I agree,
BUT!
Nobody at the door (well at least when I was going door to door) wants to talk in depth either.
People are very apathetic in general about religious doctrine.
The JWs are dumbing down but is that reflective of society as a whole?
I Don't Think The Witnesses Really Care If You Can Explain Doctrine As Long As You Accept Them!
by minimus 26 Replies latest jw friends
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NVR2L8
Why attempt to explain your beliefs when they are already explained in the WT literature or reasoned out for you in the reasoning book.
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dugout
exacly, theirs really no talk about the big A anymore. only about the new system. their imagery is all about paradise. All about the ressurection. What happened to the Fire bombs from the sky, the ground opening up, the fighting, do they really believe that anymore?
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BU2B
Even their books prove this new direction they are headed. In the beginning they had deep books. Although they were full of nonsense, the Studies in the Scriptures series, The Harp of God, Babylon, down through the years were books focusing on prophecy and doctrine. Even up to the 2000s they had the Isiah books, Daniel book, etc. They had to change the understandings so many times they dont even bother. Besides, most JWs would complain about these books. "They are too deep" "its boring" are sayings I heard a million times. They are mentally lazy. When you are in a cult, you do not need to understand things.. Just obey them. Thats the way most JWs like it. They want to be told what to do. Obeying like a trained whale at Sea World is easy. The recent books about prophets like Jeremiah book, the book about the Minor prophets, and maybe another were not about the deep prophecies, instead they were textbook examples of the BITE method. They pushed the JW mantras of; do more FS, pioneer, no higher education, no career, (that would be seeking great things for yourself like Baruch) no non-JW friends, shun DF family, seperateness from "da world" attend all the meetings etc. They would take one random verse from say, Obadiah out of context and have a whole chapter on whatever they wanted to push on the hapless JWs. Using a scripture makes it "Bible based". Some chapters it was laughable how much of a stretch they made to twist a random scripture to prove whatever mind controlling point they were making.
The new theme is "Listen, Obey and be Blessed". When you live by that motto, who needs proof (even if the proof was BS anyways). Now the GB can just say anything and JWs MUST accept it because it came from Jehovah. When men speak for God, what proof do they need to offer? The GB is a golden calf to most JWs. The "Organization" = Jehovah! When I came to this realization I understood how they think. Jehovah and the organization are inseperable to them, as if one could not exist without the other. JWs have been under intensive mind control for years and in some cases decades. Its no wonder they think the way they do.
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Apognophos
It seems to me that the current GB is the product of a "second generation" in the cult (no overlapping pun intended). People like Russell, Rutherford and Franz were founders. Now the ones in charge, the only ones left, are the followers -- the ones who learned from the founders but aren't made of the same stuff. There's an intellectual dilution akin to an artist who copies another artist's painting.
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prologos
these new people have inherited a doctrinal mess, tinkering with it makes it worse.
If they at the top can only try to wiggle around the questions, how do you expect the rank and file, even the clever onesto welcome discussions?
I had one of the new breed around for a while, and had the impression that he was chafing under the constraints of current light, he had his own fanatasies, and would be ready to brake forth if set up in a different setting.
witnesses shut down, they can not explain the un-explainable.
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jgnat
Does religion as a whole have the same relevance as it once did? There was a day when everyone went to church. No more.
How would a Jehovah's Witness react if someone came to their door wishing to talk about the finer points of World of Warcraft?
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LongHairGal
jgnat:
Yes, I was raised going to church and wore hats and white gloves. People back then really did practice their religion.
Minimus:
Yes, I would have to agree. There was a time the JWs thought they were able to "prove" the accuracy of a doctrine to a prospective study and they would knock themselves out doing so.
Nowadays, it isn't like that anymore. You are expected to just accept them at their word and check your brain at the door.
In fact, JWs are just reduced to handing out tracts and directing people to a website. However, this is mistake-proof and results in fewer opportunities for the public to ask JWs embarrassing questions they can't answer - like what the hell do they believe in?
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minimus
What fine ministers!
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kaik
I would say one of the major fallout with JW education of their own doctine lies with time when they stopped having bible book studies. I have notices that their knowledge of bible went down. WT dedicates all their effort on several chapters of the bible and everything else is irrelevant. Any new light is accepted without doubt, and sheeps are happy with the new revalations.
