The Watchtower Society is in a funk. No doubt about it. It is stagnant and paralyzed by its own inertia.
It has survived for one and one quarter centuries for a few very simple reasons:
It has motivated people to excitement by the means of well-sounding but preposterous slogans.
It has promised a simple solution for the complex problems of the human condition, with the attainment of such solution still being possible by alleviating its believers of the responsibility, work and dedication required to deal with and solve current problems facing man. There is not a lot of genuine sweat and sacrifice required to memorize a little one-minute spiel and offer books and magazines from door-to-door, nor to conduct “studies” which are rote question-and-answer sessions, with all the questions and all of the answers provided beforehand. The Watchtower model requires your time and it requires your money, and hardly anything else.
It (the WTS) has predicted the implementation of this solution within a decade or so from its many different announcements of this soon-to-come solution. Many people who might otherwise be somewhat skeptical have been willing to risk ten years or less of their lives to realize such a grand promise offered by the Watchtower Society. Had they promised this grand reward to occur in say 30, 50 or a hundred years, their rate of success in achieving converts would have been greatly lessened.
It has removed the responsibilities of individuality, thinking and the responsibilities that go along with such from its followers and taken that responsibility upon itself. To be blunt, the Watchtower Society’s message appeals to intellectually, ethically and morally lazy people.
To me, the saddest part of this religion is that it has striven to go against the laws of nature and the human spirit; laws that they claim were given by God to man and for a good reason. This entire religion has repudiated the laws of God and the attributes God gave to all humans, which laws include a human’s ability to individually solve problems through critical thought, to naturally want to take care of our own needs first, and when possible to take care of the needs of others, and others of us when we need it and others can do it.
Like Hitler, Stalin, Mao and other mass-manipulators, the WTS has recognized that there are a certain number of people who are blind sheep, and for whatever reason, are too lazy to do their own thinking, to determine their own destinies and explain in their own way the meaning of their existence and the human condition.
They have therefore taken lazy people and through their various well-documented techniques, turned them into braindead robots. These poor souls take as FACT unanalyzed assumptions fed to them by their religious leaders. They are convinced that what charismatic leaders like Fred Franz has said MUST be profound, because they don’t understand what Franz said! It never dawned on them to consider the possibility that if Franz couldn’t state something that was understandable, it was no doubt due to the fact that he didn’t understand it either. Or, the possibility that Franz deliberately made it impossible to understand because had he done otherwise, some of the charades of Watchtower doctrine might be easily spotted as the frauds they are by its members.
The Watchtower religion has worked hard to cultivate (and even brags about it) a membership that is like one large “collective brain.” Each member who is considered “good” thinks and acts like each other member who is considered “good.” Since this is just another unanalyzed assumption by most R&F dubs, it doesn’t dawn on most dubs that the term or concept of a “collective brain” is an oxymoron. If they all think exactly the same way, they are not thinking for themselves at all. They are parroting what others think.
Jesus said that all laws and commandments were wrapped up in two simple commands, love God and love your neighbor. Virtually all religions, but especially the Jehovah’s Witnesses have turned those two commands into volumes and volumes of rules, regulations, suggestions, and regimentations. Jesus was making a clear point about how simple living a good life can be by tossing out all the old rules and regulations that had accumulated and caused so much misery over the centuries. Since then and for two thousand years, religionists and ESPECIALLY Jehovah’s Witnesses have worked hard to undo what Jesus tried to do. They have piled up all those thousands of volumes of rules and regulations Jesus tried to away with AGAIN! They all try to justify themselves by “explaining” what Jesus meant when he uttered those simple words. Did it ever dawn on them that those words of Jesus actually meant what they meant? Duh! Did it ever dawn on them that those simple words could be applied in many and DIFFERENT ways by the many and different people who inhabit this planet? For example, what if “loving” God for one person meant showing indifference to him, or even not believing in him? The rationale being, “I’ve got enough problems to deal with in my short life, and I’m sure God is big enough to understand that, since he put me in this lot to begin with. Besides that, he would probably be annoyed if I spent my whole life trying to please him, since nothing I could ever do would affect him in the least, anyway. And I’ve got a family to look after, too.”
Could it possibly be that one definition of “loving our fellow humans” would be to create great music, or art, and nothing else? People who’ve chosen this path have contributed in immeasurable ways to millions over millennia. Such artists have inspired people to achieve great things, to do great deeds, to have great loves in their lives. Who can argue that such inspiration is not one of the greatest contributions one human can give to others, and an act of love in itself?
I’m not making a case one way or the other. That’s not my purpose here. My purpose is to state that I demand to keep and will never again cede my right to think for myself and to make decisions for myself.
I won’t join any group, even if it embraces every single one of my ideas, because I don’t want to get thrown out of it when we get down to specifics! (Thanks to Ayn Rand for that one!) Besides that, I reserve the right to change my mind about anything. At any time. And for no reason, either. That’s why I will never be part of any formal group.
Yes, the WTS is in a funk. Do you know why I think that funk is going to get worse? Simply because there are people who used to be just like me and others like me, but sold out their individuality and thoughts to someone else. And there are others who WANT to be able to think like me and others like me, because the way they are isn’t working. Both of these groups are naturally fed-up with giving up their own individuality and their right of individual thought and expression to others who want to control them. They are like caged animals, but worse than caged animals. Their brains and individuality are encaged and for a human, that is the worst condition possible.
It isn’t working in WatchtowerLand because the way they have let themselves become is contrary to the laws of nature and the naturally individualistic traits of the human condition.
Will it be too late before the Watchtower Corporation finally realizes this? Probably. They are firmly intoxicated by their power and intoxicated people make irrational decisions.
Farkel