i dont know about you guys but im starting to get the feeling that a big fallaway is on the cards in the wt world what with all the recent scandals and the advent of the internet , information is so readily available to those in developed countries ,i feel that especially in developed nations the wt will suffer huge losses due to apathy and their extreme stand on so many issues, that many will become sick and tired of the wt treadmill of life which is so far away from the simplistic beauty of biblical christianity what do you think?
do you think that there is a big exodus due from t
by dannywalsh 17 Replies latest jw experiences
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whyhideit
Christianity as a whole is seeing a 33% drop worldwide. Personally, I think it has to do with a lot of research disproving the Bible. When that happens, you take away the blind willingness to follow something that might not even be the word of God. There are large growths being seen in New Age religions that allow more personal exploration and the less responsibility to a central governing leadership. This is the information age and people know more now and have more information at their fingertips then at any other time in history. As for the WT, I see a 1%-2% growth for at least another five years or more. You have to remember, most of their growth is from children being raised in the religion and from poor countries with little access to outside information and help. In all though, they are not a fast growing religion or slow growing religion. The road is neither wide or narrow, it is just their and leading to a dead end.
Edited by - whyhideit on 10 January 2003 19:39:26
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Yerusalyim
WHY,
I'd like to know where you get your figures, both Christianity and Islam are GROWING and Christianity, ahead by a little right now, is expected to step way forward in the next 50 years.
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whyhideit
I posted this information on another thread
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.aspx?id=43884&site=3
It links over to the board I am refering to. There is a lot of information online about the shrinking of Christianity.
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seedy3
I've read that data before on a couple of other sites, I was facinated to learn that Islam is the fastest growing religion in main stream religions. In I also read that in Aussie land the Pagan/earth beliefs are growing the fastest, percentage wise anyway.
Seedy
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DanTheMan
i dont know about you guys but im starting to get the feeling that a big fallaway is on the cards in the wt world
Don't hold your breath. Many have left, but many will stay on to the bitter end. Years of indoctrination don't evaporate overnight. And with things looking the way they are in the world, who knows? Maybe the 'great tribulation' that JW's and fundies have been eagerly expecting may happen.
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whyhideit
In my life, or recent history, I have not heard of any religion of one million or more shutting their doors. The Witnesses may loss people from time to time, but they will keep growing.
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Quotes
... or keep shrinking, until they are down to just a the Governing Body and their wives (Eva Braun figures) in a small basement office (i.e. bunker) in a really bad section of Brooklyn, handing out Kool-Aid as part of the "washing our robes white" process.
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Sparks
Please excuse the long winded approach....comes from 30 years of recycling JW teachings etc......100 years ago, or more,people had huge families, worked hard down coal-mines(13 hours aday at the age of 13 or less)worked the land with only horses, women cooking and cleaning without electrical appliances and polished the brass etc...etc...it`s plain to see that back then people were harder working and less pampered.....When Jehovahs witnesses started out in this time period, they had huge great Watchtowers the size of Newspapers to study, books being churned-out like sausages, and worked on their minestry harder. Right-up until, what the 1970s (?) the assemblies were several days long...... Today the witnesses have 5 meetings a week, and let me stress NOT five hours a week but much much more than that, because a witness has to pre-study for these meetings, prepair talks and on the meeting night travel and associate ( compulsory) and travel back home, this meens looseing two nights aweek, and the best part of the weekend with another meeting and feild-srevice...and some loose hours each week prepairing for their bible-study..etc..etc...so,...(2 hours later) the JW religion must be one of the most demanding religions on earth..This is because the brass at the top haven`t moved with the times, people may have all the modern technolgy, mico-wave ovens, cars etc...but seem to have less time now days.....So in answer to your question, I think people will get more and more fed-up with the pressures put on them, and leave in droves.I also think this wealthy religion will take the same path as Mc Donalds..(burger bar) and aim for poorer countries where the people haven`t got sick of the same old food yet....( when was the last time they had any-thing new!!!)....
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Gordy
Something Positive
We are often talking about what is wrong - lets start the New Year with something positive
The Christian Century
What's the world's fastest-growing religion? (Hint: Not Islam.)
Sunday, December 29, 2002 12:01 a.m.
As the world celebrates Christmas, it's a good time to take stock of the religion behind this holy day. Contrary to perceived wisdom, Christianity is booming.
For obvious reasons, the big story of late has been the growth of Islam, especially in poor and populous parts of the world. That news contrasts with reports suggesting Christianity is in serious decline. Europe, long the centre of the Christian world, is experiencing falling birth rates, aging congregants and increased secularism. In North America, scandals such as the Catholic Church's over sexual misconduct suggest a faith in trouble.
But all of this ignores the world outside the West. As Penn State University Professor Philip Jenkins explains in his new book, "The Next Christendom," the largest populations of Christians on the planet are in Africa and Latin America--and they continue to grow at phenomenal rates. As a result, "in its variety and vitality, in its global reach, in its association with the world's fastest-growing societies . . . it is Christianity that will leave the deepest mark on the twenty-first century," Mr. Jenkins writes in The Atlantic Monthly.
In 1900, Africa had 10 million Christians, or about 9% of its population. Today that continent is home to 360 million Christians out of 784 million people, or 46%. Latin America has 480 million Christians, and Asia another 313 million. By 2025 Christians will be by far the world's largest faith at 2.6 billion, with half of that in Latin America and Africa, and another 17% in Asia.
As Professor Jenkins notes, this boom will redefine regions, politics and Christianity itself. While the liberal and secular West has long been pushing for greater reform in its churches, the fast-growing Christian populations of the Southern Hemisphere are flocking to more radical sects such as Pentecostalism, or are demanding a return to more conservative forms of Catholicism. What this rift will mean for governing bodies like the Vatican is unclear.
Given Christianity's influence in countries that are moving toward democracy, religion itself is likely to play a key role in the ultimate shape of these nations. The record has been encouraging to date, with African and Asian church leaders using their popularity to insert Christian principles of justice and morality into the political realm, such as the role played by South African churches in ending apartheid. At some point, however, these nations will face questions about church-state divides or tolerance for religious minorities. Given the growth of Islam in the same areas, it also raises the potential for more conflicts like those in Sudan, Nigeria or Indonesia.
What does this mean for the traditional Christian centres of Europe and North America? The centre of Christianity is definitely moving to Africa, Latin America and Asia, though interestingly those adherents are bringing their religions back to Europe and the U.S. Declining birth rates in Europe will likely bring greater immigration, much of it fuelled by active Christians from poorer regions like Africa. This is already happening; Professor Jenkins cites London's Kingsway International Christian Centre, founded in 1992 by a Nigerian pastor, which is now said to be the largest church created in Britain since 1861.
America, with its faster birth-rates and immigration, will continue to see Christian growth for years to come. Even with all of its diversity today, the number of Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus in the U.S. is exceedingly small, amounting to only 4% or 5% of the population, and that percentage isn't likely to change much in the foreseeable future. America may not see Africa's Christian boom, but the vitality and change that has marked Christianity for so long will continue to mark the American experiment too.