Dia, you can download Acrobat Reader for free from the Internet, and this will allow you to read .pdf files: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Rodney Stark's paper on JW growth
by VM44 15 Replies latest jw friends
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Perry
Jan,
The very title is misleading. "Why Jehovahs Witnessees grow so rapidly". It assumes rapid growth. I found little support for his premise other than a 5% rate. It is not compared to other religious growth rates. So the reader cannot quantify his conclusions as to the why.
Saying that disfellowshipping is beneficial for growth may actually be supported according to the model.....which seems to describe a high control group rather than the faith started by Christ. I believe the model is flawed however.
Non-believers usually find that comparing any religion with widely know destructive sects is beneficial to their atheistic point of view. Again, they fail as Starks did in considering the fundamental internal nature of faith and focus their arguments on the external vehicles such faith enevitably creates.
Proclaiming disfellowshiping as beneficial can hardly be construed as little more than apologetics. I'm afraid I disagree with some of your observations but appreciate your point of view.
Edited by - Perry on 27 July 2002 14:37:0
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Trauma_Hound
Ok, I'm going to dust off my press credentials, and see if I can't do a video interview with him, because he's local to me, at the University of Washington, I got a phone number and e-mail address for him, will try to contact him shortly. It lists an AOL address, but I can also get his UW e-mail address. (Convient to having UW contacts. :)) What I would like from you guys, is a list of good questions to ask him. If I get the interview, I will post a link to the video.
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dungbeetle
1) Is it true, Dr. Stark, that Jehovah's Witnesses, since 1967 IN WRITING have conspired to KEEP Sexual Offenders within THEIR ranks FROM law enforcement and mental health practicioners; and is it also true that since 1967 IN WRITING that JW's have also conspired to send these same sexual offenders TO THE FRONT DOORS OF AN UNSUSPECTING PUBLIC?
Show him the 'Lamp' the 'Organization' the 'Organized' books and also the two unsubltle Watchtowers.
2) Is it true, Dr. Stark, that some of the reason JW's have been increasing (not phenomonally, not even keeping up with population growth, but increasing nontheless) is:
a) The attract to themselves individuals with diagnosable mental illnesses, very little self esteem, very poor self image
b) They attract to themselves mysogynists, who can sit through ONE JW meeting and see no women on the stage, handling microphones, not even redaing the BIBLE or a Watchtower or a bookstudy reading and not feel 'something is wrong here'
c) They lie about their past whenever and wherever they can (tho they admit to changing doctirnes, they still deny TO THIS day ever 'returning to old light')
d) They are increasing only in countries where there is, at present, little or no internet access to the general public and when that interrnet access is available, the 'increase' will become zero or negative in record time.
e) Expulsion/shunning. While it may have worked in the past, the results now are the opposite. Expulsion and shunning of children, rape/molestation survivors and dissidents is CONTRIBUTING to zero and negative growth, and will continue to do so.
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hey trauma-hound, Rodney Stark gonna either ignore your backside, or he gonna throw your backside out ont he street.
Please tell him that 'dungbeetle' his greatest fam says hello!!!
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Dia
Don't be so quick to throw the baby out with the bathwater! You know it is just like Witnesses to use and manipulate someone for their own self-promotion.
They are counting on the fact that Rodney Stark is too busy and too lofty to reply to we, the lowly. I don't think that will be true.
Let him know we have the BBC and NBC's DATELINE behind us!
He's not an idiot.
I'm certain he was 'kindly coerced' into giving a benign, academic interview on a simple topic - disfellowshipping.
I'm also confident he had and has no idea how small clips of that interview, 'spun together' along with his resume are being used to promote and hide a very evil policy of publicly blacklisting someone for refusing to ignore their revolvting and criminal behavior.
Stay at it! He's a good guy.
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Pork Chop
I thought it was a very good paper, you don't find much material of this nature about JWs. Seems to be completely objective to me. Don't know where some of you are getting this apologetics nonsense. I think your own bigotry, or maybe just prejudice, is over-riding your judgement.