Another Totalitarian Analogy

by metatron 13 Replies latest jw friends

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  Apognophos

  Probably 30% of the population falls into this category, which of course means that 70% leave the cult when they become adults.

  I disagree. I think most leave for emotional reasons, not intellectual ones. A large number are DFed, and the rest leave when they feel dissatisfied for reasons pertaining to their individual life, like wanting someone or something in "the world". True independent thinkers are probably 1-5% of the population and some of those are stuck in the religion too because of family, so there's little correlation between dependent thinkers and Witnesses. Most people do not question what they're taught; they trust in whatever the majority believes. They're just not unfortunate enough to encounter a religion like this one.
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  Vidiot

  metatron - "It seems they are often sending couples/ brothers to congregations that show some chance for growth... INSTEAD of helping halls that are about to be disbanded and sold off."

  Triage, huh?
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  Vidiot

  Apognophos - "I think most leave for emotional reasons, not intellectual ones."

  You might be right.

  Dogpatch once wrote a piece suggesting that the most successful churches are the ones that meet their membership's "primal needs".
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  Apognophos

  Just so nobody thinks I'm implicitly setting myself on a pedestal, I'm one of the ones who left for emotional reasons -- I had something I wanted to do with my life and the religion was in the way. I didn't make up my mind to leave until I also did the research and leaned TTATT, but that doesn't count as independent thinking because I had the pre-existing motive to find a reason to leave. Even though I was not a zealous Witness, I did buy into the teachings; up until I did that research, I would have defended the WT views on almost anything, including denying evolution, etc.