by SydBarrett 58 Replies latest jw friends
Ted Jaracz used 9-11 to purge all the moderates and liberals from the decision-making process (and the premises), so now there’s no one left with the creative chops to give WT theology and eschatology the rewrite it needs.
As a result, they’re stuck with Franz’ old Cold-War-centric End-Times script, and it’s increasingly implausible sequence of events.
I doubt Fred Franz left a lot of written material because he was blind for the last 10 years or so and I think there was already a shift away from his style in the 1980s while he was still alive. He could still dictate and write things when he was blind but it seems unlikely he was building up a lot of written material at that stage and with those problems.
His style probably still influenced the green Survival book in 1984 which was full of types and anti-types, although the actual writing was perhaps done by others.
I seem to recall somebody saying that the Trinity brochure was the last publication Franz wrote himself or had major input on. It would make sense considering his long-standing interest in refuting the Trinity. That was published in 1989 just a couple of years before he died.
From 1975 to 1980, when the Governing Body became a more functional reality, it seems that the passions of individual members (as expressed in Watchtower study articles) became more diluted. However I think that from about the 2000s most of the topics covered on the Sunday meetings were in fact, reprints ... barely updated to include newer statistics.
But after the Simplified Edition was rolled into the normal Watchtower study magazine in 2019, it was clear that beside being written for 14 years olds, we had now entered into a form of JWLITE, were any real or deeper explanation of doctrine had slipped away.
And today it is quite common to find 25-30% of your study article, to be 'experiences' or long (but highly juvenile) illustrations.
One major change in the writing is the de-emphasus on the annointed. The two destinies, limited heaveny group , and unlimited earthy group, are still taught, but in the old school articles much was said about the responsibility of the remaining (then decreasing) number of annointed ones to carry out the preaching comission, and how essential it was for the other sheep to do good to 'Christ Brothers' by assisting them in this work. These ideas are still in effect but seldom directly stated. The term "the annointed remnant", once used constantly, seems to have gone totally out of use.
As the number of people claiming to be annointed rose unexpectedly, the Governing Body introduced the idea that some of those professing this were mentally unstable (calling their own claims into question)...and when they declared that they, and they alone made up " the faithful and discreet slave" it was essentially a dismissal of the rest.
At the last annual meeting they seemed to embrace the idea that the number has gone up..."Why how could you think the numbers would go down...the scriptures say that the chosen ones would be gathered from the four corners of the earth before the end...so we should not be surprised...nor is an apology needed for not getting it quite right before...
Good comments, all, observing that change in writing style is more than simply a change of personnel. I would add to the mix that the multi- language organization means that translators need something easy to work with, without the convoluted wording that Franz-era writers were addicted to.
Fred Franz mostly was behind all the articles etc. After he became incapable of coming up with "individual" info, the WTS mostly just reused his info and changed it a bit. The writers after that did not have the skill to carefully trick jws and kept having to adjust or clarify what appeared in the publications. Like throwing crap at the wall and seeing what sticks. The WTS also deals with difficult past teachings, by not mentioning them any more in future publications, like the 7,000 year creative day.
Honestly, you can really see the downhill slide of the literature after Fred Franz's death in 1992. The Writing Dept was able to recycle his stuff for about a decade and limp it along, but honestly the jig was up. Especially after 1995's "Generation" change.
I can honestly look back right at the point and time and state with confidence, "It was over, they just didn't know it."
GB 1.0 and the new 2.0 with Splain, just don't have the old writing chops to be "The Oracle." Combine this was a younger "generation" who couldn't care less about the previous World Wars and weirdo math combined with types and anti-types nonsense, and you've got a recipe for disaster.
And so it is, that the JW's will very shortly, soon! Any day now! Look like any remaining Congregation of Christadelphians. (if you can find one, that is) - full of grey hairs and ZERO youth. Oh sure, the Kings at the top will hold out for a few decades up on their compound by the lake living off their investment and hedge funds, but that's about it. It's all over. Will the last goat out, switch off the ol' light? lol
Have you been to a Christadelphian meeting Wing Commander?
WING COMMANDER:
You are right that the ‘jig was up’ after their 1995 Generation change!
I was sitting in the Hall as this article was discussed. I knew right then and there that it was over and I was leaving. They were just stringing everybody along. The long term ramifications of this were the thousands who left in the years after this. However, many Witnesses stayed.. Some may have had a lightbulb moment and realized they better get serious about a well-paying job because ‘the system’ was going on.
This was Thirty years ago…enough time to get better employment and retirement. Sorry about Witnesses in sleep mode who did nothing!!
At this point, I don’t believe there could be any new ‘Oracle’ that will save this religion.
The generation change was a big wake up call for me too. But apparently not too big a wake up call considering I got baptised two years later!
The generation change impacted a lot of people including, or perhaps especially very long term members that were hit hard with the realisation that Armageddon was no longer predicted in their lifetime.
Having said that, it’s sobering to realise that much more than half the current JWs joined the religion or were baptised after 1995. So for most current JWs the generation change had already been made before they decided to commit to the religion. In other words its impact may be receding as (with some irony) on generation now replaces another.
