by Beans 5 Replies latest watchtower bible
What is sociologically interesting about Jehovah's Witnesses is that they derive psychological satisfaction from perceiving a coherant pattern in there beliefs regardless of possible inner inconsistencies, and that, even if they do notice inconssistencies, they can abrogate personal responsibility for there own belief in the safe conviction that SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE in the Watchtower Society must be able to solve the problem.
By James Beckford
Very true, because they are brainwashed. And security can have a very strong hold on people, and that is something the wt provides, no matter how controlling they can be.
Very true because I have personal experience with this "somebody must be thinking" scenario.
As a naive young man, I went to Bethel and I wasn't impressed with what I found. Many of the men running
the organization didn't seem very bright or inspired. Nevertheless, I buried my doubts with the thought that
the collective success of the organization despite the limitations of its leadership showed God's Spirit at work.
Fast forward to 2000, I conclude that the success of the organization is largely due to its ability to cover up
scandals, incompetence, and deceive its membership. It is collectively skilled - but merely in the cooperative
deceit of its eagerly duped publishers, who avoid real thinking as if painful.
metatron
I believed that when I was a Witness. My basic problem was my assumption about the reality of theism. I believed in mystical manipulation. I believed snakes could talk and I believed in gods and ghosts and demons and fluttering spirits. By believing all that, it was a much smaller reach to believe that those ghosts or those gods could channel to the mystics in Brooklyn.
Now, I am of the opinion that theism is an intellectual disease working on the rational immune system to render it vulnerable to infection from things like Witnessism. Once the rational mind accepts the irrational without question, it's easy to make the next sale of the next unbelievable idea. Book sales for salvation? That's what my gullibility could be reduced to. GaryB
This can also be seen at any assembly you like to name. Just after a release hoards of JW's queue up to obtain (for a donation) a book they have not seen and yet will believe whatever it says within it covers. How many people on earth would do that. I used to. Most people buy a book after having read reviews or flicked through the pages in the bookshop. The WTBTS know that whatever they print, eager JW's will fall upon it and say 'Oh how wonderful another 'Loving provision' (tm) from jehovah.'. i can remember doing the same thing, but funnily enough i never actually read past chapter 2 - except at the book study. how ever bad the contents are no-one but no-one will say what is this rubbish.
Also, at assemblies - circuit ond special day, we used to have free(donation arrangement) coffe and biccies. Now the biccies were okay, cheapish economy versions but the coffe was prepared by the bretheren and sisteren. It was warm brown water. No one would say - 'er john this is vile coffee, we all drank it and thought of the loving provision (tm) and that if it was done by brothers then somehow it was the best you couold get because he is a brother. OOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooo a brother, well thats all right then, drink up brothers.
Unfortunately, many of us stayed in the organization even when we had doubts about some of the Watchtower teachings. We were well trained to "wait upon Jehovah." So, it we had questions we usually blamed ourselves for not fully understanding. The common feeling was that Jehovah's organizaiton would eventually give us the answers if we were patient. It never occured to most of us that it was not "God's organization and did not have the answers.
However, in time the more we saw and heard it became very evident that it lacked the love and compassion that Christ said would exist among his people. The worst offenders were the elders and overseers. It finally led some of us to examine the history and the doctrines of the Watchtower Society. Also, we heard about the trouble at Bethel in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was no longer possible not to question the Watchtower Society at this point.
Fortunately, many from our old congregation left the organization at the same time. We had our own support group to help us come through the difficult transition. Now, many years later we have all gone in different directions. But we have kept in contact over the years.
