The Watchtower's Real Crisis

by JeffT 74 Replies latest jw friends

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  Finkelstein

  The real trouble the WTS finds itself in is that the core doctrines of this organization are running out viability and effectiveness.

  Jesus's return, mankind now living in The Last Days or This Generation to follow the Great Tribulation and Armageddon, have now looked like tainted up doctrines to promote the selling and distribution of the WTS's own literature.

  A foundation built upon pretentious corruption is eventually going to falter to whatever built upon itself with god's involvement or not.
  
• 

  Chook

  The GB are the man of lawlessness, they have as much blood on their hands as any tyrant before them . Seekers of truth will leave the org and the quality of apostasy is rising fast. The internet reveals all frauds.
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  slimboyfat

  It's not either/or. They have run out of ideas and they have run out of money. The evidence is quite clear.

  I think they're cutting back on magazines, not to save money, but because nobody can think of anything to put in them.

  True, but they are also clearly extremely short of money and this is why they are not even printing the new content that they are still producing.

  For example they produced a new Bible stories book this year, with new pictures and some new/reworked content. Yet having produced this new book they didn't even hand out copies at the convention. It is download only, unless publishers make a special request, in which case a copy will be sent "when available". This is clearly an issue to do with the cost of printing, because the writing and editing had already been done.

  The fact that they've run out of ideas is demonstrated by the main "doctrinal" announcement of the meeting which was simply a return of the old "vindication of Jehovah's name", a teaching they were crazy to dump in the first place. And was only scrapped to keep Karl Klein happy, so the story goes.

  Running out of money may be connected to running out of ideas in another important way. It's a well known facet of psychology that material difficulty adversely affects cognitive and creative abilities. In other words the stress of money trouble is probably occupying so much of their thoughts that it's difficult to focus on other things, such as producing coherent and interesting content for their literature.
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  Half banana

  Gorby I think you have well illustrated the situation with the end of the USSR. It would be great to think that there is someone on the GB of the calibre and courage of Gorbatchov to recognize the reality of the situation and plan for the termination of the party.

  I feel the present crew are hamstrung, no individual being able to come forward to be the first to admit the total failure of the organisation to fulfil their self mandated purpose of announcing the arrival of the Kingdom based on 1914.

  Yet surely some or most of the GB are fully awake but each is fearful to be the first to admit it?

  Perhaps though, at their lakeside retreat with the encrimsoned sun setting over the calm water they have already discussed the futility of continuing to run the org.....................
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  sparrowdown

  They haven't run out of money or ideas they've run out of interest. Interest in the old way of doing things cause they have found themselves a new way.

  They are a business changing direction is all and they are in the tricky transitional phase, pulling out of the old way of doing things and directing resources into the new.

  There will be more to come for sure, no way is this rebrand complete yet. Watch this space is what I say.
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  slimboyfat

  If a business is changing direction it's normal/prudent to roll out the new business model before/during the process of cutting back the old operation. Otherwise you're in a limbo of expenditure with no revenue.

  In Watchtower's case they have abandoned publishing and replaced it with nothing. The idea that they have something up their sleeve is pure speculation. It also seems to rest on a curiously naive notion of Watchtower invincibility that some Watchtower critics oddly seem to share with Watchtower's staunchest supporters.

  Watchtower looks like they have run out of ideas and money. And sometimes what looks and sounds like a duck is in fact a duck. Watchtower is clearly in serious crisis. What more evidence do we need?

  That's crisis in terms of finances, leadership, ideas, credibility: everything all at once. And it looks like no gentle landing either!
• 

  steve2

  Look what happened to the Plymouth Brethren in the early to mid 1900s when time passed and the end had still not come despite long decades of preaching its end.

  In some parts of the world, they morphed into the Exclusive Brethren who stopped their outreach to the world, and taught the time for preaching had passed and the faithful needed to spend the remaining time shoring up their faith and commitment.
  
• 

  slimboyfat

  Yes the parallel with Plymouth Brethen is interesting: rejection of the world, inward looking, shunning former members, and now giving up or demoting the significance of proselytism. The major difference is the closed brethren reject the Internet totally, last I heard.
• 

  compound complex

  Running out of money may be connected to running out of ideas in another important way. It's a well known facet of psychology that material difficulty adversely affects cognitive and creative abilities. In other words the stress of money trouble is probably occupying so much of their thoughts that it's difficult to focus on other things, such as producing coherent and interesting content for their literature. -- SBF

  True. While adversity, sorrow, and suffering, are grist for the writer's mill, his empty stomach and inability to pay the rent for his filthy, cold-water garret preoccupy him in the present moment.

  Later, when the scene changes for the better, he will reflect objectively upon past difficulties, putting an inspired mind and skillful hand to pen, and that to paper.

  The writers I work for are, in general, living off an outside income. Despite some past lucrative sales from a book that sold well, they are writing and writing and writing . . .

  What's of interest regarding the Faithful and Discreet Slave is that Jehovah has, apparently, cut off the spirit that should inspire a perpetual outflow of food for the sheep.

  Jesus admonished Peter to feed his lambs.
  
  
• 

  Drwho

  This could explain the still growing jw population in Africa , all the drivvle that they get fed is fairly new to them , but they dont bring in enough US$$ , but make the org look good for growth figures .