I believe a key difference is that fewer JWs know thier own beliefs, nor can they defend them.
Critical Differences: JW's Today Vs The Past
by metatron 35 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
LongHairGal
gingerbread:
You are absolutely right about how the focus of the religion has changed. They are well aware that very few are interested in the religion and "field service" is merely a visible yardstick by which to judge how "faithful" (obedient) the rank and file JWs are.
But, I'll go even a step further as to how I feel the focus of the religion has changed (for the worse).....I have heard through the grapevine that they are trying to use people in the hall (mainly single and other women) to be drudges for certain ones in the congregation (elderly and disturbed individuals who have come in recent years)..... Even though they have always tried to target single women, they have amped it up in recent years. You have nervy elders families who scour the circuits looking for single women to care for their elderly relatives.
So, in my opinion, it isn't necessarily about bringing more people in.....NO, it is more about exploiting individuals who are already there even more-so!
I also have a sneaking suspicion that part of their damning of higher-education and careers is so that certain brothers with businesses will have a larger pool of desperate JWs who will work for meager wages.
All in all, it seems to be getting more insular and cult-like.
-
cha ching
I think one of the most critical differences btwn JW's of "today" and "the past" is that today, JW's cannot explain their own beliefs... they do not know their own history...
Want a JW to explain 607? Why 1914 is soooo important? and if 1914 is wrong, what happens to 1919? Why is the date 1919 essential? Can they connect the dots?
Not if you gave them the dots........ and the pencil.......
-
Vidiot
gingerbread - "The focus of this religion has changed from 'how we can share the good news with our neighbors' to how the members need to obey and support the Organizational structure."
Very astute; good observation.
Yet another indication that the Tower really seems to be crumbling from the inside.
Historically, by the time authoritarian regimes experience internal decay and collapse, they usually deserve it.
-
Iown Mylife
@Longhairgal, you are right on.
Marina
-
Vidiot
sir82 - "As a business model, it is unsustainable. I think the only question is, does the collapse come relatively suddenly, or does it slowly fizzle out over decades? I tend to lean toward the decades-long fade to (further) irrelevance. I think the numbers will peak sometime this decade, and by 2050 or so will be half (or less) of what they are now."
Spot on about the business model being completely unsustainable; well done.
In the social environment of the Information Age, change comes very quickly (far too quickly for any small/marginilized authoritarian regime like the WTS to adapt to, if history is any indication)...
...because of that, I have a hard time imagining the WTS still having 3-4 million members in 2050.
Frankly, I have a hard time imagining the WTS even being around in 2050.
-
BU2B
I think Londo is onto something here. So many JWs do not know anything about generation teaching, 1914, current teachings on prophecy etc. Many like my wife do not care. She just wants to be told what to do, what the "ticket" is to get into paradise. To her thinking about 607, this generation, who the FDS are, is irrelevant. All she can see is that if she studies for her meetings, drags herself to the KH, goes sticks memorial invitations in peoples door, and prays she will get into paradise and Jehovah will fix anything wrong now. We just have to obey and stay faithful :( hard getting through to someone who does not see the point in thinking or using logic.
-
RubaDub
In the past, we never had the One Towel Rule at Conventions .... not even at those week-long Conventions at Yankee stadium.
Rub a Dub
-
insearchoftruth
She just wants to be told what to do, what the "ticket" is to get into paradise.
That is so true, no critical thinking. Wife getting ready for the meeting last night and she was changing from slacks to a skirt, I asked her why and all she said was she could not wear slacks to a meeting, was going to push the point and ask where that was in the bible but did not want to get into a discussion at that point.
-
metatron
Yes, I have relatives just like that - the organization can do no wrong. This is the mindset the Watchtower has carefully cultivated for decades and they have succeeded!
However, what all totalitarians fail to understand is that, eventually, these people become mostly useless. By killing any thought of rebellion or independent thought, you end up with the sad unproductive lump that is Jehovah's Witnesses today.
If collapse or a conversion to a denomination is to come, it must happen because of the leadership, not the enfeebled publishers. This is not unthinkable - anymore than the list of changes they've made already were unthinkable!
When Communism fell, there were millions of people who were completely dependent and loyal - who didn't riot or protest and who just wanted their unproductive jobs and occasional bottle of cheap vodka. It was the leadership that rebelled, believe it or not.
metatron