Yearbook - will they drop figures that show a decline?

by freddo 32 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  LisaRose

  I agree with OTWO, they will spin it to give the impression that it means the end is near.

  I am reading a book about cognitive dissonance. They have found that the more people have invested their time/money/emotions into a cause the less likely they are to be discouraged by negative information about that cause, in fact it is the reverse, they often become even more convinced.

  They gave an example of a woman who predicted the world's end on a particular date. The most faithful went to her house to wait for the end with her. When the world did not end she had a new revelation that their faithfulness caused God to delay the end. Those who waited in their own home eventually drifted away from the group. The most faithful, those who waited with her became even more devoted followers.

  Sound familiar? Just like the bible students who believed Christ would return in 1914. When that didnt happen, instead of admitting they backed the wrong cause, many readily accepted the ridiculous "invisible return" explanation. It's just human nature to believe what makes us feel most comfortable, nobody wants to think they were wrong. It happens with cops when they zero in on the wrong suspect. They tend to ignore evidence that exonerated the suspect, sometimes even DNA evidence.

  That's why falling numbers will not be a problem for the Watchtower, increases prove God is with them, decreases prove the end is near.
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  joe134cd

  The way this organisation is going anything is possible.
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  bohm

  I think they will keep publishing numbers as long as the org grows overall which it no doubt will continue to do in the coming years. A possible stagnation in the western world will be there but simply not highlighted.

  If the overall growth do go in red at some point who knows? My guess is the way the numbers are recorded will change and they will simply not be highlighted, rather they will focus on building projects, new renovations, etc. and report that as a measure of progress. Scientology (and the mormons?) have been shrinking for a long time and it does not seem to affect them too much.
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  stan livedeath

  That's why falling numbers will not be a problem for the Watchtower, increases prove God is with them, decreases prove the end is near.

  
  

  yep--and when the end finally does come--there will be none left anyway.
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  Zoos

  I think they will exaggerate.

  
  

  I don't see how they could get away with this very easily, unless the branch bosses are just as brazenly corrupt.

  If HQ published fabricated numbers, the branch offices that send the information in would know about it and word would spread. Despite all the hullabaloo, I still think MOST people in that cult would cry foul over such a blatant misrepresentation of numbers.
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  Calebs Airplane

  1 Publisher = A person who engages in Field Circus at least 3 hours a year... (15 minutes a month).
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  sir82

  They did so for the couple years after 1975 when the numbers dropped by a couple hundred thousand or so. Of course within a short time the numbers started to increase again.

  I think the WTS is about to start a much longer period of stagnation, and likely decline.

  It's one thing to show a couple of years of decline, but what if the decline stretches for many years, a decade, decades? Unrelenting bad news would (even further) damage morale.

  I think that once the numbers start to decline, after about the 3rd or 4th year they'd stop publishing them.
  
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  alanv

  Now that they no longer print the Kingdom Ministry, they have taken the opportunity to drop the field service highlights from the new workbook. It was really getting a joke. USA edition would say something like a 10% increase in pioneers in some remote island somewhere with 100 publishers. Certainly nothing of any substance.
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  Gayle

  Come to think of it, I didn't hear any report of any increases (statistics) of anything at their annual meeting this month. Usually they do. Just info of their mid-week meeting, which was just a format change of sorts.

  Did anyone hear of any statistics then?
  
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  DesirousOfChange

  I agree with OTWO, they will spin it to give the impression that it means the end is near.

  It will be called a "sifting".

  They left us because they were "not of our sort".

  Doc