"The Watch Tower Society, in my opinion, are very clever Con-Artists – among the Best in the world ... "
Con artists usually defraud people of money or property, and are held criminally responsible for their actions. Should the same standard not be applied to the Watchtower, who has defrauded people for over one hundred years, not only bilking them out of their money and property but also their minds, souls and dignity, not unlike the allegiance that Hitler was able to command?
If that were true, there would not be zero/negative growth in over 70 countries. Also, if peer pressure were their greatest weapon, the number of partakers would not have remained steady/risen over the years.
No, their greatest weapon was the white-washing of their history and the capping of scandals and keeping the negative publicity out of sight.
NO LONGER....
HERE'S TO ZERO/NEGATIVE GROWTH IN 120 COUNTRIES IN 2003!!!!
UADNA-US (Unseen Apostate Directorate of North America-United States)
My point is that without this internal emotional peer pressure, the whole system would have broken down decades ago, revised history, hidden scandals et all.
It is still their greatest weapon at maintaining control of its adherents.
It is also not an unusual method, most control groups use it, the WTS are particularly creative in its use
Here is another "internal" factor to be considered. After you've spent 30 or 40 years washing windows and waiting for the new system the psychological weight having to face the fact that you've wasted your life becomes unbearable.
This makes acceptance of all the buzz words easier to take.
Absolutely right Jeff. It is very hard to face up to your having been fooled and tricked and many people will rather avoid that thought and keep swallowing the propaganda. Hope is a powerful thing. What a shame that it is also a type of prison for some people.
Good topic. Thanks HS, Amazing and Jeff. Good comments.
Absolutely, Jeff. That's a big factor, in my opinion, in many suicides---they are looking back on all the years they have lost, all the opportunities that went by them--and it's all they can see.
In reality, they have an opportunity to be really free and their life could just be beginning.
If any lurker is inclined to think I am exaggerating at the above use of the word deliberately;, I suggest an experiment.
Befriend somebody in writing;. Ask to see the manual that the WTS provides as instructions as to writing techniques. Look at the section that deals with "trigger"; words and phrases. Write down these words and phrases and then befriend somebody else, this time in an Advertising Bureau. Show them these written phrases and words and ask them what they are designed to do to the human mind.
HS,
Sounds like a grim experiment... It would be a reflection of the surreal, like in a conversation with the dead.
Trigger Words - Words influence how we view the world. These are so-called "trigger" words because they trigger a reaction inside us and, consequently, cause us to lose perspective when we most need it (when someone pushes a button or we respond favorably to a stranger or source, thinking we know them or share values, simply because they have used a certain word).
That there's a regularity in the style of Watchtower writers tells 'something' about your use of 'deliberate'. And it fools most of the people most of the time. The pervasive use of the exclamation mark, expressions like "Think about it!", which in actuality is an invitation to the reader to stop thinking for a moment, make Watchtower writers a bunch of indecents.
I think most here make up the one or two in each congregation that somehow felt "different".
You knew things didn't always add up and you asked yourself endless questions and just felt that it was YOU that was arriving at the wrong conclusion even though you were pretty sure you were right.
Peer pressure and fear can carry you for some distance before you finally wake up and realize that everyone around you is completely lost and misled, and what was troubling you all along was completely justified.