Do Not Be Misled. They're Not That Bright.

by metatron 13 Replies latest jw friends

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  willyloman

  Under another topic, I posted this comment which may have been what Met is responding to:

  No one should kid themselves that these guys don't have a plan. They have continued to expand, sell property, buy printing presses, build upscale branch offices, country club retreats (Walkill, Paterson) and assembly halls throughout the past two or three decades, even as the 1914 clock ticked down. When the clock expired, they simply changed one of their central doctrines and there was not a whimper from the flock.

  It's clear they have a long term strategy and are able to implement it with impunity. And that's exactly what the leadership is doing.

  So let me just clarify. I agree with you, Met, that they aren't very bright. By "long term strategy" or "plan" I merely meant they have a vision for the future that guides their thinking and activities on a daily basis. That vision is wrapped up in the survival and growth (however they define "growth" at a given point in time) of the WTS.

  So they do have a plan. It might not be intellectually thought out, it might be driven by instinct rather than rational thought, but there it is.
• 

  minimus

  Good post! The Society exists because there's a sucker born every minute. Some people want to believe----whatever. They want to think that they just need to have faith and believe and somehow God will make things right. Fundies of Islam and Protestantism are no different and you'll sadly never be able to have them think otherwise.
• 

  proplog2

  Jehovah's Witnesses are proof of evolution.

  It shows you that mindless agents can organize themselves.

  This is true of all organizations. The individuals in an organization have the primary function of surviving. They take a small portion of the energy they have left over from their main struggle and try to use it in some sort of collective effort. The result is that they actually get some things done.

  The success of an organization is not so much a product of enlightened management but of the particular niche they are trying to exploit.

  Religion's promise of everlasting life, whether through an immortal soul or self-regenerating body, is a fairly productive niche because of the human fear of dying.

  The Watchtower is exploiting a niche within the religion niche ie. - everlasting life in the immediate future.

  The early Christians gave up on Christs return just about at the point where JW's are right now.

  The trouble with the "immediate future" is that two generations of people have already died short of fullfillment. The current generation (mine/baby-boomers) ARE DYING. Three strikes and you are out. Three points define a trend. Most of the kids are going to quit. Especially when the anxiety of approaching middle age hits and they start lamenting their wasted lives.
• 

  jstalin

  WTBTS is a classic case in organizational dynamics. The corporation is not unique in that respect. Having been in a dysfunction organization, it's apparent that, as with many dysfunctional organization, the GB is operates through simple inertia. The bureaucracy is what really runs the organization and maintains the intertia. it's likely that the GB is rather ineffective in actually managing the organization's day to day business.

  In other words, the GB just rides the wave and likely goes with what the top-level bureaucrats produce.