The Greatest Decline - Their Vacuity

by metatron 11 Replies latest jw friends

metatron

While the Watchtower has suffered from a number of
declines in various areas, there is no greater decay
manifest than in its current publications.
As a teenager growing up, the 'truth' was, to me, a system of
knowledge, not just behaviors demanded "because we say so".
You can fault the Society's past publications all you want -
at least, however flawed they were, they made a detailed attempt
to disprove evolution - or explain the blood transfusion issue,
or justify their view of chronology - or explain why the organization
has a central role in Bible prophecy.
All that seems to be gone now - they don't seem willing to defend
anything in detail now. I dare anyone to pick up any Watchtower
volume from the 1960's at random and compare the kind of articles
published back then - with the vacuous, platitude-laden waste of paper
and ink that now prevails.
I find all this fascinating because I DON'T KNOW HOW THIS PROCESS
ENDS. Please consider: if you 'evolve' from the "Did Man Get Here
By Evolution Or Creation" book (1967) to the "Life, How Did It Get Here?" book (1985) to the "Creator" book (1998), what happens next?
Maybe a cheap tract that says "Praise Jehovah, author of Evolution"???
The same goes for everything else - they used to offer a detailed
defense of Bible chronology - CERTAINLY SOMETHING TO BE EXPECTED
IF YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT HISTORY IS ONLY 6000 YEARS LONG. Now,
not only do they fail to explain this astonishing claim, but they
actually seem to forget they made it! (See Awake Feb. 22, 2002)
This last fact is MOST interesting! Their 'theology' and history
have become so distorted and vague that THE WRITING STAFF CAN'T
KEEP IT STRAIGHT THEMSELVES! Note how the Society had to back track
after 'forgetting' that Rutherford made anti-Semitic remarks
when they published an Awake on the Holocaust. Also, in regard
to chronology, they get confused as to when the organization
started teaching that 1914 began Christ's presence!
THIS IS HOW THE 'ARMSTRONG' WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD COLLAPSED!!
THEY CONCEEDED DEFEAT ON ALL THEIR DOCTRINE BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T
MAKE ANY CONSISTENT SENSE OF IT!!!!
I assert this, from my lips to God's ears,
the Watchtower Society is hiding, indeed cowering, behind
a wall of platitudes and increasingly empty magazine articles
because THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY OR TEACH ANYMORE!
They are playing an 'endgame', running out of chess pieces,
and vainly hoping that their ignorant flock fails to catch on.
I don't see how this can go on indefinitely...
and the most tragic aspect of it is, that people continue to
die for the blood transfusion issue, while the Society hides behind lawyers and avoids explanation for their insistence on death,
in obedience to Watchtower rules.
metatron
jayhawk1

You make a great point. I remember talking to a "friend" about a year before I left about this very topic. We had both figured that the reason the Watchtower and Awake! magazines were not going as deep into theology as they had in previous decades was not to stumble any "new sheep". So that is why they must have dumbed down the magazines. However we also figured that the books that we studied at the "book study" had not changed, except for the light getting brighter.
However, when I prepared for bible readings, almost all of my sources were publications around twenty years old. When I look back now, I can easily see the reason for why my sources were that old. The society is finding it harder to write things it can't defend. Jehovah's Witnesses will at some point have to go "mainstream", or they will collapse.
Is this a light saber in my pocket or am I just happy to see you?
"Hand me that whiskey, I need to consult the spirit."-J.F. Rutherford
belbab

Have you listened to Ciro's talk on Freeminds. He stumbled over the date 1914 at one point. I believe he says that Satan and his demons were cast out of heaven in 1914, then caught himself, was unsure, and then covered it over. I forget, wasn't Satan et al thrown out in 1919, or who gives a shit?
All the threads are coming apart in this woven tapestry of illusion.
Chaos, chaos, I love it.
Belbab
NeonMadman

The same goes for everything else - they used to offer a detailed
defense of Bible chronology - CERTAINLY SOMETHING TO BE EXPECTED
IF YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT HISTORY IS ONLY 6000 YEARS LONG. Now,
not only do they fail to explain this astonishing claim, but they
actually seem to forget they made it! (See Awake Feb. 22, 2002)
Can you direct me to the article or page in the Feb 22 Awake that you are referring to? I'd like to see what it says, but looking through the issue, I don't see where any reference to this is made.
Tom
"The truth was obscure, too profound and too pure; to live it you had to explode." ---Bob Dylan
Moxy

i think the reference must be to page 30, in the 'From Our Readers':
Niagara Falls (July 8, 2001) You said that the erosion of the river gorge has taken place over the past 12,000 years. This would not tie in with the Bible's account of a global deluge.
R. P., Britain
"Awake!" responds: We simply presented the current estimates given by geologists, with no comment as to how accurate they might be. Such estimates obviously do not take into consideration the Bible's account of the Noachian Flood, which evidently took place less than 5,000 years ago.--Matthew 24:37

wow, what an evasive answer. is there a single definitive statement in there? i cant find the july 8 article right now to see the original statement.
this reminds me of last years district convention where a brother started off his talk with an illustration of endurance: the bristlecone pine that had been alive for 4,700 years!! if you want to preach a wacky chronology, at least try and keep track of it! no one else is going to.
mox
voltaire

Interesting observations. I've been re-reading CoC. Ray talks about the tremendous influnce of Freddie Franz in coming up with the doctrines. He made it sound as though most of the members of the GB were content to handle new issues by refering to existing WT rules and publications. This may be partly an issue of intellect and personality. I believe, however, there's more to it than that. The society has evolved in such a way that I think it would be very difficult to originate anything new, unless circumstances demand it.
If you think about it, most of the doctrine has been established by two men, Russell and Franz. Obviously, Russell was the first doctrinal leader. Ray seems to believe that Freddie was really the one doing Rutherford's writing for him. Ray also says that Rutherford personally designated Franz(Fred) and Knorr to carry on the work. Knorr ran the business operations and Fred established the doctrines.
In fact, when Ray came to his uncle, Fred, with concerns about the possible need to establish bodies of elders as in the first century congregation, Fred told him there would be no problem. If they needed to make any doctrinal changes, they would. That was before a real GB.
My question is simple. Who today has the authority to so blithely change WT doctrine? Surely no one person has the stature or respect of a Fred Franz. (Maybe Schroeder? Is he still lucid enough, though,
for that kind of heavy thinking?)
Another factor. After the witch hunt mentality of the early 80's, wouldn't it dangerous to bring up a new idea? Might not a person expose themselves to charges of apostasy?
Combine those two factors and I don't see anyone able to put forward anything new, unless circumstances make it obvious that SEVERE credibility or legal problems will ensue.
outnfree

July 8, 2001 Awake!, Page 27:
"The Falls Are Retreating!
Yes, erosion has taken its toll on the falls. It is estimated that over the last 12,000 years, the falls at Niagara have retreated about seven miles, to their present location. At one time the rate of erosion was about three feet per year. Now it is down to about one foot every ten years. What is the reason for this erosion?
The water passes over a hard top layer of dolomite limestone that lies on layers of soft sandstone and shale. These lower layers get eroded and then the limestone rocks collapse and fall to the basin below."
Notice the "Contributed" article did not quote or reference any geologists at all in this subheading (nor in the entire article, actually. .
Moxy said:if you want to preach a wacky chronology, at least try and keep track of it! no one else is going to.
I concur!
outnfree
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts -- John Wooden
Dogpatch

Bebbab: I caught that, too! A couple of other funny near-blips are on the talk as well.
Metatron: I can't imagine being a elder and teaching the crap they have in their books now, you have to really dumb your mind down.
:-0
Randy
AMNESIAN

Metatron:
the Watchtower Society is hiding, indeed cowering, behind
a wall of platitudes and increasingly empty magazine articles
because THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY OR TEACH ANYMORE!
They are playing an 'endgame', running out of chess pieces,
and vainly hoping that their ignorant flock fails to catch on.
My husband and I were discussing this very thing just today.
One need not be an "insider" to be able to see in this year 2002 that, clearly, the Society has been in a kind of holding pattern in terms of its teaching(s) in the last, say, 5-6 years. It seems two dynamics have conspired to halt its forward momentum: first, they are well and truly at a loss as to what to teach---no clue as to where humankind is in “the stream of time” and no one in the upper echelons to whom the leadership looks as its oracle/Bible scholar in fredfranz fashion; secondly, they have become extremely gun-shy when it comes to making the kind of bold assertions for which they were previously known and revered by the r&f.
I don't see how this can go on indefinitely...
It has nothing whatever to do with wishful thinking when I say that I honestly cannot imagine how much longer this can continue. Not only is there no “new light,” there doesn’t seem to be anything approaching “light” period---meaning not even fresh approaches to discussing the shop-worn recurring themes. Do you realize that this year’s DC theme is “Zealous Kingdom Proclaimers”! If that doesn’t tell you the bulbs are all completely burned out, nothing does.
As usual, your posts either dovetail something I’d been mulling myself or, most often, offer some insight that enlightens me or keen perspective that expands my own thinking on a particular topic in a direction I’d not previously considered.
-AMNESIAN, forgetting the things learned
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Many now dying have never lived...
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Moxy

no new light? you obviously havent listened to my man ciro! hes got new light comin out the wazoo! in fact, hold on, whats this down here? could it be? yes... it IS! praise jehovah, new light! and i dont think we can speculate any further on that, but if we did, why... hang on a second, i think its... you guessed it! new light! and i heard someone say this off the cuff and i havent verified it but what the heck, lets call it some more, you know you want it, NEW LIGHT!
mox

The Greatest Decline - Their Vacuity

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