Have The Witnesses Changed All That Much In The Last Few Years?

by minimus 47 Replies latest jw friends

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  Phizzy

  I think the rot began with the N.Y Bethel purge beginning with Ray Franz and Ed Dunlap et al.

  After that, from the early eighties on, any scripturally sensible and liberating attitudes and practices were expunged, gradually the control got tighter and tighter, until any real Esprit de Corps was eradicated.

  The cries of "Obey (worship) the G.B " grew ever more shrill , the desertification of their already dry Theology continued apace.

  It is now certainly the worst large, High Control/Mind Control "religion".

  To stay in it requires you to be a spiritual masochist.
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  Sammy Jenkis

  Well I was in technically for 12 years but my fade has trickled me into year 13 and I have to honestly say in that time I did not notice much change. The song book changed, as did the TM material, set-up of the magazines and such but nothing like what the veterans experienced(i.e. failure of 1975).
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  punkofnice

  Sadly I was raised in the cult from the 1960's onward.

  Back in the day the JWs were a different type of people where I lived. There was a sense of excitement over the 'releases(TM)' at the long CONventions.

  Even the Babylon book was interesting despite it's inaccuracies that I later discovered.

  Now I see a very sterile corporation that is very controlling and corrupt. The JWs are now more dronelike than ever before. The excitement and interest has been replaced with austerity in a very depressing and clinical way.

  The GB are now god. Jehovah is just a trademark.
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  steve2

  The organization became more focused and stricter following Rutherford's seizing of the leadership of the Watchtower presidency in the late 19 teens. He was a business-minded,vicious-tongued, sarcastic hypocrite who brooked no questioning. If you use that as your benchmark, you'll marvel at the softly, softly mantra on the modern breed of JWs (Joyless Wimps). Are they stricter by the standards of the 1920s and 1930s? No. Are they stricter than they were in the 1970s and 1980s? Probably in some limited areas; but overall the wimpery still outweighs the viciousness. The convention talks are sugar-soaped appeals to the love of self-congratulatory unity.
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  designs

  Biggest difference is that there is no Freddie Franz dictating his crazy view of the End Times and the endless minutia of double and triple meanings in every verse.
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  Phizzy

  They've changed just about every one of their beliefs several times.
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  minimus

  I agree that the Organization is all about the GB. The JWs are brain dead.
• 

  Terry

  Have The Witnesses Changed All That Much In The Last Few Years?

  YEP!

  The wagons began circling in 1983 with the outrageously prohibitive severity in disfellowship policy.

  Slowly tightening its coils like an anaconda, the governing body has become the top of the food chain ABOVE JESUS CHRIST.

  Loyalty to this body of men has replaced innovative interpretations on chronology.

  The End of the World dialogue is so treadword and empty it sounds like an echo of its own self.

  Empty rituals by shallow men pretending to contain enormous importance but as thin as a soap bubble's skin is the 'there' that isn't.
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  franticfran

  Totally agree with the above. When we came in, in 1975 it was that little bit kinder and certainly more personal,I have watched as the years go by the culture change from this to what it is today a domineering fear inspired organisation (the clues in the word) when any "organisation" tells you stop reading any material that disagrees with their teaching,well that says it all for me,didnt Hitler burn books, and dont some countries punish those who dare to exercise free speech,and we condemn them. Nuff said.
• 

  sir82

  They have dumbed-down the message extraordinarily.

  The Awake has gone from 64 pages per month to 16, and even that is mostly blank paper, bullet points, and photos. I'd say it has maybe 10% (at most) of the content of what was produced 20 years ago.

  The Watchtower is written at about a 4th grade reading level. They now have a "simplified" Watchtower written at about a 2nd grade reading level.

  Topics are dealt with at the most superficial level. Research to fill in the gaps is discouraged and viewed with suspicion ("what - you think the 'slave' hasn't done enough research for this article already?").

  Ignoring all the stupid rules, cruelty, injustice, etc. - just the environment for anyone with a modicum of intelligence is depressing...far more so than was the case years ago (or maybe I'm just that much smarter....)