Good posts everyone.
gerbils,
I think that the push for men in the congregation to reach MS/elder status is very powerful. It seems to me that if you are just an 'ordinary' man in the congregation it is assumed that there is something seriously spiritually wrong with you!
Exactly. Since everybody is expected to become an officer of one rank or another, individual thinking gets discouraged. When in doubt, just follow the regulations and directives as they are laid in the book. Even the nicest people have committed terrible crimes when simply fulfilling their orders.
ko38,
we filled their days with 12 or 13 hours of activity so they couldnt look for another job) sound familiar?
I guess the GB are the epitome of this pattern. Just read the descriptions of their meetings as presented in the CoC book. They had so many duties that they couldn't find time for studying the bible when they made "bible-based" decisions. Why should we expect the ordinary sheep to be any different?
M.J.
Manipulating rewards, punishments and experiences in order to elicit the behavior and attitudes that leadership wants.
Thanks for this qoute.
JustTickledPink,
Great points. Yes there is a privilege for everyone. Actually it corresponds to my/metatron's totalitarian system analogy where real skills don't matter as much as loyalty.
AK - Jeff,
I think is all part of the 'labeling game' - in other words judging by categorizing everyone into one cubby-hole or another.
Yes, just like anything else in a totalitarian system. The point is individuals don't count. It's their roles contributing to the totality of the system. People can be replaced and substituted for.
metatron,
First, thank you for recognizing the similarities between the Watchtower and the former Soviet Union. I 've been saying this for years.
Yes, I think I read one of your threads in which you drew this comparison. IMO, it WTS were a state they'd be something like Iran crossed with the Soviet Union with good assets-managment skills which they learned in the capitalist West :)).
kwintesal, czar,
Maximum effort, minimum reward.
People with no option but to keep working for the BOrg and hope the New System jackpot pays out someday.
Come on guys, wouldn't you like to promoted to the positions of mighty "princes" in God's Kingdom? Think of all the privileges and getting direct revelations from Christ's brothers - who will be then ruling the earth from heaven....
formerout,
Real power comes from personal freedom.... to think and act FREELY, yet in a positive way. That's why when we get out we see the difference so well. The truth was out here, yet hidden from us when we were
Yes, the best way to harness personal freedom is by giving them "a privilege"...
Pole