Watchtower & Awake! - Real Purpose - restated
When I first read these pamphlets in the late 1960s, I was somewhat impressed with the statement found that they had no advertising so as to remain free and “unfettered” of any commercial control or influence.
The October 8th, 1968 Awake! was admittedly exciting because the thought of applying then current world events to Bible Prophecy seemed so new and intriguing to me, and timely given that I was about to join the US Navy. Whew! Jehovah found me in the nick of time!
What I found over the years is that these publications of the Watch Tower Society became bland, same-o, old news regurgitated and repackaged in newer color print, glossy paper, and refined artwork and finally actual photographs. But, the constant waiting for some new exciting developments and revelations became ever more elusive.
Finally it became very clear that the reason for no advertising is that most religious journals have little such advertising because their publications do not need to financial support from such revenue. But, more importantly, what advertiser in their right mind would want to run an ad in the very publications that denounce business as being of the Devil, and doomed any day now to destruction?
Purpose – Better Stated this way: The purpose of our pamphlets is to excite the ignorant, inexperienced, and uninformed. No advertising is accepted from commercial sources so that we cannot be threatened by protest and lost revenue when we publish some cheap-shot nonsense material. Our goal is to keep you ever suspended, waiting for dates that come and go, but never materialize into anything of real meaning. Why, we were even able to fool the previous JW generation when we changed Christ’s invisible presence from 1874 to 1914, a date they we ourselves are not sure of, but that we expect you to accept our mere suggestion as though it was from God himself. Finally, we know that our material is boring to many JWs after a few years, but if you are foolish enough to keep gobbling up our putrid silly comic-book type of religion, then we are very willing to accept your donations for life and even your estate when you die. And if you leave us, well so what, we will cut you off so that you cannot warn any friends or relatives about our cool scam. And, we can even get away with telling our stupefied audience at the annual meeting that the big “A” might not happen for another two hundred years. And they gawk at us in awe and wonderment fully accepting this – like the dummies they are. Remember this all-important banner verse that should be our real theme:
”But if that evil slave shall say in his heart, My lord is delaying (another two hundred years); and shall begin to beat his fellow-servants, and shall eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that evil slave shall come in a day when he does not expect, and in an hour when he knows not, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. - Matt 24:48-51”
Yes, by all means, we verbally beat the snot out of those who leave us, calling them apostates and other demeaning names, and shun them, and cause them much grief, cause we say in our hearts that the Lord will not come now for another two hundred years. And heck, we are not even sure he will ever come, but all this money, and power, and glory we get from running a multibillion empire is just too good to pass up.