Here’s my take on it. Those in cargo cults were clueless. They saw stuff fall from the sky and thought it came from some deity. JWs are like that in that they are clueless as to what really goes on behind the scenes – how and why the org does what it does, etc. But they see “cargo” fall from the sky – that is, they receive from their sky deity wonderful literature, they have their wonderful website (like they’re the first on earth to have a “website”), etc. So they will continue to go through with their meaningless rituals – boring meetings, unproductive ministry, etc. so more cargo will fall from the sky. They will even leave money in the woods, and it will disappear.
Posts by Magnum
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4Cargo Cults a new model for the Watchtower
by villagegirl inthe new announcement in august is the redesign of the watchtower organization.
into a cargo cult https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmlye2ks0-y.
it will be an easy sell the the rank and file because of the similarities of the watchtower to these cults.. after world war ii anthropologists discovered that an unusual religion had developed among.
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56
Anyone recall asemblies actually being fun?
by tim hooper inwhen i was a wee lad, there was a carnival atmosphere at assemblies as this old footage will show:.
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http://www.britishpathe.com/video/witnesses-baptised/query/jehovahs+witnesses.
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Magnum
Yes, I remember.
I watched the video. Wow! It made me feel sentimental and nostalgic. There really seemed to be more of a depth to JWs back then. Everything is so shallow in JWdom now. Those older days seemed to be more exciting and noble. There was a real hope then. It seemed that the scripture was being fulfilled – the one that said people from all nations would stream to the mountain of Jehovah.
Those days are gone. No more excitement. It all seems so plastic and cheap now. Damn, I wish it had all been true. I miss the old district conventions. I miss packing up the car and heading out of town with my mom and sister and grandparents to go to exciting conventions when it all seemed real and we thought we were on the verge of a new world. I miss the all the deep conversation and talks. All gone now – all gone. There was just a different feel back then. Damn, it’s gone. The individual JWs just aren’t the same anymore. The ones in my area just have no depth – little knowledge, low intelligence, not much common sense. They have no knowledge of what it used to be like. I can’t relate to them. They’re just mindless robots.
And to think that the org says that apostates are evil, heartless people who have no spirituality. Not true – at least not true with me and, I think, many of you. I truly wish it had all been true.
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Did the GB ever receive new light without the passage of time forcing it upon them?
by Zoos in1914 did not bring the end they were hoping for so new light shone down from above and corrected their understanding.. 1925 also led to unfulfilled expectations and so new light was bestowed.. .
(i could go through all the dates and expectations... but i won't.).
what if the new light about 1914 being the year that christ returned was provided before 1914?
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Magnum
zed is dead:
Three things bring about NuLite:
1. Need for money.
2. Potential litigation.
3. The calendar.
I agree. Hope you don't mind if I add one thing to your list.
4. Desire for power.
I think the recent new light changing the FDS from all anointed to just GB came about because the GB wanted to seize all power and control. I believe it (the GB) was getting unwanted input, suggestions, gripes, outright complaints, disagreements, etc. from partakers all over the world. And, really, according to the old light, those partakers had every right to have a say-so; the GB was supposed to just be their "spokesman", not their boss or superior. I believe that in order to shut these partakers up and consolidate power, the GB and its cronies starting searching the Scriptures looking for a way to make them (the Scriptures) fit their need, their current desired doctrine. Result: non-GB partakers have no more say-so than an earthly class toddler.
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Luke 12:45 - Does that mean the F&D can go "bad"?
by thedepressedsoul inthe more i read the gospels the more i get the feeling that jesus warns about organized religion or those that overbear on your faith telling you completely how to worship god.
let's say luke chapter 12 is talking about the f&s.
does vs 45 on mean that the f&s can turn bad so to speak?
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Magnum
Apognophos & berrygerry - I have been saying for a long time that there is only slave in the parable; I discussed that with my wife about a year before the 7-15-13 Watchtower changed the JW understanding to that. It's so obvious from reading the account that there's only one slave and he could be good or bad. How could God's one and only channel of communication get that wrong? There's nothing hard to understand about it. Just think of all those years that they talked about Ray Franz being part of the evil slave and they said the evil slave was beating the faithful one. All wrong - all wrong.
I knew if before they did. They get nothing from a superhuman source. They get it from themselves or plagiarize it from others. The Bible says "that slave", that is, the one that had already been referred to. It is so clear. They got it wrong for one of two reasons. They lack comprehension and just can't read with understanding or they did comprehend and chose to twist the Scriptures for a reason. Perhaps they just wanted to say an evil slave existed alongside a faithful one so they could say that they were the faithful one and could cry persecution and have a label ("evil slave") to apply to those who don't bow before them. So, as usual, they make the Bible so what they want it to. Even though it says "that slave", referring to the same slave, it referred to a different one because they wanted it to.
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Did the GB ever receive new light without the passage of time forcing it upon them?
by Zoos in1914 did not bring the end they were hoping for so new light shone down from above and corrected their understanding.. 1925 also led to unfulfilled expectations and so new light was bestowed.. .
(i could go through all the dates and expectations... but i won't.).
what if the new light about 1914 being the year that christ returned was provided before 1914?
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Magnum
Been thinking about this a lot lately and was going to start a topic about it. All the big stuff is after the fact; it's like "OK that was wrong; now let's go to plan B." Then they have to make up something to make it seem like they have new light and now have it right. As somebody said on this forum in the last year or so, they're always reactive, not proactive. In other words, they just are forced to react to their failure, so they have to come up with something else. Why couldn't they be proactive and get the new light before they are made to look foolish?
The "generation" doctrine is a good example. Only after they saw that they were wrong about it, after time ran out on them, did they come up with "new light". Why, if their is a creator and JWs are his people, would he let them fail like that and then destroy people for not giving up their lives and following and obeying them exclusively and bowing before them? It would give them more credibility if they'd get this info before they're backed into a corner and have to find out through failure that they're wrong.
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Those that are still in or recently left
by skeeter1 inwas there a decline in the number of jws in your congregation?
if so, by how many has it gone down and what is the time frame?
(i don't go and haven't gone i a long time.
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Could There Be Another Mass Exodus From This Cult?
by mrquik init's happened before.
how much crap can any rational human being take before they just snap & walk away disgusted?.
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Magnum
gingerbread: Look (or remember) around at the next convention or assembly. The halls and auditoriums are filled with couples in their 70's and 80's - at least here in America. The great majority of these older folks came into 'the truth' during the 1960's and 70's. When their children bury these parents (with dreams of never dying) they will stop attending. The grandchildren of these older ones may be baptized as young Jehovah's Witness children - but they are mentally out or 'inactive'; going through the motions as good JW kids.
Membership is not increasing through proselytizing. The quantity of raised in/born in Jehovah's Witnesses that remain active is shrinking. It's just a matter of time.
Unless....a scandal comes to light. A scandal from within that causes many to lose their faith in the Organization. A scandal so powerful and public that the Watchtower and it's Governing Body loses it's role as mankind's source for salvation in the eyes of the current faithful.
It's just a matter of time.
That's what I observe in my area of the U.S., too. I just don't see any really stable, intelligent, well-rounded prospects to keep the next generation of JWs going. Each successive generation seems to go down in quality. I see no prospects in my area for elders to take over when the current crop gets too old. Attendance at meetings seems slim. Meetings are just boring; they suck the life out of me when I go. The material is dumbed down compared to what it used to be. I, too, think it's just a matter of time. Maybe the org will continue to exist in some form, sort of like the Bible Students (the followers of C.T. Russell - http://www.internationalbiblestudents.com/), but who even knows they exist? I believe the glory days for the org are over and it's going to be downhill from now on.
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2014! Why are we still here? 100 years since Jesus came back according to JWs.
by tenene inhello, i have been offline for quite some time and i know this might have been discussed a great deal, but its burning me, hence i am raising this issue again.
this is also to help the newbies and lurkers.
i thought the 1914 generation would have long passed by at this point and time, and believe they have come up with a new spin to the whole generation issue.
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The end of Watchtower in the western world ?
by cookiemaster inhey guys!
i was just thinking, with all the new promising stem cell research and trials, many scientists predict that in a decade or two, advanced biotech will make possible to extend human lifespan considerably and soon after indefinitely.
also, access to vast amounts of information is becoming ubiquotous throughout the world and it seems that it's increasingly harder to keep people ignorant and in the dark.
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Well, what can you say???? I am speechless.
by DATA-DOG inexhibit a:.
awake!
"if you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things.
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Magnum
to all comments.
OnTheWayOut: If you had heeded the advice of the Watchtower, you are probably working hard for low wages and retirement is not really practical for you.
I was younger in '69 and wasn't around for that article, but I was around for the '75 stuff. What especially got me, though, was the generation doctrine. Eighty years max from 1914 was 1994. That was it. The end was supposed to be here by '94 at the latest. The 1-1-89 Watchtower, as well as the book The Nations Shall Know That I AM Jehovah (page 216), both said in black-and-white terms that the end would be here before the 20th century ended. I lived accordingly. I quit jobs. Got no education or training. Worked menial, minimum wage jobs. Made no plans for the future - no retirement, no savings, etc.
OnTheWayOut: If you heeded the advice, you probably don't have an adult child to take care of you as the March mag. suggests. Afterall, the end was so close and times were so wicked, so it was no time to have children.
Yep, that's me. Didn't even consider having children. Woe to those suckling a babe in those days. I'll rot in a nursing home with not a soul to even care that I'm still breathing.
OnTheWayOut: What do you think the congregation will do to help you if you cannot continue to work until you die and social security just isn't enough?
Not a damned thing. The org took my life, my money, my aspirations, etc. The big shot corporate bosses will live in luxury while I slave and toil. The work I do is physically demanding. I work outside in the elements. It is very mentally taxing because I am scrutinized in so many ways. I make extremely low wages. I will have to toil until I am unable. When I get to the point that I can't toil anymore, the org won't give me back one cent of anything it ever took from me. And, to think, not only did I slave for the org, but I actually paid to do it. At least the company I work for now is paying me something to slave for it. It is FAR more giving and caring than the org has ever been or will be.