"Be Successful in Coping with Change" - Notes from a special talk given after Watchtower Study at Brooklyn Bethel December 5, 2011

by wannabefree 60 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  dozy

  " From advancing spiritual light - it can be difficult if a teaching is especially close to our heart. "

  Interesting that this was highlighted , in a talk essentially about Bethel lay-offs & reorganisation. I wonder if the WTBTS is softening up the R & F for a big piece of "new light" ( perhaps scrapping the literal 144K ).

  Surprising that they didn't mention MacMillans reaction to another piece of new light - the failure of the prophecy that by 1925 the "faithful men of old" would return and Rutherford's admission (privately) that "he had made an ass of himself".
• 

  james_woods

  What these people call progressive is actually a retraction into more iron-handed control.

  Most people would call that a regression, rather than progression.
• 

  OUTLAW

  How inspiring..

  Bethelites should be happy to get The Boot because..

  Rutherford chose Knorr to become President of the WBT$..

  It`s all so clear now..

  I`ll bet Bethelites understand "OverLapping Generation" better now too..

  ........................ ...OUTLAW
• 

  sabastious

  What these people call progressive is actually a retraction into more iron-handed control.
  
  Most people would call that a regression, rather than progression.

  The Watchtower seems to be in a phase transition. On one hand they want to keep everything exactly the same, but they know that something has to change in order for existence to continue. That's why their doctrine includes both conservatism and progressiveness. In the end they will never really change because their strategy will always involve lying to their people on a very deep level. What that has done 100% of the time in human history is create revolution. The Watchtower's "phases" are designed to avert revolution and so far they have been completely successful at it.

  When I was a Witness I would have felt weird about calling God a progressive God because I was taught that God never changed. The very fact that this language is even being used at all means there is a roaring fire under the Watchtower's seat right now. They are scrambling around like cockroaches, imo.

  -Sab
• 

  stuckinamovement

  Dozy,

  Good point. It seems as if they are laying the groundwork for a major change. 144K as a symbolic number would be a likely change, I think that it is inevitable. There are more and more annointed partakers but fewer and fewer in brooklyn leadership positions. The Society has done such a good job of closing the doors of the heavens that there are very few suitable successors to the GB 2.0.

  SIAM
• 

  james_woods

  In the end they will never really change because their strategy will always involve lying to their people on a very deep level. What that has done 100% of the time in human history is create revolution. The Watchtower's "phases" are designed to avert revolution and so far they have been completely successful at it.

  Perhaps they have been successful at it - perhaps. I doubt that their retention of the young has been successful.
• 

  sabastious

  Perhaps they have been successful at it - perhaps. I doubt that their retention of the young has been successful.

  The Watchtower is aware that there are many youth "types" that will often lead to apostasy/fading/inactive etc. They probably have actual math on it much like an insurance company. I suspect this knowledge is WHY the door to door work is the focal point of the religion as it's the only other way to bring in members besides the human reproductive process. Niall Ferguson put it perfectly, imo, he said that it's the models that are as much to blame for our current financial crisis as anything else. That's what the Watchtower is: a proven financial model. These models that we have created and then signed blood contracts with. Oof!

  -Sab
• 

  Quarterback

  I'm not too sure that the WTS is facing a financial crisis. I think that some are realizing the gold mine of the type real estate they are sitting on in Brooklyn. Once these bldg's are sold they will have a large nest egg. The next step of downsizing Bethel staff, just allows them to accomplish the work they want to accomplish with less. Less financial/human resources. It would be interesting to see the stat's in the upcoming years.
• 

  designs

  James- Its amazing how the teachings of the Bible Students are being introduced into JW theology, especially on the 'generation' teaching.
• 

  metatron

  Hmmm....

  Look, first, subtle changes in interpretation of the law have left the Watchtower Sociopaths with a big problem: every single Bethelite represents a potential liability.

  Somebody runs over a pedestrian while going to a meeting. Somebody hurts their back while working at a Branch Office. Somebody molests a kid in a bathroom.

  Yup, sh*t happens.... but this stuff can Cost You Big Bucks Because Ambulance-Chasers see dollar signs and a percentage.

  Financial trouble? Yup. Just keep in mind that assets/capital are different from cash flow. Yes, they have huge real estate assets but that isn't cash flow. The magazines and trashy books don't turn coin like they used to.

  The Anointed Thing? Well,.........maybe, maybe.....Eventually....... So, they move the Divine Mantle Of Authority Away From the 144,000 and move it over to the Glorious Masters of Time And Space - The Governing Body. so, maybe something evolves there............

  The rest is as I say: Spread Your cheeks, Bethel boys. You're screwed. You scum work and live here at our sufferance. I'll bet you wish you had spent your past twenty years working at GM or Chrysler instead of for these Nazis who will kick you to the street with almost nothing to show for it.

  metatron