Very interesting summary of 2024 changes:
Shunning: The Watchtower's Self-Inflicted Wound
by slimboyfat 117 Replies latest members campaign
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Vidiot
The more they self-neuter their internal disciplinary policies just to keep their charity status…
…the more they confuse and dissolution the rank-and-file, and undermine their claims of exclusivity.
Screwed if they do, buggered if they don’t.
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Vanderhoven7
The TRUTH JWs got right.
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Vanderhoven7
Giles Gray writes
What are some reasons why people might stay in the Jehovah's Witness religion despite learning that it is deceptive?
Many (likely the vast majority) Jehovah's Witnesses are in the religion for the simple reason that they fear eternal death.
Because of this fear, the Jehovah's Witnesses' overall wellbeing and their reason for living is completely dependent on maintaining the hope of everlasting life on a paradise earth (or the heavenly hope for those who consider themselves as one of the 144,000 elite Christians), as taught by the Watchtower Organisation.
Hence, any 'deception' found in their religion will be considered as a serious threat to the hope they hold dear.
As a result, Jehovah's Witnesses will do all they can to defend themselves against acknowledging any possibility their religion might not be true, going to any extreme necessary in order to maintain their faith.
This 'belief at ALL costs' mentality is overtly manifest in many of the irrational apologetic arguments used by Jehovah's Witnesses when confronted with the outright deception their leaders have prompted throughout the history of the Organisation.
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Vidiot
Eternal life with the WTS running the world?
Many folks would consider that…
…less than ideal.
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TonusOH
I think most JWs see it as a future on Earth under the direct leadership of Jehovah, with the 144,000 as a group of ambassadors or something like that. It's not the worst outlook, getting to stay on Earth under what they consider utopian conditions and spend eternity possibly exploring the cosmos and learning all of those ultimate truths that seem out of reach today. There is also no fear of hell, which probably makes JWs (and similar religions) less intimidating.
The reason they are so adamant about being the only bearers of 'the truth' is that they have been led to believe that Jehovah is so demanding that the only way to be saved is to literally be a JW. It's a religious form of identity politics-- the things you do and the things you stand for mean nothing, the only thing that matters is the label.
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LongHairGal
SBF:
As it is, many of the remaining ‘faithful’ Witnesses are there for an elderly parent. When that parent dies, they will be gone as well - probably soon after the funeral. The religion probably knows this. I, thankfully, had no family there and was able to walk when I did.👍🏻
I believe if the already shrinking Witness religion abandoned its shunning routine - there would be another exodus.
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slimboyfat
Maybe in some places. There are plenty of young JWs here especially among immigrants. If you want to see a really aging demographic try a mainstream church. I know churches where half the congregation has died or become housebound since before the pandemic.
The GB have already implemented shunning-lite, which some Witnesses are running with. I that heard that one sister makes comments about talking to disfellowshipped people all the time to “encourage them to come back” and the elders don’t contradict her but they aren’t ecstatic about it either.
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LongHairGal
SBF:
I heard about ‘shunning lite’. How funny. I experienced that when I was ‘in’ because I had a full-time job.🙄
I realize that about the mainstream churches with the greying demographic as well as emptier pews.. I was raised Catholic. Because society in general is more secular, people are less interested in going to church.
But, these mainstream church members didn’t stop because they were treated badly or shunned. They just lost interest.. This is how other religions differ from the Jehovah’s Witnesses.. I didn’t stop going to the hall simply because I ‘lost interest’. I stopped for several reasons:: mainly because it was toxic in addition to false prophecies.. In the end, the 1995 Generation teaching was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
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slimboyfat
This is true, but people can be treated badly and leave other churches too, just for different reasons. There is no shortage of people who leave churches because of arguments or hurt feelings in addition to people who leave because they lose interest.
Yes JWs don’t tend to casually lose interest, even those “drifting away” as JWs call it. It is usually a deliberate choice. I think on some level many JWs realise this, that when people drop out and put it down to ill health, or mental health, or stress, or whatever, what is really happening is they just don’t want to be a JW any more and don’t want to discuss the reasons.