Watchtower deception about JW divorce rates.

by jwfacts 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • jwfacts
    jwfacts


    There was a statement in a 1997 Awake that i see people quoting on the internet that is trying to imply 4.9% of JWs are divorced compared to half of worldly people. I have found some statistics that prove that this is quite a deception.

    Awake 1997 September 8 p.11 A People Taught to Love

    “That hate can be replaced with love is illustrated by a survey taken in 1994 of 145,958 of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany. … By applying unselfish love in their marriages, Jehovah’s Witnesses achieve stable relationships. In some countries one marriage out of every two or three ends in divorce. But the above-mentioned survey indicated that presently only 4.9 percent of the Witnesses are divorced or separated from their mates. Not to be forgotten, however, is that a goodly number of these were divorced before they became Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

    This is a deceptive use of statistics, and is trying to make a comparison of totally different statistics. 50% of people are not divorced. For example, In Australia only 5.5% of "worldly" people are divorced, quite similar to the 4.9% of German Witnesses.

    I have an explaination of the why the statistics are deceptive at http://jwfacts.com/index_files/Page381.htm for anyone that is interested in tedious figures. For those who hate figures take my word for it, this is another case of the Watchtower using simple statements that are taken by the average JW as fact, which are in reality a gross distortion of the truth.

  • Pleasuredome
    Pleasuredome

    it would be interesting to find out JW divorce rates around the world and compare them to national figures. is it possible to get that info?

  • jwfacts
    jwfacts

    The only national rate that i could find is from the US from a phone survey of 55000 people.

    The divorce rate for US adults was 9% in 1990 and JW's was slightly higher at 11%.

    The divorce rate for US adults was 9% in 2001 and JW's was slightly lower at 6%.

    I dont know why the stats changed so much for JW's, it may have been slightly inaccurate due to being a small sample size of JW's, or maybe all the divorced ones got sick of celibacy and took off.

    The Aus stats are more accurate because they are poll stats of the whole population, and count anyone who has ever been divorced. It was only 5.5%, lower than the US because it includes children.

  • bavman
    bavman

    My experience among JW's was there is no real difference between them and the rest of the world as regards divorce rates. One other thing these surveys don't take into account is the fact of those who would have been asked about whether they were divorced or not many are no longer JW's. They are never asked. I believe that is different among religions not practicing shunning.

  • Pubsinger
    Pubsinger

    definitely deceptive stats.

    Of the 145000 German witnesses maybe half would be under 16 for a start. A percentage will be unmarried or widowed.

    A statistic of 50% of marriages ending in divorce is not the same as saying 50% of the population are divorcees!

  • jstalin
    jstalin

    Aren't JW's DF'd if they get divorced? Doesn't that make them non-JWs? It would skew the numbers to say that only 4.9% of JWs are divorced if those who have gotten divorced were DFd.

  • Confession
    Confession

    Just an excellent article, jwfacts. What a ridiculous spin they attempt with such figures. I also liked the table that demonstrated how atheists and agnostics have a lower average divorce rate than those idenitfied with Christianity and Judaism.

  • Daunt
    Daunt

    All of this dishonesty is crazy. Absolute truth coming from absolute idiots.

  • Elsewhere
    Elsewhere

    That's nothing! I've learned that 99% of serial killers eat bread!!!

    If you see anyone eating bread you better look out!

  • RunningMan
    RunningMan

    Interesting catch, jwfacts. As Mark Twain once said, "There are only four types of lies: lies, damn lies, statistics, and the Watchtower"

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