It's hard to say what the future holds for the JWs. Although it posts numeric increase in the yearbooks, there is no booming growth like years past. The property sell-off and other money grabs can't continue indefinitely. Then what happens?
org is dying
by lambsbottom 101 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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clarity
I think it is dead too ....it just won't lie down!
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Crazyguy
Hope you guys are right hate this damn cult!
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berrygerry
What would be an interesting statistic is the average age (minors excluded) of JW's in developed countries from decade to decade.
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20yearfader
people the vast majority of them are sheep
the org isn't going anywhere as long as you have a large core of die hard jws that nod there heads at all the crazy crap that comes from the org
this leads to family members that are awake but are trapped and it leads to kids that want to please their parents that are hooked to this crap thus you have a sizeable amount of people that will continue to pump life into this corpse of a religion
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kneehighmiah
I'm a young person who woke up. Most JWs my age font give a crap about spiritual stuff, and couldn't explain doctrines. One friend of mine said "JWs are lazy, I know I am." Most young JWs are only in because they believe going to meetings and service will get them saved. Many including pioneers and MS are leading double lives. they are there for the social aspect of things. My ex didn't know anything doctrinally and has major doubts, Hershey decided she wants to stay mostly out of fear of being destroyed. the organization is counting on the laziness of JWs to continue pulling the wool over their eyes. Unfortunately this means that they cannot attract any mentally or emotionally healthy converts. Any intelligent person would run after a quick google search. I love it when born in JWs debate whether or not they would be a JW if they weren't born in. Most say no.
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joe134cd
I'm going to use the congregation that I was associated with as an example. In the last 18 months they have had 7 stop coming all together as well as 3 more get disfellowshiped (10 in total). Out of those that walked only 3 have returned. Notably they were young kids that were forced to just to put a roof over their heads. i just wonder how they can keep these losses up, before things start collapsing. If the organisation is to turn things around I believe there money and energy would be better spent focusing on retention rather than magazine distribution and recruitment. It would also be a lot cheaper to. I look at other churches and they throw Hugh money at their youth, in creating programs, and occupying them In the Christian environment. For a young person worshiping God has to be seen as been fun and cool. A place of worship has to be not only a place where they can learn about God, but also where they can socialise with their friends and do enjoyable activities. Unfortunately Wt has yet to learn this.
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yadda yadda 2
What kneehighmiah said above. Many are only in it for social/family reasons. It's very hard to leave an organisation you were born into where your best friends and family belong. People have a need for friends, family, community. They would rather not go to meetings, field service, but the price to pay socially and emotionally by leaving seems too high. The Watchtower's cruel and unscriptural shunning policy works perfectly to keep so many in fear of leaving.
It's like a lotto ticket, you've got to make some kind of minimal effort to win it. YOU'VE GOT TO BE IN TO WIN. Most would rather leave but they choose to stay in and put in a perfunctory appearance at the meeting and report a few hours a month to win their prize of "everlasting life in paradise on earth".
You could say it's a kind of Pascal's Wager - JW's rationalise that it's better to just suffer the inconvenience of two meetings a week and a token effort for 3 or 4 hours a month in 'field service' for the sake of the possibility that the JW's may be right and they will survive Armageddon soon and live forever in paradise on earth.
But there's no doubt the organisation is definitely 'dying' (or at least plateauing) in internet highway, wealthy western countries with high standards of living. The Branch closures, shrinking of magazines, and publisher/statistical declines in former strongholds such as Japan, Germany, Britain, etc, are clear proof of this.
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westiebilly11
The difference between 1975...1995..and now is the Internet. Whereas the organisation could fluff their way out of false dates and prophecy the Internet has a lot if counter information available from ex jws and secular sources which previously younger jws had no access to. The organisation relies on born ins to stay in or face shunning. ..bred in captivity....
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Wasanelder Once
People never expected the Worldwide Church of God to become trinitarian again or completely bust into pieces. Thier Ambassador College went belly up too. So maybe Patterson will experience that one day? There is no guarantee that things will remain static forever. Things change by virtue of the fact that leaders change. The Rank and File continue going through the motions though many of thier hearts are not in it. It is becoming a religion of zombies. The young leaders are living in a fantasy that will collapse upon them eventually. C'mon, its been 100 years already!