The Watchtower: Sincere Old Men or Deliberate Deceivers?

by metatron 75 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  metatron

  I'm not only looking for someone to blame, I've found 'em!

  There is a difference between sincere - but false belief ---- and conscious deception. If the Watchtower was actually guided

  by an ultimate respect for the Bible, there might be some chance of reform based on appeal to the scriptures. I can respect

  what Fred Franz did with regard to making changes about elders, vows and other topics - in the past. By this route, even a

  misguided organization can improve somewhat.

  Unfortunately, what continues to emerge is the "say anything" spirit that I mentioned. For you ex-elders, this policy can be witnessed

  most nakedly during meetings with Circuit Overseers. Therein, the Bible is used as a springboard of bland texts that somehow justify

  anything the organization wants. Meanwhile, any letter or scrap of information from the Society gets exalted to the status of Holy Writ

  despite their 120 year record of prophetic failure - and convenient claims that they are merely "imperfect men".

  In this upside-down subculture, don't ever quote the Bible against any feature of the organization.

  .. because that would get you marked as having 'apostate tendencies"!

  metatron
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  heathen

  Sunspot --- What really confuses me is their complete discrediting of people who exsperience paranormal phenomena (everything out of ordinary is satanic) to them , here we are at the end of the world when all sorts of signs and portents of great power from above are supposed to be seen but yet they continue with the ivisibility doctrine , they even go to the extent to convince people they are nuts to protect their little world within the WTBTS . I think they are senile old men and blasphemers .
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  Room 215

  Indeed. It was precisely Knorr's mandate to the editorial team assembled for the Aid to Bible Understanding project, to ``just stick to the Bible" that pried open the can of worms that they're still unable to shut down.
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  lawrence

  Heathen-

  Right on!
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  Doubtfully Yours

  The WTBTS is just a religious empire that needs to continue on just like any other business empire.

  It will evolve, grow. Some will stay, some leave, new ones will join. Well intentioned or not, it will go on.

  DY
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  jgnat

  As metatron has plainly laid out, the motives of the men at the top can be derived from the direction they provide. There are great insights in this thread, I have enjoyed them all. Cynical? Oh, yeah for sure! Was it Winston who pointed out that the unbreakable rule for these men, and, for that matter, all faithful JW's, is that the organization itself must be protected at all costs? Then this is their idol. They know they are causing injury by hanging on to unjust doctrines, but Mother Organization must be protected at all costs. They must be cynical to continue, since God has not electrocuted them yet for their error, and ethics are a secondary matter to protecting Mother Organization.

  There is a phenomenon I see in government, which seems to be repeated in the GB. There are civil servants who sincerely believe that all government workers are lazy slobs. They blithely coast through their career, secure in the knowledge they are unlikely to get "fired" (too much paperwork). This might explain how the GB can be cynical and sincere at the same time. They may believe their own propoganda and sincerely believe there is no better organization out there. That is, for all it's failings and weaknesses, they may believe they have fewer problems than anywhere else on earth. Such a view does not create a caring leadership, but a callous and corrupt one.

  I have said it before, and I repeat it again. The leadership acts very much like a third generation family run business. The initial genius and spark is gone, so the organization stagnates along. If the WTS follows the pattern, it is vulnerable to internal rot, or division through family squabbling.
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  ko38

  If they will turn their backs on friends and family in favor of the society,Why would they have a problem with the wbts telling them that 1914 is when Jesus took his throne but when jesus said the generation will by no means pass away it meant brothers that Jehovah has not forgot them.Apparently brothers our generation is to see the end however a generation in Jehovahs eyes could mean those that have learned the truth as we know it today.thankfully we have the f&ds here with us to shine the way in understanding Jehovahs grand climax.Those that arent in his organization and that dont have the understanding we have TODAY are the one who in Jehovahs day willgnash their teeth.

  Christendom is in a state of despair at this VERY TIME.We see the greed and aligning of themselves with the disgusting thing more TODAY then ever before.Jehovah will not forsake his LOYAL ones,LETs not forsake him or his promise by being impatient.Certainly we do not presume to RUSH Jehovah.

  I know that was crude,but I could see the society saying anything they want and getting away with it
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  itsallgoodnow

  The WTS has deliberately deceived it's followers from the word "go" IMO -- since way back in the 1800's. Their insincerity is obvious at every level. Very few IMO are authentic true believers, people who haven't yet learned how to think clearly but trust too much even when their gut tells them otherwise. At the end of the day, it's obviously a cult and no amount of slick but sincere-sounding rhetoric can hide that.

  The decision makers at the top know all too well they are not "god's spirit directed organization". They make it seem like god works through them in some supernatural way but if you ask how that works, they say they have the Bible. Hmm. I wouldn't be surprised to hear most of them don't believe in god anyway. If they did, they wouldn't be doing what they are doing.

  We wouldn't think scam artists are just misguided businessmen trying to maneuver through the business world the best way they know how. Why should we cut the WTS a break? To go soft on them and say that they mean well but are misguided is completely wrong.
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  VM44

  Was C.T. Russell sincere?

  Was J.F. Rutherford sincere? or was he a deliberate deceiver?

  (I believe Rutherford was what was called at the time a "humbug"!)

  --VM44
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  VM44

  Definitions of humbug on the Web:

  baloney: pretentious or silly talk or writing
  www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn

  communication (writen or spoken) intended to deceive
  www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn

  fraud: something intended to deceive; deliberate trickery intended to gain an advantage
  www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn

  trick or deceive
  www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn