what will it look llike in ten years time ??

The late teens/early twenty year olds of today will I think be very thin on the ground as 30 year old JW's, so my view is that in ten years time it will be mainly old hardcore ones ,50 yr old and up, and even they will be aware that the Org. is dying.

MidwichCuckoo

I think it can go one of two ways. It appears that (in recent years) the Org has grown in numbers (mainly, I imagine, by breeding dubs and more 'converts' from developing countries - I would like to see what the 'shift' in statistics is). My CURRENT thinking (which could change overnight, lol) is that if scandals with widespread reporting continue, then a larger divide will develop between JWs and 'normal' Society. More of a separation - which the WT will encourage as 'no part of World' - but in reality, to prevent risking hard-core R&F (the consistent donors) coming into contact with too much adverse information. If publicity against the WT starts to threaten its credibilty, a 'good move' would be for the FDS to stop the preaching - without giving any reason, of course - this will 'plant the seed' that the End is close (and will draw the R&F into a tighter group). The preaching work could then restart at anytime (''we never said the end was close'' - 1975, anyone?). R&F would still then believe something is imminent, making up their own explanations.

sir82

I'll take a crack at it......

The number of JWs will have peaked at around 8 - 8.5 million, and will just be starting to hold steady prior to a gradual decline.

There will be far more hours preached, maybe even 2 billion per year, but the number of baptisms will continue to drop.

There will be a serious shortage of elders and ministerial servants; in many congregations, just 2 or 3 of each.

Messages touting the "privilege" of donating funds will be more frequent and urgent.

Virtually all literature for JW consumption will be produced online; any printing will be done on the local level, of PDF (or whatever the standard is then) files.

Field service will be focused on leaving tracts and brochures; Awake will be exclusively online, and the "public edition" Watchtower will be mostly online with maybe 16 pages printed quarterly.

Field service will be increasingly difficult, as there is increased public awareness of pedophilia scandals & lawsuits. JWs will be instructed to "shake the dust off their feet" rather than engage in conversations about the topic.

The online "study edition" Watchtower will spend even more pages (if you can imagine that) trying to micromanage believers' lives. Advances in technology will raise all sorts of issues (e.g., is sex with a robot "porneia"?) that will be discussed in mind-numbing detail.

Virtually no kids will remain beyond the age of 18-22. The few who do will be the "superstars", and the males will be appointed as elders younger and younger to cope with the leadersjip shortage noted above.

District conventions will be 2 days long, and primarily held in assembly halls. Circuit assemblies will be cut to 1 day to allow for increased use of the assembly halls.

breakfast of champions

Ten years. . .

Rate of growth in Europe, US and other westernized nations will in serious decline.

Distribution of tracts instead of magazines or other publications will be the norm.

More SERIOUS gaffes á la Sparlock and the 'overlapping generation' will occur, as the Governing Body scramble to figure out what even they really believe. I have a feeling they are going to tell a WHOPPER and people will walk.

I think you're onto something as far as the age demographic. There is no way to keep kids in, especially with Internet over mobile media being so widespread. To be honest, I would bet that this could seriously affect even 'second/third - world" numbers as communications technology has leapfrogged there. . . while many rural towns only had one pay phone for decades, now everyone is walking around with mobile devices with Internet access.

dreamgolfer

The World be just as bad as it is now, Obama wil be gone and the NEW Rank & File JW's will continue to come in, people are always looking for a place to belong, and the NON EDUCATED will continue to join to the Congregations in their local area. People seem to have an inherited goal to BE FLEECED every day, every year. the WTBS will continue to get their share, Nothing changes, unless there are more Candace Conti "like" stories to make the news.

Look they are spending big bucks to move Upstate and sell off all the NYC properties, they have a plan and will continue to allow the NON EDUCATED feed "the machine" with donations and free labor,

only a few years ago I Was drinking the Koolaid, help build a KH and felt good about it. Some has already come along and taken my place, but I find solace that they will not get another $$$$ penny$$$ from me -

Its the NEVERENDING STORY - have a great Day off Tomorrow!!!! Hit them Straight if you golf, if you dont go get lessons!

DG (your humble helper)

Jeffro

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/134823/4/The-Great-Tribulation-is-picking-up-speed#4163800

man oh man

I hope they will have been sued into oblivion!!!!

outsmartthesystem

"so my view is that in ten years time it will be mainly old hardcore ones ,50 yr old and up, and even they will be aware that the Org. is dying."

I think the sad reality is that the older ones will look at the dying organization as "proof" that end is ever closer.

Rob Crompton

I suspect it is heading back to a situation similar to the post-1916 era which saw lots of groups secede en masse. For a long time this was virtually impossible because of the isolationist policy and disfellowhipping, but the internet has enabled communication between ex-Jws on an unpecedented scale. A few more fiascos like the Conti case and the Sparlock PR gaffe and the time will be ripe for the formation of breakaway groups to form without moving very far from the core WT doctrines.

scotoma

You can't just look at what is happening with Jehovah's Witnesses. The world is not stable. Terrorism is not dead. The rivalry between the Eurasian Heartland (Russia+Former Soviet Republics) and the USA/NATO is very close to a serious conflict. Putn has the beginning of a rebellion which will make him extremely dangerous as he looks for things to distract people. Pakistan is going crazy and they have nukes. The overthrow of governments in the Middle east have brought in a new crop of radical fundamentalists. H1N1 is just a mutation away from being really deadly.

People will be looking for some basis to keep going. JW's are organized, disciplined, and trained to draw people into their fold and drench the newcomers in love. Don't under estimate the power of organization. When things get chaotic people will hold onto anything. Think of cancer victims who grab onto worthless cures because they offer hope.

Look at how far JW's got on World War I coinciding with the JW's prediction of somthing big happening in 1914. We know that the 1914 date is bogus but that coincidence has been fuel for everything JW's have said and done.

For example. Insurance companies have built in the risk of a nuclear device being used on a large american city and the foremost target is NY.

What if a nuclear bomb goes off in NYC AFTER JW's have sold their property and moved a 100 miles away? That's all the JW's would need to keep them going another 100 years.

The really important forces that shape the future are the ones no one can predict. Who would have thought that the Charles Russell, described during divorce proceedings as an amorous jellyfish would have spawned an organization with close to 8 million members. Who would have thought that a science fiction writer (Hubbard) would inspire a religion with the power of scientology.

The present as well as the past do not predict the future. The only thing you can say is that the future is likely to be "crazy".

Ten Years From Now .......

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