by passwordprotected 49 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I think it is an easy trap to fall into seeing more significance in events - real or imagined - than actually there is. The WTS are experts at imbuing current events with added significance that doesn't belong.
We of all people shouldn't make the same mistake.
Having said that we could have already passed the tipping point for the WTS - it may be some years after the fact that we discern what happened way back in 2009 :-)
Good comments all. What I noticed at the DC was that, while dates were shied away from, other than occasional mentions of 1914, the word "imminent" (regarding Arm's approach) was used repeatedly. It seems like they are trying to get people--or keep people--all a-foam with anticipation. "Soon," "very soon," etc. were used over and over. I remember looking around at the scribbling notetakers and thinking, "C'mon guys, don't you remember hearing these same words over the last few decades."
But that's the handy thing with such words. It can stay "imminent" indefinitely, especially if your critical thinking skills are on the blink. Like another poster said, many will continue to quietly pack up and leave while a hardcore sector will just keep hoping...
What does it really mean to say we are getting closer to the end.....closer than what??? I have only been following things JW for about 3 years and I am already seeing the stuff get rehashed.......damn cult!
so close....
sooooooooo close
that was the pronouncement of
2 JW sistah's out in the field misery
2 memorial seasons ago, when they stopped
by to "encourage me" to come back to meetings...
they had nearly identical wide-eyed stepfordesque
expressions on their face that were actually somewhat
discncerting to gaze upon..... spooky!
they gave me a copy of the kool-aid
edition and said that the "real meat"
of the study WT was a sign of the above:
the end is sooooooooo close you can
reach right out and pluck a nose hair....
be interesting to see what they
have to say in 2015...
AK-Jeff is spot on. The 1914 issue is not going to be easily overcome with the older witnesses. They will never speak out but they have been shaken. Yes, the WT is trying to make smart corporation decisions and claim that everyone of these moves is getting ready for the end. It's called being given a lemon and trying to make lemonade.
Their credibility is sooo fragile they have no choice but to circle the wagons and drum the message of fear - Armageddon!! Shunning!! into the rank and file.
Remember, it's the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society Incorporated. They're a corporation. They're a business. They have business advisers and consultants, lawyers, board meetings, reports, flow charts and all the other bits n pieces that any other New York corporation has.
Number one is the bottom line.
I prophecy that they're readying themselves for a significant drop off in adherents over the next 5 years. And I think this suits them fine. 3 million bleating and obedient sheep who'll do anything and go anywhere for the hired hand (faithful slave) is better than 7 million cantankerous donkeys.
Maybe the exodus won't be MASS, but it'll be constant and consistent.
History repeats itself.....
We are entering a Rutherford-esque period similar to when he got tired of riding Russells tailcoat!
Granted I don't expect them to dump 1914 as Rutherford dumped the pyramids but I do expect them to bury the claim over the next few years. The claim keeps them in charge via 1919 but also dates them in ways that grow more injurious as decades continue to pass without the end arriving.
If they drop 1919 some will be up in arms. The hard core people won't bat an eyelid.
1919 means too much in the way of power for those men who have spent their lives climbing the WTS ladder to achieve GB status.
Ego, entitlement and ease is too addicting to give up by most (which makes Ray Franz a rare gem).
Again why give it up when they can simply stop mentioning it ......buried in time like other still present interpretations that most R&F are unaware.
I do think they would be wise to shift devotional rationale to less 'dated' reasons eventually. Modern day Apostles is a temporary bandaid for now but I think it would be more profitable to go back to the simple appeal of being just 'bible students' with trusted men elected to 'take the lead'. Arianism has always had it's place in Christianty and is still a marketable concept should it become available with less culty add-ons.
But all in all that is just IMHO.
Remember, tho, that they've ready started to point - not to 1919 - to their printing presses, global expansion, CO arrangement etc etc as proof of divine appointment. Crazy but true.
