Thinking about the end of the Watchtower (page 3)

deegee

As long as people believe that the world will end by means of divine intervention, then there will always be religions like the JWs even 1000 years from now.

steve2

Who'd have thought that when John beseeched Jesus, "Come quickly, Lord Jesus", that over around 2,000 years later, collectively billions of believers would still believe the time is "at hand"?

JWs are a mere drop in the bucket of time. When they're gone - or more likely morph into another form - there will be people warning that the time of reckoning is imminent.

I wonder if the EOTWT speculation is, at least in part, fueled by that which us 'disaffected' or former JWs hope to gain by such a scenario.

In my own case, I find myself hoping for a future where former relationships with family and friends are restored...except this time we're all rational and carry on with an understanding that there was a high-control cult formerly running/ruining our lives. la-dee-da. I am a dolt for indulging this stuff.

I think the OP is astute in pointing out the real costs; the likelihood that any EOTWT scenario (while applauded near & far) will have a catastrophic psychological/emotional fallout on these very same people that I am hoping to reunite with! There is simply no 'End of WT' scenario that would leave these true-believers intact as the people I remember them to be.

This is a done deal. Even if the WT closes shop tomorrow, the costs are sunk. I (we) will likely never have our relationships back with the WTs adherents, even after the master is gone.

Perhaps it's better to root for EOTWT, not on the basis of a past that cannot be recovered, but on the basis of the future, where this garbage isn't out there, lurking, waiting to ruin lives and inflict pain on all it can touch.

Fisherman

Come quickly, Lord Jesus", that over around 2,000 years later,

And you can't even see him after showing up 2000 years later!

new boy

How many religions with over one million members have collapsed in the last 100 years?

Sorry guys it would take a miracle at this point.

shepherdless

How many religions with over one million members have collapsed in the last 100 years?

None have collapsed completely. Most Christian religions of that size or above have shrunk.

The best 2 examples of a significant Christian religion going to near collapse in relatively recent times are Worldwide Church of God (now under a new name) and the Christian Scientists (also known as the First Church of Christ, Scientist, and not to be confused with Scientology)

The Worldwide Church of God had about 145,000 members at one stage. It has less than a third of that now. They lost many adherents after they abandoned many of their more radical doctrines. That was a mistake the Borg would have taken note of.

The Christian Scientists for much of their history were larger than JWism. They had about 270,000 adherents in USA in 1936. In an eerie similarity to what may happen to the Borg, the Christian Scientists tried to become something of a multimedia organisation, producing the Christian Science Monitor, some television news programs, some journals, and a 24 hour news channel. It nearly went broke in the process.

notsurewheretogo

Pointless speculation? The WT will not collapse and disappear in any of our lifetime's...

Vidiot

new boy - "Yes, good old sex has created more religious people on this planet than anything else."

Ironic, all things considering.

Londo111

This phenomena has played out so many times it is predictable. A cult declines, implodes or fractures, and smaller cults emerge. Or people leave one cult and join another. It happens even now. Unfortunately, some have ended their life because they couldn’t handle the loss of the belief system that they thought was “the Truth”.

However, it is in the greater long term good that the Watchtower declines and eventually collapses. Whatever group or groups or rebranding replace Watchtower, it will only have a hold over a fraction of the people Watchtower did.

It will provide a great opportunity for many to wake up. This is especially so for those who follow the routine, but with apathy or doubts. For some, this would be the final straw. Even if not everyone would wake up, more would wake up and find happiness in normal life than if nothing happened to Watchtower.

Unlike the times of Miller, and even with the early 90’s collapse of the Armstrong group, we live in the time of Google, Wikipedia, and all sorts of information assessable from every pocket. Once people overcome the fear that their cult puts into them about not googling, they can never unring that bell.

nancy drew

I hope the organization implodes it's a menace.

Thinking about the end of the Watchtower