japan had a massive increase in publishers from 1950-1998. then in 1998 something happened and jehovah's blessing switched off!!!.
1998 -222,912 publishers 3,802 congregations.
2006 -217,519 publishers 3,164 congregations.
Fewer Jdubs in many fewer K halls. Amalgamation of congs will make it appear like there is only a small reduction in numbers present. Since the org owns all the property now, perhaps they will welcome, even encourage a reduction so they can make a profit from the sales of the excess halls. Perhaps this will be the pattern for the future as it winds down?
I would call this living off your own body fat...
japan had a massive increase in publishers from 1950-1998. then in 1998 something happened and jehovah's blessing switched off!!!.
1998 -222,912 publishers 3,802 congregations.
2006 -217,519 publishers 3,164 congregations.
to use a metaphor; any tower built on insufficient foundations will sooner or later fall..
the origin of the watchtower organisation was in the announcement of ct russells pet theory, formed from adventism that christ had arrived in the heavens in 1874. within a biblical forty years i.e.1914, gods enemies he said, would be destroyed and peace would pervade the earth.
he was completely wrong.. the watchtower magazine however by this time had a large readership and trundled on after it was commandeered by rutherford who nourished its doomsday scam.
Amen to your hope "that one day the Borg wakes up to realise the harm they are doing". And yes they could change their name again. In the rebranding of the cult, it has already demoted that ugly old image of a watchtower and replaced it with a racy new JW logo. I think however that the very name "Jehovah" is an instant turn-off for most people, a toxic smell to be avoided!
They want to survive because it is an evolutionary desire for all organisms to survive, even the ugly ones and I think that from a humanitarian perspective, the JW org is repulsive... but wants to live...mainly because of its very large membership base to whom they supply a hope (although a false one) and the leaders of the cult, like all unchallenged despots, want to maintain power.
Once they wake up, they could ask forgiveness from all the millions they have misled and hurt ...and revert (as you suggest Heaven) to the less toxic name of International Bible Students.
But I would rather they pack their bags forever.
hello, i am a new member.
i grew up in the jw religion; however i am not an active jw.
have been visiting this site for about 3 yrs, and have become quite attached to it.
Welcome to the site New Order, I really enjoyed your story. Sorry to hear you were made to live your childhood in a holy terror courtesy of your family using Watchtower superstitions to shape you up.
I loved your pointed comment when the JW suggested that God would punish the false prophets and you asked will God do that to the JW org because of 1975. Delicious!
to use a metaphor; any tower built on insufficient foundations will sooner or later fall..
the origin of the watchtower organisation was in the announcement of ct russells pet theory, formed from adventism that christ had arrived in the heavens in 1874. within a biblical forty years i.e.1914, gods enemies he said, would be destroyed and peace would pervade the earth.
he was completely wrong.. the watchtower magazine however by this time had a large readership and trundled on after it was commandeered by rutherford who nourished its doomsday scam.
Alex, I agree with the idea of the GB announcing an imminent escalation of Biblical doom. This would justify the selling and creaming off the profit from sales of the kingdom halls they have 'relieved' from local congregation ownership.
But I ask the same question where on earth did all the money go? If they had an annual income of approaching two billion from all sources in the recent years, their worldly hubris gave them confidence to build even more than they they expected to finance. Their vision of worldly grandeur was not sustainable.
The income has obviously plummeted and this is related to and commensurate with loss of confidence in the televangelist governing body TV extravaganza. A situation they were forced into as demagogues after the demise of the printed page.
I am inclined to Vidiot's view that their belief beyond belief was that their God would in their own phraseology "bless them", they have no such blessing.
to use a metaphor; any tower built on insufficient foundations will sooner or later fall..
the origin of the watchtower organisation was in the announcement of ct russells pet theory, formed from adventism that christ had arrived in the heavens in 1874. within a biblical forty years i.e.1914, gods enemies he said, would be destroyed and peace would pervade the earth.
he was completely wrong.. the watchtower magazine however by this time had a large readership and trundled on after it was commandeered by rutherford who nourished its doomsday scam.
if a thread has been made about this i apologize.. if anyone has not seen the latest hbo documentary release, "going clear: scientology and the prison of belief" i cannot recommend highly enough that you watch it.
as the majority of us here are either survivors of or still trapped in a cult ourselves, this documentary will most certainly intrigue you.
it's the most in-depth and extensively researched documentary on scientology ever and features interviews with ex-scientologists who were right at the top until they fell foul of their megalomaniacal, paranoid chairman of the board, david miscavige.. i have read some of l. ron hubbard's books out of curiosity and outright dismissed them as utter nonsense.
to use a metaphor; any tower built on insufficient foundations will sooner or later fall..
the origin of the watchtower organisation was in the announcement of ct russells pet theory, formed from adventism that christ had arrived in the heavens in 1874. within a biblical forty years i.e.1914, gods enemies he said, would be destroyed and peace would pervade the earth.
he was completely wrong.. the watchtower magazine however by this time had a large readership and trundled on after it was commandeered by rutherford who nourished its doomsday scam.
To use a metaphor; any tower built on
insufficient foundations will sooner or later fall.
The origin of the Watchtower organisation was in the announcement of CT Russell’s pet theory, formed from Adventism that Christ had arrived in the heavens in 1874. Within a Biblical forty years i.e.1914, God’s enemies he said, would be destroyed and peace would pervade the Earth. He was completely wrong.
The Watchtower magazine however by this time had a large readership and trundled on after it was commandeered by Rutherford who nourished its doomsday scam. These questionable building blocks are the "insufficient foundations” on which the Tower stands. The initial idea was utterly worthless in concept and practice, postponing “the date” has always and will ever prove futile... but it gained supporters, made a pyramid of money and empowered its leadership.
Doomsday teaching is a good business in snake-oil circles but as a notable American once said, “You can’t fool all the people all of the time”.
The organisation now appears to be on the verge of collapse. The appalling management of funds is amplified by dramatic reduction in income...probably induced by loss of belief and commitment by the membership and drop in numbers in the richer West. Compounding these disasters is the prospect of further crippling financial awards against them.
We can see the intellectual bankruptcy by science exposing the implausibility of the Bible. Their moral bankruptcy is now apparent from the sexual abuse handling and possibly is to be followed by financial bankruptcy.
How do you think it will go from here on?
last circuit assembly there was 700+ present and 1 baptized.. recently there was a foreign language assemble of over 500 and 1 baptized.. in the last 5-10 years i haven't been to one assembly where there has been more than a handful baptized.
at the memorial all i see are the same old faces that have been coming since the flood.. the hall complex i attend has 6 congregation and several groups-there is negative growth.
when you factor in the demographically aging folk and the many who have already passed away, i don't know where they get the 8 million.. i know that most of the growth is from the developing countries, but still i think they are fudging their numbers.
If the numbers are true, it is no gage of the quality of its membership. How many are are there now just putting in time for the sake of looking active or one step below that, just reporting time without the effort for fear of reprisals.
Religions in the main are social affairs and to be a member and to belong somewhere is one of its perks.
Doctrine can be a take it or leave it thing. Perhaps to remain in business JW org will recognise this...but I hope they fail very publicly and completely.
how accurate is the bible?
the "compiled" version (council of nicaea) was not established for hundreds, or even thousands, of years after events happened.
stories were handed down generation to generation to generation before being written down.
Welcome to the fray Wire rider!
The Bible is no more accurate than AK Rowling's books which share the same motifs of magic realism.
The great confidence trick was that performed by the Roman Catholic Church in the fourth century onwards demanding from the illiterate masses a belief that the Bible is sacred and from God. This untruth has been handed down the generations to the gullible ever since.
Science has an infinitely better method of determining truthfulness. The Bible as a guide to everything is an ignorant superstition which has had its day.
