How many JW's believe to their last breath . .

by nicolaou 11 Replies latest jw friends

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  nicolaou

  I can easily believe that thousands did all through the Watchtowers glory years but especially after '95 the whole thing has been unravelling.

  Kidding yourself to maintain family relationships and social networks is *somewhat* understandable in life but on your deathbed?

  I think the demographic for JW's may actually get younger as time goes on. Maybe that's counter intuitive but I just don't see enough members staying for the long run into retirement under the jw.org regime. The churn rate will increase and the elder crisis will only deepen. Baptising 10 year olds is just a cynical ploy to buy time.

  Folks say the Watchtower will always survive in some form, I'm not so sure. Whatever happens, we need to be ready for an increase in newbies, lurkers and faders. Modern dubs won't be loyal to their last breath.
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  jookbeard

  the harsh realities of the scam will hit home to the most zealous dub as you know the end of your life is close and you mean nothing to them, sad but true, difficult to gauge but its reality
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  slimboyfat

  I think there is a lot of disbelief among JWs at the moment. Recent conversations I have had surprise me how much many JWs question these days. I think JWs are in a pretty vulnerable position right now. A few factors leading to increased doubts: bad publicity over abuse; stupid doctrinal changes such as overlapping generation; the GB making fools of themselves on the TV; many indications of organisational decline; 1914 getting more and more incredible with passage of time; increasing numbers of anointed when they should be going down; lack of substance to meetings and magazines these days; and, not to be underestimated: the secularising trend in society in general having its effect on JWs.

  Having said all that, I think it's worth bearing in mind that belief/disbelief are not often, if ever, discrete binaries. I feel this anyway, in relation to myself: that I have experienced a variety of stages between belief and doubt, and one side never fully succeeds in defeating the other. It's true that JWs may more frequently have doubts these days. Unbelievers can also have their "doubts". It's a strange person who doesn't, no matter what their ideological position.
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  blondie

  I think that part is the kind of converts today from today's changed religious society from Russell's, Rutherford's, and Knorr's day. More and more people are children or grandchildren of jws, fewer and fewer from outside and from energetic religious groups. I'm sure some don't agree, but I have a lifetime of 60 adult years as a jw, my mother's generation, and my grandparents as Bible Students, 97 years now. I have seen the dilution of the conviction and the focus on personal salvation, not that of others.
  
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  OUTLAW

  How many JW's believe to their last breath . .

  100% Of The Dead JW`s..
  
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  dubstepped

  The saddest thing to me is the ex-JWs that still believe and defend the organization, or those that are exposed to TTATT and still believe.
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  waton

  I had my last breath possibly during a massive heart attack, and evacuation by helicopter, and wt thoughts never entered my waking moments between pass outs that could have been the last. last breaths are wt free.
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  WTWizard

  It comes from the defensive mechanism of the religion. No matter how many borked prophecies they see, they are programmed that the end is at hand. They are programmed with fear that, if they leave now, they will not survive--and that joke-hova will act when they least expect it. That way, no matter how many prophecies fail and how much rubbish they see within the organization (even at the top), they will believe joke-hova will clean it up in its due time. And they will thus stay in the cancer.

  This is common in Judaism, Christi-SCAM-ity, and Islam. Anyone that is infected to this degree with any of these programs, any denomination, will fight to the death for that faith no matter what. They will attack people that go to another faith (hence, the wars we see). Even within one of these programs, they will stay true to their own denomination. The "You need to stay in forever, and trust god to take care of it" theme is common through these three cancerous programs. Whether it be waiting on joke-hova, allah, or jesus, it is all designed to subliminally lead them to accept full communism. And it can be harder to quit than even drugs.
  
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  nicolaou

  Blondie: I have seen the dilution of the conviction and the focus on personal salvation, not that of others.

  Agreed. Even the 'personal salvation' or paradise hope is something I don't hear my siblings talking about now that they are staring middle age in the face.
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  blondie

  Yes, nicolaou, I have been gone 17 years now and don't discuss much with jws. I wonder if they are adopting the concept of live for today for tomorrow you may die.