by Witness 007 31 Replies latest jw experiences
Well, horse shit! I live in the bible-belt and new congregations are still being formed. The mid-western U.S may be the last outpost to fall before the retreat to Warwick.
The good news is that there are lots of young ones who just go through the motions. Even the young pioneers hope that other kids go in service so they can talk about "The Voice" and who's hot. No real mention of The Kingdom, just fun chats until break time.
DD
Not that I can back it up with statistics , however through observation , trends , and feedback I have received , I beleive that 2 out of 3 young ones leave the religion , then their are those who are disfellowshipped for wrongdoing ( in other words being a teenager ) and never go back .
Going back 20-30 years when my 2 boys were teenagers ,( born ins I might add ), the double lives they and their peers were leading unbeknown to me or any body else in the congregation at the time , was rampant , even then.
So it has to be a far greater problem for the organization today.
And that can only be a good thing.
smiddy
Jay Hoover better get busy and make some more child brain-washing flicks...
I'm out of the loop now , but in the UK I think the situation is pretty similar. Most younger ones are just leaving as soon as they hit 16.
Just last week quite by chance I bumped into a guy who I remembered as a kid in our neighbouring congregation - the type that always gave great bible readings at 10 years old. I used him once for a demo at a circuit assembly - the "youngster witnessing to a schoolteacher" type of demo.
I asked him if he still went to the meetings - he's now 19 & told me he stopped going though occasionally he goes to the Memorial or weddings / funerals. He had realised it was just not for him a few years ago. He's now at university , has a nice girlfriend - living a cool life. His parents aren't too happy but they have come to terms with it. His father managed to hang onto his elder status. He still hangs around with quite a few of his old pals from the KH- some still attend , most don't.
Even the younger ones who stay in are often just nominal JWs. They have learned to play the JW double life system. I've a few teenage / early 20 relatives who are baptised but essentially lead lives that aren't much different to their "worldly" peers. It's all about social networking , playing XBOX / PS4 games , hanging out in pubs.
I also saw a picture of a KM school recently. Almost completely older guys - average age had to be 60+. Long term , the future looks pretty dire - in Europe at least , unless the belated and somewhat hamfisted attempts by the WTBTS to keep in the youngsters has some tangible effect.
This is all good news, my son goes with his dad and doesn't want to be a JW. I am hoping his opinion remains stable, but I still have my concerns that he may be manipulated into getting baptised by the dangling carrot of more privileges, like getting to hold the mic.
This thread has shown how capeable this generation are and how confident they can be, plus my son has family already out which will make it easier for him to leave when he is of age.
Kate xx
Even the younger ones who stay in are often just nominal JWs. They have learned to play the JW system. I've a few teenage / early 20 relatives who are baptised but essentially lead lives that aren't much different to their "worldly" peers. It's all about social networking , playing XBOX / PS4 games , hanging out in pubs.
i think that is an important point. For many it is becoming a cultural religion. They believe in God but don't take the GB or 1914 too seriously. But they may as well put in nominal worship with their friends and family.
The big divide between JWs and Christians is the belief in paradise on earth. It is easy to be a nominal Christian and hope you are worthy of heaven at death. But for a JW they need to hope for armageddon so that they don't die, or are at least non existent in the grave for just a short time. The longer time goes on from 1914, the harder a "soul sleep" based religion will find it to retain members.
I was actually intetested to see how other denominations feared with regard to youth retention, so I went to the local church down the road. The thing that struck me were the young kids actually been allowed to play and have fun. There were also a fair amount of youth. I spoke to the pastor about the time and money that they put into creating programs and an environment for their youth. Surprisingly the pastor actually spoke highly of the witnesses although he said a few of their ideas were a bit far fetched. If only he knew. Wt you have to change.
Surprisingly the pastor actually spoke highly of the witnesses although he said a few of their ideas were a bit far fetched.
I'm curious to know if this was a pastor trying to put a positive spin on another religion rather than saying something negative (like your Mom told you: if you can't say anything nice about a person, don't say anything at all)?
Or, do they just not know the most negative aspects of the religion? Child baptism that leads to manipulative control; Shunning, even of minors; pooly educated; DFing vs shepherding lost souls
Doc
I never asked him. I just took him at his word.
