I suspect there are between 10 and 20 million.
AlanF
ratio of active to gone
by kgfreeperson 15 Replies latest watchtower bible
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willyloman
Building on what Mac said:
So that's 3 million non-active JWs; in addition to that, how many close calls are running around out there? I think back on all the kids who never got baptized and just disappeared from the org when they grew up and figure that's got to add another 1 or 2 million. I don't buy the 15 million memorial attendees; these include a lot of unbaptized kids, relatives, acquaintances, "unbelieving mates," whack jobs, walking wounded, mentally feeble and other assorted hangers-on.
Best guess: 6 million JWs; another 5 million near-misses. It boils down to: the preaching work isn't THAT effective. You'd think 6 million people loose on the planet in posession of the ultimate cosmic truth would each be able gather a crowd far in excess of their number. Imagine, for example, how many people would follow you home if you merely stood on the crowded corner and passed out hundred dollar bills. Wouldn't the authentic answer to life's mysteries be worth more than money?
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Aztec
Ummmm, I'd take the money; more pragmatic.
~Aztec
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kgfreeperson
I've been thinking about the poster who suggested that only people who were already having doubts would show up on a site like this. And thinking if there are twice as many people who left but are still wondering if they've left "the truth" discover THE truth, what effect that might/will have on the faithful. (That is a terrible sentence, but my head hurts and I hope you get it.) I'm thinking tipping point, critical mass, 100th monkey. At what point does the exodus make a difference?
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uriah
The Society likes to use figures, especially about how much literature is printed. Using the above figures as a guide, the WT is about 24million copies each issue. Now when I was not trolling out the mags as a 'good but not appointable bro on account of being rebellious wiv a beard', we took home 14 wt and 10 awakes - one each to study and 10 pairs to put in the loft ( sorry 'place'.). Now assume each witness has one for personal study (6million) and say 2 million for infants and children who must have their own copy (8million) 16 million left. Now I know grillions of witnesses who have piles and they also have a lot of magazines in their homes too and not many place the older ones (like me cos they are old after all who wants last fortnights spiritual food). I reckon about 5 million get placed world wide, of which most end up in the cat litter tray and according to 'in search of christian freedom' the WT knows that not many JW's actually read them - not that it matters cos they still get the dosh. So, with all this number crunching, can it be said that the WWWW (world wide witnessing work) is effective, no and that is why there are at least, oo, a grillion on this board and twice that number kicking the tyres wondering if they should join. Well, there you have it. Or not as the case may be.
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Faraon
Don't forget that many have died. Let us take all into account.
More interesting would be to see how many new studies, and how many saw the real light before they got into their dark light!