by oldskool 38 Replies latest jw friends
Wait For It, is there a trend in using the word "worship" more? What is the structure of "family worship night"? Is it structured? From what I recall the common phrase was "family study", and it was up to the discretion of the family to make selections regarding materials used.
Also, have the JWs begun any sort of youth outreach with a focus on social activity?
Also, have the JWs begun any sort of youth outreach with a focus on social activity?
Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!
That's the funniest thing I've heard all day.
The WTS view of children varies between grudging toleration and disgust (this is what happens when policy is determined by men who have lived in the sterile childless Bethel environment for decades).
Youth outreach! Ha!
Kids should be out preaching if they've got any spare time!
Oldskool, yeah, they are obsessed with "worship." JWs are particular with their labels! Family Worship replaces family study, but initially there was some confusion on that because I remember some brothers thinking it was in addition to family study.
There's not really any structure per say. It functions just like family study. Parents are free to choose whatever they want to go over, though it is suggested they use the different activities from the website.
In recent years there has been an increase in tailoring publications and new releases for young kids and teens. If you're wondering why the magazines and books are so simple, that's why! There's even a video series with two made up kids: Calab and Sofia along with whiteboard animations. So family worship is usually the time to use those materials to reach kids. Group or multi-family worships are also encouraged. Ive gone to a few myself and it's almost always geared towards the kids: Building an elaborate Ark, Bible Jeopardy, etc with dinner at the end.
The society never thought the org or world would be around this long and now their old advice to hold off on getting married, having kids and going to college is biting them in the ass. So now the focus is on indoctrinating as many born-ins as possible.
When I was growing up in the 90s, all we had was the My Book of Bible Stories. But now? There's a lot more books and pamphlets for kids. They even have one for toddlers with bright colorful pages and rhyming stories about Jehovah creating everything "for you and me!"
They are still pretty anti-college, but I've noticed the rank and file members have really stopped being as judgmental about it. About two years ago, Bethel was asking for brothers and sisters with tech skills to volunteer some of their time to assist with whatever. It was a VERY long list, many of which you'd have to have gone to college to learn or had dedicated a lot of self taught hours to master on your own instead of pioneering. I remember being quite angry because one of the fields I wanted to go to school for was listed.
Excuse me, I have to go vomit.
"Stone the infidel - it's the pinky-purple one with the gold edges or nothing!!" - Simon
I vote for the baby shit green-brown songbook that I grew up with!
Thanks for the comments Wait for It.
As I recall, the focus for decades was to make little adults out of the children. Dress them up, make them do field service. Make them act and talk like adults. Take them in the back room and shut them up. Make them read the same material adults do.
Marketers have known for years that if you give children a pleasant experience with a brand, they will carry that nostalgic bliss with them their entire life. Remember the playground at McDonalds restaurants in the 70s/80s/90s?
Not only are the JWs efforts here late to the game, I openly wonder how well the group can really produce material that has lasting impact. Are they hiring outside media consulting firms? Audience research driven strategy? Or is this the equivalent of somebody saying "get our best people on working up something for kids" and then something on the conveyor belt pops out the other side? With JWs it always seems to be the latter.
Two comments from the last few days really "sum up the last decade in JW history" for me:
"Poor organization, they don't know who they are or what they are selling anymore about the future." - Joyzabel
"Because that is what they worship now - the org, not the god. It's the golden calf they have created because their god has failed to show up." - Simon
I noticed the shrinking of the magazines too. I read how much money they are set to make by selling properties in NY in The New York Times. They bought the one for 3 million, I think; and are set to sell it for around a Billion. I wonder how they are planning to explain to the Bethelites who have been laid off as to why they can't help them with their retirement. They gave their youth to Jehovah and now get to go job hunting.
Please sum up the last decade in JW history - they've become more irrelevant, even as they try to become more mainstream.
In the late 80s/early 90s, WT prophecies and eschatology kind of made sense. But the Big A never happened when the generation that saw 1914 died out.
Again, WT king of the north/south drivel kinda made sense, what with the Cold War. But the USA and USSR didn't turn on the JWs, so the WT has had to ditch that. Now, the WT literally has nothing to say on world events and politics. Basically, they're just preaching to the converted and waiting for Armageddon.
WT denounced the internet for a long time but now accepts it, having its own channel and website.
Despite this, the WT has become increasingly irrelevant. The only newsworthy events concerning this religion over the past decade have been about the rampant child abuse that occurs in-house.
More law suits and increasing irrelevance sound good to me ...
oldskool - "Please sum up the last decade in JW history..."
Here ya go:
They have some creepy animated videos now and are really money grubbing. Like the one where they are trying to guilt children into donating their ice cream money to G.O.D. Yes, Geoff Jackson, under oath during the Australian Royal Commission said that the GB are G.O.D. (Guardians of Doctrine).
