Everything is a "sign of the times" if the economy was doing well Satan's wicked system of things would be trying to lure Jehovah's people away with materialistic things, because he knows the hour is short. Peace is a sign of the end, war is a sign of the end, poverty is a sign of the end, decadence is a sign of the end, and so on...
The current economic crisus a sign of the end to a dubber
by dogon 24 Replies latest jw experiences
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undercover
Do you think this current economic crisus is a sign of the end of the world for a dubber?
Left to their own devices, they probably worry about the same impact on their immediate situation more than anything. But it will probably cause them to at least wonder what's in store differently than non doomsday types - as in "how long can we survive without Jehovah stepping in" kind of thinking. Some die-hards will probably blather on about "how close we are" for sure.
But the Society will not leave them to think for themselves. They will, I think, use this bad economic climate to counsel and "remind" everyone about the fruitlessness of worrying about material gain and retirement.
Since about 95 (the generation doctrine change era) there seems to have been a shift in how JWs think about the future. It was as if they realized, subconsiously maybe, that the end isn't so close. Many have gone out and secured careers, not just jobs. Many traded up in cars and homes. They started sending their kids to *gasp* college. They started saving for retirement. The upside of this is that this was the first generation of dubs to really start living somewhat normally. The downside (from the Society's view) was that the anxiety of living in the end wasn't there as it was before. The real issue to the Society is that money that could be donated or used to "further the Kingdom work" was being funneled into everyday life...and JWs were starting to enjoy the nice things of life. Donations are down, recruits are down. The Society hit an economic slowdown long before the rest of us.
Now along comes a real economic disaster and just as many JWs are affected as any other group of people. There is anxiety about the future. The Society will, in my opinion, start giving a series of talks and publishing articles on not relying on the things of the world. They'll spin it that you can find more happiness in giving (to the Society of course) and that real riches lie in heaven (or for the Great Crowd - a paradise earth). They'll put a scare into the dubs to try to pull them back from enjoying material things and pursuing a normal life and get them back into cultthink.
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mary stewart
hey cameo, what sect are you? the book of the bee isn't in the bible, so what it says doesn't apply. btw, do you believe the earth will be new again? that supposed 'earth will be burnt up' is part of the new heavens and new earth. so you think humans will reside there? i mean, why else is there a new earth? o_O just wondering.
yer really weird with this nwo stuff.
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B_Deserter
The Witnesses latch onto any historical event--good or bad--to claim that the end is near. I remember back when George H.W. Bush uttered that all-too-familiar phrase "peace and security," my dad started freaking out. "That's it!" he said excitedly, "that's the call! It'll be any day now!" It's been 20 years now since the President uttered those words, and the end is nowhere nearer.
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chickpea
ANY little thing is enough to get
the stepford stare and the monotone
rendition of: the end is so close you
can feel it.....two "sistahs" out in field circus
stopped to offer me a copy of
"the kool-aid" edition, saying
the "meatiness"of it, and its
exclusivity was a sure sign of
the end being close, soooo closethat was last march....