WT gearing up to dump Russell and come clean on early history?

by Comatose 25 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Comatose

  We've discussed this on lots of threads, but I've noticed a few things lately. They seem to be talking about the early days on a very regular basis, almost constantly. The change to FDS happens and this involved a dive into early history and a few knocks on Russell. Now the new tract according to another thread is discussing 1874 in it.

  Seems like in the past they just tried to avoid that topic as much as possible. I could guarantee you only maybe five people or less in a hall would have any idea that 1874 was any significance to the JWs. Now the entire hall will if they pay attention.

  With apostate internet info out there, it may be that they are talking about this stuff on purpose so that they get to be the way the message is delivered. A JW who knows about these dates already is much more likely to ignore the ravings of a mentally diseased apostate.
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  alanv

  I think that is a really good point. It is damage control. If the society just mention something that went wrong at least the sheep will be aware of it and can say that to anyone who mentions it. It will all be put down to new light, and the sheep are quite happy with that explanation.
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  Giordano

  The internet....... not a comfortable place to be on if your a JW or a devout Mormon etc. On the internet information doesn't go away. The WT has many an inconvenient truth lingering.

  Russell is the least of their problems I think the corruption of Rutherford and near insanity of Freddy Franz will be the determining factors.

  Going back to the Mormons, to make a point, apparently according to a recent article in the New York Times the LDS has a bit of a crisis........a lot of Mormons are finding out for the first time that Joseph Smith had multiple wives.

  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/us/some-mormons-search-the-web-and-find-doubt.html?_r=0

  "When fellow believers in Sweden first began coming to him with information from
  the Internet that contradicted the church’s history and teachings, he dismissed
  it as “anti-Mormon propaganda,” the whisperings of Lucifer..................

  But when he discovered credible evidence that the church’s founder, Joseph
  Smith, was a polygamist and that the Book of Mormon and other
  scriptures were rife with historical anomalies, Mr. Mattsson said he felt that
  the foundation on which he had built his life began to crumble."

  Believers will do just about anything to not look for the dirt when it comes to their beliefs. If JW's in particular start pulling at the threads of their beliefs it's going to be down hill from there.
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  wearewatchingyouman

  I agree. Something big is in the works. I think that's why they're choosing now to consolidate everything. Did anybody notice the usage of "about" in regards to 1914 in the"Silver Sword"? They're going to have to come clean, or at least twist things to appear that they are, about some things to continue to exist in the age of the internet. They know that these revelations will cause many to "stumble" and people will leave in droves. They'll weather the storm, and then rebuild their base.
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  Emery

  The Watchtower is preparing to be a force on the internet. They finally understand now that we now live in a digital generation. It would be easier for JWs to dismiss past errors if the WT spills the beans first. It will take the thunder away from sites like jwfacts, youtube, etc. Then they will pull out the "Oh well we admit our mistakes unlike other religions" card when people drop apostate info on them.
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  problemaddict

  Giving the appearance of being open, without any real intent to be......is powerful.
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  blondie

  The WTS makes very careful citations of Russell's statements, the dance around the issue. Few jws had access to the old magazines and books unless they had a KH library from the olden days, usually the original congregation in that area. I had relatives that lived in the Russell and Rutherford days, had the books, leant them out to me. Now there is so much out there as to the history.

  Don't forget Barbara Anderson did an excellent book on Maria Russell.
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  sir82

  If the WTS partially admits its errors, it has the opportunity to control the information.

  Anyone who offers a clarification or points out a contradiction in current teaching can be dismissed as a naysayer who obsesses over irrelelvant details.

  It's very easy to apologize for mistakes others committed 100 or more years ago (e.g., the Catholic church & Galileo).

  It makes you look "humble" and "sincere".

  But admit error on something you're responsible for right now? Nope.

  "Admit what? We've made no mistakes. Of course we'd admit it if we really had - look, we just admitted the mistakes of these guys who've been dead for 75 or 100 years. That proves how honest & humble & sincere we are."
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  wearewatchingyouman

  What's the name of that book Blondie? I too am from a family with a "long theoctaic history". My great grandma became a witness in the early 1900's. My gransma just gave me all her duplicate booklets/ brochures/tracts/ programs etc. from the 30's through the 70's. It's so weird. I have these mixed feelings. I really appreciate and value them as family heirlooms. At the same time I realize the pain and suffering caused by what is contained in the publications. One minute I want to proudly display them in my personal library, but when i look at them sometimes i get the urge to burn them(of course I would never do that).
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  DS211

  in january they are tightening control of meetings,as i said before, and will only do talks based from subjects of the insight book. I have an increasingly alarming feeling that i have a smaller window now to get my family out. if they start "humbling " themselves in the sense that Jws think of humility, your chances of making a stand and helping them wake up becomes Decreased. Tighten control but keep them distracted with your humble acts. Smart play IMO.