How many non-believers on the inside

by biblecheck 23 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  biblecheck

  It's taken me about 7 years after leaving the Watchtower, to become actively involved within the exJW communities. As part of this I created a couple of videos to, hopefully, help some others. But what amazed me was the number of people who have PM'd me via YouTube who are still active members of The Watchtower - who know it's not The Truth - but haven't left. This is not a critism as I know that are lots of reasons why people don't or feel they can't leave.

  Now I am wondering what the estimates would be as to how many inside the congregations are non-believers, and how many of those non-believers are actively working as a group to expose the Watchtower...? Would anyone have a handle on the guesstimates - is it in the thousands ?
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  tootired2care

  My guess is that 30% of the members of the org have serious doubts, and less that 2% are activly working against it from the inside.
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  Black Sheep

  There used to be a survey that incuded this subject on the net. I was surprised how many who IDd themselves as JWs disagreed with some basic WT doctrines.

  There could well be threads linking to these statistics on this forum, but I don't have the time, or the inclination, to search for them right now.
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  DesirousOfChange

  My guess is that 30% of the members of the org have serious doubts,...

  With the recent changes, and esp with The End dragging out for decades now, I think there are many active members with serious doubts. Still, what I hear is not that they doubt "The Organization" but they doubt that Jehovah has revealed it all to them just yet. In the end, IT is still the only organization that Jah is using; or, it's the closest thing to the Truth; or, it's still the best way of life. etc

  Even an elderly 2nd-generation sister in her 80s stated that she thinks "those guys up in NY must have missed something."

  What they are no longer doubting is the fact that they will grow old and will die. Promises unfulfilled.

  Doc
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  breakfast of champions

  Count my wife among the 30%. Discussing the change inthexchange FDS interpretation, I basically learned that there is little of the Watchtower narrative that she really "buys" outright. I forget if it was in Crisis of Conscience or where I saw it, but there was a quote from Knorr saying "I believe Jehovah is god and Jesus is the Christ. . . . But as for 1914 (etc). . . . I'm not so sure" or something to that effect. That is my wife right now. She wants to have a hope. She feels she must believe in god and the bible and likes the idea ofa paradise earth. She feels she would be wrecked without it. But as for about 90% of the witness doctrine/narrative - she knows they are just making shit up.
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  raymond frantz

  The problem is not how many are on the inside ,but how can we constructively bring them down .I have not heard or seen one genuine idea as to how to go about
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  raymond frantz

  Also the average Jehovah's Witness is a different animal all together from the one that was 20-30 years ago .These people 99% of them will not questioned or stand up for anything ,nevertheless they are a digrace to Christian values and a shame to Jehovah .Unless something dramatic happens to their life they will not wake up
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  sir82

  Define "non-believers".

  It's a sprctrum. If by "non-believer" you mean "someone who doubts or disagrees with some teaching or other" then the percentage is probably in the high 90's.

  If however you mean "Someone who believes it's all, 100%, a pile of stinking poo" then the percentage is probably in the single digits.

  Where between those 2 lines do you define "believer" vs. "non-believer"?

  If you say "those who realize that JWs are not the sole organization on earth with God's approval, but who still see some merit in the organization" then maybe you are close to the 30% speculated on above.
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  cobaltcupcake

  It's sad to think that so many people are still locked inside that cult and feel they can't leave even though they know (or it's dawning on them) that it's not The Truth TM .
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  Theocratic Sedition

  I think the old adage about actions speaking louder than words holds true. If the average JW really believed that the message they deliver to people at the doors was life saving and that the end was imminent, the average hours reported every month would be a heluva lot higher than roughly 10 hours a month. The WT wouldn't have to encourage people to pioneer, or discourage college educations. They wouldn't have to print articles emphasizing how wonderful and blessed it is being a JW is because it simply would go without saying. The lack of action by the average JW is a solid indicator of their half-heartedness about WT's directives. These JWs probably recognize that's something is really really wrong with the religion's leaders even if they don't have the courage or the know-how to articulate it.

  We had some visitors to our congregation that serve where the need is great. They were interviewed, presented as sterling examples of what JWs should do with their lives. The brother directing this part asked if there was any questions for the visitors after the part. A couple folks raised their hand, and to be fair many maybe couldn't think of anything to ask on short notice, or were too nervous. The far majority however, really just wanted the meeting to be over so they can go about their affairs. Examples like that, and what's presented at the assemblies and conventions, in the literature, etc., don't motivate the average JW. To be sure, yeah some really can't rearrange their life situations to pioneer, that's true. However the far majority simply don't want to pioneer. If reaching out to be a Ministerial Servant or Elder is so wonderful and makes Jehovah so happy, why don't more brothers do it? It's simple, they don't believe in this crap, but their stuck. So they're playing the game.

  I'd venture to say possibly a 1/3 of active JWs recognize something is possibly wrong with half of that same population being absolutely certain that something is wrong have researched enough to support their conclusion. The other 2/3 can be defined as a combination of die-hards, people who are JWs for the same reason born-in Catholics still define themselves as Catholic, and the rest are lackadaisical.