Do JWs Get Excited About WT Publications Any More? (page 2)

Diogenesister

My son has been watching and reading a lot about Anglicanism and The Church of Scotland numbers tanking, too. It's not just JWs that is failing to attract the young.

I suppose the major difference is the whole end times doctrine. The mainstream churches have at least the potential to recover and there are other ways into the church ie school, the Scouts, outreach homeless charities rehabs etc and of course traditional times we turn to the church within our culture - Christenings, weddings and services such as remembrance days (US veterans day) Christmas services, harvest festivals etc None of which Jehovah's witnesses have.

This is where they have a problem. They have no recovery point if the end times don't arrive which was their major selling point. They have none of these "inroads" for members that other churches have...like, at all.

NotFormer

Diogenesister, you're right about mainstream churches at least being more noticeable in the community. In the town where I live there are a bunch of old churches with pipe organs. Last year they organised an "organ crawl", an afternoon where each church would be open at a certain time and an organist or two would play a piece or two on the organ before moving on to the next church, the audience moving on with them. I was too crook (sick) that year to attend, unfortunately.

Recently one of the churches allowed the organist to play a piece she had been learning, Bach's Passacaglia, at the end of the service. It was very moving. 😢

I can't see the WT opening up to outsiders in similar ways. "Brother Jones Solos the Latest WT Christmas Carol*" probably doesn't have much pulling power, and besides, the WT probably doesn't have the insurance to cover such events.

* https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/4864613443698688/org-came-out-christmas-song

Diogenesister

. Last year they organised an "organ crawl", an afternoon where each church would be open at a certain time and an organist or two would play a piece or two on the organ before moving on to the next church, the audience moving on with them. I was too crook (sick) that year to attend, unfortunately.

Recently one of the churches allowed the organist to play a piece she had been learning, Bach's Passacaglia, at the end of the service. It was very moving

Oh boy I would have been there in a heartbeat I'm obsessed with organ music! Actually that's another massive draw....music. Even if you're not into 'high church' music as such, or plain song etc etc, who doesn't love a good hymn or Christmas carol? I have to be honest I can barely count on one hand the JW songs I have a fondness for (music was always my guilty secret as a witness. I used to watch "Songs of praise" with my non jw granny and blame her lol)

Hey it's funny I know what crook is I'm married to a kiwi lol😂

HiddlesWife

My ex-Dub relatives informed me that there are a small number of U-UPIMIs + SPIMIs (they know of) who get "quite happy" when ANY info comes to the fore. When one older sister acted out, cheering after the CLAM at her Cong, several Dubs looked at her and laughed, STHs + doing eye rolls at this woman. #PATHETIC

Beth Sarim

Dan & Angela Clark on Life After Religion recently uploaded a video touching on this.

If the super PIMIs or uber PIMIs dont wake up after singing these xmas like songs about Jesus & Bethelam,,then unfortunately nothing will.

They will never snap out of it.

Slidin Fast

The last time I got excited about a WT publication was in 1998. I bought a case of "Truth" books at "pioneer rate" at an assembly when they were released. They were like gold dust then, you could flog them like hot pies. Never had better placements or more money in my pocket as a pio. You could start studies like shelling peas. It almost seemed worthwhile at that time..

Then came 1975.

Earnest

Slidin Fast, you must mean 1968 (not 1998). I remember that too. That combined with the 6-month study was an exciting time.

Vidiot

What Diogenesister said (at the top of the page).

I think that to recent (non-overlapping) generations, the idea that the World could End just doesn’t seem possible. I think it’s partly because there’s so many people on the planet now… it’s kinda hard to get rid of 8 billion of anything.

Not to mention that these days, the End-Time narratives in holy books sound more like bad drug trips than prophecies (Patmos Island in the First Century AD was used as an insane asylum… take that however you want.)

For some of my still-in relatives, the “New System” is their carrot (they’re getting old and sickly, it ain’t pretty)… Armageddon’s just the unpleasant but necessary layover to get there.

Slidin Fast

I must get into the habit of proof reading my comments. Yes. it was 1968.

TonusOH

Vidiot: I think that to recent (non-overlapping) generations, the idea that the World could End just doesn’t seem possible.

One reason for that is the reach of always-on media and quick access to news or to sites that cover those bits of news. It doesn't take long to find long lists of end-of-world predictions, and many of those are within thirty years of the present. If people constantly predict something and it doesn't happen, confidence in those predictions will --predictably-- falter. Harold Camping may have been the straw that broke that particular camel's back.

Do JWs Get Excited About WT Publications Any More?

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