by eric356 96 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
It is a fair point that we are attempting to analyse this organization in a rational way - but it isn't completely rational. If they were rational, they wouldn't be in the mess they're in. If Jehovah's Witnesses were rational, the organization would evaporate in the space of a weekend.
metatron
If the GB is truly still in expectation of Jehovah's lifeboat, why the building plans extending to at least 2014?
I thought that thier plans extended farther than that.
I know I read it some where. just can't think of where
if anyone knows please post.
If the GB is truly still in expectation of Jehovah's lifeboat, why the building plans extending to at least 2014?
This is what I was getting at when I was talking about mixed signals coming from WT leadership. Maybe there are 2 or 3 delusional GB members who would stop long-term planning, another 2 or 3 who feel we're in it for the long term and another 2 or 3 who aren't quite sure. On any given matter, the long-term faction might convince the undecideds to go their way, and on another occasion the end-is-near faction wins their support. The bottom line is that we don't know for sure, but policy-decisions have definitely been inconsistent.
We can point to long-term expansion projects and say, "See, the GB is full of money-hungry, evil-geniuses, cynically manipulating JW membership for their own benefit. They don't believe a word of what they're saying." But, if this is true, why does the WT continue to discourage higher education? Why does it encourage its members to work in low-paying jobs? Why doesn't the WT require tithing?
Before somone says it's because they need to have an uneducated membership in order to preserve their power, look at the Mormon Church. Their members are on average more educated than the general US population and they run their own universities. Education has not caused a decline in membership, and it can be argued that their beliefs are more easily disproved that the Watchtowers.
(1) If the WTS gets their heads out of their asses, they may figure a way for the door-to-door salespeople to deliver, fully at their own expense, some way to attract people to the electronic Watchtower. Perhaps a handheld device like ipad or Kindle will let people know where to go to learn more. But either way, by print or by wifi, WTS information is easily debunked by anti-WTS information these days. Recruitment will continue to dwindle as people google the real truth about "the truth."
(2) Capitalism is pushing into third world countries so fast. Information will get to them quickly. They may skip over the phases of consumerism that industrialized nations went through. Perhaps they won't all have cell phones or home computers or etc. etc., but go right to a cheaper phase where each individual can "plug in" to the information superhighway some way somehow. Peaks in the third world for WTS will be short-lived.
(3) Shifts in public opinion hurt all religions. WTS will continue to be plagued by this. Her "morality" won't stand up well to independent-thinkers morality. WTS will have to keep quiet in it's war against many "worldly" beliefs, activities, pursuits.
(4) While I agree with the brain-drain stuff, I also believe that lawyers and accountants and various religious ringmasters will eventually totally take over WTS and pump some life into it, knowing fully that it is a money-focused corporation and not a religion. It happened with Ringmaster Rutherford after Russell died and it will happen again.
All that said, I believe WTS is suffering a very slow death. She has money still and members. It will take some major upheavals to speed that up. Even that can happen. When Rutherford took over, the groups splintered. If something like that happens in the next takeover, they may not survive as well to recover. Or the next ringmaster might be short-sighted and take a bunch of money and let it die.
Your original point about literature being almost obsolete at this time is probably weighing on the GBs minds. I totally agree about the topics chosen being out of touch with the western world. I can see a possible shift in the way the literature is printed, in the same way we have a public, and Kool-Aid version. I think within a couple of years we'll see the mags being 'country/continent specific', in that Africa will get their own mags with headline articles about Witchcraft/Voodoo/Famine/War etc. North America will get headline articles about Drug Use/Materialism/How Evil Is The Internet etc.
I think The Society will continue to dump on higher education. Thinking will always continue to be discouraged. regarding the youngsters, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they didn't implement a Bible study school afternoon to indoctrinate kids a little more. I think they'll go for saturday afternoons. I can see probably an elder and his wife being given this 'privilege'. They need to get a hold of the little ones and pummel their soft little brains. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they didn't make it like some kind of sunday school. I don't think a lot of parents are studying much with their kids.
I can see a gradual decline for the Society in the west. They'll lose money, initially. Then they'll tighten their grip on the R&F in so many ways, so that a lot will think 'screw this' and start to question the drivel doctrine.
I used to think 'I just want to live to see the end of this system'. Now that's changed to 'I just want to live to see the end of the Watchtower Society'.
Perhaps the WTS is more like Babylon the Great than they realize?
Remember when they taught us that Babylong the Great fell way back in 1918/1919 and that what we have now is its last gasps before it completely expires? Sounds more like the WTS was talking about themselves.
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The average rank and file believe it, the leadership believes it and they won't easily give it up. So, if you have an unworkable model, but believe in it completely, what do you do? That is what I see as the main question.
That's why I mentioned special focus on the youth. Yes, trying to imagine myself going door to door with some JW youth pastor(elder or ms) seems unbearable, but for someone who truly believes and sees whatever situation he/she is in as a stepping stone to greater privileges thus a closer relationship to God - no embarrassment is too much. Plus, it just reinforces the persecution complex.
I also believe they continue to plan for the future because although they very much believe they're in the time of the end they don't really know how long a period they have to live in and must properly take care of all that God has entrusted to them. That means growing as much as possible and helping as many people as possible. Future planning is just plain prudent - for those who really believe.
It does make sense to me that as the organization has changed so much in the past decade or two that a strong leader at the top who feels that things have gone awry could split things in some way. Like everything in life these things are all about timing. If Ray Franz existed today he may have led the charge to change the organization and had enough support to create a tipping point. We'll never know. Is the organization primed now for such a tipping point? We'll have to wait and see. With Teddy gone who knows what may happen with the power vacuum he left. Plus, those previously sidelined or nervous to speak their mind may find new power (perhaps by grouping together agains any heir apparent).
This is a good thread and I hope it doesn't die too soon.
Your original point about literature being almost obsolete at this time is probably weighing on the GBs minds.
That's just it - it almost certainly is not.
These are old guys - not only chronologically, but the Bethel environment is very much stuck in the "Mad Men" era, minus all the smoking.
The GB are virtually incapable of original thought, and all the sycophants & yes-men scurrying around below them are almost certainly afraid to do anything that might rock their own personal boat - especially after seeing thousands of loyal Bethel long-timers get booted out the door over the past few years.
For the most part, the thought process is "Keep doing what we're doing and wait on Jehovah to bless us".
Then they get the scrubbed, filtered, and edited CO, DO, and branch reports that seem to indicate just that.
It may just be their own mule-headedeness that does them in.
" all the sycophants & yes-men scurrying around below them are almost certainly afraid to do anything that might rock their own personal boat - especially after seeing thousands of loyal Bethel long-timers get booted out the door over the past few years."
That most definitley sounds like a bussiness, only difference is the folks at bethel labor for free
The WT fills a specific niche: high-commitment, high-control, high-social cohesion. Each member gives up a lot to be a member: time, freedom, worldly relationships. In return they are part of a special "select" group that is very tight knit. The high levels of commitment demanded increases social pressure to conform and keeps everything together. It also eliminates free-loaders who would want to be part of a social group but don't put much back in. Everybody reinforces the faith of everyone else. Those who doubt and may mislead others are segregated and removed.
That's the best description I've ever read of this religion. I think you've summed it up perfectly, especially w/respect to being "part of a special select group that is very tight knit." That's it--that's the controlling factor as to why people join and stay, or at least , a significant one. High commitment=high conformity. I think that's also why we probably won't see a JW-lite version, where birthdays, etc. are allowed. As has been mentioned, that dilutes the brand, leading to feelings of reduced commitment and less special-ness.
That said, I'm not sure where they'll go next because, as has already been noted, they'll have to do something in the years to come. I have a family member in Bethel who said that smaller English congs are merging all over the place, that "it's the trend now," and this was confirmed by another family member visiting friends in Canada. Yet its the English speakers, along with members in other developed nations, such as Japan and England, etc., that bankroll this business. And those are the countries where growth is flatlining-- the math isn't terribly hard. What's worse is that of those actually coming in and staying in, the majority are women who, organizationally, are useless (in WT land).
My prediction? Well, guess, really. I suspect we'll see a retrenchment, a hardening of the standards, a swerve to even more control and conservatism as a reaction to mounting losses. I'd point to the heightened rhetoric against higher ed and even partaking in such innocuous celebrations as "Friendship Day" at school, along with the recent clamping down on women who are translating sign w/o a headcovering and the 2009 DC mantra on "Imminent!" And it'll probably go on for some years. The growth in foreign languages here in the US and in Canada, and exploding growth in SA and Africa will keep the WT ball rolling for some time and they might have to rely more on electronic versions just to save money.
Eventually, after the ranks begin to seriously dwindle and still no big A--and I'm projecting 20 to 30 years--maybe the GB will resort to JW 2.0 I'm hoping by then I won't give a sh*t.
Cheers, folks, and Happy Friday
