by slimboyfat 41 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Shepardless: Also, note the figures for "Pagan" are probably due to a few clowns. (Australian humor, perhaps.) Or perhaps they mistook "Pagan" for "Bogan".
Best comment ever! But only an Aussie will understand the word "bogan".
"yehhrrr maaaateeee...chuck us another VB tinny would ya? I gotta take me holden ute for a spin and chuck a u-ey"
Well no surprises there. My kids education was the major reason I left. It was bad enough that I threw my own education down the drain but I wasn't got to let my kids do the same!
They may go on to be a shop assistant or a gardener but that's their choice!
Wow. I knew JWism was a woman's religion, ran by men... That's effed up.
Anyway, I believe all the data. I went to the meeting today. Why? It was the CO visit, and I had skipped a ton of meetings lately, so I went to the Sunday meeting. I wanted to hear some crazy talk, and I wasn't disappointed.
They are definitely not too bright. The GT is almost upon us! The ORG is backed by JAH! Who are really following Jesus? J-Dumbs, despite the HUGE pedophilia issues! Yeah.... Not too bright.
DD ( had a cocktail before the meeting...😎 )
Thanks Stuckinarut. Bit of humor I threw in at the last moment.
SBF - The information about the average age of JWs getting older is very interesting because increasing average ages of religious believers are strongly correlated with decline.
We have both mentioned this on previous threads, and I think we both agree median age or average age is a reliable predictor of whether decline is coming. Unfortunately, I had extracted some additional data that I did not realise the significance of, until now. (It is complicated, and I have to work out a way of tabulating it in an easy to understand way)
Essentially, people between the ages of 15 to 25 leave the religion in droves. However, it appears that a number of people come back to the religion as they get older, in a continuous trickle, especially as they are having kids. They probably drag spouses in at the same time. (There are other ways to interpret the data, but that is my guess at the moment.) The number of people who do return are a significant minority, and the religion would have already been in numerical decline if it was not for them. This makes a difference to how you interpret the median figures.
On a brighter note, in the 2006 census, there were 80,918 JW's. In 2011 the number was 85,635. However, 3472 of those 85,635 reported that they were not living in Aust in 2006 (Aust has a very high immigration intake). Hence, without immigration, the total increase for the 5 year period from 2006 to 2011 would have been only 1,245.
I'll try to put up some more tables when I get the chance.
Sometimes I suspect that a higher education correlates with less religiosity because to someone who's less educated, so much of reality around them seems so "miraculous"...
...but a more educated individual has learned, to some degree, why and how physical reality is the way it is (and therefore seems far less "miraculous").
This is the final chart I will put up from the 2006 and 2011 Aust census.
What I have done is taken 5 year cohorts from each census and lines them up so that you can see in each age group, how many remained JW's over a 5 year period. Eg, there were 5119 JW's between the age of 15 and 19 in 2006, but in 2011 that same group (now aged between 20 and 24) dropped to 4597. The fourth column is just the difference between columns 2 and 3, for ease of reference.
One of the questions in the 2011 census was in relation to which state or territory you were living in in 2006. The fifth column is the number of those living overseas in 2006. The sixth column is just the 4th col, less the 5th col, for ease of reference.
This data shows the leaving in droves from 15 to 24, and the trickle back in subsequent years. Note what happens in the 5-9 bracket. From 70 onwards, mortality takes its toll.
Data-Dog - "...a woman's religion, ran by men... That's effed up..."
Not from the POV of those particular men.
This is the fate of those who live in a sectarian environment where the same things are endlessly repeated to them.
Thanks for the data shepherdless. Overall women far outnumber men in JWs. But it would be really interesting to know the gender breakdown for different ages. Are men more likely to leave than women in their teens and twenties? If so this would corroborate the often heard complaint that there are not enough young JW men for young JW women to find husbands.
This was one of my biggest frustrations; the Org frowning upon its members undertaking higher education.
The number of members who were academically gifted and who could have gone on to highly successful careers literally saw their opportunities vanish before their eyes. The number of families currently trying to eke out a living is soul destroying too.
My marks at school were not good enough to allow me to study at a University however, my father encouraged me to do a trade. I undertook an electro-mechanical engineering trade (4 year indentured apprenticeship) and studied at a technical college. This has enabled me to lead a good lifestyle.
