by Mulan 23 Replies latest jw friends
I am curious. Does anyone really believe the Dateline show will make very many current dubs "wake up" and leave? Do you think it will bring the organization down?
I don't think so. The Catholic Church has been fully exposed, and the Catholics aren't leaving in mass hordes. And it isn't destroyed.
So, what do you think it will actually accomplish?
Marilyn (a.k.a. Mulan)
I agree, Mulan. The Catholic church went through this several years ago and their membership is still growing. I would hope it would wake some jw minds, but I really don't think it will. They like the box they live in. J2bf
Well it's a start!
Ven
"Injustice will continue until those who are not affected by it are as outraged as those who are."
It isn't the Jehovah's Witnesses I am hoping to see it...it's all those bible studies and householders viewers I want to hear about. It's far far better to catch them before they fall in the well than spend all the resources trying to get them out when they do.
We may never know the results of all our hard work. We may never know about all the people who were studying and then stopped becuae of informed family and friends, or internet research.
Sometimes each other will have to be enough.
Toodles
BITE ME, WATCHTOWER!!!
I believe there is always a fallout...there are always people on the brink of leaving for whom this will be the last straw...as the change in the Generation was for me. Like 1975 was for many...like the UN involvement was. There will be a cross section of active JWs who will simply walk out the door having put up with the WE ARE SUPERIOR AND FLAWLESS crap for way too long. They continually cover up and cover up and cover up until there is so much trash swept under that rug that it looks like theres a grizzly under there, and that will be noticed. I think there will be JWs who go to the internet to find out MORE about this...having been shown only the edited version on Dateline. It can only empower the other Silent Lambs out there...and everything else aside...that in itself will be worth the airing.
Read CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE by Former Governing Body Member RAY FRANZ
Do you think there are people who would have become child molesters but because they grew up in strong JW families they chose a moral life? When you start attacking a belief system you ought to consider the collateral damage.
I think the WTS thrives on being perceived by it's members as being "the one TRUE religion ... not like those others" whereas the Catholic church is more 'lang haul, come if you want' type stuff.
I think it will have a bigger impact on the WTS than on the Catholic church because of how they are portrayed.
The Catholic church has never had the great image has it really ... it's hard to get over things like Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition.
All together now ...
"No one ever expects the Spanish Inq ... oh, hang on, we'll come in again"
Hi Mulan: Good question. There are about 80 to 100 million Catholics in the USA. [Correction: according to the National Council of Churches the number of US Catholics is 62,391,484 (41.29 percent of total USA church membership]. The Catholic Church itself is much more accountable to members than the WTS is to JWs. Many Catholics are the ones who sued the church until it reformed its policies.
I believe that the onslaught of lawsuits coupled with the Dateline program will at least force the Watch Tower religion to reform is policy of shielding JW pedophiles. That is the primary and central goal of all who have been working on this project.
I doubt that JWs will leave in any great number, as most will incline to believe the WTS spin on this, and choose to remain - for the near term anyway. But, if the viewing public pays much attention, along with the almost certain level of follow-up radio and TV talk shows and discussions among many non-JWs, it will eventually play itself out at the doors when JW call, and among JWs who attempt to informally witness to friends and work associates.
The resulting decline and interest in the JWs, will slow new growth even more than it is now, and they will be confined to holding on to young JW children as their future. But, if they continue with the present ways they manipulate JW children, then in time, the organization will shrink with respect to its ratios to the rest of the world.
Time will tell. - Amazing
I think it may nudge a few out who are on their way out anyway.
I think it will keep some people out who are on the brink of getting in.
I think it will confirm the suspicions of many, and in the main will leave the average rank and file JW untouched. Religion I believe is an emotional phenomena and as emotional as the Dateline program will doubtless be, its arguments continue to be to the mind through logic and reason. And as we know, there's nothing logical nor reasonable about religious fanatics like Jehovah's Witnesses.
I'm with the other poster who said perhaps the program will serve as a warning to anyone who is considering joining up. JWs are no different and no better than any other cult; they differ from the Jim Jones cult in Guyana, the Bagwan, the Moonies, the Hairy Charismas, etc. in DEGREE ONLY, not in kind.
My two cents.
Francois
It won't make all quit but a drop of 3-5% in one single year in the U.S. is possible, thereafter 1-3% per year possible. Too, it would cut new studies even more steeply. In 5 years if at an average drop of 2% yearly, it would be a drop of 10% but given the fewer new studies could result in overall decrease of 15-20%. Lots of variables, but this child molestation coverup thing won't help the WTS & thats for sure!
