GGG - Thanks! I was just about to post that link for Hubert. That's the one I was referring to.
Hubert - Lori and I are doing fine. VERY busy weekend with extra work for me.
Glad to hear from all the newbies, Say What?, J Seiss and Jam. Glad to see that Say What is using what he learned here to make some wise decisions before committing to the JWs. "The J-Dubs are odd ball uneducated misfits." That's a pretty accurate statement, and I don't see them changing for the better any time soon.
Met - You're right. It's impossible to accurately judge the irrational. The WTS has enough in the bank and in Brooklyn properties to keep them afloat financially for some time to come. They will continue to have a mindless core of true believers, but that core will diminish with time, thus my idea of the fading out scenario being more likely.
Could a huge scandal come to light? I have my doubts. The hidden database of accused pedophiles is known about, though hard evidence is lacking. The scientific ignorance and journalistic dishonesty of the organization with regard to the geological timetable and evolution are well known, but not as interesting or widespread as the efforts to squelch science one gets from the ignorant Christian and Moslem fundamentalists. Who cares about the dishonesty in the Creation Book when you've got the monumental buffonery of the Creationist Museum, with Adam hanging with the dinosaurs. JWs may look like idiots, but not on that scale!
No, JWs are really a small fish to fry, too small to get much attention from anyone except us ex-JWs.
As far as another massive scandal, I don't see it happening. I know enough about the Org to know that no one at Bethel is living high off the hog and squandering millions. There are probably a few hidden pedophiles in the upper ranks still - but they would be the rarity and certainly not part of any great scheme. Probably a few adulterers or fornicators in the upper ranks, but again, not enough to create any impact at all if they get discovered.
The biggest scandal of the last half century was the Ray Franz incident following on the heels of the 1975 fiasco. Ray has helped more JWs out of the organization than anyone or anything. But who among the current crop of company men heading the organization will step up and rock the staus quo? NO ONE.
That having been said, I think the JWs reached their peak a decade or more ago, and the combination of weak leadership, the complete lack of scholarship, the dwindling financial support from the rank and file, the huge amount of negative information about the Witnesses readily available to anyone with access to a computer and the Internet, and the extremely active ex-JW community will combine to slowly erode the organization. Will it end in my lifetime? I doubt it. But it'll be far weaker and smaller in a couple more decades.
S4
