I occasionally watch "South Park" - which for you outside the US, is a cartoon which brazenly satirizes everything
using foul-mouthed grade school kids as characters. It's really amazing what the censors let them get away with.
Anyhow, a recent episode took direct aim at historical claims of the Mormon Church. They portrayed Joseph Smith
as a con-artist who impressed simple minded rubes in the 19th century. The singing of "dumb, dumb, dumb"
could be heard in the background along with comments about ancient people being punished by God who gave them
dark skins!
At the end, the young Mormon kid being lambasted remarked that he didn't care if all of it was bogus
because he had a nice family and a nice way of life and "you can [ insert off color reply here]".
This explains a lot about the "truth" as well. Compliance ain't faith - and lots of Witnesses are just going along
with whatever gets them by. Elders express astonishment when young pioneers achieve their promised hours
on field service reports but secretly spend afternoons fornicating or smoking weed.
This also explains a lot of otherwise intelligent elders I know - who read books on UFOs , ghosts,
ESP, and other heretical topics. When I asked one of them about how these were consistent with the
"truth", the reply I got was "It's a good life". I have also known some "higher ups" in the organization ,
who secretly think most Watchtower doctrine is nonsense - but go along anyway.
Organizational structure is vastly more important than any doctrine. This is why a feeble old
man wearing a funny hat can command attention from people taught to think that crackers
magically transform into a Messiah's bodily tissue in their tummys. Some people laughed
at Hare Krishnas for having a top knot of hair, so God could get a good grip whisking them
away. In religion, wackiness is just a matter of personal taste.
metatron