So everybody I have been thinking about doing this for quite some time. Below is a complete analysis of how much time the 'adverage' Witness would spend per year if they followed through and took part in every single on of the societies reccomended activities. I made all numbers as low as I thought could be allowed, and I have a feeling that the final numbers if done scientifically would be much higher. With that said this makes for interesting discussion.
By looking at this basic outline of what is expected of each witness it become obvious that the WTS expects more fromt their membership than they could ever possilby give. They do this in order to keep the rank and file busy and in submission. Take a look for yourself:
Weekly Meetings
School and Service: 2 Hours
Public Talk and Watchtower Study: 2 Hours
Book Study: 1 Hour
5 Hours Per week times 52 Weeks = 260 Hours Per year
Meetings for field service: 15 minutes (13 Hours per year)
Totals = 273 Hours Per Year
Weekly Prepare for Meetings:
Study for Watchtower: 30 Minutes
Study for School and Service: 30 Minutes
Study for Book Study: 20 Minutes
Prepare for Field Service: 5 Minutes
Total: 73 Hours Per Year
Weekly Surround Time to Meetings
Getting Ready at Home: 15 Minutes
Travel to Kingdom Hall: 10
Time Spent Before Meeting: 12.5 Minutes
Time Spent after Meeting: 12.5 Minutes
Drive Back Home: 10 Minutes
Total Per Meeting = 1 Hour
Total Per Week = 3 Hours
Total Per Year = 156 Hours
Weekly Field Service:
Recommended Field Service Time (National Average) = 9.5 Hours Per Month
Total = 114 Hours Per Year
Weekly Field Service Surround (Wasted) Time
Getting Ready at Home: 15 Minutes
Travel to Kingdom Hall: 10 Minutes
Time Wasted after meeting for Service untill 'time' starts: 5 minutes
Field Service Break: 15 Minutes
Drive Back to the Hall after time stops: 15 minutes
Drive Back Home: 10 Minutes
Total = 88.4 Hours Per Year
Special Yearly Activities:
Special Assembly Day: 8 Hours
Special Assembly Weekend: 15 Hours
District Convention: 22 Hours
Circuit Overseer Visit extra Book Study Talk: 2 Per Year @ 1 Hour Each = 2 Hours
Total: 47 Hours Per Year
Special Yearly Activities Travel
Travel to the S.A.D. - 1 hour
Travel Home from the S.A.D. - 1 hour
Travel to the S.A.W. - 1 hour x 2
Travel home from the S.A.W. - 1 hour x 2
Travel to the District Convention - 2 hours
Travel Home to the District Convention - 2 hours
Total = 10 Hours Per Year
Reading:
Yearbook: 192 Pages x 2 minutes per page = 6.4 Hours
New Publication Release: (Variable) 2 Hours
Monthly Reading:
Three 32 page magazines per month: 0:45 Minutes to read times 3 = 2.25 Hours per month
Daily Text = around 1 minute each day = 1 hour per year
Total= 28 Hours Per Year
Family Bible Study - Once each week for 30 minutes = 26 Hours Per Year
++++YEAERLY TOTALS++++++
Meetings: 273 Hours
Special Yearly Activities: 47
Field Service: 114 Hours
Prepare for Meetings: 78 Hours
Reading: 36.4 Hours Per Year
Field Service Surround (Wasted) Time: 88.4 Hours
Meeting Surround Time: 156 Hours
Assembly Travel Time: 10 Hours
Family Bible Study: 26 Hours
Amazing Mind Blowing Total: 828.8 Hours Per Year!!!
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And this is just a low estimate folks. I'm sure it's less for some and much much more for many. My guess is that the real time invested by a witness per year who does everything asked (and a little more) is around 1000 hours. I know these numbers arn't scientific and arn't a true reflection of what Witness are actually doing (which most arn't doing half of this) but they do show something I feel that is more important:
They show how much time the Society really askes from their followers. It is an enourmous amount of time. It's works out to almost 16 hours per week! Think about it, between meetings, field service, and personal study (not bible reading, wts publications study and meeting prep) plus all of the travel time as well as getting ready for the meetings, driving there, talking to people, coming home. It all adds up to a huge invesment of time, equivelent to almost a full days worth of activity. All this and they are still told to do more. Amazing.
I also wanted to add that this bascially works out to a full 51.8 full 16 hour days of activity per year! Thats right folks, it can be compared to the amount of time you would spend if you woke up ever morning and put in a full 16 hours of WTS busy activity, went to sleep woke up and did the same thing over again for 51.8 days, that's almost 2 months out of every year!!! Every six years in the WTS means one full year of your life is spent keeping busy with going here, going there, reading, being taught, blah blah blah. Amazing.
Analysis of a Time Consuming System: Shocking Numbers about JWs
by drew sagan 52 Replies latest jw friends
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drew sagan
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proplog2
It has been said that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something.
For instance 10,000 hours practicing an instrument to become a virtuoso.
Aside from murder, stealing, lying, fornication the biggest sin is wasting life.
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Emma
When I was really studying (personal study and study for meetings) it took much longer than above. It could take me a couple of hours to prepare for the wt study, book study, min school and svs mtg. each! I'd look up every scripture and make notes, do research in the "Aid" book and others; what a goody two-shoes I must have looked like! However, I couldn't sustain this pace for long and fell into terrible guilt for not being "spiritual" enough.
And when I "pioneered where -the-need-was-great" I'd make sure I could give either of the "sisters" talks in case no one showed up. And I'm admitting this...
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Terry
24 x 365 = 8760 Total hours available to all of us each year. 10% would be 876 hours.
9.9% of your time is not as much as it sounds on paper. Psychologically, however, it is more than too much.Let's look at why.
While it sounds like alot...I think there is a more radical messege contained in the hours required for good standing.
1.Jehovahs' Witness are more preoccupied than effective.
2.These hours spent amount to not much more than a tithe, yet, produce a damage to the family economy which is unaccountably destructive.
3. Compared to say, Mormons, the JW's have next to nothing to show for their dedication and time spent as far as social institutions or material well-being due to an actual lack of organization (for social purposes) within the Kingdom Hall.
4.The activities and responsibilites connected with religion have a treadmill effect when there is no actual purpose within the JW household centered on real world well-being and family maintenance connected to career, education and future planning.
In short, being a Jehovah's Witness in good-standing only takes less than 10% of your time, but, is eroding and enervating to the personality for the very reason it is so disconnected from society, personal needs and the actual future you find yourself living in when Armageddon doesn't arrive and present you with a retirement package of Paradise!
When you are disconnected from the actual society (of people and events on planet Earth) of your fellow man and are forced to take an US vs THEM view of everything that happens you are driven into an embryonic desperation. The only means of self-expression is preaching which really isn't SELF-expression. It is a further means of alienation which separates you from the mainstream and drives you deeper into a fantasy world from which the only escape is world holacaust!
Think of a puppy behind the window in a pet shop who eagerly observes the world going buy and can only lick the glass eager for affection and connection to people to love and care for its needs. This is a Jehovah's Witness. Yet, JW's aren't allowed to be cuddly and affectionate at all! JW's must snarl, growl and snap at the passersby who will only see them as a menace. Consequently, this "puppy" can never be adopted! JW's will grow old and die in the pet shop window filled with unmet needs, unrequited love and a damaged personality longing for connection to its species.
It is a sad, sad life!
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New Worldly Translation
Interesting calculations Drew thanks for working it all out. Like you mentioned those are quite conservative numbers and it's still big percentage of the year.
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Virgochik
Amazing, Drew! And I'd venture a guess, that for a Witless mother, it would take up much more time than that, feeding, bathing and dressing children for meetings. Especially if the father is a servant, too busy doing spiritual things to be of much help.
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fullofdoubtnow
828.8 hours per year....
That's just the minimum amount of time a devoted jw would spend, most, including myself when I was a good jw, spend a lot more hours than that in kingdom interests. I wouldn't like to even try and estimate the time I spent doing that stuff, and anyway it would depress me to do it, such a waste.
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OICU8it2
Great analysis, Drew. Very conservative to say the least. Along with this comes the compounding guilt one carried around for never meeting these requirements.
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finnrot
This is why I keep coming back to this site. The observations, and writing styles are sometimes brilliant. I wish I could express myself half as eloquently as some of you people.
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AlmostAtheist
Nice analysis, Drew. Recall various JW's saying, "The Truth isn't a part of our life, it IS our life!" They (and I) said it proudly, and your figures show just how true it is.
What a sad, pitiable waste.
Dave