I don't think that there is any one personality type that is drawn to this religion. I do believe that it initially appeals to the uneducated, lonely and disinfranchised that have some personal sense of God. When you first go to the hall you are welcomed liked everyone was your roomate in College. The operating system that is firmly in place will keep you there if you let it. The emerging problem for the WTBS is that people alive today are less obedient than in former generations and are certainly more sophisticated. This makes the initial conversion difficult if not impossible. Just look at the declining numbers.
Bluegrass Tom
JoinedPosts by Bluegrass Tom
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16
Personality Type That Draws One To WTBTS
by searching99 ini was thinking about this last night and after reading the previous topic about the gb believing or not it has me thinking again.
i am continually amazed at how a "new" religion can cause ones to abandon all previous beliefs and they are never questioned again.
i am third generation.
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Defending WT changing Doctrines
by stillajwexelder inok - dont shout at me -but i know that archaeologists will change a theory based on a new find.
so will historains.
so will scientists.
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Bluegrass Tom
They can do it if they are honest and straight forward.
But they won't do it because they have set themselves on high and claim that they are the "channel". Therefore they don't make mistakes. Their doctrines and methods of compliance and enforcement have ruined the lives of many. They can't admit that they did or thought anything wrong or they lose their legally protected position.
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Will we see the GB replace 1914 with a new date in the next 30 years?
by nvrgnbk inray franz mentioned in crisis of conscience that in 1980 schroeder, klein, and suiter proposed changing the start of "this generation" from 1914 to 1957. as the "this generation" doctrine has since mysteriously morphed any date associated with it is moot.
however, as time marches on without the developments anticipated by the gb may they again pick a new year, this time for the invisible enthronement of christ, in an attempt to buy time and regain credibility?
what dates or historical events would be likely choices?
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Bluegrass Tom
They can't back off of any dates that they have asserted for decades of time. There is too much hinging on them. The central supports of their doctrinal philosophy will crumble, and they will open themselves up to litigation and sniping from "apostates". They will slowly change things over time, minimizing the use of dates, etc. At some point in the future I can see the WTB&TS saying "What 1914?, What 1919? We never really said that." This is what they did with the 1975 milestone. At that future time they will refer to some current Watchtower article that says that we all serve with no dates in mind and only by faith, etc........and the beat goes on. Get in line Sheep! This is new light from the "channel"!
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Does the GB believe the doctrine themselves?
by GBSJG inafter reading crisis of conscience i got the impression that most on the gb actually believe all the doctrine themselves or at least that they believe that they are doing there best and god is helping/blessing them.. this sometimes seems unbelievable to me considering that they know about all the bad things in the org and see so many problems that the rank file normally does not notice or know about.
i'm currently reading combatting cult mind control by steve hassan.
when reading that book i can see that there are some cults that are far worse then the jws.
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Bluegrass Tom
The GB has access to all the information that comes into the Society. They know that they have problems, and they know what secular sources say that disproves much of their doctrinal stuff. They just "keep-on-keeping-on" because there is not much that can be done and they live very well off of it now. The Society will slowly change things and morph into modified doctrines in the future. They have to. They are losing membership on a steady basis in the western world. Something has to give.
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Facing reality about getting older
by JH inas jw's we weren't supposed to get that old and fall sick, all depending on how old we were when we joined.. but time is passing by and we are getting older, and sicker and uglier....lol.
was it hard for you to accept that you will one day die, after being told that paradise is just around the corner?.
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Bluegrass Tom
I was raised in the truf and as a kid I never believed that I would live forever. It seemed too far fetched to me. I was told that I would not get out of High School before the end came. Then it moved to 1975, then it morphed into "hang in there. It's 1914 + 80 years max", then that morphed into "no one knows, it is the contemporaneous generation of people that see the sign", etc. After 45 years of this my wife is getting pissed and realizes that she was BS'd when she was a kid and had an emotional dependence to the org. This is changing now.
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Stuck in a dead-end job because of obeying anti-higher education policy?
by nvrgnbk indid you refrain from obtaining a degree or advanced studies when you had the chance because it wasn't the witness thing to do?
how has this affected your life?
comments, rants, and personal experiences please.
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Bluegrass Tom
I was raised in the truf and am now staring down the barrel of retirement. I never listened to them when I was a kid and I very quietly went to night college over a period of years and got a degree. All along I went to the meetings, went in service and kept my mouth shut. I went on evenings that we didn't have the meetings. I got their number when I was about 12 years old. Because of getting an education, I was taught how to think and I was able to earn enough money to live reasonably well. Two of the three children have been formally educated. One has an advanced degree the other is in a high-end private university. Neither are in the truf.
Many of my peers growing up in the congo either fell away, or if they hung in there are now facing the backend of their life without enough money or accumulated wealth to have a health retirement. Thanks WTBTS! This has caused many that I know to re-evaluate the whole thing and several are in the primary phases of either fading or leaving. They are tied to it emotionally and have to slowly break free after realizing that their life was ruined by listening to the WTBTS.
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For those who were raised in "the truth"
by Hangin_on inhow many of you always felt like you would be killed at armageddon no matter what you did... it was never enough and your parents put a guilt trip on you?
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Bluegrass Tom
I always thought that I would die at Armageddon. I was told that Armageddon was coming so soon that I would not graduate high school! Now I am staring down the barrel of retirement. I also believed from around the age of 10 that the idea of a paradise earth being restored was a farce. I thought that God deserved worship and that I should give it as required, but felt that I would not personally benefit from any of it. Thanks Mom!
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Questions & Replies for JW's that invite you to the memorial
by moomanchu in.
i thought it would be a good idea to have a thread about this given the season.. i have some ideas rolling around in my head but i haven't researched them enough to make a really good argument or point.. does anyone have links to other threads or web sites about this topic.. help me and others give a reply to the ones who are taunting us.. .
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Bluegrass Tom
I am with Blondie. I would say "Thanks for inviting me. I already have plans made. Thanks for the reminder" and leave it at that. No reason to stirr up trouble when a simple courteous remark can put it away.
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What do you think is behind the watchtower change in 2008 ?
by 5go ini think it's an atempt to catch faders or atleast make active dubs feel special.
it also could be a cost cutting measure to though.
getting rid of the km's and even up awakes and watchtowers would save some trees.
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Bluegrass Tom
I listened to the whole letter be read aloud from the platform.
My take is that it is a cost savings move. They aren't getting the donations anymore and the membership is sliding away.
The monthly study copy being distributed at the magazine counter only to congo members is a move to keep the study articles away from apostates and the outside. I believe that there are so many ex-witnesses around that get the publications and use them to argue against the WTBTS that they are trying to limit what gets out. This way they may have some way to identify and track apostates that still have something to do with the congo.
I expect that the issue which is produced for the door-to-door work and public consumption will be filled with pablum so it can't come back and bite them like what has happened in the past.
PS.
Anyone that doesn't want to have anything to do with the WTBTS but still attends meetings is because they can't get out because of family involvement, social or work connections, etc. Change the rules of speaking to the DF or DA, and these people will be gone in a milisecond. Nothing more to worry about.
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Show me the money
by onacruse inmany accusations are made, freely and (imho) frivolously tossed about, regarding the monetary motivations for various and sundry wts policy/publication decisions.
i have myself made many such statements.. however, if i was pressed to provide evidence for any of these accusations, i would be embarrassingly empty-handed.. interpolations, insinuations, circumstantial evidence, et.
al., aside: what irrefutable evidence is there that the wts has ever made a change simply and solely because of financial considerations?.
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Bluegrass Tom
Hey Folks:
Lets remember that Jesus lived and died with only owning the clothes on his back and they were probably gifts. The apostles didn't own anything as far as anyone knows. They gave everything up and worked at small things or part time jobs to earn some money for essentials. This avoided the burden to the other brothers and sisters where they were visiting. There is no evidence that the first century christian congregation accumulated any assets like the WTBTS has done.
The evidence indicates that the WTBTS is a real estate development and management entity (they buy properties and refurbish them via donations and free labor) and a global publishing entity. Keep it simple. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it must be a .........