what is the # 1 reason people join the JW's ??? what attracts people ???

by run dont walk 17 Replies latest jw friends

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  run dont walk

  being brought up in the borg, I always envied my friends that did not have to go in service, go to meetings, and waste their weekends away, I have never really been able to understand why someone would join the JW's unless they were born (forced) into it. Aside from maybe coming from an abusive lifestyle or relationship, or had serious drug/alcohol problems, this I could understand how the religion helped them get back on track.

  So why do people join ??? what is the attraction ???

  Even if Jehovah and Jesus were to show up on my doorstep and tell me the Watchtower is right about everything they have said, I would say "that's nice, do I die now, or later ???"
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  freedom96

  Well, you don't have to worry about God saying that the WTS is right. There is just no way. The evidence is quite clear.

  The # 1 reason people join the WTS? Simply being born into it, and getting baptized by a) peer pressure b) you think at the time it is the right thing to do.

  The only other reason? It fills a need for them at that particular time in their life.
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  shotgun

  Interesting subject.....one I have thought of and kind of conducted my own Angus Reid Poll.

  I have asked just about every JW I've met over the past several months that very question...How did you get the troof.

  1) Born into it.

  2) A loved one became involved and to please them they in turn gave it try, the rest is history.

  3) A crisis was going on in their life and someone came with all the answers.

  4) They were accepted into a large community and felt somthing no one else had ever given them...a feeling of belonging.

  I always ask this question to help myself understand how so many can be duped into joining an org which controls every aspect of their lives without even checking its history out.....For the ones born into it they trust the judgement of their parents and would probably be good muslims or budists if their parents were that...I fell into that lot, I should have known not to trust my parents...our family was so secretive about everything.

  I especially feel sorry for third world countries where they do not have anyway of knowing what they are getting involved with
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  Simon

  I think people are a bit more vulnerable after a major traumatic / upsetting event in their life and they are searching for answers.

  I don't think JWs have the answers but have a veneer of spirituality and nice, pleasant, wholesome society that would then attract people.

  Very few, I believe, join because they think the doctrines make sense - they are really secondary to the human relationships. After all, how many current JWs could accurately say what the WTS current teachings were? Most would probably be out of date and still hapr on about the generation of 1914.

  No, it's the heart-strings that get people in and then the help and support and personal stories that help them get out.
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  Frannie Banannie

  The only people they appeal to (IMHO) are vulnerable emotionally and spiritually...and they simply LUVVVVVVVVVVVV 'em in the front door, not lettin' on that they're gonna slap 'em out the back door if they dare to have an opinion or thought of their own or if they actually act like a human....

  Frannie B
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  ClassAvenger

  Even though I have never been in the sect, I like their door-to-door preaching. It's a good way to preach the Word of God to the people. (Of course, theirs is not really the Word of God, but the Word of the Org). On the matter of 'a feeling of belonging', from what I've heard, Christian churches are better at it. A friend in the sect says that he always feels out of place. -CA
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  ClassAvenger

  Anyone here an ex-JW who is now attending a Christian church? If so, in which did you feel more comfortable?
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  Mr Lebowski

  "...door-to-door preaching is a good way to spread the word of God to the people..."

  Jesus H. Christ on a popsicle stick, you never have been a JW, have you? :) It sucks a@@!

  If that statement were true, Kirby would be number one in vacuums, and Fuller Brush would be in the Fortune 500.

  My observations of those who join as adults is that they come from backgrounds where affection and appreciation are rare, and they like the easily-navigated social system that provides both if you play by the rules. Often they come from homes where there are no rules, where random abuse or such is common, and any set of rules looks good, especially if it provides a way to "earn" "brotherly love" (which of course cannot be earned, only freely given).

  I agree with the statement that it's not about the theology, it's about the relationships.
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  wednesday

  i know the living forever on a paradise earth, where we will all be young and perfect, is a big draw.
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  Panda

  I was 22 when I joined. I appreciated the bible study and did some study in the library about the name Jehovah, next the people were really nice and welcoming, heck I quit smoking everything to be a jw. I think it was the idea of bible study that first got me interested . But the people who presented the original bible lit and wanted to study were friends who had recently joined which made it that much easier. We were the group who came in after '75 and didn't learn the truth of it until a few years ago. I've got to praise the internet creators, this is the best and fastest way to get info.