I still think that the ultimate fate of the WT, whether they lift the shunning doctrine or not, is that the org will shrink to a shadow of what it has been - something small, very small, but still around.
Why disfellowship must be eliminated for the survival of the WT itself
by TheScientist 109 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Vidiot
NotFormer - “…the GB need to get straight in their heads the difference between sin and crime…”
It was never about that.
Downplaying its severity was a means to an end…
…a strategy to more easily keep the problem internal and confidential, in order to prevent secular authorities - and even more importantly, the rank-and-file - from fully grasping the true scope of the problem.
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JW GoneBad
The WTBTS has been in survival mode for quite some time...many years now. 'Mother' is going to continue to soften on many of its rigid unscriptural doctrines/teachings in order to carry on. Me says 'Mother's Day' & others, such like birthdays will be on the chopping block soon. Eventually a lightening up on disfellowshipping & shunning will follow. But, it's all too little too late!
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slimboyfat
Well as usual my views don’t seem to be particularly popular here lol.
But sorry, I do think it is faintly ridiculous to be talking about Watchtower battling for “survival” at this point, when compared with most other churches in western countries they are in rude health to put it mildly.
I went through a phase on this forum when I thought JWs were in real difficulty, especially financially, because of the statements they were making about cash flow, and because I personally knew people who had left, and the rest were all getting older.
https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6278706236489728/watchtower-organisation-all-over-bar-shouting
What changed between writing that thread and now? Two things. Firstly, I’ve since visited dozens of other churches and have witnesses first hand what real decline actually looks like. It is miles away, and much worse than any ‘decline’ at the KH. Secondly, despite everything I said in that thread, JWs have still managed to keep growing. At what point do you allow facts to alter your perception? Six years ago I thought JWs would start declining rapidly soon. Six years later they are more numerous than ever. It’s not what I expected but it is a fact.
Six year years ago when I made that thread, average publishers that year was 8,248,982. Now it’s 8,514,983. That up by quarter of a million. Compared to past growth it’s pretty poor, but clearly it’s not a decline, never mind anything like struggling for “survival”. Most other churches would be absolutely delighted with those numbers. In Britain the Methodist church for example loses around 4% of their membership annually. They have declined by a half in under 20 years. They are indeed struggling for “survival”; JWs are not.
Check out this website for some perspective on churches that are genuinely in decline.
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enoughisenough
DF is likely what is keeping them as lively as they are...There would be a mass exit if dropped...the pimo would be out in a flash. Ok, so you may think people would be more likely to come into JWlite if DF dropped...they may would come, but feel free to leave without repercussions and leave they would once they would wake up...and many would wake up, because pimo wouldn't be afraid to speak ttatt , they would influence others, who influence others and so on.....With the DF threat, the pimo keep quiet because they know they will be ratted out.
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Beth Sarim
The WT is its worst enemy.
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blondie
Df'ing, a punishment to keep the "diseased" jws out and make sure their jw family/friends stay away from them and punishment them even further. It was no a thing until about the mid-40's and 50's, scaring people to stay.
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Vidiot
JW GoneBad - “The WTBTS has been in survival mode for quite some time…”
This.
Virtually every action they’ve taken in the past three decades has been reactive…
…defending against threats to its survival, whilst trying to shore up a claim of legitimacy and primacy which, if it had been true, would’ve been all the defense it ever actually needed.
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TheScientist
But sorry, I do think it is faintly ridiculous to be talking about Watchtower battling for “survival” at this point, when compared with most other churches in western countries they are in rude health to put it mildly.
The first thing you have to keep in mind is that the overwhelming majority of those attending a Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, etc. churches are generally there because they are believers in that religions. This is not the same as what happens with JWs. The practice of disfellowship creates camouflaged dissent (PIMOs), which is what I already said in my initial post. Then you see the numbers of WT publishers and judge them all as JW, but no, not everyone there is JW (some would like being out from these numbers). DF creates this distortion. There is a lot of fake reports! And now with the new light on not reporting time, the number of publishers tends to increase even more, it's just mark an X in that field. I have no idea about the percentage of PIMOs, no one does. But I believe that if there were no shunning, these numbers would be smaller.
This weekend my uncle, who is a PIMO, sent me a video of his assembly (in Brazil): more than half of the seats were empty, people had to be spread out to hide their shame. Now imagine the same congress without the PIMOs: perhaps the audience would not be so different from what we see at one of such churches.
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Beth Sarim
In order to maintain its 501c3 status,, look for the Borg to soften on the LGBTQ community
They have to.
On SixSreens last nite there were comments about that.
Because times are a changing & the Borg needs tax flow. What its all about.