by ex-Special Pioneer 27 Replies latest jw friends
It does occur to me that Freddy's religious revelations were all pro-active: Creation of blood and smoking theocratic law, creation of the 1975 complex chronology, etc.
Todays revelations are all re-active: Redo the blood law for legal reasons, redo the "generation" to cover their butts over false prophecy, redo the draft no CO rules again for legal reasons, and so on...basically a process of trying to undo stupid things from the past, but not anything really NEW.
Yeah mainly the blood thing. But also he gave an interview in the Knocking documentary where he was spouting off on doctrine as though he ran the show. Plus didn't I read he was appointed as one of the "nethinim" class in the early 1990s?
James_Woods wrote:
Today's revelations are all re-active: Redo the blood law for legal reasons, redo the "generation" to cover their butts over false prophecy, redo the draft no CO rules again for legal reasons, and so on...basically a process of trying to undo stupid things from the past, but not anything really NEW.
The WTS is certainly in circle-the-wagons mode.
It has been ever since the 1975 fiasco, as evidenced by the Bethel witch hunts of the 1980s and the DFing of Ray Franz.
Ironically, if they had kept Ray on the GB and moderated their hardline stance on DFing every JW who expresses the slightest doubt about the organization, CoC and ISoCF might never have been written.
James Woods - you have a PM
I think its also a writing department religion.
the GB cant be bothered with the day to day teachings (as also mentioned in COC)
and by and large the writing department just rehashes old shit using the same old shit as the status quo.
the JW diet is that of recycling faeces and serving it up with a sprig of parsley to make it fresh.
no guru in the Corp now.
oz
Blondie:
Brother Cut and Paste and Brother Throw It In the Air and See what Sticks
Ha, very funny and true.
There has always been a twin strand in the JW leadership. You have the prophetic/mystic side as exemplified by CT Russell and Freddy Franz and the authoritarian/corporate side as typified (anti-typified ;) ) by Rutherford and Knorr.
Since Freddy died, no-one of enough influence and stature has taken over the mystic side, hence now the organisation is imbalanced. This is shown by the more and more legalistic / organisational emphasis in the literature and meetings. There is now virtually no emphasis on doctrine. Everything is about how to follow the rules whether in personal life or in preaching.
A typical watchtower study is broken down like this:
Oh dear Things Are Bad. Humans need rules.
These are the rules.
How lovingly God provided the rules.
Abraham/Noah, David and random minor Prophet followed the rules.
Jesus/Paul followed the rules (optional)
How we can follow the rules today.
How we can help others follow the rules.
That's about 3 weeks worth of 'study' material.
redo the draft no CO rules again for legal reasons
What is this about??
I agree... it seems nobody was as..... creative... as Fred Franz. Or with the attention to detail. I don't think Fred Franz would have made the mistakes made in the latest Jeremiah book...
I reckon it works like this. In the absence of anybody with any real ideas of their own, this is how it goes.
The writing dept. suggest subjects that they wish to cover, sometimes instigated by "Legal", the GB say O.K
Writing produces, runs it past Legal, then GB rubber stamp it. Just occasionally, GB may suggest something, it will be produced by writing, run past legal and probably modified,( mind-control added or strengthened) and then GB rubber stamp it.
In this process there is not much room for a "Guru" , no room for original thought, and most certainly no room whatsoever for the Holy Spirit !
redo the draft no CO rules again for legal reasons
What is this about??
Basically, in the 1960s - (Viet Nam War era); many JW young guys my age were sent to 5 years in Federal Prison for draft evasion. The Watchtower Society had an unwritten rule that no JW could remain in good standing if they did not refuse the draft. Not only did we have to refuse the draft, but we also had to refuse the draft status of Conscientous Objector. CO was a way to serve out your military obligations without active military service - you had to work in a VA hospital or other such public service in a non-combatant status. The Watchtower Society was adamant that if you took the CO service instead of prison you would automatically be disassociated (you were said to have "disassociated yourself")...you were not disfellowshipped because the society thought that this protected them legally from anti-government activity. We were privately instructed to say that we came to this conclusion entirely on our own, and that the WTBTS had not influenced our decision. At the very end of the Viet Nam draft era, some JWs were actually sentenced (by federal court) to do CO work instead of going to prison. This was (inexplicably) excused by the WTBTS as being OK because "it was not their decision" - it was the same as going to prison in that case. Ridiculous - you were doing the same thing as stating yourself to be a CO in the first place. In the 1990s (I am not sure of the exact date), the CO rules were changed. Not that it mattered, because the draft no longer existed after Nixon, but the society wrote that it was suddenly OK to be a CO. The Society also arrogantly stated (in print) that if anyone had actually gone to prison formerly on this anti-CO teaching - then they should be proud of it because "of course - it was your own decision". It was as bald faced a lie as saying that people "made up the 1975 prophecy in their own minds". They never even said they were sorry to the many JW young men of this time who became convicted Felons and served time with bank robbers or kidnappers because of this stupid pharisaical rule system.
