JW's and Amway

by Mad Dawg 6 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Mad Dawg

  I just happened to have Amway come to mind. I was involved in three different multi-level-marketing (MLM) scams: Scamway, Pre-Paid Legal, and 1st Fitnesss. I don't remember many JW's in Cramway, but there were LOADS of them in the second two scams. I could never figure that out. It now seems that, given the cult nature of MLM's, JW's feel at home in them. However, I now suspect that Amway is/was not liked by JW's due to the way Amway consumes one's time - a precious commodity for a JW.

  Any insights you might have would be appreciated. I have no axe to grind, just curious of your perspective.
• 

  InterestedOne

  If you check out the videos made by PublishingCult on youtube, he points out that the JW organization has a similarity to Amway in that the biggest consumers of the literature are the members. The literature is something tangible that members feel they should donate for. Members' main focus is the recruitment of new members. Since members are required to use WT literature, the more members are recruited, the more people are in the pool of guilt-driven donations for the tangible literature.
• 

  Mad Dawg

  Interesting. Of the parallels that I did notice, I missed that fact that both pressure their members to be their own best customers. My sponsor came to my home and helped to throw out all my "negative" products and order "positive" ones. At the time I left I had about 45 Tape of Week (at 5 bucks a pop) in a box still in their plastic wrapper. It took me a long time to dispose of them. Thanx.
• 

  White Dove

  Pre-Paid Legal???
• 

  InterestedOne

  It's interesting. You cannot be an "ordained minister of Jehovah's Witnesses" without using Watchtower literature. As an "ordained minister of Jehovah's Witnesses," you must use Watchtower literature to recruit people to become "ordained ministers of Jehovah's Witnesses" who must themselves use Watchtower literature and pursue recruitment of members, and so on.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWkEDf4v4rA
• 

  outsmartthesystem

  Eric Hoffer....an American philosopher in the 20th century wrote a book called The True Believer. It basically was a report on mass movements and what gets people to join them (whether they are religious, social groups, money making schemes etc). By his estimation, about 1/3 of the population in the world can be classified as a "true believer". That is .....followers taht want to give away whatever power they have....looking for answers/meaning/enlightenment and hoping they find someone else who HAS the power and can give them the answers/meaning/enlightenment they've been seeking. These people are "eternally incomplete and insecure". They can easily be turned into fanatics who will gladly work, live and die for teh cause they now believe in....whatever it may be. This type of person is bound to be involved in some sort of group (like I said....religious.....social...money making etc). Meaning....if they ever lose faith in this "cause"....odds are before long they will find another...similar organization to commit themselves to.

  In my opinion....the Watchtower org is a big pyramid scheme.

  I believe that the majority of witnesses are "true believers" by nature. They are followers that want/need to believe in a purpose and be led. THat's why so many of them are also involved in other schemes. Amway, ACN, Bodywise vitamins etc etc. They even had a demonstration at the DC a few years ago....warning witnesses not to push their business and lifestyle ideas on others at the KH. They wouldn't have had a demonstration if it wasn't such a problem.

  If you fell for the story that witnesses told you and you bought it....then unfortunately....you are ripe for the picking to fall for another type of scheme.
• 

  WontLeave

  Of the JWs I've met, a portion of them that is vastly beyond the perportions of normal people are in MLM. Noni juice (snake oil scam), Herbalife (overpriced vitamins), World Book (back when encyclopedias mattered), Pre-Paid Legal (which is a joke), phone card pyramids, etc. These people aren't qualified or equipped to make money any other way, so they look for some get-rich-quick scheme. Stupid people are suckers and JWs are notorious for being stupid, ignorant, and desperately broke. Meanwhile they have these idealistic fantasies of how they'd "donate half to the Society and pioneer until Armageddon" if they struck it rich.

  On the rare occasions a JW actually does become financially successful, the last thing on their minds is pioneering. Suddenly they discover the feeling of fulfillment by achieving. This is far better than the fake achievement of getting a pat on the back from losers in cheap suits, fake titles, positions of responsibility and mock authority, big numbers on a time sheet turned in to people you'll never meet, etc. Seeing a tangible result of your work quickly pushes the silly pipe dreams out of the way and the bar gets raised of what makes us happy and fulfilled.