Has a Religion Ever Died From Boredom?

by metatron 8 Replies latest jw friends

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  metatron

  It's quite amusing to read the self-exaltation contained within
  the Watchtower and contrast it with the organization's sterile
  reality. It seems the 'borg these days don't even rise to the
  level of their past inspiration. I remember brightly colored
  books released about once a year, I recall flashy tract
  campaigns, and beyond that, there was the Photo-Drama of Creation
  and catchy phrases like "Advertise, Advertise, Advertise!".

  Now, you may not agree with the message that was conveyed,
  but they did have a sense of inspiration, from time to time.

  I am forced to conclude that the organization is , to a large
  degree, leaderless and directionless - afraid of dates and
  commitments. Far from being driven by Holy Spirit and the
  vitality that would bring, it is profoundly conservative and
  tradition-bound in a rapidly changing world.

  It is rapidly becoming an anachronism, a public curiosity,
  like Amish horse n' buggies with a caution reflector driving
  down the shoulder of a 21st century highway. I suppose the
  Watchtower is wise enough to discourage vasectomies so they
  won't disappear like the Shakers!

  How will their tradition cope with the fact that women can
  manage and lead? How will they cope with Western nations
  that are post-Christian, in which traditional views on
  premarital sex, homosexuality and marriage are evaporating?

  The future doesn't belong to the Watchtower.
  The Bible-literate culture that generated their growth
  is gone. What rabbit will they pull out of the hat to
  survive, now? None, if the present ennui tells us anything!

  metatron
• 

  patio34

  Yes, the religion will die when their people wake up as many of us have.

  So much becomes apparent once one takes off the blinders and really sees.

  The WTBS has lost its luster because their main hook was that these are the 'last days.' When the generation died, and their word didn't come true, I believe that was the death knell.

  That was the feature that gave excitement to the jws. Do they even write that it's still the 'last days,' now some 87 years later?

  Patio
• 

  Thirdson

  Was there/is there a tract campaign this year? There was supposed to be one last year but no-one called on me. I haven't had a visit in 4 years and I have never seen a car group in the road either.

  On exciting tract campaigns, a few years ago a commentator related on the radio about the two Witness ladies who called at his home with the latest tract. They said, "We are distributing this tract to everyone in the whole world." He replied, "Ooh you two must be very tired!"
  
  I thought it was funny when I was a dub.

  Thirdson

  'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'
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  nojw86

  Yes what did happen to gay colorful little books. The last two my mother-in-law gave were ugly paperbacks. Thirdson that was funny about the tract work. ........Do zombies know when they are bored. The watchtowers condition is like a ship without a rudder, and its cargo is on its way to a collision! nojw
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  Moxy

  yes there was a tract campaign last year. there have been 3 (?) recently. they are designed just as that, a throw-back to the early days of an urgent message that must be delivered as quickly as possible to everyone in the territory. in reality, it comes off as much less than that. in city territories, it is impossible to do so. for one, the allotment is based on publishers, 50 per and 250 (?) for pioneers. well that nowhere near covers the number of households in an urban territory like ours. and an ever greater number of households are unreachable by door-to-door. on top of that, the pioneers unwisely use them in street service and being as there is basically no presentation, street service allows you to very quickly dispose a large number of tracts, literally! altogether i figured we distributed to about 25-35% of all households, a fraction of which were given more than a glance im sure. so the excitement that they hope to generate falls a bit flat when you see how little impact it has.

  mox
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  Carmel

  "Who is writing the future?"

  check out what's happening on Mt. Carmel in the middle of all the fighting
• 

  trevor

  Yes metatron,

  Boredom and religion go hand in hand.
  The reason that religion is responsible for the worse wars fought in history is that the members got bored and decided that it was better to risk dying, than live through any more boredom. The Watchtower has kept the membership 'Awake!' with the threat of the ultimate war of all wars - Armageddon. If it dosen't come soon the members will leave out of boredom. Perhaps all the ex-members will battle with the die-hard members that refuse to leap from the Tower and the boredom will be relieved. Still that would be playing into their hands - best stay away and let the Watchtower crumble into ruin out of boredom.

  Edited for spelling - God this wine's good.
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  Flip

  [quote]…What rabbit will they pull out of the hat to survive…[quote/]

  Could it be that the WTBTS “lost its luster” because of the compounding investment returns on its financial holdings has finally exceeded the intrinsic value of the “rank and file” of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

  No need to try and make the effort as in the past. For those who sacrificed themselves to make the WTBTS what it has become today are no longer as important.

  The WTBTS has pulled the “rabbit from the hat” long ago; you simply didn’t observe the slight of hand, Metatron.

  Flip
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  ajw

  Nice post Meta.
  The post-Christian society in Australia is much less interested in any drawn out discussion of religious semantics, especially JW anachronisms. The general man in the street knows dubs only by the "nutty" dogmas ie. blood and door-to-door preaching.
  That leaves the ministry a pretty boring activity - even more so than it was - and there are far less coffee shops in Australia to boot! The ministry is left as 99% not-at-home or overt anti-interests, and 1% fundies of some other persausion debating their favourite angle with no risk of change on either side.
  The meetings get duller as every day goes by, the content either mindlessly dumbed down YMCA (Yesterday's meat cooked again) or rantings about JW practice and adherence or lack thereof.
  I have a good story from the field service (theirs not mine) on Saturday afternoon. I was riding my bike down a main road and could see two book-bagged dubs loitering about 300 yards further down the road. I was thinking if I would try the "can I join you in the ministry" line someone suggested here the other day when I noticed in the bus-stop two A's - one either end of the seat! (wonder how they got there? - LOL) At least one was April 8 and one April 22 (this year!).
  I got off my bike - went back and collected them and rode down to the loiterers. I handed them to the two older brothers and said "I think you must have dropped these in the bus stop - I'm sure you don't want to lose them" and just got back on my bike.
  Cheers,
  Andrew of the "helping take the boredom out of it" class.