....or anyone to do the microphones or anything at this rate.
So what happens next...
by Farmer Jim1 62 Replies latest jw friends
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NotFormer
Vidiot : "It’s pretty apparent by now that they’re really anxious about staying solvent, and if projections indicate that mainstreaming is the only way to stay in the black, they don’t really have much of a choice"
If this is their conclusion, that they need to go mainstream to survive, it's got some major flaws. One being that the mainstream denominations are already mainstream, and they are struggling to keep attendance up, let alone attract new members.
The other is your main point. Going mainstream means that they are just one religion among many and lose their main carrot 🥕 and stick 🏒.
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DesirousOfChange
I kind of doubt they have any concerns about the ones that are leaving. Most were not likely contributing anything for some time. WT is more concerned about losing contributing members, vs losing hanger-on's that were (if anything) just a drain on resources.
We know of a young couple who were awakened to TTATT who gradually went from PIMO to POMO. As long as their regular continuing monthly contribution was made via the website, no one noticed their "fade". When they canceled their long time contribution, the elders were immediately calling to attempt a shepherding call.
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Vidiot
NotFormer - “…(they) lose their main carrot 🥕 and stick 🏒.“
Nice, thanks.
I’d have put it that way, too…
…but these days, I’ve had trouble telling the carrot and stick apart.
Tends to happen when you use the carrot as the stick, I suppose.
😏
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Leathercrop
But at this point, if the WTS did that, virtually everything they’ve done to shore up that claim for the past century will have been for nothing, and their demand for loyalty and obedience to the Org above all else becomes meaningless.
There’d be virtually zero incentive left to even be a JW
Vidiot
It's virtually already there, no reporting of time took this religion into mainstream, and the beard thing emphasized it. When you really can't tell the difference between a JW and a nonJw as clearly as you could even just 10 years ago, then you will definitely ask yourself what's the point?
People that seriously believe in God will turn inward for direction in life, the org will no longer be that banner.
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stan livedeath
i think most people still in the cult are in it for the social life....the old religious god botherers have mostly gone to join him by now.
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Vidiot
For a good long while, I suspected that a handful of the Old Guard actually wanted the faders, fakers, and fence-sitters to GTFO… until Covid made the GB realize just how many of us there were.
I think they may be proceeding from the mistaken assumption that “lightening the load” will motivate folks to come back… without fully grasping that the heavy load was never really the problem.
A lot of us have reiterated stories of still-in friends and family who regularly try to buttonhole us by saying “You know it’s the Truth, don’t you?”
I’ll wager the GB’s the same way, but more…
…the Org’s evolved to only allow True Believers to climb the ladder… therefore, it follows that only the Truest Believers make their way to the top, and it’s reinforced by the fact that no one’s allowed to disagree with you once you’re there.
I think it’s entirely possible that the WT leadership truly cannot grasp that the faders, fakers, and fence-sitters don’t want out because they’re weak, stubborn, or sinful…
…they want out because they know it’s not the Truth.
No amount of mainstream reform - sincere or otherwise - is gonna change that.
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Anony Mous
So now that you no longer count time, do they still announce times for field circus at the meeting? It used to be every morning 9am in some location and then Saturdays at 9am and 2pm and then Sundays after/before the meeting. Even during my tenure, now well more than a decade ago, weekday field circus was down to 2 days.
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Leathercrop
think most people still in the cult are in it for the social life....the old religious god botherers have mostly gone to join him by now.
Stan
I wonder what that is these days. Older folks yes, it's all the friends they've known. Younger people with all the distraction and social media... virtual reality options coming up ...in a short 10 years the association aspect will also be irrelevant or no more relevant than for other religions.