Interesting.
Jehovah's INEFFECTIVE Witness...(Why no TV ministry???)
by Terry 55 Replies latest jw friends
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jojochan
He is in a self-induced trance of absolute certainty. *But, he is riddled with gnawing doubts!
This describes almost EVERY active dub I know.I will save this post for future reference. I know deep down inside they are obssessed with the numbers, how it looks on paper, which to me is VERY pompus,pharasseical(pls excuse for spelling), and o.c.d in some respects. Even though they say it that the hours should'nt gauge a persons spirituality; when you read the publications, and get the jist of it...in my eyes it DOES which makes the some members in the collective feel guilty in striving to "reach out". But; is door to door witnessing cheaper by the society's standards? That would be my only eplaination as to why they would not do tv work.
jojochan.
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Terry
I agree that JWs should make more use of the net - however TV ministry is very expensive & ineffective - many "Christian" groups are winding down this method as this quote indicates:
"A review of the history of religious uses of television suggests that religious television at present is at a crossroads in its development. The evangelical and fundamentalist strategy of building programming on direct audience support and purchasing air-time for religious programming for the purpose of evangelism has been shown to have not succeeded. The paid- time religious programs' audience sizes have levelled off with only a small minority of Americans viewing; their syndication patterns and audience characteristics indicate that they have not been effective in reaching to a great extent outsiders to the Christian faith nor in achieving their theological objectives; and they face mounting financial pressures with a possible decreasing base of support. "
Don't discount house-to-house & informal ministry , however. In UK , the door-to-door selling of electric & gas contracts is the most effective method of promotion:
Waaaay different premise here!
Evangelicals have a WELL KNOWN messege! The TV ministry is to make a pastor solvent and beyond! They go begging for cash as a matter of course because there is so much cash on hand. Enough people have seen through this transparent ploy already.
Jehovah's Witnesses are about (say they:) PROCLAIMING that Jesus Christ is not COMING; but rather: ALREADY HERE AND RULING in the midst of his enemies as a separating work prepares people for Armageddon.
Clearly a novel messege. IF they were really about seriously making this important distinction public in the most high-profile way possible....IF the work were really urgent...they would not hesitate to buy their own network and proclaim it 24 hours a day!!
Don't miss the point in my (above) iteration. They demonstrate that they are NOT about what they SAY they are about by the very failure to do what they urge their rank and file membership to do; PUT EVERYTHING ON HOLD in a material way and devote full time to the messege proclamation
IFthey had ever really believed their own "urgent" messege they would not have invested money in stocks, bonds, funds and real estate BECAUSE THE "WICKED SYSTEM" which supports financial structure (by their own admission) was imminently DOOMED!
The investment program of the Watchtower Society ably demonstrates a confidence in this wicked system of things!!! "Where a man's treasure is his heart will be also."
T.
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lonelysheep
Thank you, Terry. Great info (as usual)!
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jojochan
IFthey had ever really believed their own "urgent" messege they would not have invested money in stocks, bonds, funds and real estate BECAUSE THE "WICKED SYSTEM" which supports financial structure (by their own admission) was imminently DOOMED!
The investment program of the Watchtower Society ably demonstrates a confidence in this wicked system of things!!! "Where a man's treasure is his heart will be also."
Excellent point. I agree, even if they try to reason it's all for expanding the message. That last statement still makes a good point. They DO make enough to do just that.
jojochan.
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lonelysheep
Don't miss the point in my (above) iteration. They demonstrate that they are NOT about what they SAY they are about by the very failure to do what they urge their rank and file membership to do; PUT EVERYTHING ON HOLD in a material way and devote full time to the messege proclamation IFthey had ever really believed their own "urgent" messege they would not have invested money in stocks, bonds, funds and real estate BECAUSE THE "WICKED SYSTEM" which supports financial structure (by their own admission) was imminently DOOMED!
Such good points & worth repeating.TV is what gets the message out to so many. Example: I only know who Joel Osteen is because of television and nothing else.
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upside/down
Terry...
One word...."ISOLATION"
That's what "the ministry" accomplishes.
You're removed from any thought altering processes by being "busy in the work of the Lord". And you're surrounded by like minded mental midgets. There is no way...NO WAY... to break the paradigm in that kind of isolated environment.
It gives the sheep a sense of "mission" and only THEY understand it... how special.
u/d(of the stupidity should be painful class)
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greendawn
Great post that penetrates deep below that bogus sanitised surface to the ugly realities that lie hidden beneath. Rutherford was such a barefaced sacrilegious liar he had no respect even for God or the Holy Spirit. He was using all things pertaining to religion to promote his own interests.
And of course the JWs can't use TV to preach as many other religions are doing, because they will inevitably be asked awkward questions they can't answer while many people are watching. It will destroy their image before the followers. -
Severus
Publicity has served the corporate purpose when they can frame that publicity as Kingdom Work. Publicity of a different nature could destroy them!
Spot on!
The "ministry" is an insular activity for JWs alone - it is not a recruiting technique.
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jws
Great history!
But I'm a bit skeptical of the conclusions. It raises other questions. If the WTBTS is out for all the cash it can lay its hands on, why have a religion that leaves such a bad taste? Why not be more mainstream about it? Why not allow birthdays or Christmas? Why DF people? Surely you could recruit more people into a more mainstream religion. More people means more donations and more money.
They could still keep the gloom and doom. End of world, armageddon watchers aren't so rare these days. You've got plenty of evangelicals looking for a rapture and the end-times. Just look at the success of the "Left Behind" book series.
Despite the outlay of startup money, it seems televangelists make money. So in the end, it seems a profitable venture. Albiet with a larger spotlight, as you say.
They could put their publications in PDF format on their website. I don't think that shines a spotlight on them. But they don't. This isn't a great outlay of money and could bring in more followers.
I believe they do not do these things because it is one-way communication. "Tricking" people into joining takes some personal interaction you just don't get when you're taking in this stuff on your own. Somebody has to be there to hold your hand and tell you it's OK when they tell you no more holidays or that your loved ones are destined to be bird food.
They also don't like it because it can fall into the hands of people who can pick it apart (like a lot of people here). A television broadcast can be recorded and monitored. Downloading PDFs off the internet allows not only people to pick it apart, but also allows computers to search text to look for keywords and index items for later reference. There's a record of what they said. It's a vunerability. It's the same reason (IMO) why their watchtower CD libraries only go back so far and why certain publications aren't in it. The record of what was once said.