The magazines didn't used to be so dumb and boring

by Lore 28 Replies latest jw friends

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  Lore

  For comparison here is the first few paragraphs of THIS weeks study:

  PERHAPS the first time you saw Jehovah’s name was when it was shown to you at Psalm 83:18. You may have been surprised to read those words: “That people may know that you, whose name is Jehovah, you alone are the Most High over all the earth.” Since then, you no doubt have used this same scripture to help others come to know our loving God, Jehovah.—Rom.10:12, 13.
  
  2 Although it is important for people to know Jehovah’s name, such knowledge in itself is not enough. Notice how the psalmist highlights yet another truth essential to our salvation when he says: “You alone are the Most High over all the earth.” Yes, Jehovah is the most important Person in the whole universe. As the Creator of all things, he has the right to expect full submission from all his creatures. (Rev. 4:11) For good reason, then, we need to ask ourselves, ‘Who is the most important person in my life?’ It is vital that we carefully analyze our answer to that question!
  
  The Issue in the Garden of Eden
  
  3 The seriousness of this question can be clearly seen in the events that developed back in the garden of Eden. There the rebellious angel who later became known as Satan the Devil enticed the first woman, Eve, to put her own desires ahead of Jehovah’s command not to eat the fruit of a certain tree. (Gen. 2:17; 2 Cor. 11:3) She succumbed to this enticement and thereby showed a lack of respect for Jehovah’s sovereignty. Eve did not acknowledge Jehovah as the most important Person in her life. But how was Satan able to deceive Eve?

  Truly BORING

  It wouldn't make a difference if Orson Wells read the paragraphs and Vincent Price jumped in to read all parts where Satan talks. There is NO way to read that in a non boring way.
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  godrulz

  WT has much quantity, but poor quality. So-called Christendom's writers, scholars, and literature are light years ahead (this is why Bethel library has so much of it, but they distort it).
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  blondie

  I too was born in the 50's and they were boring but it was not so evident at first. Most thought it was so "deep" and their knowledge so limited. Others tried digging deep to get the hidden meaning but it was more like this.

  There must be a pony in here somewhere!

  Joke- This is a great one for all of the eternal optimists
  There are twin boys of five or six. Mom was worried that the boys had developed extreme personalities -- one was a total pessimist, the other a total optimist -- their parents took them to a psychiatrist.
  
  First the psychiatrist treated the pessimist. Trying to brighten his outlook, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with brand-new toys. But instead of yelping with delight, the little boy burst into tears. "What's the matter?" the psychiatrist asked, baffled. "Don't you want to play with any of the toys?" "Yes," the little boy bawled, "but if I did I'd only break them."
  
  Next the psychiatrist treated the optimist. Trying to dampen his out look, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with horse manure. But instead of wrinkling his nose in disgust, the optimist emitted just the yelp of delight the psychiatrist had been hoping to hear from his brother, the pessimist. Then he clambered to the top of the pile, dropped to his knees, and began gleefully digging out scoop after scoop with his bare hands. "What do you think you're doing?" the psychiatrist asked, just as baffled by the optimist as he had been by the pessimist. "With all this manure," the little boy replied, beaming, "there must be a pony in here somewhere"
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  undercover

  They weren't always so dumb, but they were always boring.
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  RagingBull

  I think that maybe now, the writers even know its all bull crap. Back in the day, people really had a zeal for it and BELIEVED in it. Now everyone KNOWS that its crap. Hey, there's more of US than THEM! They need to just tell us that Illuminati uses the org to make pocketchange and that we can all go on with our lives if we want.
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  blondie

  Or perhaps they believe it needs crap to be valuable:

  The Straight Poop on Kopi Luwak Coffee

  http://www.lifeaftercoffee.com/2005/09/16/the-straight-poop-on-kopi-luwak-coffee/
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  simon17

  How many years has it been since a WT article used a (real) word that you would have had to look up? Probably decades.

  "reconnoitering"??? Never heard that one before. yes the old articles were lightyears ahead of the new articles in both style AND substance.
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  AnneB

  IMO, everything is interesting the first time through; it's only after the umpteenth repition that it gets boring. When I was new to JW's/WT publications I read not only the current literature, but started reading "backward" through the old publications. The material prior to the 1960's did seem more interesting, more in depth, and better written. The language was always stilted, though, as if using out-of-fashion vocabulary lent more weight to the message. It wasn't in-talk, exactly, it seemed to me that WT was trying to hold on to old manners that existed more in fictional situations than in real life at any point. Looking back, it seems to me that WT tried to project an air of refinement, as though JW's were of the upper class and for that reason ought to be listened to. (And here's me ending a sentence with a preposition! No wonder I'm not a JW today!)

  Long about 1991, WT mag had an article showing the number of JW's ten or twelve years earlier and the number "today". It was something like 12:1. The article went on to state that since people were coming in so fast that they were bringing in worldly habits and influences that weren't present when there was "more time" to study with them, hence the WT was taking a more elementary approach in their articles and even repeating information.

  Dumb and boring is what happened when they lowered admission standards so that more could be saved.
• 

  1975

  You guys missed the exciting times!

  1975
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  WTWizard

  Everything has gotten dumber during the past 20 years. When I joined the cancer, at least there was some substance. Granted, it was already on its way down, but some of the stories were a bit more varied. Today, it is the same story of going from paradise to now, and to the 1,000 year reign.

  Also, commenting has gotten worse during the last few years. When I was in the cancer, you could give answers that varied from the paragraph. I used to give answers that did the job of tying in with the paragraph, using my own illustrations--often better ones than what the Filthful and Disgraceful Slavebugger gave us. People used to give long comments--sometimes rambling stories about personal lives (and yes, those comments were boring). The conductors had a bit of leeway to ask additional questions. The a$$emblies had features that presented different facets of the religion--still crap, but at least not the exact same crap all the time.

  Alas, during the past several years, this has been dying off. Comments in the words of the paragraph are expected, with a bit of leeway for paraphrasing it but none for making comments that are not directly tied in with the paragraph. Many of the illustrations, though accepted when I made them (and often better than the provided ones), would now earn me a trip to the back room. Talks have to be delivered exactly as directed by the Filthful and Disgraceful Slavebugger. All of which adds even worse stagnation than when I was a witless.