YOU WANNA SEE SOMETHING FUNNY???

by Mary 42 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Mary

  Warlock said: Remember, we were taught that 'the last days' of the first century were a minor fulfillment of Jesus prophecy.

  You're right, but then if that's the case, why does the 1984 WT call those who believe the "last days" started in the first century, "apostates"??? Even if it were a 'minor' fulfillment, it would still be "the last days".

  Basically, I think that as per usual, the Borg is trying to have it both ways: They're trying to say that "this generation" started 2,000 years ago, but that "the last days" only started in 1914. Sorry----you can't have it both ways. If 'this generation' started with the disciples and have been going ever since, then obviously the "last days" run parallel with 'this generation' and would be of the same length.

  Confused yet??
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  Awakened at Gilead

  It could be said that

  Everything that the WTS says they qualify with words such as "could", "evidently", "perhaps", "reasonable to conclude", and so on.

  What's true about possibilities? If it "could" be true, it might not. This makes it easy to change when they get a flash of light in Bklyn.

  So it's also a good possibility that its just a load of croc. Actually, that's my theory. Like the brains at Crooklyn like to say about theories:

  ***Rbi8p.15641D "We concur with the above, with this exception: We do not consider this view a "theory," rather, a presentation of the facts of history"

  Yep.. a load of croc...

  A@G
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  BabaYaga

  WooHOO!!!
  
  AWESOME CATCH, Mary!!! I can't wait to see your "New Light" list when you compile it... remember the Baba, won't you? Ah, hell, remember EVERYONE and POST it all, that is going to be one awesome reference thread.
  
  Thanks!
  Love,
  Baba.
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  garybuss

  Warlock, you wrote: "Remember, we were taught that 'the last days' of the first century were a minor fulfillment of Jesus prophecy, so then the apostles would see 'the end' in their time. Those who are alive during the 1914 generation would see the major fulfillment, namely the great tribulation leading to Armeggedon. That may be their thought here."
  
  That's the typical and the a-typical. It's looking to me, like they have fractionally merged the atypical into the typical. If they have, then their premises don't work in concept anymore. Of course, they've never been anything but conceptual.
  
  In my opinion, the Society was stupid to mess with any of the Fred Franz concepts. It was all smoke and mirrors. There was nothing that could be disproved. It was so irrational, I believe most people thought it was above their heads and they just accepted it all and went on with the weekly rote schedule of rituals.
  
  Now the Society is trying to make that which is unreasonable appeal to reason, like our topic today, and it won't fit. Fred Franz relied strictly on fiction that was protected by superstition and of course, fiction can not be disproved.
  
  I have written that the Society lacks clear leadership. I hereby dispense with that theory. The Society can demonstrate no leadership at all. The Society is schizophrenic. Contradiction is the rule of the day. Maybe the active Witnesses who are immersed in the manic day to day Witness race to nowhere can't see it, but to an objective observer, the Society is faltering and failing and trying new programs to replace the failed old programs.
  
  The Watch Tower Society is like the abusive parent. They say they love Jehovah's Witnesses but they obviously resent the Witness people. Do as I say, not as I do! How dare you question me?!
  
  People have always been Witnesses in spite of the teachings, not because of them. Fred Franz knew this. The current guys don't have a clue.
  
  
• 

  Mary

  A@G said: Everything that the WTS says they qualify with words such as "could", "evidently", "perhaps", "reasonable to conclude", and so on. What's true about possibilities? If it "could" be true, it might not. This makes it easy to change when they get a flash of light in Bklyn.

  You're more right than you know. I just did a summary on the CD ROM and the word "evidently" is mentioned 4,525 times in their literature and "reasonable to expect/think/suppose/assume/conclude" is mentioned 586 times (and that's just since 1950 at the earliest). Pretty shaky grounds for God's Channel here on earth eh?

  Babayaga said: AWESOME CATCH, Mary!!! I can't wait to see your "New Light" list when you compile it... remember the Baba, won't you?

  I will......But I'll send you the whole thing, not just the "new light" section.

  Garybuss said: In my opinion, the Society was stupid to mess with any of the Fred Franz concepts. It was all smoke and mirrors. There was nothing that could be disproved. It was so irrational, I believe most people thought it was above their heads and they just accepted it all and went on with the weekly rote schedule of rituals. Now the Society is trying to make that which is unreasonable appeal to reason, like our topic today, and it won't fit. Fred Franz relied strictly on fiction that was protected by superstition and of course, fiction can not be disproved.

  I think if the present GB members had their way, they would have left all of Freddie's interpretations written in stone. However, with record number members leaving the religion, I believe they're so desperate to try and stem the flow that they're trying 'new bullshit light' just to see what the reaction will be. It's quite pathetic, but since these guys live in a spiritual bubble, they simply haven't a clue how to fix the current problems they're facing. Plus they've never thought 'long term' (for obvious reasons) and I'm sure they could never have envisioned a world where all their dirty little secrets could be exposed via the computer, to anyone who could read.

  I have written that the Society lacks clear leadership. I hereby dispense with that theory. The Society can demonstrate no leadership at all. The Society is schizophrenic. Contradiction is the rule of the day. Maybe the active Witnesses who are immersed in the manic day to day Witness race to nowhere can't see it, but to an objective observer, the Society is faltering and failing and trying new programs to replace the failed old programs.

  Yep, I agree. I think each time they change a doctrine, they should have the headline caption "Desperate times calls for desperate interpretations."
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  tfjw

  Mary, WOW! Thanks for sharing this research.
  Nicolaou, thanks for those two quotes.
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  parakeet

  Garybuss wrote: "In my opinion, the Society was stupid to mess with any of the Fred Franz concepts...... Now the Society is trying to make that which is unreasonable appeal to reason, like our topic today, and it won't fit."
  
  
  
  
  
  Smoke and mirrors will work only as long as the dubs believe the trick is real.
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  garybuss

  Hi Parakeet,
  
  I think a Watchtower study article that said: "We were wrong . . . again!" was a dumb thing to do. I'm referring to the 1995 generation article and the sheep and goats change. That was an ego gone wrong. It should never have been allowed.
  
  You wrote: "Even the most dense dubs are aware that the 1914 generation is all but gone."
  
  1975 was a much bolder, if shorter, campaign, and in my world, a much bigger failure, and they didn't rush to press with admissions that was an error. Even the most dense dubs I know promoted the denials of 1975 with conviction. The admission came years later in a convoluted footnote in an Awake! magazine. Why the bold and public admission of error with the generation issue? The article signaled the success of a faction coming into power.
  
  The real message of the Watch Tower Society has always been the concept that the Society is God's channel. The Society's books are always about themselves. Their study of the Bible is relevant only in how they can show that the Bible conveys the idea that the Society is fulfilling promises and prophesies. The Society's error was their explanation that the proof of their appointment by God was their ability to predict the future without error. Of course, they haven't been able to predict anything at all.
  
  Now, all they have is this chant that says: "We are still God's channel even though we have never been right once . . . ever.". This shameless advertising is motivating Joe Blow Witness to check up on the Society's history and Joe Blow isn't liking what he's seeing. Now he's stuck and it's just the threat of shunning that's keeping him from walking away for good.
  
  
  
  
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  parakeet

  garybuss wrote: "This shameless advertising is motivating Joe Blow Witness to check up on the Society's history and Joe Blow isn't liking what he's seeing. Now he's stuck and it's just the threat of shunning that's keeping him from walking away for good."
  
  
  
  
  
  The more outrageous claims made recently may not move the die-hards, but, as you noted, average dubs are probably scratching their heads and beginning to think, perhaps for the first time in their lives.
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  leftbelow

  That is awesome. Thanks Mary