"5 Factors That Are Slowly Killing The JW"

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Miles
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"5 Factors That Are Slowly Killing The JW"

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Post by Miles »

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Post edited, I understand you quoted the title of a video, but please avoid referring to JW as a cult.

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I came across the following while skimming through YouYube and wondered how JW's felt about ex-Jehovah's Witness Lloyd Evans's assessment here. I would also like input from others who might be familiar with the five and how they appear to be impinging on the religion.

"In 2020, Jehovah's Witnesses recorded their first year-on-year drop in members in 42 years. I list 5 factors that are hastening the decline of a proud religious organization with global expansionist aspirations."


The Five Factors That Are Slowly Killing The JW

1 Child sexual abuse mishandling (00:59)
2 Shunning (06:41)
3 JW broadcasting (11:15)
4 Increased internet access (23:03)
5 Downsizing (26:39)




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Re: "5 Factors That Are Slowly Killing The JW Cult"

Post #2

Post by Wootah »

[Replying to Miles in post #1]

related to Internet

I think also the members as they get online and realise that no scholars interpret the text the way do will help.

Similar to Islam - the historical evidence against Islam is too strong.

But we also know how easily censored the Internet is and how easily we all self-censor and avoid other people's ideas.
Proverbs 18:17 The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.

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"Why is everyone so quick to reason God might be petty. Now that is creating God in our own image :)."

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Re: "5 Factors That Are Slowly Killing The JW"

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Post by Purple Knight »

Miles wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 7:50 pm1 Child sexual abuse mishandling (00:59)
This is, to me, the only legitimate point. I'm not saying people don't leave because of the other points, but perhaps they oughtn't.

We all shun people who we believe violate the behavioural constraints we believe are legitimate and right. Prison is nothing but a cluster of people who have been shunned. And as far as people having more access to information... I actually find it a little sad that "most people think this, almost nobody thinks that" is enough to change peoples' dearest beliefs.

But as far as the first factor, it seems religion has a terrible problem with sexual abuse, particularly of children. I'll be fair and this might simply be an issue that happens wherever there is power, only magnified by this religious demand of trust and faith... but it doesn't really matter. Every time a child is abused and the perpetrator protected, religion dies a little. And if religion is a magnet for this sort of behaviour, I want it to die.

You religious people... You need to stop picking alphas as leaders. Anyone who seems like a good leader is just an amoral bully. There may be a place for these people but only as subordinate enforcers; they should not be at the top, unchecked. You need to start picking followers as leaders. Sheep, to lead. Jesus would almost certainly want it that way... if he wanted any churches at all.

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Re: "5 Factors That Are Slowly Killing The JW"

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Post by Overcomer »

Purple Knight wrote:
You need to start picking followers as leaders. Sheep, to lead. Jesus would almost certainly want it that way... if he wanted any churches at all.
I think you have hit on something major here, PK. Jesus was what we call a servant leader. He himself said, “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26–28).

I recall reading one person's view of church leadership. The minister/pastor should be like an orchestra conductor. His or her job is to keep everybody on track, playing together as a unit. But every member of the orchestra has a role to play and no one role is more important than another. Just as a the person who plays the trumpet is not greater than the person who plays the violin, the members of the congregation have gifts to complement each other, with one person being no more or less important than another.

The key is humility, something that is sadly lacking in most of us, but is key in being a good servant leader.

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Re: "5 Factors That Are Slowly Killing The JW"

Post #5

Post by Purple Knight »

Overcomer wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 12:39 pmJesus was what we call a servant leader. He himself said, “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave.
Exactly. And instead of enslaving him, you elevated this dude and he raped all your kids. This fellow is responsible for sexual scandal after sexual scandal. He's ambitious, so his gratification matters more than yours. He wants the job for himself rather than preferring that you should get it. Get it? So if he gets gratification from raping a child, well, his gratification comes first, the child's pain and trauma after, or not at all. This is simply a logical reduction of what ambition literally means.

He's ruining it for the rest of you. Every nasty opinion atheists have of religious people is because of him. Root him out and do away with him. He's not in my house; I'm an atheist and I don't have a house. He's in your house, so fumigate it. You have roaches.

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Re: "5 Factors That Are Slowly Killing The JW"

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Post by nobspeople »

Miles wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 7:50 pm Moderator Action
Post edited, I understand you quoted the title of a video, but please avoid referring to JW as a cult.

______________

Moderator actions indicate that a thread/post has been locked, moved, merged, or split.


.

I came across the following while skimming through YouYube and wondered how JW's felt about ex-Jehovah's Witness Lloyd Evans's assessment here. I would also like input from others who might be familiar with the five and how they appear to be impinging on the religion.

"In 2020, Jehovah's Witnesses recorded their first year-on-year drop in members in 42 years. I list 5 factors that are hastening the decline of a proud religious organization with global expansionist aspirations."


The Five Factors That Are Slowly Killing The JW

1 Child sexual abuse mishandling (00:59)
2 Shunning (06:41)
3 JW broadcasting (11:15)
4 Increased internet access (23:03)
5 Downsizing (26:39)




.
It never ceases to amaze me how similar the JWs are to Scientology in certain ways. I would suggest Scientology is more successful at their cause than the JWs - maybe it's determination and 'better' leadership?
Have a great, potentially godless, day!

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Re: "5 Factors That Are Slowly Killing The JW"

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Post by JoeyKnothead »

#6: Truth
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