Isis and failed prophecy

by snare&racket 11 Replies latest jw friends

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  snare&racket

  Hi everybody, hope you are all well!

  I read this today and thought of the JW's and you guys.

  It's an article from today's paper about Isis and a recent victory over the town of Dabiq. Isis have long claimed that this will be the city where good will face evil I.e Islam v Christianity/western powers. It's one of the first cities they took and even named their monthly magazine Dabiq. This was the capital of the caliphate from where the war of good and evil would be fought. The war came....and they lost. Also it was not the west fighting them but the same Sunni muslims they claim to be a part of. Now the city was recaptured they have .....cough....'new light'... and have adjusted their prophecy. It seems so ridiculous and transparent and human and BS when you read that this happens and yet I'm instantly reminded that I accepted the adjustment of 'prophecy' and 'interpretation' for most of my adult life. Face palm indeed!

  "But Dabiq was recaptured by Sunni militants. The expulsion of Isis from the town was an opportunity to deal its propaganda a double blow, not just because of the failed prophecy but that it was defeated by the very population that Isis claims to represent, on whose behalf it is fighting the world. Isis quickly revised the Dabiq prophecy, saying it still applied but its time had not yet come. Isis moved the goalposts, figuratively as well as literally – fleeing fighters reportedly removed the town name’s signs and took them away."

  I bet the governing body would applaud that tactical genius of 'new light'.... when the religious war of all wars doesn't happen how and where you said it would..... steal the city signposts and run away with them.
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  waton

  It would be impossible for a westerner to fully understand all the human, tactical, strategic and sectarian factors that go into the Kalphat conflict, The king of Jordan called the ISIS thing a generational divide, "they are not one of us"

  That they would attach a holiness to their cause, including prophecies and all, is no surprise. They are calling for human sacrifice too,

  I was part once of a dream of a sacred 1000 year reich, that lasted a full 12.

  acting as a prophet in the bible was describing symptoms of insanity, sometimes the bible has valid points.

  glad to hear from you S&R.
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  Ruby456

  shows what people will do in the name of prophecy and if the cause is described as sacred/holy
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  steve2

  Recalls that sociological study published in the 1950s entitled, "When Prophecy Fails."

  It was not about the JWs but about end-times religions and in particular one sect that pointedly prophesized that the end of the world would come in the early 1950s. Of course, the end did not come - but the group's leaders readjusted their view and continued "stronger than before."

  The thesis revolved round religious leaders' readiness to come up with a new view that "corrects" the old, disproven one - and this "admission" of human error actually humanises the human leaders and the rank and file are moved by their leaders' "humility".

  It sounds familiar because it is familiar.

  When this book was first published, JW organization's failure over 1975 was yet twenty years in the future. But it could have been 20 years earlier or 10 - or fifty years henceforth. It would make no difference. All leaders have to do is to front up about human imperfection and what they have since learnt and it's business as usual.

  Astonishing that I ever bought into such a wishful-thinking belief system.

  Once bitten.....
• 

  John Free

  They could just say that events have taken place invisibly- then after a few decades simply rewrite the past by indicating that's what was prophecied all along...
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  cofty

  Hi Snare & Racket. Great post. It's good to see the Iraqi army finally doing the job. The US spent billions training and equipping them and they ran away and left all the guns and tanks behind for ISIS.

  With Dabiq retaken and if it is confirmed that al-Baghdadi is dead then there is going to be a period of disarray for ISIS. Oaths of loyalty bayah to the Caliph from the multitude of Islamist groups are not given to the organisation but to the individual leader. All of those oaths are now dissolved and up for grabs.

  Can Iraq now govern itself without the sectarianism that caused the rise of ISIS?
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  LoveUniHateExams

  Hi Snare, nice to hear from you.

  Dabiq was recaptured by 'Sunni militants'? Does this expression mean Sunnis who are merely opposing ISIS militarily? Or does it mean that they are Sunni extremists themselves, with their own harsh brand of Islam?

  If the latter, I'd imagine life would be pretty good in Dabiq if one were a Sunni. If one were Alawite, Christian, Druze, gay or atheist, however ...
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  shepherdless

  In answer to LUHE's question, Dabiq is north of Aleppo not far from the Turkish border. The "Sunni militants" in that area are, as I understand it, Turkish proxys trying to prevent 2 Kurdish regions linking up. It would be more accurate to describe them as "foreign backed militants who happen to be predominantly Sunni". Much of the actual fighting to remove ISIS from that region was done by Kurds (who are also Sunni).

  ISIS lost Dabiq months ago, by the way. But yes, it's loss would mean that ISIS can't be the caliphate that was prophesied.
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  LoveUniHateExams

  Thanks for the info, Shepherdless.

  If the Kurds did most of the fighting to remove ISIS but handed control of the area to Turkey-backed Arab Sunni militia, that's remarkably generous of them ...

  BTW just because ISIS has been driven from Dabiq, Mosul and hopefully soon from Raqqa, they still control largish chunks of territory. Celebrations about the downfall of ISIS might be premature. They also have sleeper cells, members of which are capable of walking into a Shia mosque in Baghdad and self-detonating.

  ISIS may also look further afield to conquer territory in other countries - e.g. Mindanao (Phillippines), Af-Pak tribal areas or West Africa.

  Unfortunately, ISIS aren't done yet ...
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  Vidiot

  Credit where credit's due.

  It's one thing to move the goalposts...

  ...it's another thing entirely to pull 'em up out of the ground and take 'em with you as you haul ass off the field.