I think it will start declining within 5 years, but may take a couple of hundred years to fold completely. It's neither a new religion in the making nor will it collapse very soon. We're looking at long term gradual decline. Like the Christian Scientists except even longer.
slimboyfat
JoinedPosts by slimboyfat
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37
How Long Does This Religion Have Left?
by pale.emperor inthe generation that will be no means pass away have passed away.. the 144,000 were sealed up in 1935, oh, no wait, we got that wrong, we still have some.. russel is the faithful and wise servant... oh, no he wasn't it was me, rutherford... no, actually, we got that wrong it's knorr... erm, no we mean the governing body.. shunning is pagan, true christians would never do that (1946)... oh, actually, we should do that too.. the revelation book has been re-written.. the un is the satan's visible organisation.. wtbs signs up for fellowship with the un in 1991.. exposed in the guardian newspaper so ends it's fellowship in 2001.. the greatest man book is now obsolete and replaced with another jesus book.. the mags are reduced in pages.. encouraged to use tablets instead of actual books to save paper (money).
halls being sold off.. congregations sharing halls.. society owned buildings being sold off.. video pertitioning for money only last year to fund a new building.. bethelites reduced.. missionaries sent back home.. young members leaving.. long time members discovering the history and leaving.. how long do you think this religion has left?
i cant see it being here in another 100 years.
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147
Challenge to Creationists
by cofty inin response to the 37 threads in my evolution is a fact series - see bottom of op for links - perry posted a link to an article "44 reasons why evolution isn't true".. i offered him a challenge on the thread and by pm.
predictably he is totally ignoring it, so i am offering the challenge to any evolution-denier who thinks they have evidence to support their position.. please present one specific piece of evidence for creationism.. my task will be to refute it with evidence within 24 hours.. then i will present one piece of evidence for evolution and your challenge will be the same.. all posts must be as succinct as reasonably possible.
entirely in your own words, without copy-paste, videos or links.. please post your interest to take part and we will set it up before the first actual post in the exchange.
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slimboyfat
Is that a fact or your opinion?
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70
Witness Carts - A Vehicle for Significant Decline
by slimboyfat ini was stalking to a jw today about her recent experience on the carts and with being a jw generally.
until this conversation i considered the carts as just an ineffective preaching method and a harmless waste of time.
but now i wonder if the effect of the carts might be to produce noticeable decline in jw numbers.
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slimboyfat
Lol you're a bloody pest!
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50
Does the governing body know what they are doing?
by Gefangene inwhat do you guys think?.
are they only some uber religious zealots or do they pursue hidden agendas beyond religiosity?.
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slimboyfat
They clearly don't know what the hell they are doing. Knorr knew how to run an efficient organisation. And Franz knew how to construct a wacky but somehow coherent and compelling end times theology. Of the current GB, none of them appear to have either skill.
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70
Witness Carts - A Vehicle for Significant Decline
by slimboyfat ini was stalking to a jw today about her recent experience on the carts and with being a jw generally.
until this conversation i considered the carts as just an ineffective preaching method and a harmless waste of time.
but now i wonder if the effect of the carts might be to produce noticeable decline in jw numbers.
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slimboyfat
My main point was that the WT may be playing with fire here. Boring and ineffective as door to door ministry is, it has been a tried and tested method for keeping JWs active in the faith for over a hundred years. Sociologists have argued that the function of JW door to door ministry is more about maintaining commitment of existing members than about recruiting new members. See: Munters, Q. T. “Recruitment as a Vocation: The Case of Jehovah's Witnesses.” Sociologica Nearlandica 7 (1971): 88-100.
So by substituting cart witnessing for traditional door to door preaching the leadership might not only fail to gain new members. They may lower the morale and eventually the numbers of current JWs who are willing to preach and remain active. They may have underestimated how important traditional door to door ministry has been in structuring JW life, self-understanding and commitment. Over emphasis of cart witnessing threatens to undermine that.
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42
Feeling Sad After Uncovering TTATT
by pale.emperor inmy initial pangs of unease and doubt led me to research some things.
well, a lot of things really.
i've never felt comfortable using the bible to try to calculate dates (1914).
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slimboyfat
I can relate to that!
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147
Challenge to Creationists
by cofty inin response to the 37 threads in my evolution is a fact series - see bottom of op for links - perry posted a link to an article "44 reasons why evolution isn't true".. i offered him a challenge on the thread and by pm.
predictably he is totally ignoring it, so i am offering the challenge to any evolution-denier who thinks they have evidence to support their position.. please present one specific piece of evidence for creationism.. my task will be to refute it with evidence within 24 hours.. then i will present one piece of evidence for evolution and your challenge will be the same.. all posts must be as succinct as reasonably possible.
entirely in your own words, without copy-paste, videos or links.. please post your interest to take part and we will set it up before the first actual post in the exchange.
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slimboyfat
So there we have it.
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70
Witness Carts - A Vehicle for Significant Decline
by slimboyfat ini was stalking to a jw today about her recent experience on the carts and with being a jw generally.
until this conversation i considered the carts as just an ineffective preaching method and a harmless waste of time.
but now i wonder if the effect of the carts might be to produce noticeable decline in jw numbers.
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slimboyfat
Sit in cars watching carts, wow never heard of that one.
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70
Witness Carts - A Vehicle for Significant Decline
by slimboyfat ini was stalking to a jw today about her recent experience on the carts and with being a jw generally.
until this conversation i considered the carts as just an ineffective preaching method and a harmless waste of time.
but now i wonder if the effect of the carts might be to produce noticeable decline in jw numbers.
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slimboyfat
I remember doing rural territory on the islands in car groups. That was fun! And not much preaching either. On the rare occasions when householders would want to talk you'd have to say, "we'd love to talk to you longer, but we've got people waiting for us in the car".
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70
Witness Carts - A Vehicle for Significant Decline
by slimboyfat ini was stalking to a jw today about her recent experience on the carts and with being a jw generally.
until this conversation i considered the carts as just an ineffective preaching method and a harmless waste of time.
but now i wonder if the effect of the carts might be to produce noticeable decline in jw numbers.
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slimboyfat
I was stalking to a JW today about her recent experience on the carts and with being a JW generally. Until this conversation I considered the carts as just an ineffective preaching method and a harmless waste of time. But now I wonder if the effect of the carts might be to produce noticeable decline in JW numbers.
This sister has been a JW for over 30 years and pioneered at various points. In the last couple of years she has done a lot of cart witnessing. She enjoyed it at first because it was easy and she could chat with other JWs. Over time it practically replaced door to door ministry and return visits. More recently she got bored cart witnessing because there is a complete lack of response from the public and she fell out with some of her witnessing partners, perhaps partly due to with the stress of standing for hours with no results. So she's stopped doing cart witnessing and is less regular at the meetings. And she's not gone back to regular witnessing either. For the first time in 30 years she had no time to report for the month of May.
If this experience is in any way replicated elsewhere, the carts may not simply be a mind-bogglingly ineffective preaching method. They may actually contribute significantly to reduced morale, activity, and overall JW numbers.
Has anyone else heard similar experiences?