What Is The Major Reason Jehovah’s Witnesses Exist?

by minimus 26 Replies latest jw friends

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  Ruby456

  xanth

  in Britain people are more realistic than their counterparts in the US. For example in the US there is less perception of increasing inequality while here in the UK people are more aware that the poor are becoming poorer. I really value this honestly and realistic aspect of UK life.

  Apart from that most psychologists agree that religion plays a part in overcoming mild forms of depression and anxiety and they see religion as having a positive role in society. For major forms of mental illness people rely on other things than religion. Surely you are aware of this from your work in a mental health charity? They tend to fall through the cracks into drug abuse, prison, homelessness and such like. Most people in prison have/have had some form of mental illness. This is truly tragic particularly as psychologists successfully argue that mental illness exists on a spectrum of normal responses to the vicissitudes to life.
• 

  Bugbear

  I joined 45 years ago. I was just over 20 and newly divorced. Then I met I girl that I fell in love with. It turned out that she was a JW. She said that she never ever would consider marriage with a non JW man. I was very ignorant when It comes to religion (in fact an atheist). Therefore an easy target when she asked me to take on a Bible study. Of course I accepted and the love bombing from the congregation, and a promise that she would marry me if I become a “brother”……

  When you are week (newly divorced), and in love, you do a lot of stupid things. In her congregation (she is still in) I haven´t seen more than 1 newcomers in 10 years. Obviously the few newcomers that come from outside are mentally very unstable. Many of them (according to my wife) suffer from various diagnoses. And her cong. has in 15 years been reduced from 60 members to around 25. I think this is the situation over all in Sweden. All the enthusiasm we had back in 75 is gone. When I meet an old friend (JW.s) they all look very gloomy and sad. They never mention anything about “the future paradise”. They never ever take up their Bibles and try to show be some scripture as they used to do. In fact they look scared to even mention that they once had a hope…… Pitifully, they now realize that there is no hope, no comfort, and that all their good friends all have been buried and forgotten.
• 

  Half banana

  You might first ask, “Why does any religion exist?” Existential comfort is probably the briefest explanation as Xanthippe explains.

  People want some certainty in a changing world and people want an explanation for why things are like they are. Explanations might satisfy emotionally but they need not be true. Most people who use rational thinking e.g. in the world of academia, conclude that there is no need to invoke spirits, gods or magic to explain our universe.

  So down to the specific question “What is the reason that JWs exist?” I would suggest that it is due to the efforts of entrepreneur CT Russell and the fact that his Watchtower outfit had commercial success; an understandable event considering the religious appetite of people in the US at the end of the 19th century. Secondly, that JF Rutherford, after great membership loss, was able to print 400 million pieces of brain numbing literature at a profit to make the Watchtower rich. However under NH Knorr the biggest source of wealth was the impetus given by declaring the doomsday year 1975 which accelerated membership numbers and yielded a vastly larger income platform as a consequence.

  What then is the major reason they exist? It is because they have a history of successfully deluding millions into a false belief of a reward of paradise if you comply with the demands of the JW org-- and making billions of dollars from it. Who but an honest moralist would bother to kill such a productive cash cow?
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  jwfacts

  They are one of the more sales focused religions, selling a very appealing message (if not totally ignorant) of never dying.
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  pontoon

  Another aspect is being a witness relieves them of a guilty conscience for being a uninvolved citizen, because jeh is going to fix it all, don't donate to Worley causes, don't become involved in any citizen group, don't volunteer for any type of civic service, don't vote, don't run for office, don't express any political views. And don't feel guilty about it because jeh is gonna fix it all.
• 

  ttdtt

  Reason they leave willingly: Reseach found on the Internet

  Reason they leave unwillingly: Sex
• 

  stuckinarut2

  As with all religions, it comes down to FOG

  Fear

  Obligation

  Guilt
• 

  millie210

  For me, I left because when I became aware of inept and corrupt elders and the leadership in New York failed to effectively address the matter. They wouldnt address it at all in fact.

  I would probably not have left over the elders actions alone, it was seeing that no one is really concerned about what goes on, so much as they are just concerned with keeping the machine running.

  That started me looking at the "machine" itself and well..........

  I can only compare it to the wizard of Oz. In order to keep publishers in place, they must keep them from peeking behind the curtain like I did.

  As for why they exist, people would love it if they could just hand over the big questions of life. Go to a few meetings a week, put some money in a box and bam! You are guaranteed God likes you AND all that goes with that...not the least of which is living forever someday in a better world.

  On the surface, that seems a fair exchange and easier than picking your own path through life with no guaranteed outcomes.

  As long as you dont scratch the veneer and see below the surface, it can still work for some.
• 

  Finkelstein

  Great thread,
  
• 

  EverApostate

  Jws offer an Eternal Life package but they want your unquestionable dedication to the WT in return.

  Initially, many accept it due to its rosiness. After a while, some like us try to unbundle it and find nothing in it but garbage.