Agreed nothing but contraction here on out. The internet, young people maturing faster than ever before and the already mentioned bumbling moves of the GB do not bode well. Stagnating wages and high cost of living are such that most people now make informed rather than emotional decisions before committing to anything. There is no cost benefit in joining such a demanding cult. If one were to want to find out 'What does the Bible Really teach' they can do it on their own in the comfort of their home on the computer without having to deal with any strangers or weirdo's.
Jehovah's Witnesses May Have Peaked in Membership at 8 Million (+/-)
by OnTheWayOut 74 Replies latest jw friends
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sir82
If one were to want to find out 'What does the Bible Really teach' they can do it on their own in the comfort of their home on the computer without having to deal with any strangers or weirdo's.
Interesting point - JWs are going to such great lengths to promote their website. So why exactly should a tech-savvy person want to bother with setting up appointments so a stranger can come to their house, and read out loud, and then reiterate what they just read, and then ask a question about what they just read, and review what they read yet again at the end?
It all must seem so childish - why do all that, when you can just the F#$% book online and ask yourself the questions?
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James Mixon
Problems occurred when two or more congregation began meeting at
the same KH, here in California. The elders(US) were complaining about
the Spanish brothers. A lot of love among the brothers.
The brothers didn't have time to socialize after the meetings because they
had to move their ass in order for the next congregation meeting.
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Heartsafire
In the USA it seems the largest increase is divided by demographic. The Hispanic congs are increasing while the Anglo congs are dying out. The one thing I think spells disaster for WT with regard to the Hispanic communities is the closeness of the families. I personally know of families viewed as very strong in the troof who have df family members, and they do not shun them. Not to say that there isn't shunning going on in these congs, but for the most part, Hispanic families are extremely close and blood before water is just a given in their culture. Anyway, just a generality, but I hope things slow down and eventually the wheels come off the WT wagon completely. -
JWdaughter
I didn't know they stopped supporting missionaries! So, basically the "worldwide work" fund is just supporting the guys in Bethel pretty much and a few printeries.
I think they are on the downhill slope. . . I just hope the skis are waxed and they don't dawdle. It would be nice if it was effectively over soon. I recognize that there may always be something left of the org., but like some other sects, I hope that they effectually disappear ASAP. The Worldwide church of God had a much smaller distribution of magazines than the WT, but they had 8 million at one time and before they shut down entirely went down to less than a 100,000. They renamed and re-theologied the entire thing and are about 50,000 members now. They never had that many going to church members, but they had a lot of supporters outside the regular attendees. They had their own child abuse scandal (incest, leader) and financial accusations flung about. The WWCOG went from viable to actually gone in 20 years. The current church has nothing to do with the original other than a history and some of the dregs of the assets. Its an entirely different religion.
Does that give any of you all hope?
I remember being able to get the Plain Truth magazine everywhere in little newspaper stands. Didn't have to wait for it to be delivered. It was full color and always free. Its gone now, but because of their distribution, they looked bigger than they were. I thought they were a LOT bigger-I thought they were WT competition.
Anyway.
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fukitol
A lot of apostates all excited here over a dip in numbers. The organisation has always bounced back before and probably will again. -
James Mixon
Hearstafire;I hope you are right "Hispanic families extremely close" The guys I know
who are Hispanic, Oh man, they raise hell when they have a family member who
is a JW. The folks I know call it a cult, an American Cult.
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James Mixon
It might be dribble but not a bounce, that goes for all religion... -
JWdaughter
I'm not excited over a dip in some numbers, but I am hopeful because of a dip in ALL the numbers. I am hopeful because of the demonstrated trend.
It's like dirty hair. For a certain amount of time you can put stuff in to make your hair look better (maybe even better than when its clean). You can fiddle with it, you can use barrettes, you can comb it another way, you can just wet it down. . . but at some point, you need to wash it again or it will never look good again.
The WT has done all the fiddling it can. It needs shampoo but there IS NO SHAMPOO that will fix what's wrong with it now. Its infested with vermin and you need to shave the hair off.
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Esse quam videri
sir82 ' ... Number of baptisms declined for the 2nd year in a row....'
Perhaps the congregations are running out of 8 year olds.