by Awakened at Gilead 70 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
They got realeased from jail on bail
This is key. Jehovah God didn't cause an earthquake to shake the jail apart to release them. They made bail. BAIL! There was no grand intervention or miracle here. Someone just forked over the funds to have them released. It's laughable!!!
What do you think about 1914.. will that be scrapped? Will there be noolite that 607 was wrong after all? And bring them into the 21st century? Do you think that they will keep on pointing out the 120 years issue?
They are nowhere near scrapping 1914. Their entire house of cards is placed on
1914. The complicated numerology from their calculations of the Bible's hidden
code points to 1914, they say Russell pointed to 1914 (and ignore previous years
he pointed to), they got freed from Babylon the Great shortly after the terrible event
of Satan being cast down in 1914. The entire world changed in 1914, world war and
famine and pestilence and earthquakes multiplied after 1914 arrived- according to
them. It's all there. They just cannot scrap it YET.
There will be no new light that 607 or 1914 was wrong and there will be no slight
adjustments in their doctrines on this. They could have done it in the 50's up into
the 90's, but they have changed so much doctrine since then and hung their new
stuff around 1914. They are stuck with it.
They will just stop talking about it. There will be less and less reference to 1914 as
time goes on. They won't stop entirely for quite awhile because it makes them look
like they know what they are talking about. But it will die off slowly. Taking a look
at WHAT DOES THE BIBLE TEACH will help us:
Chapter 8 mentions 1914 in the very last paragraph, and says in parenthesis to
see the appendix regarding that date. The teaching box at the end of chapter 8 is
titled "What the Bible Teaches." The box states a fact that the Kingdom started to
rule in 1914. Chapter 9, para. 4 says that "the preceding chapter in this book
explained that Jesus Christ became King in heaven in the year 1914." It establishes
that it was a fact that the reader accepted already, then it proceeds to examine the
sign of the last days without ever mentioning 1914 ever again.
That's how it will be done. The next new study books to come will shorten the appendix
explanation and 1914 will just be an established fact. The focus of the sign of the last
days will be upon whatever is of the most concern to people. If it ain't war, it will be
the economy. If it ain't the economy, it will be terrorism or global warming or whatever
works.
The 120 years issue. I have pondered this. I believe that IF the membership goes down
too much too fast, they will use the "days of Noah" and resurrect the idea of the 6th creative
day ending after Eve's creation to speculate a new end date. It must come close to, nearly
at, almost certainly before, possible just after- 2034. "We are not wrong this time."
Article upon article will show that they have been getting closer and closer to getting it right.
It took people by surprise in Noah's day. Fred Franz was given insight from Jah to get us
started, but it just wasn't new light enough for us yet, but now it is. There will be many
articles on Adam and Eve and speculation on how old they were when Cain and Able were
born, proving their math in a confusing blitz of circular logic. "Before we could know
how close it is, the membership had to shake out the apostates and those that were just
serving for the wrong reasons." I can see a massive mind-control effort. This won't get
started until they see no other way out. They will repeat their own history because it was
so successful in the past. 1914, 1925, 1975 are among the biggest tools used to recruit.
This time, too much opposition will be in their way- the internet and millions of former
believers who no longer bow to the Gods in Brooklyn (GB). Free flow of information will
remind the masses how the JW's never got it right, won't get it right this time, how they
destroy families and have whacko doctrines. They may hold the majority of the adult
members who believe anyway, but they will do miserable in recruiting and retaining their
own children. But they will do miserable in those areas anyway, so what's to lose?
I believe that the most significant reforms will not necessarily be doctrinal, but will be major shifts in policy and organizational procedure. Here are some of my thoughts:
1) Reporting requirements will most likely loosened; and all publishers will be allowed to report time in 15 minute increments. This will accomplish two things. First, it will significantly boost the reported hours as millions of Witnesses routinely have 15 or 30 minutes extra time each month that they are not allowed to report. Second, it will allow many Witnesses to remain in "Active" status that would have otherwise been considered "Irregular" or "Innactive". It will allow Witnesses to report time (via informal Witnessing) without having to go door-to-door.
2) Study publications will continue to be "dumbed down" and presented in boiler-plate fashion to serve the foremost purpose of controlling the flock and maintainig conformity.
3) District conventions will be reduced to two days.
4) Younger and younger "annointed ones" will begin to pop up at the headquarters in order to fill vacating Governing Body slots. We may even begin to see "non-annointed" ones be appointed to the body.
We are the "Watchtower Space Cadet`s"..We have always used the name "Watchtower Space Cadet`s"..Years ago there was speculation the name of our religion might be changed to the "Jehovah`s Witness`s"..But..It was only a few "Watchtower Space Cadets" that ran ahead of God`s organization with this speculation.....We have never called our selves "Jehovah`s Witness`s"..We have always been "Watchtower Space Cadet`s"!!....................
...OUTLAW
I don't know specific "new light", but I think if you look 100 years down the pipeline, one of the following things HAS to happen:
1) JW as a religion completely crumbles under the iron fist and failed prophesy and blows away, or
2) JW as a religion looks VERY MUCH LIKE any other denomination. Personal choice abounds, youth groups have sprung up, holidays embraced, Sunday-only services, door-to-door canvassing optional, etc. The only real differences will be slight differences in doctrine.
I do not see option #3 ever happening:
3) the earth is a paradise and all wicked ones have been swept away, leaving only JWs. (Caveat: If it DOES happen, which I grant is always a possibility, won't people be surprised that very few JWs actually make it! Instead it will be populated by ALL "good people" of ALL religions who are spared through Armageddon because, frankly, they're good people.)
But before that could ever happen, I think #4 would happen:
4) the earth is completely destroyed in some way: a nuclear holocaust, global warming, meteor hit, etc. All humans dead. The end.
It's just speculation anyway, so I will also speculate a totally different possibility.
They will stop counting the hours and placements. They recognize that the
placements are not money-makers anymore, so they will let everyone off the hook
and state how tabulation of hours is not necessary anymore. This way, they can
count a growing membership without proving it.
Imagine that, no more hours-counting. No force to get out on Saturday morning.
It could happen. "Field circus is a personal matter between you and Jehovah, so
you should do it, we will just count how many of you there are without asking you
to tell us exactly what you did last month. What a blessing from Jehovah."
This will come with the realization that field circus slips were not used in the
first century, and will actually be a hidden way to further reduce production of
literature.
Just think how bad a printing company has to be when it cannot make a profit on
nearly free labor to produce the materials, a tax-exempt status, and a totally free
sales force. That proves that the Watchtower is not worth the cost of the paper it
is printed on.
Not sure about nulite, but proceedures will continue to change.
"Shepherding" calls will become more frequent. With the extra evening, the pressure will be put on the "servants" to make the rounds. Check up on the family's use of the extra time. Are fathers and mothers having their regular family studies? Practice sessions? Or, are they going to movies, or watching the tube?
Grading system?
I believe that disfellowshipping will become virtually nonexistent. They won't want the legal responsibility for kicking members out. They will expand the Disassociation and make the same announcement. If asked, "Well, they left us. We never kicked them out."
I've been reading the old court cases of WTS: DF'ing has made it to Federal Court and WTS has not one, but two avenues of defense. The second one even covers someone who is disgruntled from DA'ing.
While Legal is likely uncomfortable with DF'ing, they are safe. So there is not a need to push for such reversal. If Legal took over completely, maybe... otherwise, I don't see this happening.
Mustang
I highly disagree with this. The extra evening will "initially" be pressured to be "family study", but the pressure will fade over time. SO MANY people will just fill in that day with other things that it will become just one more day off. As a precedent, let's look at what happened to the "extra day off" (or even "morning for field service") given at the DCs. Thursday before DC is just another day. The "morning field service (was that Friday?) was dropped for non-participation. Nobody hardly even remembers it anymore.
If Legal took over completely, maybe...
Just between you and me, Legal advises them on anything before they print it.
Legal might only not take over completely because they don't want the job. Even the
lawyers want to blame the GB if something goes wrong. Otherwise, they might as well
be completely in charge.
