Watchtower Organisation - it's all over, bar the shouting

by slimboyfat 199 Replies latest members campaign

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  pepperheart

  The watchtower has been declining for at least five years

  If you go on the watchtowers own website it tells you that in 2012 they closed down 20 branch headquaters in 20 countrys around the world.

  If you go on to the watchtowers own website they have a video of sam hurd one of the GB telling you that 1000s of people who used to work at their world headquaters were being kicked out.

  if you look on the watchtowers own website it tells you that the world headquaters in new york is being sold off and so is the british branch office in central london.

  The watchtower only prints one magazine per month now and it is undated meaning that it can be used for many months.

  As the watchtower is not printing about 60 million magazines a month now and saving a great deal of money why should they even be thinking about selling kingdom halls off
  
• 

  Half banana

  There will always be true believers, the Watchtower delusion suits their psychological make- up, they are JWs who are happy to remain convinced and blinkered to whatever the facts are and it doesn't matter who is leading them as long as they are led.

  What happens though when more sensitive individuals see the org declining around them, the selling off of the family silver so to speak and the religion becoming notorious for their atrocious handling of child abuse in the congregations? The internet now gives instant access to any information including revealing what JWs are really doing—not as it used to be with just the official WT side of the story.

  About three years ago on this site I remember discussing the matter of JW org decline as there were emergent signs that all was not well in JW land. It gave me hope. Today the showing of those signs has been amplified and I am now confident we are seeing significant indicators of decline.

  The likelihood is a drawn out time of decreasing membership numbers and rationalisation of resources, for example eventually no paid staff, all Kingdom halls sold off, electronic communications only.

  My vision for the final days of the JWorg is of HQ haranguing the true believers to give their worldly riches to the JWTV charity. (Tony Morris lll having died of apoplexy as three of his fellow GB members have awoken to TTATT). No preaching will be required, just spending time looking at JWTV on the ipad and having to pay for the privilege.
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  slimboyfat

  Yes and as Cofty said, closing congregations is the one to watch. And I think we'll see a ton of that in the next few years, as a result of dwindling numbers and aging congregations, lack of elders, and financial troubles. It's already started. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the number of congregations actually decline in the United States last year, and in Germany? For the first time ever?

  On top of that, census results from Australia and Canada show declining numbers of people identifying as JWs.

  On top of that there has been a drive to baptise JW children younger. Yet even despite that push the baptism figures continue to fall.

  Plus many countries that could be relied upon for growth in years past are no longer driving JW increases. Countries like Mexico, Nigeria, Japan, Philippines, Russia, Ukraine, Colombia, Venezuela. It's just not there any more.

  Plus I don't know if it's a safe assumption to trust the official WT figures any more. It's true they've been honest about their figures in the past. But frankly it's easy to be honest about growth when things are going well. Will they continue to publish truthful statistics when a clear pattern of decline emerges? It's a situation that hasn't been tested.

  Plus there's certainly been inflation of all the measures over the years. Publishers can now count 15 minutes on the ministry. Pioneers dropped from 100, to 90, then to 70 hours. Bible Studies used to be reported only after the second successful study or something like that. Now even a simple "agreement" to a Bible study is reported (if I picked it up right). Plus if each congregation hosts a cart, that's upwards of 300 hours per congregation per month. That's a huge chunk of the global "hours" preaching actually spent standing next to a cart.

  The only measure that can't really be inflated, fudged, or falsified is the number of congregations. That's the number to keep an eye on, and it's a figure that is already declining in some countries.
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  jonahstourguide

  Yes slimboyfat, the "doorstep" study..... just return, read a coupla scriptures and voila!!!!!!!! study.

  jtg
  
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  Chook

  Writings on the wall when they see one of the big numbers slips a million, for eg when 8 million publishers slips to seven then they won't be able to sugarcoat to much bullshit. Slimboy I hope for the sake of the Jw children that its demise is rapid.
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  slimboyfat

  Did the Watchtower ever give an "explanation" or any positive spin on the closure of Gilead as a training school for new missionaries? On the face of it, when a conversion-based religion closes its missionary school, that can't be a good sign. It represents a pretty big reversal of fortunes, I'd say. But I don't recall much discussion about it.

  Plus if we are looking at a disorderly collapse we should probably bear in mind that regimes (of all sorts) tend to get more extreme and nasty as they fall apart. As Watchtower gets weaker, the temptation may be to think that ordinary JWs can defy the WT leadership with impunity, and that dissent will be more tolerated. But that might be a mistake, at least until collapse is completely obvious to everyone. I remember reading a book about the final months of the Nazi regime by Ian Kershaw called "The End". One of the amazing things was that, despite the fact that most people recognised the regime was collapsing and would soon been consigned to history, dissent was not tolerated whatsoever. In fact traitors and dissenters were sought out and executed with greater zeal than ever, right up to the last days of the regime, with Allied troops only miles away.

  If WT does collapse it might be a tricky time for faders and inactive JWs to maintain family contacts. And be wary of assuming that because WT is weak they can be defied with impunity. The weaker it gets, the more viciously it may strike out at dissenters. Bee careful!
• 

  jp1692

  SBF: So I think it is all "over" for the Watchtower. The only question remains how the final chapters will play out.

  Interesting metaphorical question for a publishing company (disguised as a religion) in decline that is drastically cutting its production of books!
  
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  floridaborn

  What am I missing? Didnt they just have a Gilead grad this weekend?
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  LV101

  slim -- "It's true they've been honest about their figures in the past." Really!! Why would they be honest about membership nos. when they lie about everything else. How would anyone prove otherwise unless some mole back in Crooklyn revealed facts to the contrary. That would be the one stat that proves how special it is to be God's chosen religion -- sensational hype to use on the flock.
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  LV101

  The cult's demise would certainly be a time for celebrations throughout the land for non-believing Ex-JWs! Can you imagine. It would be a natural high for many years!