Ok here is another spin on the Wt verses the internet argument, and this time I'm going to be pro-Wt. I have read articles and seen graphs that show in countries that have high internet penetration, growth rates diminish. This is used to support the idea that the information age is killing the Wt. I think this is only looking at part of the story. I live in a country that fits the above description so I feel I can comment. Generally speaking countries with high internet use, are usually wealthier, more politically stable, have better access to medical care, better educated etc. These factors deminish the need for religion. For example when things are going well in ones life why look for something better and on the other hand "you will never find an atheist in the trenches". Even the bible admits that generally the wealthy wouldn't be interested in God. In the area where I live most arnt interested in religion e.g you don't see a lot of teenagers going to the Catholic Church. Is the internet killing the Wt???? It could be. But to not consider these other factors is just been short sighted.
Internet VS WTS
by joe134cd 29 Replies latest jw friends
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LostGeneration
I agree that religion overall is on the decline, but in the USA for some reason people loves them some Geeeezus, or Jehoopla in the JWs case.
Its really ingrained in the culture, it will be a long time before we catch up with some of the more progressive thinking I observe in European countries.
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joe134cd
No one found this interesting. Or are we all preoccupied with new Bible.
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cofty
"you will never find an atheist in the trenches"
Really?
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
Well, the Internet isn't helping WT. Just do a Google search on Jehovah's Witnesses and the first page has an abundance of anti-JW and exJW sites. Maybe a hundred years ago people would buy whatever a travelling salesman is trying to sell. In this information era, I'll pick through the reviews on Amazon before I buy a book. That's not the kind of information that helps WT.
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jwfacts
I agree that other factors are involved, such as those mentioned. When there are tough times or catastrophe, even now numbers rise quicker. However, the Watchtower experienced some of its greatest growth during periods of prosperity in the US. The start of declining growth rates in the mid 1990's was not due to increasing wealth.
The saying about the trenches is not accurate either, but I feel a generalization. Many become atheists in the trenches, such as my grandfather, as the realize a loving God would step in to prevent such brutality.
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joe134cd
Paul - I agree with what you are saying.
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slimboyfat
You are exactly right, I think, that the growth of Witnesses is much more affected by existential security than the presence of the Internet.
You should check out this book:
Where the authors sketch out a theory that religion in general is more prevalent in societies lacking "existential security": mainly poor countries where the weakness of the state leaves ordinary people vulnerable to corruption and the threat of violence. The book relies on a mountain of data relating both to measures of "existential security" and religiosity to make its case. I've often thought it would be interesting to repeat their analysis specifically in relation to JWs.
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transhuman68
LOL, religion really lost its stranglehold on Western countries in the 1960's. It is related to technology, medicine... even the Industrial Revolution and something as simple as electric lighting changed the way humans thought about God and the supernatural. It is extremely hard to imagine the way people thought 2,000 years ago, and extremely hard to really understand anything written in the Bible, as we have progressed so far away from those times.
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besty
1995 generation change + Internet was a huge inflection point for the JWs
so far I haven't seen another equivalent magnitude set of events