The Watchtower Org will die.

Freeandclear

I was just reading through some posts and had a startling realization.

The comment that sparked this went something like this: Why oh why when I started into this in 1989 did I not research the history of the WTBTS? etc......

I too was studying and moving towards baptism around that same time. I got dunked in Dec of 1990.

My thought. Back then I was very young 17 and very naive about life. Grew up wearing rose colored glasses and all that. Also back then there was no easy way to look into the Watchtower's past. NONE. And the brother studying with me had did his job by instilling in my the idea that Satan would oppose my study and try to get me to quit. So I already had my guard up. My grandmother did indeed try to convince me that the bOrg was a false prophet and that this was a cult. She gave me a book called Kingdom of the Cults which dealt with all the popular cults on the market. There was a whole section on JW's. I read it and refuted it and didn't believe any of it. Looking at that book now it was all there in black and white, along with my old notes and refutations.

Anyway, my point: NOW we have the internet. We have so much technology that easily lets us check up on this sham of a religion with just a few clicks on their own publications. We have jwfacts and all the other websites that expose JW for what they really are.

My thought is that within the next 10 years there will be very little growth in the WT bOrg. Only the very poorly educated, mentally deranged or challenged and those without internet will come in from the outside. And of course most of the "growth" will be in the form of witness children who are born in.

Eventually this scam will die and to my mind the sooner the better.

The problem with this cult or any for that matter is that they affect real people's lives. They play with your emotions and then change the rules by pulling the rug right out from under your feet. One day something is wrong the next it's fine. All authority and power are in a small group of men who know nothing about real life or real people. It makes me sick now to think I was ever so blinded and gullible.

Good riddance.

adjusted knowledge

This religion will not die in 10 years. Yes by definition it is a cult, but it's not a small group ran by one charismatic leader. The internet has been accessible to the masses for twenty years now, and the religion still has millions of very loyal followers. Growth may become stagnant but that doesn't mean the religion will die. It is not your typical business model.

Look at Sears/Kmart, they are a company that should of folded years ago, but they are still around because they have assets they can sell, namely real estate. The same is with the JW with the huge exception of NO FEDERAL/STATE TAXES. They get a tax free income stream and free labor. This religion will be around for a long long time.

John Free

I wish what you say is true but unfortunately I agree with adjusted knowledge. Its been around so long now and it adapts to protect itself. Like a grotesque beast it knows how to survive.

westiebilly11

I'm not sure if the watchtower conforms to any known business model. It is unique in that it trades on hope, faith, world events, and mortality. It claims to have divine insight into the world of mankind. Disasters and disappointment/disenchantment with society play into its hands and in effect increase its market value. Personal awakening and a resolve to overcome the pain threshold of leaving, is one way it may lose its shareholders, the congregations.But that too, brings with it the pain of writing off years , sometimes many years, of financial and emotional investment.

The meetings and literature etc feed on fear and mortality, constantly reminding the shareholders that they are answerable to the chairman, God. Conventions and assemblies mimic shareholder meetings, and cynically congratulate or excuse a good or a poor years trading. At the same time, shareholders are encouraged to view investments over the longterm, and remain faithful, or loyal, to the company and it's perceived chairman.

It would be nice if some did leave en masse, as it could be just enough to encourage others to follow suit. However, as a charity, it is propped up with tax privileges and so remains seemingly financially invincible, unless a totally unseen financial hit occurs, or govts withdraw tax benefits. Donations from individuals strengthen their loyalty (or speculation) as they seek a final dividend sometime in the future...

done4good

Like AK has said, the WTS has material assets that it can liquidate, reinvest, and perpetuate itself for a long time. To think otherwise is either ignorant or naive. It is also built upon a symbiotic/parasitic relationship between its leadership and members, (as any authoritarian system), and as such, this cycle is difficult to break. By all measures, the WTS will be here a while. Religions have never proven to die easily.

Having said that, I do think in the social sense a tipping point has either been reached, or is just about to. Many long standing institutions have been threatened by the free availability of information and the better educated society that has been made possible by the offering of that information. Ten years ago people would have thought gay marriage, legalized marijuana, improved US diplomatic relations with Cuba, removal of "don't ask don't tell" in the military, etc., to be impossible. All of these things happened, seemingly overnight. By the same measure, when I left the organization 10 years ago, the WTS was anti-internet, never would have allowed social events at a KH, did not beg for money, had no singing carts, no masturbation videos, no televangelism, etc., etc. While in the case of the WT, none of this progress in of itself, it still represents a response to changes in society the WT never thought it would have to adjust to. That is a good indicator of how threatened the WTS actually feels by a changing society around them. The more they change, they less stable they become, since almost all of the changes are tactical responses to either real or perceived threats, not long-term strategic moves.

I'll be long dead by then, but I doubt very highly the WTS will be here by the 22nd century. In the meantime, they are appealing less and less to "normal" people all the time.

d4g

Island Man

I believe growth will slow due to greater exposure of the religion online. But I don't see that killing the org. altogether.

Watchtower is very good at brainwashing JWs to practice self-censorship by demonizing apostates; by telling them to avoid apostate information; and by telling them negative information on JWs is all lies.

Sure, many young JWs and pre-JWs will get access to TTATT - those brave enough and rebellious enough to defy Watchtower propaganda. Such ones are typically in the minority. Plus, even when JWs are exposed to TTATT a large percentage of those exposed put up psychological walls of denials and rationalizations so that the TTATT has no real effect beyond inducing a temporary bout of cognitive dissonance.

So yes online exposure will have an effect on growth but the effect will not be overpowering. Also, once Watchtower notices that online exposure is having a significant effect they will step up on the propaganda warning JWs not to visit questionable sites and not to read negative info. on JWs. They may even return to demonizing the internet as a whole, telling JWs they're only safe visiting the organization's website(s).

Think of the fact that there's mountains of scientific information online proving evolution and exposing creationism. Does that fact destroy fundamentalist creationists? No. Neither will online exposure of JWs destroy the organization altogether. The worst that will happen is that they will get very few if any members from the non-JW public and their growth will slow to near natural population growth through the baptism of born-in, indoctrinated-from-birth children of JWs.

Online exposure will not be the factor to put an end to the religion. It would be one of multiple factors.

Coded Logic

My thought is that within the next 10 years there will be very little growth in the WT bOrg.
-FAC

Already there. The growth rate for Jdubs is less than the population growth rate. And the Jdub growth rate has been falling every year for at least the past 15 years. I think within the next two to three years we'll actually start seeing negative numbers.

And of course most of the "growth" will be in the form of witness children who are born in.

Only one in three JW children stick with the religion past their 20s. I think for the generation growing up in the religion right now the attrition rate will be even higher.

Eventually this scam will die and to my mind the sooner the better.

Agreed! It may take a while to die out but it will die out. It's top heavy in its number of older individuals. And those who are younger - the Millennials and their kids - may attend but really aren't into it. I think within the next fifteen years it will have half its current membership - around 4 million publishers.

ttdtt

There already is little growth.

Last year the org had a net gain of about 118,000.

That is barely above population growth. Also much of number were kids of JW parents getting baptized. That is why we have the emphasis now (after over 100 years) that anyone not a toddler should be baptized (thank Tony the PTSD Morris.

Beth Sarim

The only way I can see the Watchtower Borg die is the Governments imposing a tax on Religion.

DesirousOfChange

The only way I can see the Watchtower Borg die is the Governments imposing a tax on Religion.

As much as I would love to see that happen, I think it's a long way off in the USA, and that's too bad as we need revenue to apply against the massive debt.

I actually think that a change that taxed anything not spent on the actual "church" property and allowed actual charitable expenses to be exempt could eventually be passed. I filed my taxes this week and again I owe even more than has been withheld. I think most Americans would be glad to see religions pay a fair share.

Doc

The Watchtower Org will die.

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