Org. Re-orging in JAPAN (page 2)

ozziepost

JWD

Recently,those leaving the WT include people who`ve been
in for 20,30 and even 40 years! By contrast, the new `recruits` are
often marginal people; i.e.socially maladjusted and emotionally weak.
Judging from recent KMs,it seems the headquarters is fluctuating
between a more broad-minded approach and a more hard-line approach.

The same is happening here in Oz. Most of those leaving are the ones with most experience. The leadership skills of those now in control is much diminished (and it shows!)
Had Enough

At this weekends CA, the emphasis was put on studying with people longer that before. Go farther than the 'Require' brochure and the 'Knowledge' book.....now carry on into another book, "if the person seems to need more encouragement and seems worthy through their display of interest but maybe circumstances are holding him back".

Same here in Oz. Trouble is, there's only 'old light' publications to study with these newly interested folk. The books need an Erratum sheet included!
Cheers, Ozzie

Hippikon,
So you worked in Japan.How many years? You seem to have a good grasp
on the pulse of the culture here. Let me elaborate a bit on the cultural dynamics and the WTS growth. Yes, you are right about the
intense loyalty which when betrayed is followed by strong rejection.
The affect that has on JWs here is that when they leave, they tend
to throw out ALL interest in religion.In other words,you don`t see
people leaving and going back to Budhism.A small percentage will seek
out a church (normally protestant) but the majority become totally
non-religious.Since the average Japanese is non-religious to begin
with, I guess that`s not so unusual. You are also right when it comes to the motivation of most housewives.To expand on it a bit; their
motivation could be broken down to 1) Dissatisfaction with their husband 2) Desire for friends which they can really trust and talk
about serious life issues with 3) Concern about keeping their kids
out of an immoral lifestyle 4) Time on their hands and wanting to
`study` something 5) An overall good image of the Bible combined with no knowledge of it`s contents makes them a good mark for a `Free Bible study` AT YOUR HOME, WHILE YOUR HUSBAND IS GONE AT WORK.The
result is most women carry on the study for a year or two or three
without their hisband ever knowing.Then one day, when they announce
that they`ll be attending a weekday evening meeting,the husband gets
angry and tells them it`s irresponsible for a housewife with small
children to go out at night.By that time,however, the wife has been
warned that SATAN will oppose her involvement in the TRUTH.So, when
the husband blows up it merely confirms her idea that what she`s
studying is the truth. It never occurs to her that it`s still culturally unacceptable for women with young children to be out of the home from 6 til 9 at night.In addition to that,by this time women are often pretty upset with their husbands over other issues anyway, so bringing the fight into the realm of `remaining faithful to Jehovah` justs gives them a sense of self-rightousness when going against the wishes of their mate.Sadly the struggle often ends in divorce.
But,perhaps the worst case senerio is when a Japanese husband joins the WT and starts climbing the WTS ladder. Most men who make it big in
the WT are those who were nothing special at their companies.So when
they get promoted in `God`s Organization` all of a sudden they think
their really something and start acting that way at home.They become
little dictators.The results are as you can image... JWD

ozziepost

G'day JWD,

The affect that has on JWs here is that when they leave, they tend to throw out ALL interest in religion.In other words,you don`t see people leaving and going back to Budhism.A small percentage will seek out a church (normally protestant) but the majority become totally non-religious.

I think that's pretty general. It certainly is the case here in Australia.

Ozzie

JWD

Some years back when the org. had a major building project at the
national headquarters, a place called `Ebina Bethel`,they took up
a collection.Many of the bros. donated for the project and others
gave `interest free` loans to the organization.One older sister gave
an interest free loan of a significant amount of money.The org. promised to pay it back by a set time (a couple of years later),but
when the time drew near instead of repayment, the older lady received
a letter stating that if she so desired she could `have the privaledge
of changing the loan to a donation`.The sister was shocked and fearing
she might not get the large sum back she contacted a friend of ours
who was an elder at the time and knew people at Ebina Bethel.He too
was taken aback by the manuver and wrote to Ebina Bethel.It took time, but ultimately she did get her loan paid back. Is that type of
thing a common practice throughout the world, or is it only here in
Japan?

ozziepost

G'day JWD,

It's been done here in Oz with loans for Assembly Halls and Kingdom Halls.

Until you mentioned it, I hadn't thought anything negative about it, but now you've highlighted it, I suspect this maneuvre is routine.

Ozzie

Freedom is not having to wear a tie.

JWD

To help shift public opinion here in Japan the org has taken several
public relation moves. One is the production of `advertising` type
literature which is devoid of any doctrinal content and is strickly
used to present the image of the WT as a balanced main-line religious group.The materials are distributed via the WT-Japan public relations
office. In addition the org. made a nation-wide `steadfast` campaign.
It is the same material used in other countries about how the JWs
were persecuted by the Nazis. Here in Japan the org. went around to
secular media related organizations and got them to support the
`steadfast` presentation WITHOUT EVER TELLING THEM THAT IT WAS
ACTUALLY A BRANCH OF THE WATCHTOWER! So, several major newspapers
etc. were shocked when they found out, after the fact,that they had
signed on to sponser an event for the Watchtower.

Several other public relations moves have been made to clear the WT`s
image as a cult, but as of this writing it hasn`t had much effect.
The number of publishers reporting every month continues to drop and
the number of congregations continues to decrease.
I`ll continue to up-date as things happen here. JWD

Gopher

JWD,

Thanks for that update. It appears the WTS tactic of spreading disinformation is doing little, except generating yawns all across the land of the rising sun!

I'm surprised (maybe I shouldn't be) they're taking this underhanded PR approach. I cannot remember anything quite like this in the United States.

Gopher, enjoying the fresh air

JWD

If the current trend downward continues thru the remainder of the
WT reporting year (August), they will have to report another minus
1% growth for 2001. That will be two years of negative growth here
in Japan.
JWD

larc

JWD,

There has been zero growth or decline for two years now in 23 countries. Growth is only occuring in underdeveloped nations (see the thread, "JW decline") There has been a more dramatic decline in baptisms over the last 5 years, which means their reservior (sp) for increases in drying up. I think the declines will spread to more countries with the spread of the internet.

JWD

Just found out today that there is a plan to build a new KH in the
next town over.It seems the trend is to combine congregations which
are slipping in numbers and then give them a greater sense of perman-
ency by building new halls (traditionally Japan has been too expensive
to purchase land and build. The trend of late is to add real estate
to give a sense of growth and keep funds coming in via over-priced
building projects). In several areas,however,the WT has met with stiff
oppostion from the locals to building new halls.Thus, in some instances they have opted to keep the nature of the building project
hush-hush until it`s near completion. JWD

Org. Re-orging in JAPAN

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