by SpannerintheWorks 43 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I believe that there are more catholics b/c it is a similar type org. By that i mean, they have a ruling body, the Pope, and we have the GB. They make rules for all of us, just like the pope makes rules for catholics. They are used to confessing, and jws do that too. Catholics tned to be very religious and so do jws. I can see how a catholic could be attracted to the similarity of the jws.
weds
Wednesday,
I see your point. However, All high control groups, well, lets take Scientology for example.
Why dont the dubs specifically target them? Or other cults?
They want to ''harvest'' the most converts, using as little resources as possible.
They use demographics, etc., to this end.
It is how big business works, and the tower is all about big business;
So many good posts and thoughts here. I think we all are zero'ing in on the towers methods.
Waiting, for example. Absolutley right. We must be around the same age, and yes they used that to garner converts.
They used to eshew single mothers, then backed up, when they became statistically useful...
""Yeah, we will support you, and your children''!!!
The Spanish, Latins are big targets too now.....Why? Cause most Latinos are Catholic.....
The tower recognizes they must ''harvest'' the biggest population to keep getting book sellers. Simple as that.
Because most Catholics are ignorant of what the bible says. They just follow the catholic beliefs. That is why it is easy to convert them. The JW shows them some scriptures (out of context) but they don't know any different. If you don't know anything about something it is easy for someone to fill you with wrong information because you don't know any different.
LV,
Catholics are not ignorant.
What a horrible stereotypical, and well,,,,,ignorant thing to say..
I think that there should be one more factor to consider. Many city Catholics attend a large church building where often no one knows or speaks to the other person. There is no sense of community or fellowship in many of these churches. While it may be true in some Protestant churches as well, most Protestant churches usually offer a little more friendliness and warmth.
Jehovah's Witnesses usually overwhelm a visitor with an appearance of Christian love and concern. If a person is not familiar with this kind of reception, they come away very impressed and interested. This was my first impression. And when coupled with people who were really interested in religion as a "way of life" rather than just a ritual, I was convinced that this was "the truth."
It was only years of observing questionable conduct and the superficiality of this "love" that I began to have doubts. But in the begining it was a powerful draw.
Witch, I am new here and please do not be offended, but I have to agree with the stereotype of Catholics being ignorant of the Bible. I grew up Catholic, went to C School 2-12 grades and left the churce after 28 years of life. I knew nothing of the Bible. Obviously, it is read at Mass, but there are no true "Bible studies" or the like. Sure I have met some very Bible knowledgeable Catholics, but that is rare. Most Caths go about life like everybody else with the exeption of Church on Sunday or a fair or other gathering. As far as why they become JW's, well, I have an anectode: The largest world religion is Catholic, the second.... Ex-Catholics.... By the way, I do not post this to enflame or hurt my Catholic friends, as I have many, and hope to here as well. It is simply my life's experiences. Obviously, I have a relatively small scope or "service area" contained in my knowledge base, granted!
Well my two cents would be, if you look back say 25-30 years ago, the cahtolic religion and the jw's resembled each other quite a bit. If you were catholic you were excommunicated for just about the same thing as jw's besides the blood issue. You were kicked out if you, got divorced, got pregnant before you were married. The two religions resemble each other so the draw was there at the time. But now I couldn't teel ya.My two cents. - obiwan
Not so in Indiana. There were at least a dozen girls in our class (we were rebellious, btw) who got pregnant. Nothing happens to them - from the church view. Society in general stigmatized them. Go to confession, do your rosaries, you're forgiven. Simplistic & easy on the mental state of person. Divorce? Not excommunicated.........just not allowed to receive sacraments ---and no one would ever know that except yourself. In all my years being - or being around - Catholics, I've never even heard of someone being excommunicated.
Because most Catholics are ignorant of what the bible says. -lv4fer
Little Witch - ya gotta be more careful about that reading comprehension! YES - the vast majority of Catholics are ignorant of what the Bible teaches. Until 1959, no Catholic was even allowed a Bible in their home - less they misinterpret it. Only a priest could interpret the Bible. Sound familiar? My sister went to a bible class once while studying with the jw's (me). She asked about the realism of the Flood - and the priest (who I knew from hs) said "OMG - they don't have you believing in the Flood, do they?" She was so humiliated that she continued her study with the jw's. We were so nice. Bible salesmen were elated when the US Catholics could buy bibles. We had one of those Big Red Bibles on our coffee table with all the pretty pictures. But no one in our family ever read it. Catholics have Catecisms (sp?) where we were taught church rules intermingled with the bible. We had our Missles for prayers & invocations, etc. We had our song books to sing. They covered everything.....just like the WTBTS. Bluesaphire - you're right about the Catholics not being as near as controlling as they used to be. Ever watch Sex in the City? The attorney was getting her baby baptised to appease her boyfriend's mother. She met with the priest and crossed out everything that wasn't politically correct. The baptism was almost silent. The comment was........"Catholics are so glad to get somebody they'll say - or not say - about anything." Agreed. "Way Back then" - and I've heard Canadian Catholics were much worse - the Catholics were very high control. We just never realized that JW's were. And JW's were so good at mocking/tearing down the Catholic Church! I knew their background....but the Catholics had the same creedo as jw's today "We're imperfect and we'd prefer not to talk about specifics." waiting
When I first encountered JWs in 1958 I was 14. I knew very little about the Church and even less about the Bible. Had I spent as much time learning about the Catholic Church and its interpretation of the Bible at the outset, I never would have left it in the first place. I could have avoided so much doubt and confusion, because I returned full circle in 1966.
I confess I have not read through this thread, so if my comment is a repeat..forgive.
My take on why there are so many ex-Catholic JWs (including my mother's family): because, by and large, most Catholics are total ignoramus'es when it comes to the Bible. The average Catholic has NO CLUE as to what is even in the Bible that, when the readily trained JW shows up at their door, they can run scriptural circles around them. They "wow" them with their knowledge, faulty as it may be.
Am I anti-Catholic? No. But, through many field service experiences I am confident in saying that the Catholics are clueless when it comes to scripture. Easy targets.
Bradley
Witch, I am new here and please do not be offended, but I have to agree with the stereotype of Catholics being ignorant of the Bible. I grew up Catholic, went to C School 2-12 grades and left the churce after 28 years of life. I knew nothing of the Bible. Obviously, it is read at Mass, but there are no true "Bible studies" or the like.
So HuskerMike, just because YOU didn't listen during Mass or attend any of the many bible studies, doesn't mean the Church doesn't have them. The Bible itself is a Tradition of the church or didn't you learn that when you were Catholic?
The fact is that all children in any religion tend to daydream during church services. Then when they grow up, many switch religions thinking, "I didn't learn anything in my religion....." When the reality is that since it is not a FORCED to attend and answer word for word in a high control atmosphere, then it is up to the individual. You get what you put in.
