Reasons for Stagnation in Growth. AKA YearBook Numbers!

by ttdtt 57 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  James Mixon

  Yesterday around 3 o'clock in the afternoon sit two elderly ladies on the steps of the

  kh with their cart. There are two large pillars and each lady was sitting behind one.

  Ok, first of all people are not rushing to go to the kh, the location of the kh there is

  not a lot of street traffic. I slowed up in front and the ladies peeped around the pillars and

  the look on their face said it all, don't bother us please or they were in shock that someone

  looked in their direction.

  It's a pitiful organization. You piss people off by knocking on their doors and you expect people

  to rush to the steps of the kh to get the worthless JW good news.
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  prologos

  The list is good food for thought, thanks. The lack of growth is because fewer are staying, and fewer are motivated to join. An added reason is that the power structure of the wt can become abusive, and oppressive, The meetings are boring, people like to learn, improve, and wt has shut that down. people like to socialize , like in the formalized "book study" get togethers, wt cancelled that. Recruits will not stay unless motivated by these things, and the first visits to the hall will turn them off.
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  park ave boy

  I think the shit is hitting the fan. People are doing research. I'm so happy for JW Broadcasting!

  
  

  YAY FOR JW BROADCASTING!
  
  
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  ttdtt

  BluesBrother
  

  Thats what I am saying - no more teaching. Public talks are worse than ever, meeting parts are worse than ever. Meetings are just a blackhole of crap.

  The website:) HAAAAAA From the stats they touted last year, if you had a 7 million person base that is being pushed to use the site all the time, those usage stats are embarrassingly low. No one except JWs and Apostates go to the site. The site is a Joke.
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  slimboyfat

  Plus it's all becoming just a bit too unbelievable these days.

  1. It's more than 100 years now since Jesus is supposed to have started ruling in 1914 and still nothing.

  2. The number of anointed is going up instead of down - 15,000, give me a break.

  3. The generation so-called teaching. Do you think we're stupid?

  Being a JW these days more than ever is an exercise in believing 7 impossible things before breakfast. No wonder some can't hack it any more.
• 

  done4good

  To summarize, the information age is killing them slowly, but the pace of the decline is increasing rapidly. This correlates well to the effects of Moore's law, in general.
  

  WT can no longer teach very detailed and esoteric doctrine. It is either too easy to disprove, or current events have rendered it false by now. In response to this, the WT has taken several measures over the last 15-20 years to dummy their doctrine down, and simplify the "work". This has led to widespread apathy among the faithful.

  The apathy in turn leads to ignoring the direction of the leadership. This is why JWs now get an education, save for retirement, etc. In response to this, the leadership tries to turn the screws tighter by using the tools of the information age, (such as the website and particularly the streaming broadcasts), to enact greater control, but this fails as well, as the leaders are seen as both uncaring and incompetent in plain sight. This in turn leads to further apathy and disillusionment, and thus a positive feedback loop has developed. Positive feedback loops in nature tend to create unstable systems.

  Add to this the child abuse cases, lawsuits, (which they can no longer hide from in the information age), and the constant demands for more money, (yet another positive feedback loop in of itself), and we have a formula for a rapid decline.

  d4g
  
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  ttdtt

  slimboyfat

  Plus it's all becoming just a bit too unbelievable these days.

  Oh yea - that too!!!

  Don't you love the push for "Simplified Magazines and Tracts" As if the WT writes in Shakespearian English.

  It's like saying, yea the people who read our stuff are illiterate, and any new one probably will have English as a 2nd language.

  From all the assembly parts - I thought we were the most educated people in the world?
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  ttdtt

  Also the Sex Abuse stuff must be cooling people in general in Europe. Look at the the numbers in Britain.
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  DATA-DOG

  Done4good, thank you for mentioning their detailed and esoteric doctrine. Let's call it dogma, shall we?

  You have isolated a HUGE problem for the WTBTS. In the past, their complicated type/anti-type dogma was "proof of Da Troof." What percentage of their doctrine exists due to Adventism/anti-typical schools of thought, 98%??

  Take away the types/anti-types, which they are currently doing, and what's left? 2% of God and Jesus exist, the Kingdom, and be kind to others??? How are they any different than other sects without their types/anti-types?

  Remember the Revelation Book? What percentage of that waste of time is considered "Da Troof?" LOL!! We can rest assured that the Revelation Book is in the same file as the Trinity brochure, File 13, destined for the shredder.

  Perhaps the WTBTS wants to mainstream slowly, so as not to lose members needlessly? Perhaps they could no longer ignore the blatant falsehood of their types/anti-types? Perhaps they feared the sheeple would eventually find out?

  Now, there seems to be a race against the clock. The WTBTS is racing to complete the new HQ, ( not going so well ), racing to gather money, and racing against their past deeds, and racing against the Information Age.

  Is their advertising powerful enough to combat reality? With reality being in abundant supply, thanks to the passage of time and the Information Age, you wonder how long they can hold out. It seems like only an act of God could save them.

  DD
• 

  Nicholaus Kopernicus

  A significant factor could well be the environment shaped by the GB and their officers. The meetings, literature, and JW websites are hardly the positive and "uplifting" environments which their authors believe them to be. The study WT has especially deteriorated markedly in recent years. I now more readily understand why the WT statement of purpose on the inside front cover disappeared without announcement from the Jan 2013 study edition onwards.

  Additionally, the WTS seems to have enterred into an era of capriciousness and is therefore an "unsteady" ship where individuals can easily loose their footing and "stumble". (I for my part, cannot give a reposte to those who opine the ship is sinking.)

  Further, those providing "leadership" locally are most likely doing so poorly as their minds are held somewhat captive to the "legalism" of the GB rather than the refreshment of the Christian message.

  The path they are following cannot lead to other than progressively poor outcomes.