I don`t believe the WTS has completely written off the idea of using
dates again to give a sense of immediacy to their message.Here in Japan all thruough 1999 the mass media was buzzing with stories about
the end of the world.The result was various books with various theories about the end coming in 1999 sold like hot cakes (Needless to
say when 2000 rolled around you couldn`t give them away!). So obviously false prophecy SELLS BOOKS. Without some kind of unique
teaching about Armageddon which has some appeal to new people,the
WTS really has nothing to offer that sets it apart from other religions. All of it`s other `so-called` unique teachings can be
found in any number of other religions.Those who have been inside
for a few years know all too well that it isn`t `God`s CLEAN organization` and the `love shower` turns cold after a while,so
what`s left? What can the org. put forth as the irrefutable evidence
of being God`s sole channel of Truth? Doesn`t the very name Watchtower
have to do with fortelling the coming judgement. One brother refered
to the NOV.1995 WT article about the NEW LIGHT on the meaning of the
word `Generation`. The amazing thing was that the `experts` who were
quoted in order to support the orgs. new light were all protestant
scholars.On top of that the month before when the article came out
and pushed the dividing of the sheep and the goats to the future it
brought the WT teaching in line with Christendom!! Why should the
NEW LIGHT bring the teaching back in line with Babylon!!? It seems the
more changes which are made to a more `balanced view`,the more the
org. just proves that it`s NOT God`s channel for anything. JWD
Posts by JWD
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11How about some NEW dates!!
by JWD inas i`ve looked into the history of the wt society it has become glaringly obvious that one of the main reason for the growth of the.
org.
has been it`s fixation on the end of the world.
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JWD
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11
How about some NEW dates!!
by JWD inas i`ve looked into the history of the wt society it has become glaringly obvious that one of the main reason for the growth of the.
org.
has been it`s fixation on the end of the world.
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JWD
To Prisca:
The fact of the matter is that for the first 50 years the WT made a
huge deal out of the 1874 date. Yet, when they dropped it nobody seemed to say `boo..` No doubt dropping 1914 would have a huge impact
on the older JWs, but most of them wouldn`t quit anyway.The org. is
their life, their entire families are in, it`s beyond religion for
them, it`s more like `culture`.People don`t throw away their culture
just because they don`t like everything about it. Besides the future
of the WT lies in how many NEW people they can get in.The old ones
don`t peddle the literature as much as new excited believers would.
As far as dropping the use of dates altogether... the org. has made
many statements in the past about `getting wiser and not setting dates` and then they go right back and do it again. The fact of the
matter is without some supposed `inside track` on special knowledge
about when the end is coming, the WT is just another small religion
with some quirky teachings about blood,etc.As suicidal as setting new
dates seems to appear, it is really the only way the org. can ever
regain some serious growth. Without growth it will wither and die.
JWD -
11
How about some NEW dates!!
by JWD inas i`ve looked into the history of the wt society it has become glaringly obvious that one of the main reason for the growth of the.
org.
has been it`s fixation on the end of the world.
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JWD
No doubt reason cries out against new dates. Reason,however, has never
seemed to be high on the list of motivational forces driving the WT.
It seems the the factors influencing most decisions are #1-Growth,
#2-Finances, #3-Legal matters (Not necessarily in that order). As the
years go by and the older members leave and/or die off, I would not be
surprised to see the org. going back to the tried and true method of
some form of date setting to give a sense of urgency for their message. Without Armageddon the WT has no way of convincing people to
throw away their futures and labor without pay to expand the WT kingdom. JWD -
11
How about some NEW dates!!
by JWD inas i`ve looked into the history of the wt society it has become glaringly obvious that one of the main reason for the growth of the.
org.
has been it`s fixation on the end of the world.
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JWD
As I`ve looked into the history of the WT society it has become glaringly obvious that one of the main reason for the growth of the
org. has been it`s fixation on the end of the world. It`s common knowledge by now, but the whole thing grew out of the Advent movement
with it`s roots in England.The Adventists came up with the 1848 and the 1874 dates. CT borrowed heavily from those dates and added a few of his own.He taught our ancestors that the end of the world was coming in 1914 then 1915. Later on the Judge came out with the 1918 end of the world theory as well as the 1925 ressurection of the worthies and the 1941 Armageddon is right around the corner teaching. Then it was Knorr and Freddy who gave us 1975... During those years the org. grew and grew. Why? Because everyone likes a good end of the world prophecy. Recently, a college professor spoke on technics used to gain control over people and he said `false prophecy is a proven method by which to control people commited to a religion. Even when
the prophecy fails it can be re-interpreted time and time again to
continue it`s influence. That is certainly the case with the WTS.Now,
however, we have entered an era where the org. is in a tailspin growth
wise. With the exception of former communist countries and some third
world countries the trend is `downsizing`. So, how to remedy the situation and bring back growth. How about some new dates?! I`ve got
a few ideas. Number one, own up to the fact that the BC 607 is a bunch
of crock and say that `after further study we`ve determined that the
fall of Jerusalem was actually BC 586` (who cares that that`s what all
the archeological world has been saying all along). That would buy the
org. 21 years and bump the supposed return of Christ to 1935. Since the org. already has a 1935 date (sealing of the annointed) it would
merely have to change the meaning of the date itself (something they are very good at). At that point the 1914 date could be decreetly shelved. As far as something which would put the fear in people and
make Armageddon seem near; how about the date 1989 as the beginning
of the end. 1989 was the year that Communism bit the dust in the Soviet Union and eastern Europe. The scripture about `When everyone
is saying peace, peace...` could be used to focus on 1989 as the
brief time of quiet before the storm of Armageddon. Never mind that
every other date has proven to be completely wrong, a few new dates
might be just the thing to perk up the bros., bump up the hours and
bring in new studies. Besides by the year 2030 no one will care about
the 1935 and 1989 dates anyway... JWD -
44
High priced Kingdom Halls
by JWD init`s been interesting watching the org.
trying different ways to make money while at the same time keeping up a front of not being interested in money.
especially since they were forced to drop the.
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JWD
To Seeker:
I appreciate your concerns regarding `facts`. I can`t speak for
what is happening everywhere, but as far as Japan is concerned,
unlike the US, the building codes are very minimal and KHs are not
high priced due to some kind of superior quality. If anything
they are adequate, but inferior in design and quality to other construction.
The greater concern here is perhaps not so much whether or not the
society is making money, but rather the false images being presented.
Anyone who has looked throught the Proclaimers book and seen all the
glossy photos of large buildings and tracks of land the WT owns has
had the question run through their mind of `So, where is all the money
coming from to aquire all this stuff and keep it operating`. There seems to be a disconnect at this point. One the one hand the WT projects the image of being a religion which is not interested in
taking people`s money and to reinforce that image there is frequent
bashing of other religion`s financial excesses. Yet at the same time the `visible` success of the WT via buidlings,etc. is@held up as a sign of Jehovah`s blessing. In Japan, in the last three@years congregations have been closing (238 in all) and KH leases have
been given up due to lack of funds at the local level. Yet, the
headquarters is finishing up a major building project. The local
bros and sisters are kept poor, while the org. is still expanding.
Another issue of concern is exactly what you pointed out;namely,
`What is actually going on with the money?` It`s difficult to get the
facts, because the org. doesn`t tell the facts. Annual financial
reports AREN`T AVAILABLE. They are for companys and for most religious
organizations. Yet, the WT keeps the figures secret. They want to maintain the image of not being interested in money. If the org. is
making big bucks, why not be open and say `WE`RE MAKING BIG BUCKS`.
Why hide behind a facade of altruism while the very size of the buildings themselves speak volumnes regarding finances. Looking at
things objectively, I think it`s fair to say that the majority of
policy decisions (new light) are due to legal issues, growth issues
or financial issues. JWD -
44
High priced Kingdom Halls
by JWD init`s been interesting watching the org.
trying different ways to make money while at the same time keeping up a front of not being interested in money.
especially since they were forced to drop the.
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JWD
Here in Japan building in general tends to be expensive, so recently
a lot of construction companies are importing materials from the U.S.
Lumber,etc. from the States can be as little as one third the cost of
Japanese materials. One good friend of mine just had his house built
using American lumber and the work was done by a friend of his, so
there were no labor costs. The total cost was $50,000. That`s a house
with kitchen,bath,etc. By contrast the society builds kHs with imported materials from the U.S. They are basically a `box` with a
bathroom and a separate room for literature. Naturally the bros. do
the work so there should be no labor costs and yet the bill is $180,000. Anyone who has looked into it realizes that they are way
overpriced. But naturally it`s un-theocratic to say that... JWD -
44
High priced Kingdom Halls
by JWD init`s been interesting watching the org.
trying different ways to make money while at the same time keeping up a front of not being interested in money.
especially since they were forced to drop the.
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JWD
Japanese are very group oriented and very fad oriented.During the 1980`s and early 90`s the org really grew here.There was an almost
arrogant attitude among the bros.A kind of `nobody can stop us now`
type of attitude.But, when the `errosion` started in the mid-90s
everyhting began to unravel fast.The number of baptisms plummeted and
the nation as a whole began to look on the WT as a dangerous cult.
It was at that time that a well known `exit counselor`Steven Hassen`s
book about cults was translated into Japanese and it eventually sold
almost 2 million copies. The mood of the bros. changed from confident
to scared. Currently,the org. is playing the `Victim Card`big time.
Also, bragging about growth has disappeared and seige mentality has
set in. Unlike the US most congs are overwhelmingly female.I`d say
at least 80%.There is a lot of infighting among the sisters and many
young men don`t follow in their mother`s footsteps. Since studies
have become almost impossible to find,they`re reaching out to fringe
people (i.e.socially impaired,emotionally weak)to help boost the numbers. Obviously, that doesn`t make for strong field work. JWD -
44
High priced Kingdom Halls
by JWD init`s been interesting watching the org.
trying different ways to make money while at the same time keeping up a front of not being interested in money.
especially since they were forced to drop the.
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JWD
The org`s `We aren`t interested in money,it`s the Babylonia religions
who are after your pocketbook` facade really grates on me. It`s common
for new brothers in Japan to quit their jobs and get part-time work
in order to take part in the field work and make the meetings. In so
doing they often cut their income in half. One local bro. sold his house upon getting baptized.I suppose it was a display of how commited
he was as well as a sincere belief that the end is near.Over 15 years
have passed since then and he`s really suffering financially.Another
bro. quit his job as a salesman making good money and now he`s working
as a janitor. It seems to mean that if you take a $2,000 per month cut
in your pay to fulfill the org`s demands and peddle their literature,
that`s the same as making a $2,000 per month donation. Protestant churches only talk about a 10% tithe, so who`s really taking their
believer`s money? Has anyone ever looked in to suing the org. for
damages after putting in years of unpaid labor? JW in Japan -
44
High priced Kingdom Halls
by JWD init`s been interesting watching the org.
trying different ways to make money while at the same time keeping up a front of not being interested in money.
especially since they were forced to drop the.
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JWD
As to numbers here in Japan, everything is heading south.There are
fewer baptisms every year, fewer people attending the memorial service and fewer reporting field work. The Kingdom Ministry made a
big deal about surpassing 220,000 publishers nearly two years ago.
After that, however, the slide started.Numbers have slipped back to
mid-210,000. There are several reasons for the drop. One is there
has been a lot of bad press, various magazine art. and TV programs
which have listed the WT as a cult. In response to that the org. is
loosening up on a lot of minor restrictions, such as kids being
allowed to get more involved in after-school activities.Also they
are encouraged not to gather in large numbers before and after going
out in field service.Large numbers of suit clad young men who aren`t
going to work, but are rather walking(very slowly) around the neighborhood has a very negative image here in Japan. Another reason
for the drop in numbers is the overall moral quality Witnesses is dropping. A friend who is an elder estimates that 20% of the bros.
are involved in some area of immorality. A recent letter to the elders
went so far as to say that any brother who was looking at porno ON THE
INTERNET and masturbating should be brought before a JC. (It`s interesting that they specifically stated ON THE INTERNET). Another
reason for the drop in numbers is that the year 2000 came and went
with nothing happening. Although not official WT teaching, there was
a strong feeling among the brothers here that the end would come
by 2000. Obviously, it hasn`t. A lot of KM articles recently are
using the guilt trip and repeating the old mantras about putting in
time so that you don`t slide into apostacy and making sure your kids
stay in the org. Most kids don`t any more. It`s real common for a
second gener. to get baptized to make mom happy and then move off on
his/her own and stop going to mtgs. etc. JW in Japan -
44
High priced Kingdom Halls
by JWD init`s been interesting watching the org.
trying different ways to make money while at the same time keeping up a front of not being interested in money.
especially since they were forced to drop the.
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JWD
Some cost cutting here in Japan includes; combining congregations,
using cheaper materials for the books, cutting back on the number of
special pioneers (S.pioneers received about $400 a month from the
org.With most areas overworked and unresponsive it`s become counter-
productive for them to bang on doors too frequently) Also, there was
an announcement not to `waste` magazines by giving them to poeple who
probably won`t read them.
There was also a very interesting letter to the elders in the Spring
of 1999. It was about how to deal with the police. Here in Japan,the
WT is considered at best to be a questionable religion and the activities of the org. are closely watched by a branch of the police.
The letter to the elders said not to respond to many questions and
don`t let the police into the KH.It went on to say that if they insist on seeing the inside of the KH, make sure it`s when nobody is there and remove any info from the bulliten boards.