LONGEVITY IS A HALLMARK OF STUPID RELIGIONS

by steve2 17 Replies latest jw friends

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  steve2

  Good points Finklestein and LisaRose. As a Witness, I worried about the "varieties" of religious convictions all being "false" and "of Satan", especially thinking that from the Watchtower's view, even "sincere" members in the churches of Christendom were doomed - yet from those believers' view they had a deep, abiding faith in "God" and genuinely believed they had evidence of "God's" blessing and protection. And this was all a product of being duped by Satan??? Was Satan so powerfully deceitful that even those who thought they were "true" believers weren't? And if that's the case, how would I know if the organization was able to escape Satanic influence with its narrow, protective, defensive stand against having its authority questioned?

  Oh, the tortured, oppressive worries of those raised to believe they alone are right. I own the part of me that stupidly followed this for so long, despite never-ending misgivings about what it "meant" to declare one's own religion "true" and all other's false..
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  kneehighmiah

  While chucky Russell was around since the 1800s the Jehovah witnesses haven't really been around for 100 years yet. Remember before they became JWs they lost half their members in 1925. That large of an exodus won't happen again. But I do expect the watchtower to close up shop before I die. Of course the JW theology will still be floating around. They may take the money and run, an become an online religion with no hierarchy or shunning. Just loosely affiliated congregations who study the borgs online publications.
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  steve2

  I agree kneehighmiah - the organization went through a hemorrhaging of membership in the 1920s - the very time my maternal grandparents joined and became Bible Students. We won't see as dramatic percentages of losses that occurred back then. We're more likely to see a petering or phizzing out. Even now we hear of poor mid-week meeting attendances - a long time problem for sure, but now more so.

  I look at "what's happened" with the Christadelphian movement worldwide in recent decades: a slow, inexorable attrition of members as the old timers cling on and younger ones become more apathetic. There's your likely blueprint for the Witnesses - although I credit the Watchtower with a better-oiled organizational structure to keep the rank-and-file jumping mindlessly through the hoops of religious duty way past any intelligent "use by" date.

  But ultimately, in the West, religiously hungry and/or gullible ones have gravitated to other movements, signaling that the Witnesses' growth heyday is well and truly past.
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  Finkelstein

  I think there are a lot of JWS now who starting to realize that much of the taught or proclaimed doctrines were instigated as supporting vehicles to proliferate

  the WTS. published goods. I realized this myself some 30 years ago which spurred my repulsion of being involed in this commercialized scam of sorts.

  What will happen to the WTS organization in the coming years is a bit curious speculation.

  One must keep in mind that there 7 billion people living on earth now and that the majority of that population is centered

  in third world countries.

  Countries that do not have the long standing knowledge of the JW organization or its entire complete history.

  The very aggressive marketing strategy of the WTS. with pictures of atomic bombs going off, incites both fear and attention

  to its literature, alluring the publics attention and drawing in following adherents.

  I do see a petering off of members in the more modernized countries in the next decade and on.
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  steve2

  what intrigues me is the level of (apathy-induced?) ignorance among Witnesses in modern countries about their very own history. They're just not interested or curious about it - except at a very superficial level. The petering out will not be at the level of developing doubts but more at the level of boredom.

  I've said it before, but it bears repeating: The leadership can control everything except the urge to yawn - I think leadership has realized for some time that its existence is threatened more by Witnesses' own apathy (reduced meeting attendance, fewer individual hours witnessing, etc) than by any "breakout" apostasy.
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  Apognophos

  Thinking about my own attitudes when I was a "believing" Witness, I wonder if a lot of them don't kind of know on a subconscious level that the jig is up. I mean, if you were to challenge them on something like evolution or the prophetic timeline leading from 607 to 1914, they would repeat whatever arguments they'd learned to defend their views, but on some level I wonder if they know that they're sort of anachronistic freaks in a modern world, defending a worldview that is firmly based in the 1800s.

  There's a bit of embarrassment for some JWs about the whole religion. Of course you also have the over-the-top JWs, the brothers who are enthusiastic company men and the sisters who just loooove every assembly part. But I sense a divide, where some are basically like, "Eh, it's a way of life." They know that, if it's not the truth, it's better for them not to know, because their family and friends are in the religion, so it's better to just go along with it and not think too hard. That makes it difficult to really get them excited about something like a new Bible or a new campaign.
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  KateWild

  Good OP Steve,

  I think WT longevity is due to the fact it is a machine. There are too many in positions of power that will keep the machine going. They like the power and the money. Even many R&F JWs who learn TTATT stay stuck in, and keep the WT going. These JWs are trapped by very clever, greedy men in power. The shunning policy keeps them going.

  The July 15th 2014 WT has an article about being loyal and not an apostate. Very clever loaded language. They are associating disloyalty with apostacy. DISLOYAL= APOSTATE. JWs are scared of the word apostate because it has been misused and wrongly defined and now WT are using it in a more controlling way.

  Steve, I don't think stupidity has anything to do with WT longevity, I believe intellect has a lot to do with it. They govern with fear, but in an icidiously clever way.

  Kate xx
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  steve2

  Fair comment Kate. I prefer the phrase,"willful ignorance" to describe the average JW - which, when push comes to shove looks pretty stupid to me - especially given their arrogant, we-are-better-that-the- churches-of- Christendom attitude.