"You can live forever in a paradise on Earth"
Who wouldn't go for that?
In my years as a Witness and even after, I've thought about "The New System" and everything I was taught.
During the Thousand Years, there would be millions coming back from the dead. During that time we'd all learn one single language and reach perfect physical health. After the "final test" at the end of the Thousand Years when Satan was finally destroyed once and for all, we'd have our Paradise and live forever. Not immortal, mind you. That was the first detail that caught my attention.
The 144,000 anointed ones I was told WOULD be immortal, but the great crowd on Earth would not though we would live forever.
Some details I was told by my parents and other Witnesses, some I learned from the publications and talks at the meetings and assemblies. Over the years as I have used all I have learned to try to put together a complete picture of the New System, the less it makes sense and the less it appeals to me.
First and foremost, the only way to die in the New System is to sin. The only sin ever referred to in this context being rebellion against Jehovah. Should that occur, the miscreant will be obliterated on the spot. Not that it ever will, mind you. Now apply this concept to everyday live, taking into the fact that we will NOT be immortal. This would mean no more fatal accidents. Barring disease, old age and murder, how else can one die? Unexpectedly, right? Drowning, fire, falling from a cliff, etc. So what is this all of a sudden? An OSHA paradise? What about non-fatal accidents? Breaking a bone or loss of a limb?
Moving on, what are we going to eat? I was brought up to believe that in the New System, we would no longer eat the animals. No steaks, no fried chicken, no fish, no bacon for breakfast. It was always unclear to me whether any animals would still eat each other. Ok, so we're vegetarians.
What about electricity and running water? What about the necessity for sewage facilities? Even as perfect people, we'll still have garbage so what will we do with it? How will we communicate over long distances? The necessity to communicate quickly will not go away simply because there is no more "old system".
I was once told that in the New System, there would be no more marriage and sex. Apparently, the population is going to hit one number and stay there for all eternity. So we're not going to reach out past the Earth and populate the rest of the Universe. (So much for door-to-door work on Mars!) Now imagine telling a Witness teenager to remain single in order to devote more time to spiritual things, then turn around and spring it on them that come the New System, you're single forever. "Millions now living will never die!" Yeah, or get laid either!
In a way, the teachings of Jehovahs Witnesses END at Armageddon. They really hold out nothing concrete about the New System except for living forever in a paradise. And that eternal life seems to be merely a primitive agricultural civilization of Jehovah's Witnesses lacking only door-to-door work.
I'm sorry to sound so negative, y'all. But give me pollution, traffic, a job, steak, beer, sex, cigarettes, stress, cable tv, rock and roll, christmas, and everything else that makes me human or forget it!
mike.
Expect nothing and you will never be disappointed,
