ARE WATCHTOWER SOCIETY STATISTICS REALLY TRUSTWORTHY?

prologos

Of all this it is comforting to know that 203 were executed. Sadness without words.

C. "A total of 6,019 had been arrested, several two, three or even more times, so that, all together, 8,917 arrests were registered. All together they had been sentenced to serve 13,924 years and two months in prison, two and a quarter times as long as the period since Adam's creation. A total of 2,000 brothers and sisters had been put into concentration camps, where they had spent 8,078 years and six months, an average of four years. A total of 635 had died in prison, 253 had been sentenced to death and 203 of these had actually bee

This record seems to be the most accurate, let it be realized that the WTS has in its history embellished facts and figures intensionally to sensationalize their acknowledgment of being persecuted in their preaching efforts.

Simon

Anytime a figure ends in "000" you know it's an estimation.

They could be counting different things and not making it clear and it's also possible that they do more research and get more accurate figures over time.

For me the despicable thing is that they use their deaths to reinforce their own authority and let's not forget that prior to the war the WTS was all pro-hitler and anti-jew.

blondie

Look up the convention where Henschel and other jws were made to stand out in the sun at a convention in Liberia. There is an article in the publications adjusting the original numbers involved.

sir82

Just asking: Weren't "official" counts hard to come by in the years after the war?

I've never really looked into it, but it seems reasonable to think that it might have taken decades for researchers to determine anything resembling accurate counts.

Of course, even if that were the case, you'd think the WT would have thrown in a few "estimate are that" disclaimers here & there.

Dagney

I think exact numbers for that would be hard to come by. But they should be more consistent nevertheless in their research.

With that being said, their statistics overall are dodgy. They are not interested in honesty or care about what information they give out as long as it is for the good of the corporation in their minds.

OrphanCrow

Are Watchtower statistics really trustworthy?

No. Absolutely not.

I have explored the differing reports of JW membership leading up to and following WW2 and I think that the internal division within the Bible Student organization during the 20s and 30s in Germany had much to do with the discrepancy in numbers that you will find from differing sources.

There was a major split in the WTS in Germany in 1925 - Rutherford made a trip to that country and gave the boot to Conrad Binkele, who was in charge of the German WTS, resulting in many of the Bible Students following Binkle, rather than Rutherford. In Germany, even after the name change in 1931 to Jehovah's witnesses, the name of 'Bible Student' was used to encompass all of the Bible Students - both those who stayed loyal to Joe's Army and those who followed the 'original' Bible Student group, led by Conrad Binkele who founded the Free Bible Students in Germany in 1928.

I believe that many of the discrepancies in membership numbers in Germany, both in and out of the concentration camps, has much to do with that split not being recognized by outsiders to the WTS, and that the WTS has exploited that misunderstanding. By including all of the Bible Students in the 'JW' numbers, the Watchtower Society has been able to inflate their numbers and massage them whenever appropriate.

The separation of 'Bible Student' from 'Jehovah's witness' was based upon a doctrinal shift - those who stayed with the Bible Students held onto the Zionist doctrine started by Russell, and those who followed Joe adopted the replacement theology. In effect, there were two distinct groups of Bible Students - one doctrine (Zionist theology) put those who followed it in direct opposition to Nazi ideology. And the other doctrine - Joe's replacement Theology - was more compatible to the Nazi position.

It took Rutherford until 1932(?) to make that about face in doctrine, just in time to make the plea he did to Hitler in 1933.

The WW2 concentration camps, in effect, became an ideal place for the 'sifting' within the German WTS organization to take place, and that could be the explanation for why there are differing accounts of how the JWs were treated in the camps - those who followed the 'old' Zionist theology (Bible Students) were treated far more harshly than those who adopted the new replacement theology (JWs).

The Watchtower Society has embraced all the WW2 purple triangles as their own - when in reality, many of those purple triangles were not part of the Watchtower Society at the time.

StephaneLaliberte

This level of innacuracy is in large part due to the fact that an estimated 1/3 of the JW became innactive and left during the war. As a result, active JW could have thought that they had died when in fact, they had "left the truth". In that sense, it might not be far fetch to say that they had not inflated their numbers on purpose. They were likely surprised by how many people actually left instead of holding up to their beliefs.

Bungi Bill

Are Watchtower Society Statistics Really Trustworthy?

For a variety of reasons, no. Good points made by OrphanCrow and also ecan6:

i.e. Those of the "Bible Student" group who had already split with Uncle Joe Boozerford, but still ran afoul of the Nazis - and also those who became inactive during the Nazi era. The WTS definitely would not want that figure admitted to!

Bill.

Crazyguy

Its just like their membership numbers printed every year and stating things like there are witnesses in places like Pakistan. Its my opinion their numbers are lies and some of the places they say they have members are lies.