by besty 42 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
@paulg
It has worked for full human lifespans of several generations of JWs so far, so no reason it won't keep working.
respectfully ;-) thats not how I see it - there has always been 'soon' + a date, even if the date got less specific after 1975 and then disappeared altogether at 1995, only to be overlapped in 2010. (note the 15-20 year cycles...<discuss>)
Now the 20 somethings and recent converts have only ever known 'soon' - thats the difference I'm trying to explore.
i think some like 'soon' near enough to help when life gets rough but far away enough to enjoy the things you have.
zed is dead:
They need another Crazy Freddy prediction to scare the masses.
I think they've learned their lesson about making predictions that are too specific from the fallout after 1975. It took years for their growth rates to recover from that fiasco.
But in case they're still that stupid... they could spin 2020 as 'the year'. It's near enough to scare some inactive JWs back into submission. And they could do a slick Awake! article about having '2020 vision'.
It's worth noting that the '1975' scare tactic was spun in the late 60s following a few years of low growth rates in the years throughout the early to mid 1960s. Their growth rates for the last 16 years have been worse than the decline in growth rate in the 60s, so some kind of desperate action wouldn't be that surprising.
Growth rate (average publishers)
Each group can be also divided into born-in's vs converts.
I hate that I was a born-in ... you're kind of screwed from the start. I could never understand converts ... who hears the 'message' and thinks "yeah, that makes sense?!". The converts in my old hall always seemed to be a bit (and I know this sounds mean) but 'broken'. Either uneducated, a little strange / socially awkward or having a sad story to tell of their life so far. Probably easy picking for a message of rediculous hope: "hey, you have no assets and no skills but you gonna get the WHOLE EARTH !! ... oh, and live forever too !".
Apologies to any ex-converts ...
I'm in my 20s and had lots of JW friends in their 20s and 30s. All of us are 2nd, 3rd or 4th generation JWs. The idea that when we're all in our 70s/80s those friends will be telling their grandchildren the same promises that didn't come true for not only themselves but their own long dead parents and grandparents seems ridiculous to me. But probably it's already ridiculous, and I guess I'm biased.
Great table Jeffro: the internet and increased freedom of information and sharing has hit them hard.
Interesting too the 'surge' before 1975 and even though it was clearly bogus, most stayed. They don't care how they get their converts because once they have them they are probably good to use for a decade before they ebb away.
The challenge for the WTS now is that most of their growth is in poorer countries where they are not going to get the $$$ rolling in from. Probably why they are setting up their 'retirement compounds' out in the countryside.
Simon, not all converts came in for the material benefits in the "new world"
I remember an experience printed somewhere of a young new "sister" in eastern europe that preached for over 15 years on her own, without ever having a study, a bible even,
just the hope to never see the trauma of a nightmare war again.
true zealots/idealists for righteousness, wrong though they were.
PS and SOON was 15 minutes,
the Time it would take a warhead to reach Brooklyn and trigger a chernobil worldwide, or better a pre-emptive strike by daddy in the sky.
Just got to thinking how long can the Watchtower peddle the 'soon' story with any credibility?
In doing research on the book I'm writing, I noticed something I already knew but within a different context.
The first 300 years of Christianty was a "Jesus is coming quickly" mindset that caused clashes of reality between
the secular authorities and the Messianic Christians. Then, it changed!
After Christianity was befriended by the Roman state (thanks to Constantine), Christians thought Church/State service was
fine and dandy!
Okay, we all knew that allready. But--what else can we derrive from those facts?
BY SUPPORTING SECULAR GOVERNMENT Christians had given up on standing around waiting on Jesus to solve the problems of THIS LIFE!
Civic duty is only appealing to a person who takes their head out of the clouds.
Politics is the art of the possible in the here and now.
The fact that it too 3 centuries and a friendly government to snap Christianity out of it should indicate how long it will take
Jehovah's Witnesses to wake up!
Each group can be also divided into born-in's vs converts.
I hate that I was a born-in ... you're kind of screwed from the start. I could never understand converts ... who hears the 'message' and thinks "yeah, that makes sense?!". The converts in my old hall always seemed to be a bit (and I know this sounds mean) but 'broken'. Either uneducated, a little strange / socially awkward or having a sad story to tell of their life so far. Probably easy picking for a message of rediculous hope: "hey, you have no assets and no skills but you gonna get the WHOLE EARTH !! ... oh, and live forever too !".
Apologies to any ex-converts ..._____Simon
Apology excepted Simon. The good thing is. I did manage to escape bein' dunked
Jehovah' Witnesses are schooled on how to take advantage of a weak moment
in the householders life. But it does'nt always mean that the householder are the things you stated above
' But why do the Witnesses call repeatedly even at homes of people who do not share thier faith ? '
" People themselves change; serious problems in life may stimulate an awareness of spiritual need_____Reasoning book page 206
Jehovah's Witnesses know that no matter how satisfied a person may be in thier lives
Things do happen. So they keep knockin' and checkin' in
Yes. They circle the neighborhood like buzzards
waitin' for a weak moment
.
Edit : I forgot to add
HOME BIBLE STUDY
' I'm calling to offer you a free home Bible study course. If I may, I'd like to take just a few minutes to demonstrate how people in some 200 lands discuss the Bible at home as family groups."_______Reasoning book page 12
Yes, In the comfort of your own home
They come to your door, smilin' faces tellin' lies
the next thing you know. Your hardly at home trynna earn salvation
.
Damn scoundrels
For me I was a convert and I had an education and came from a great family but I know exactly why I came in. I was young and moved 1600 miles away from my family with a brand new baby. It was hard to make friends and I ended up divorced. I met my current husband and he was disfellowshipped at that time but his mother and best friends wife got ahold of me. She took me to social gatherings (weddings) and I was love bombed and I instantly had all of these friends because my hubby was a born in and they were one of the original families in that large city plus his grandmother was a very beloved anointed special pioneer. I do agree with what Simon said because for the most part that is true. The last few years I even told my husband I could hardly stand them any longer because they were scraping the bottom of the barrel with a lot of the recent ones coming in.
One thing we see and it is so sad, is the real old timers. My mother in law is in her mid 80's and she was brought up in the religion and she heard all of those talks and was told she would never get out of school or have children and now she has great grandchildren and none of that has come true. She is very depressed because she never thought she was going to die and most of her close friends have died and she is having to face reality that she will die too. My parents on the other hand live life to their fullest and have everything planned out and are enjoying life. It really stunts your life when you live with this fairytail that isn't coming true.
