Are these the "crucial" years for the Watchtower ? Is time running out ?

by run dont walk 17 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  bluesapphire

  OHappyDay, what exactly would going back to "primitive Christianity" accomplish? In primitive Christianity they had NO bible. And the bible itself is a tradition of Christianity (i.e., tradition of men).

  Island Woman, if they reformed sufficiently enough for you, would you go back? My bet is that no matter what reforms they could muster up, most of us would not go back. The reform would save them though from losing everyone else in the long run. And it could save people from dying from the blood doctrine et al too.

  Metatron, You and me both!
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  Loris

  Watchtower Dreamland

  a continuing pretense, with adults collectively pretending that it's real.

  There can be no reform. Everyone involved is walking around brain dead. When one of them wakes up to reality they leave. The force that pushed the WT to where it is today is dead. It is like a car that you push, it will continue to roll after you stop pushing, but it will eventually need another push. The glory days of the WT are gone. The publications are a rehash of old publications, except for the Isaiah trash. Even those are a compilation of older WT articles put into one book. No new light there. There are no active brain cells to generate reform.

  Loris
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  core

  The Watchtower Organization is ripe for reform, imo, they will reform.

  islandwoman

  Difficult to see how - where would they start? No disrespect but nothing in that rotten stack of cards could be replaced without it causing a ripple effect as each previous failure of new light is changed again it impacts on other teachibngs and the need for change widens - the key issue is Does Jehovah bless the WT organisatioin with the GB representing him ? If not it does not matter what they change - they are just as much part of what they call "Babylon the Great" as the Catholic Church.
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  Elsewhere

  I think what is happening is the WTS is reaching its population saturation point... basically that means that their growth is leveling out and will remain relatively constant. Any future growth will be the result of the relative world population growth. There is also the possibility that their growth rate will continue to drop until it starts to become negative growth. I'm inclined to think that this is what will happen.

  Consider this... the world's population is growing at about 1.4%... the JW's growth between 2001 and 2002 was 3.3%. When adjusted for world growth they grew at 1.9%... which means they had a real positive growth.

  Fear not!

  If you look at their past statistics, their percent of growth has been dropping since 1974 which peaked at 13.4%. They have gone from a growth of 13.4% to 3.3%. This means that their rate of growth has dropped by 94% in 27 years. OUCH! The average JW does not take the time to dig up the old stats and do the number, so each year they are seeing 3.8, 3.7, 3.6..... it just keeps getting lowing and lower... but they don't notice that. All they notice is the 3.4% GROWTH durring they yearly review and get all excited (<--- Self Deluded JW). However, they boys in the Service Department are well aware of the problem (<--- Boys in the Service Department).

  Trust me, the boys upstairs in Brooklyn are well aware of this problem and are doing all they can to reverse the trend. Thus Sayeth the LORD: More Field Service!!! More Donations!!! MORE!!! MORE!!! MORE!!!

  It is just a matter of time before they start shrinking in numbers. They petered out in 1975... it's just taking awhile for the ship to coast to a stop.
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  Elsewhere

  Oh, and I thought I would add that the WTS does not make it easy for the average JW (and more difficult of non-JWs) to do statistical research... they do not include the Worldwide Report in their CDROM. You have to get the numbers from the bound volumes.
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  r51785

  "The same goes for the imaginary "ministry". It's a "life-saving work" - trotting from door to door, meeting no one, talking to no one for hours, and often, placing nothing. It's make-believe, a continuing pretense, with adults collectively pretending that it's real."

  Field service is just a social event. I see from time to time the witnesses doing early morning street work at a strip mall in Rancho Cucamonga, CA. Four of them will congregate together at the far end of the strip mall in front of stores that don't open until 10:00 AM. That way they won't have to talk to anyone but themselves. I watch others walk up and down the sidewalk holding magazines in such a way that they are not easily seen and when they pass someone they turn the magazines inward to hide them. I've seen four, six, eight or more witnesses never talk to anyone for an hour, but of course count all the time.

  The only thing that makes field service bearable is the socializing with fellow sufferers.
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  mizpah

  Watchtower growth in the progressive countries has slowed and...in some cases, stopped. The largest increase is from "third world" countries. These people can least afford to give financial support to the Watchtower Society. The increase in these countries will burden the Watchtower instead of enriching it.

  The next big issue for the Watchtower will probably revolve around its pivotal date of 1914. If it changes this in any way, it will cause many to question other teachings in the Watchtower Society. Probably, many will still support the organization because of their own personal commitment.

  Penton thought it would come to a cross road. It would either have to come up with another date for the "end" as it did in 1975 or it would start to swing over to become just another denomination among denominations. Subtle changes are already evident in some of its teachings. But 1914 has been a major one for many years. The Watchtower Society will have to handle this one very carefully. And even at that, it will cause a falling away of significant numbers.
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  jgnat

  If we look at the WTBTS as a large, insular, family-run business such as Eaton, McCain, or Ford, their behaviour makes a lot more sense. If they are to continue corporate growth in the future, they might take some tips from papers like this one.

  http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/Research/2001/USABE-SBIDA/pdffiles/PAPERS/Volume1/041.pdf