Witnesses Catch the "Soviet Disease"

by metatron 20 Replies latest jw friends

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  metatron

  Many of you who come to this site, no doubt, are deeply concerned about the future of the Organization. In addition,

  not a few who post here would like to see the Watchtower Society fade away into history.

  Let's consider a powerful trend among Witnesses,one that has been building up for decades:

  In politics, it was once called the "Soviet Disease".

  You control a great mass of people and are determined to root out all opposition. No dissent with be permitted.

  Eventually, every impulse for renewal or reform is wiped out. The people meekly comply without any open complaint.

  but.......

  Initiative and creativity vanish almost completely. The people become weak and utterly dependent on the authority

  of a self-exalted leadership. Adults turn into children, while privately succumbing to depression, alcoholism and thoughts

  of suicide.

  Now that you've digested that, let me tell how this organization has sunk into a stunning dependency:

  Watchtower studies used to discuss complex issues and sometimes be 32 paragraphs long

  Written Reviews ( not Oral) were long - and papers were turned in for GRADING!

  Pioneering dropped form 100 hours to 90 hours to 70 hours a month

  Publishers had to put in at least an hour a month, not 15 minutes, to be counted

  Paragraphs were not read aloud before asking the question in meetings

  They didn't have 3 contribution boxes in each Kingdom Hall

  The Kingdom Ministry didn't tell you, word for word, what to say about each magazine.

  Bethel service was "for life" - then "at least four full years" - then at least a year.

  Bible studies had to study long complex books - like Let God Be True, Studies in the Scriptures, etc.

  They didn't have to constantly "remind" ( i.e. beg) for contributions.

  Witnesses could actually use a Bible and quote more than 2 or 3 verses

  The Watchtower hadn't yet codified nearly every aspect of human existence, as it has now ( vasectomies, you name it)

  There are dozens of similar observations you can add but if you wonder what the future of Jehovah's Witnesses is,

  look in this direction.

  Frankly, I have difficulty imaging how this process can end. Just how childishly dependent can Witnesses become?

  How deep can this cajoling, threatening, nagging, and pleading amidst platitudes get? I continue to tell present

  Witnesses I meet that in less than ten years they will be no different than any one else.

  metatron
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  minimus

  Great post!! This is one of those Metatron posts that you can't improve upon. So well said and scary. Like the Soviet Union broke up into many fragments, maybe JW's will do the same.....
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  Big Tex

  As you've pointed out before Metatron, they will keep dumbing down and becoming more and more extreme to the point of weirdness. Where will it end? I doubt seriously it will. There probably will always be an organization known as Jehovah's Witnesses. But I think you will see it becoming more and more Third World. They've already achieved zero growth in the First World and as they get more bizarre and stupid that will not improve. But the promises of simple solutions to complex problems will have great appeal in the poorer countries of the world.
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  DanTheMan

  Spot-on analogy metatron!

  How deep can this cajoling, threatening, nagging, and pleading amidst platitudes get?

  You nailed it there, and put words to how I started to feel about the WTS back in 2001. Especially the threats, epitomized by the 2001 convention drama "Warning Examples for Our Day" .

  I was searching for a Soviet joke I heard once that I thought was relevant to this thread. I couldn't find it, but here's a funny Stalin joke:

  A delegation from his native Georgia leaves Stalin's office after a long meeting. Stalin realizes that he cannot find his pipe and calls Dzerzhinsky to find out if anyone from the delegation took his pipe. After 30 minutes Stalin finds the pipe under the table and calls Dzerzhinsky to let the delegation go. Dzerzhinsky answers Stalin's call: "I am sorry Comrade, but one half of the delegation already admitted that they took your pipe, and the other half died during questioning."
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  Amazing

  Good post Metatron,

  Actually, starting in the 1940s, Publishers had to put in 60 hours, then 10, then 1, and now 15 minutes.

  Pioneers used to be 150, then 120, then 100, then 90, and now 70.

  Music at Kingdom Halls and Conventions and Assemblies use to involve several live instruments, then just the Piano, then records and finally mandated tapes. Likewise, Conventions moved to tapes.

  Dramas used to be live acting and told a spiritual story ... now they are propaganda skits

  Assemblies used to have major food preparation, then fast food, and now they eat out.

  Speakers used to get an outline and were instructed to develope the talk, making it their own. Then this was reduced to following the outline, then having an Elder monitor the outline as the visiting speaker virtually reads the outline.

  Emphatic speaking with emotions, wit, and humor use to be encouraged. Now they like and prefer the drones. When I was an Elder we were actually instructed to start not asking back emphatic speakers, as they could start their own following.

  Personal study and study groups used to be encouraged, and now, that is viewed as dangerous unless exactly following the Society's preprinted material.

  Personal conscience and balance was highly endorsed, letting the Bible be the guide ... calling it a Bible trained conscience ... this growth meant that locals could not bug the Elders so much, and the Elders would not call Brooklyn so much. All that is now gone, and ANY deviation from the direction from the Organization is strickly taboo.

  And as you say, there are many more examples.

  The Soviet disease is a good term. The problem is the Soviet union lasted about 75 years from 1917 until the early 1990s when it finally started cracking and then breaking apart. The resulting republics are all basically free by comnparison and better off.

  The Watchtower did not get Stalinized (Rutherfordized) until the early 1930s after Joseph gained total control of all congregations. So, if there is any comparison here, then the JWs should be soon ready for a break up ... all complete with severe lawsuits that will force their bankruptcy.
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  DevonMcBride

  Not to mention in the Soviet Union it was the younger generations that broke away from Communism. In the JW's it seems as if the younger generations are also leaving or liberalizing (SP?).

  Devon
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  metatron

  To you lurkers!

  Note that this analogy does not allow reform. If you hope, "things will get better", you are going to be disappointed.

  Every elderly leader that dies will simply be replaced by another faceless Theocrat ( Brezhnev/Jaracz) committed

  to resist change.

  If you value the precious gift of life, you will seek happiness and fufillment elsewhere

  metatron
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  Enishi

  Excellent post Metatron.

  Back when I was still a loyal dub, I noticed that people seemed to be thinking less and less for themselves. Spiritual discussions usually revolved around yapping about how wonderful a talk/new piece of literature was, and anyone who had an original thought was quickly put down. When I used to post on an old dub forum, any time a matter of consciense was raised people would immediately run to their WT CDs and cut and paste an aswer, without any sort of critical thinking.

  I was hoping that the witnesses might eventually wake up to the truth and take charge of their spirituality, but it sees that simply won't happen. When the organization goes down, it will leave millions of people totally helpless, like lost children. I'm actually quite worried about there being mass suicides among the witnesses if this comes to pass...
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  gumby

  Frankly, I have difficulty imaging how this process can end. Just how childishly dependent can Witnesses become?

  They can become like the catholics,....and exist forever.

  The catholics started out torturing people from the gitgo, they ran any heritics they could get their hands on out of town and existence if they could, then they ex-communicated all defiers, then we come down to today. They are known for child molestation within the ranks of authority, their doctrines are not followed by the majority of it's members..............and they STILL flourish.

  As BT said.......they will be around awhile. Why? Because there will always be takers for scams......it's just the way us idiotic humans are. We will except answers from anyone who tickles us in the right spot......at least once anyway

  Gumby
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  metatron

  Indeed, as Witnesses become the same as anybody else, they begin to imitate the Catholics

  ( who show up , en masse, in their jeans and windbreakers for Mass on Sunday)

  The only problem with their "becoming Catholic" is that, unlike the Watchtower, the Catholics have an

  attractive infrastructure - charities, schools, seminaries, folk-music Masses, etc.

  To the contrary, the organization is committed to offering less and less benefit to Witnesses:

  no food service, no subscriptions, less literature, Bethel downsizing, and so on.

  Come to think of it, that's a lot like the Soviet Disease too!

  metatron