by Jim Dee 32 Replies latest jw friends
Nope, the Kids in Brooklyn will be around for along time.
Although comparisons between Enron and the WTBTS are quite similar neither has any evidence of a spiritual or cosmic connection.
However, unlike the trusting shareholders of Enron the WTBTS actually has significant tangible assets that it can rely on during a downturn.
I suspect, even if the 'love of the greater number (Jehovah's Witnesses) should cool off' and leave, the corporation could chug along quite nicely on its assets.
Flip
Hi all,
I also add my vote to the naysayers. They're great at survival, and since they'e shown themselves to be so unprincipled, they'll finesse their way pragmatically through the current crisis. I think they'll be dragged kicking and screaming towards the mainstream, and the Society 30 years hence will not bear much resemblance to the present WTBTS.
No, they'll be around awhile. But I think these events will chasten the WTS organization as a whole and result in some much-needed housecleaning.
Great picture, Okidok!
AlanF
I have seen what has happened to similar groups like this.
Some will say yes and others will say no
To me it all boils down to - money.
Take the money away, then watch what happens.
hawk
Unfortunately religions have a tenacious way of hanging on no matter what happens, or how corrupt they are. We can still dream though can't we?
Here is a quote by Mark Twain that is so very true.
Apparently one of the most uncertain things in the world is the funeral of a religion.
- Following the Equator
BW
Everything secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity. Lord Acton 1834-1902
When all the post 1914 anointed are gone and Armageddon still hasn't come, the Watchtower will make revisions. They will spiritualize beliefs that they now hold literally. Armageddon will become a symbol of the battle between good and evil within the individual heart--with ultimately good winning out. There will be disappointment and defections to be sure, but I don't anticipate that the Witnesses will completely disappear. They might even become more mainstream.
Hawkaw has it exactly - follow the money.
Without money, they fade to black. That's why it's so much fun
watching the Watchtower run out of cash. How many religions do
you know that can't afford to ship subscriptions to their own
magazine?
metatron
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The words of Carl Sagan are so True
<blockquote>
Doctrines that make no predictions are less compelling than those which make correct predictions; they are in turn more successful than doctrines that make false predictions. But not always. One prominent American religion confidently predicted that the world would end in 1914. Well, 1914 has come and gone, and -- while the events of that year were certainly of some importance -- the world does not, at least so far as I can see, seem to have ended.
There are at least three responses that an organized religion can make in the face of such a failed and fundamental prophecy. They could have said, "Oh, did we say '1914'? So sorry, we meant '2014'. A slight error in calculation. Hope you weren't inconvenienced in any way." But they did not. They could have said, "Well, the world *would* have ended, except we prayed very hard and interceded with God and He spared the Earth." Instead, they did something much more ingenious. They announced that the world *had* in fact ended in 1914, and if the rest of us hadn't noticed, that was our lookout.
It is astonishing in the face of such transparent evasions that this religion has any adherents at all. But religions are tough. Either they make no contentions which are subject to disproof or they quickly redesign doctrine after disproof. The fact that religions can be so shamelessly dishonest, so contemptuous of the intelligence of their adherents, and still flourish does not speak very well for the tough-mindedness of the believers. But it does indicate, if a demonstration were needed, that near the core of the religious experience is something remarkably resistant to rational inquiry.
— quote from "Broca's Brain" by Carl Sagan, p. 332, twelfth edition
There's one thing i'm unclear of about the replys on this post.
It seems to me anyway, AND I KNOW I"M RIGHT! that this would be something everyone would agree on regardless of what side you are on.
Sorry but I don't get it.
Eventually the gonernment is going to get SICK AND TIRED of all the religious crap and ban it. I PREDICT there will be amendments and retractions to our Constitution. Don't know how that will effect other contries unless in the future the entire world is ruled by a corp. Why the hell not?
plm
Hm, if the entire world becomes a StarbucksMcDonaldsBurgerKingMicrosoftAOLTimeWarner franchise, then the WTBTS is screwed.
I still hold to my original point - there is just too much FUGGING momentum within the Society, too many people who are truly brainwashed - they are so deeply programmed that they couldn't leave even if they wanted to. They are trapped. Their minds are their own beautiful prisoners. Very sad I'm glad I got out in time.
Hehe - isn't that funny, the Dubs are urging people to get into the Org in time, but I'm glad I got out in time!
That momentum won't just disappear quickly, because the Dubs are also breeding. In fact, they EXCEL at breeding. So many Dub families have children that it is a sure fact the Org will probably be around in some form until I am dead in about 60 years if I lead a more healthy lifestyle than I do now.
In conclusion, the WTBTS is sick, but it is very convincing to people who WANT to believe in something.
