2023 Yearly Report UNDER the Microscope (page 3)

InquiryMan

I know for sure The OldHippi knows what he is takling about.

FFGhost

Yeah, I get what TOH is saying. Perhaps my comparison was a bit coarse.

But still, if your gross increase is 4% and your gross loss is 3%, your net increase is 1%.

Your net increase is 1% “in reality”. What counts is the net, not the gross.

The JWs are able to replace their members who die, quit, or are kicked out, plus a little more. But the replacements are by and large, especially in the western world, children of believers who are groomed from birth to become baptized JWs. The majority of those born-in baptized JWs will get kicked out or quit within 10-15 years of baptism.

A net growth of 1% isn’t an indicator of robust growth. The numbers are still increasing but the slope of the growth curve is already past it’s inflection point. It’s inevitable that at some point within “X” years even the net will drop into the negative numbers.

dropoffyourkeylee

The population growth rate compared to the JW growth rate is a useful comparison. Using population rates (last published for 2022);

world pop +0.8%

World jw +1.3%

US pop +0.6%

US jw -1%

Vidiot

As far as I’m concerned, membership numbers are irrelevant if the difficulties the Org is experiencing aren’t really membership-related.

Magnum

I'm really not even paying much attention to the numbers anymore; I'm just going by the general, overall pulse/feel/look/"smell"/etc.

JWdom is dying. It is weak. It is floundering. The org used to be proactive; it is now only reactive. It is simply in survival mode... flapping at the water trying to keep from drowning. It used to be analytical and would focus on doctrine and prophecy; it can no longer do that because the internet has exposed it and equipped others to counter it. Back in my zealous days, a lot of JWs almost relished challenges, deep questions, and arguments; now they run from such and don't even know their own doctrine.

A couple of years ago, a 35ish female JW approached me in a parking lot and tried to give me a tract. I didn't make it easy on her and tried to talk with her. I found out that she had never even heard of Fred Franz. That is inconceivable to me. He was one of the most influential figures in JW history; he was their one and only guru for many years, and she had never even heard of him. When her partner (parked in an SUV nearby) saw that I wasn't low-hanging fruit, she started calling for the lady to come join her (and leave me).

The old JWdom is dead. This new thing is a shallow, "plastic", dumbed down, televangelist-like, embarrassing, shiny & glittery, cult which has become a social club as compared to the somewhat analytical, seemingly scholarly religion it used to be.

I have mentioned this a number of times, but I see benefit in mentioning it again. Back in around the '80's, just in my area alone, there were eight engineers, two dentists, a veterinarian, an attorney, two medical doctors, a college professor with a doctorate, a high school teacher with a BS in physics, a brilliant armed forces pilot, a number of smart businessmen, and a number of deep-thinking hippies who became JWs. And these are just ones I'm aware of; I don't even know who became JWs in a nearby huge city. That will never happen again! Gone are the days when JWdom will appeal to such types.

The ones referred to in the previous paragraph studied, researched, questioned, analyzed, thought deeply. Such is virtually disallowed now in JW land, because the leaders know their theology and history can't stand up to such.

So, the numbers don't tell the whole story, and I really don't even trust them. I do like seeing reports and analyzing the numbers, but I put more emphasis on the general appearance. I do believe we're going to start seeing a decline in numbers in the relatively near future. If JWdom does continue to grow, though, it will be due to born-ins and low caliber types from the outside (the unstable, the needy, the lonely, those on the low end of the intelligence spectrum, etc.).

Hellothere

I remember back in the 80s how everyone was looking forward too yearly report. Elders would go up too podium, all excited, and read the report. Rest of congregation could point out different numbers in report they thought interesting. Watchtower pointed to report saying it showed how blessed org was. I don't see any blessings in today's report. It's either same as other groups or worse. Where's the proof of blessings? They been moving forward in Africa. All groups doing that. Birthrate in some places in Africa is super high. Been told by African JWs that if father in family becomes a JW, rest of family must also. Either they believe teachings or not. It's a culture thing.

Magnum

I remember back in the 80s how everyone was looking forward to yearly report. Elders would go up to podium, all excited, and read the report. Rest of congregation could point out different numbers in report they thought interesting.

I was there and I remember that time vividly. It's sad to me. Back then, I thought the "new world" was imminent and I never dreamed of growing old. It's all gone now - my hope, my youth, the excitement, the religion I once would loved and would have died for, etc. - all gone.

We were the small one who was becoming a mighty nation. We were associated with locusts who were swarming, climbing walls, etc.; we thought our "locust-like" preaching work was serving as a bold warning to an entire world about to be violently destroyed. We were proud to be known as "Jehovah's Witnesses".

Now... just look. The once seemingly strong religion is now weak, cowardly, & puny. Any preaching that still exists is lame and unclear; it is now snail-like. JWs have nowhere near the depth they used to have. We used to think GB members were like dignified, scholarly monks who pored over the Scriptures in the original languages by candlelight late into the night seeking enlightenment. However, we've now seen behind the curtain and we see them as clueless, embarrassing buffoons.

Yep, I remember those days when we looked forward to those reports. Now, I look forward to them for different reasons and with a different mindset.

FedUpJW

Just remember the old saying, "Liars figure, and figures lie."

LongHairGal

MAGNUM:

You say it well about how it was in the JW religion back in 1980s!.. I remember it too.

But, I know I was nowhere near as zealous as you and others there must have been. No, I was the pariah on the fringes who worked. When the religion dropped that hourly time reporting with the stroke of a pen at the recent annual meeting, I thought about all those Witnesses who knocked themselves out for years.. There were no apologies, no nothing.

I can only imagine how all these disappointed people must feel about this religion now!

JW GoneBad

What Magnum said...spot on!

This cult...like some of the old, aged GB meat-heads...has one foot in the grave!

2023 Yearly Report UNDER the Microscope

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