Paul Grundy has done some pretty impressive work on this subject, and without all the drama of, well you know, that other guy:
Oubliette
JoinedPosts by Oubliette
-
155
Survey: How long were you in the cult vs what year you were baptized
by ILoveTTATT2 inhi people,.
i want as much data as possible on the effect of the internet on the time captured by the cult.. please answer the three following questions about yourself or about someone you know (for example, if your parents or grandparents were jw's and left).
1) were you raised as a jw, or did you convert?.
-
-
-
155
Survey: How long were you in the cult vs what year you were baptized
by ILoveTTATT2 inhi people,.
i want as much data as possible on the effect of the internet on the time captured by the cult.. please answer the three following questions about yourself or about someone you know (for example, if your parents or grandparents were jw's and left).
1) were you raised as a jw, or did you convert?.
-
-
Oubliette
the average post 2000 is less than 10 years.
Well it would have to be, wouldn't it.
It's only 2015.
(2015 - 1999) / 2 = 8.
What did you expect?
Also, you're only asking people that have left to participate so you are automatically excluding everyone still in. Although, discounting for the slight decreasing trend in baptisms over the past decade or so, we would expect the average length of time people have been "in" the religion since 2000 to be about the mathematical mean also, but for the opposite reason.
It would be more meaningful to know what percentage of active JWs have left at any given time. The way the WTBTS reports data makes it extremely difficult to know this.
There was a very detailed discussion about this general idea about 4 years ago back before SLIMBOYFAT left (welcome back) and everyone here was still on speaking terms with Cedars.
As I recall, this was one of the first threads where Cedars got his knickers in a knot because people were calling him on his flawed statistical analysis:
-
The discussion really gets interesting around page 7.
-
9
Proof of Aliens
by Coded Logic inso today i just found out that aliens are real.
two people came by my house and shared the good news.
the conversation went something like this:.
-
-
-
55
SHUNNING - Unchristian Psychological Torture
by EdenOne insome time ago, i wrote an extensive article on shunning and published it on my website.
since that website had views on doctrinal matters that no longer reflect my current stand, i took the website down.
however, my views on this matter are still current, and for the benefit of everyone here, i'm going to post the article here.
-
-
Oubliette
JD: From the perspective of a Jehovah's Witness the bible does justify shunning
Right. Again, that is only because this is what they are TOLD the bible says and--more importantly--what they are TOLD it means.
Eden demonstrated there are alternate interpretations. That is just onepart of his evidence based argument.
Fundamentally however, to persuade a JW to abandon his acceptance of shunning as practiced by JWs you would have to undermine their faith in the Governing Body as God's spokesmen/representatives on Earth and/or their faith in the Bible.
As important as those are, this is not part of his thesis. Perhaps in a concluding section of his essay, Eden could raise the issue that since the GB have this wrong, maybe they are wrong about other things, especially their role as G.O.D. (Guardians of Doctrine). This would be a good segue into Geoff Jackson's admission to the ARC that it would be "presumptuous" to claim that they (the GB) are God's spokesmen.
-
28
Sundays without the indoctrination session...
by Tornintwo inwhat are you doing instead of the meeting?.
i'm ordering cool personalised pressies for all of my non jw family online, whilst listening to some great 80's classics (currently fade to grey, visage).
.
-
-
-
55
SHUNNING - Unchristian Psychological Torture
by EdenOne insome time ago, i wrote an extensive article on shunning and published it on my website.
since that website had views on doctrinal matters that no longer reflect my current stand, i took the website down.
however, my views on this matter are still current, and for the benefit of everyone here, i'm going to post the article here.
-
-
Oubliette
JD: From the perspective of a Jehovah's Witness the bible does justify shunning
Only because they are TOLD that is what the bible says and what it means. This is the definition of indoctrination.
Are you aware that in 1947 the JW religion lambasted the RCC for its practice of excommunication? They called it ""an instrument by which the clergy attained a combination of ecclesiastical power and secular tyranny that finds no parallel in history."- Awake! January 8th, 1947, p. 27
The quote is on the right hand bottom of the page.
-
55
SHUNNING - Unchristian Psychological Torture
by EdenOne insome time ago, i wrote an extensive article on shunning and published it on my website.
since that website had views on doctrinal matters that no longer reflect my current stand, i took the website down.
however, my views on this matter are still current, and for the benefit of everyone here, i'm going to post the article here.
-
-
Oubliette
JD: You cannot prove shunning is ... wrong.
That is simply not true.
Anything that needlessly hurts people is wrong. Institutionalized shunning as practiced by cults, including JWs, injures both the target and everyone that shuns them.
There is abundant evidence for this.
-
155
Survey: How long were you in the cult vs what year you were baptized
by ILoveTTATT2 inhi people,.
i want as much data as possible on the effect of the internet on the time captured by the cult.. please answer the three following questions about yourself or about someone you know (for example, if your parents or grandparents were jw's and left).
1) were you raised as a jw, or did you convert?.
-
-
Oubliette
1) no
2) 1984
3) 2009
25 years
-
38
Bible Versus Quran Experiment - Genius!
by cofty inabsolutely brilliant social experiment.
enjoy.. ....
-
-
Oubliette
Brilliant, abso-fucking-lutely brilliant!
I bet that'd fool most dubs.
-
17
I made a bet...
by Garrett in...with a sister.
she says she knows an elder that can prove me wrong in everything i say about the organization.
i bet her that he will not be able to answer my questions and if he does, that he will tell me to have faith.
-
-
Oubliette
Ask her if she knows which prominent elder said this:
- "I do not answer to Watchtower. .... Watchtower does not have, and never has had, any authority over me." - Gerrit Lösch in a signed Declaration submitted to the Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Diego, dated February 4th, 2014
-
Here is a link to the declaration:
-
Look at Items #8 & 9 on page 2.
