Whom do you trust? According to apostates, God and his word can't be trusted because the Bible is unreliable and Jehovah God is a baby killer and murderer of innocent people. Trusting the Watchtower is out of the question, because obviously, the whole thrust of the apostasy is aimed at discrediting the Watchtower so as to create wicked suspicions and distrust in the minds of trusting ones, apparently with some success. You can't trust the elders because they are all tyrants and child molesters. Mom and dad can't be trusted because they raised you in this wicked cult and traumatized you by not letting you dress up as Casper the Ghost and go trick-or-treating on Halloween night. So, whom can you trust? That definitely limits your options then, doesn't it? Evidently the reasoning of many goes something like this: 'Well, the Watchtower has been saying for years that this system is going to end, and it hasn't ended yet. They obviously are false prophets. The world ain't gonna end no time soon.' So, by default, those weak in faith come to trust in the popular delusion that all is well. Those who are defrauded of their faith in God inevitably come to trust in this system of things continuing on and on in business-as-usual fashion.
It seems that what has contributed to the present delusion is that there is no real crisis that is readily apparent. It seems that each decade has had its own particular calamity that has added impetus to the message of Jehovah's Witnesses. For example, WWI and the subsequent hardships that came upon the Bible Students back then galvanized the faithful and convinced them that they were experiencing the fulfillment of certain prophecies. Following that was the rampant immorality of the roaring 20's; followed by the crash and the Great Depression that characterized the 30's. The 40's of course had WWII. And the 50's had the frightening standoff of the Cold War participants and the introduction of the space race. The 60's were marked by all sorts of upheavals, most notable being the Vietnam War. During the 70's hyperinflation and the so-called oil shortage created the northern rust-belt economy and a general sense of unease and pessimism about the future. Disco and punk caused many pop music purists to fret over the future of rock. (Just wanted to see if you were paying attention) The 80's might be best characterized as a time of crime and degeneration and of a general malaise capped off by the collapse of the Iron curtain and the Soviet Union at the turn of the decade. Then came the go-go 90's. With the Cold War over and the U.S. regaining military prestige after obliterating the barefoot Iraqi army, and the first baby boomer president, a period commenced where there was no over riding national issue facing Americans and the world in general. The money spigots were opened full-bore and the giant casino wheels began to spin wildly on Wall Street and elsewhere. Apathy became the most dominant characteristic of American culture. Because of this lack of any clear danger, seemingly, many of Jehovah's Witnesses seem to have lost their bearings, making them vulnerable to the depredations of apostates.
The prophecies indicate though that we are in the period described as "during a freedom from care." That is an astoundingly accurate portrayal of the present situation. And, according to the prophecy, it is the condition of the world on the eve of its own doom. So contrary to the expectations cultivated by some, that things would continually deteriorate until Armageddon intervened, the actual reality as it is being played out presently, is exactly what Jehovah's word long ago foretold.
Probably one of the most hypocritical statements ever put in print is found on the U.S dollar, where it boldly claims: "IN GOD WE TRUST." What a disgusting thing to stamp on something so coveted and idolized as American money. Of course, the obvious truth is that people trust money---not God. The accessibility of money is the underlying foundation of the freedom from care that we are experiencing. The printing of more and more money in reckless abandon could be considered as the profits of doom, because at some point the value of paper money will come to naught. But, the assumption that the good times will never end is not only the general consensus of the Western world at large, but it is also the underlying presumption of the apostasy. Jehovah's salvation from a doomed system of things has simply become irrelevant to some. And, so, the champagne is uncorked and the "unsinkable" Titanic sails off full-steam into the black of night. Bon Voyage! / You Know
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