by Dogpatch 35 Replies latest jw friends
Why The Watch Tower Society Is Already In Decline
Here you go! Good article, Cedars.
It's also on the front page of freeminds.org. Cedars is now officially one of our bloggers. (Though I haven't set up the blog section for him yet). Please visit his site at: http://jwsurvey.org.
Look for his future articles on the front page for 2-3 days and permanently under People>Blogs>Cedars, though longer articles like this will be listed under the Articles tab.
Randy
And the other thing that underlined the questionable finances of the organization is when they sent out the letter a few years ago asking the congregations to send any extra funds that they didn't immediately need to the branch. Since interest rates are low anyway, they reasoned that the money could be used by the branch for "kingdom interests." And if the congregation needed the funds back, they could request them from the branch at that time. It sounded very easy to send the funds to the branch, but rather uncertain as to how you would get the funds back later.
Suddenly Watchtower had become a Savings and Loan institution?
Billy- That was the sucker punch. Bye bye money.
Personally I think the beginning of the decline can be dated quite specifically to the 9th of February 1990, when the Watchtower stopped charging for the literature in the United States and introduced the "donation arrangement". That fateful decision fundamentally altered the financial and incentive structure of the organisation in a way that is still playing out more than two decades later.
The first effects of the financial decline were felt about six years later when the first paperback books arrived. Then came paperback bound volumes and for a time even paperback Bibles. Now fewer and smaller magazines and branch closures.
Good article Cedars, very good read.
Personally, I think the collective foot-off-the-gas that has happened since "the generation that will not pass away" doctrine passed away has hit the society financially too. Back in 1995 my congo of about 120 publishers contributed about £350 per month to the world wide work. Seventeen years later, my congregation of about 120 publishers still contributes about £350 per month.
Apathy has set in in the west.
An example of the dishonesty in regards to the WTS. revealing what its financial state is, was recently exposed by the
a web site run by the government of Canada, concerning year end financial statements for non-profitable organizations.
The Canadian branch had above 60 million after expenses, most likely placed in a Canadian bank collecting interest somewhere.
Irregardless of that balance they will still ask for more either by credit card or other means.
Religion what a business , what a racket !
They probably collect the ATM transaction fees at their Assembly Halls.
Good essay Cedars , informative and to the point, there's definitely trouble in Watchtowerland.
Seems that the people at the top of this organization (GB), work as far as to keep the organization fluent up to at least
to their own perceived life expectancy. Then when they are gone the next generation of GB members holds the bag for themselves,
which usually involves doing some doctrinal changes.
The two things that can keep them afloat is that they can still say they are gods chosen organization
and they can still say the end is near, provoking fear into people to over look why they are saying those things in the first place,
as well to cause people to over look the corrupt means in how they exploit the bible and its supportable belief, to serve their own agenda.
I f you realize the Watchtower is simply a business in blunt terms (even churches are businesses), they offer nothing in return for all their bragging about growth. In most countries where they are growing, it is because it's a better looking choice than what they already have! (Shopping... oh dear! All our local fruit is rotten, and this shiny powerful religion is from AMERICA!!)
I mean if I was relatively ignorant of historical Christianity and faced a choice between the WT and local churches, I might choose the WT too, at least in third world countries. )
People shop for religion like commodities. Sure, there are the small minority that join because they want to believe it's true, and the doctrine fits their mindset, but you could stay at home and just read the magazines and pretty little books... and now stay home and get it off your smart phone or the Internet. How many Witnesses really enjoy going to the Kingdom Hall after a couple of years? Usually only the outgoing, power hungry, or the lonely actually enjoy it. They offer you this:
and the list goes on.
They are an embarassing 19th century religion that Knorr sabotaged right before he died by bringing in Ted Jaracz, who was the one who really ultimately brought the organization to it's knees, at least in terms of effective leadership. The rest of the current GBs are nothing, nada, no charisma and rather ignorant by comparison.
He knew what he was doing. Proof? Freddy's lecture against a "Governing Body" in 1975 at a Gilead Graduation ceremony (I was there with 2000 members of the Bethel family) where he supported Knorr in railing against this new arrangement. Knorr was too sick to speak, sliding along the guide rails blubbering due to his coming unexpected demise from cancer.
I knew even then, instinctively, that this was the beginning of the end, back in 1975. Why? Because it's a pattern that repeats itself in many secular and religious institutions. I have no special foretelling skills. I am no smarter than you. You want to know what REALLY makes the world tick? Read magazines like The Economist. You will learn the real secrets of power, money and corruption, and it doesn't even discuss religion much at all. Money and power make the world go 'round, and faux compassion for the masses is often just a thin veneer of lies.
But Knorr knew how to do business. He built up the Gilead Missionary school, bought up lots of property cheap, kicked out or severely punished any dissenters, assigning them to stacking boxes, etc., He was no real dad to the Bethelites, that you can be sure of. But to the JWS outside of Bethel, he was really a father figure, with his calm, low voice.I heard him speak at Dodger Stadium about the coming of Armageddon in 1973 or 1974, and I was awed by his charisma in speaking to large crowds. He was probably the main reason I went to Bethel, to be close to the power of God! I taped the talk, it was so good. In Nov. 1974 I answered the Kingdom Ministry call for Bethelites, while I was "special pioneering" in San Luis Obispo, Ca.
If Knorr said the need was great, I said to myself, "Here I am, Lord!"
People will still gravitate towards the power moguls over the Tony Blair "poodle" types. Even if they are bad father figures. Almost every cult starts with one. Yet most Bethelites disliked him and most of the old-timers who were too old to leave even hated him with a passion. He was harsh and unforgiving. But they had nowhere else to go, so they just bitched about him endlessly to the younger Bethelites if they could be trusted.
Being a good businessman, and having a two-bit theologian to support his phony authority (Fred Franz), he had what it took to keep the WT alive. Who else could survive failed prophecy after failed prophecy, none of which ever came true? Even fortune tellers get it right about 50% of the time! Knorr didn't even really believe in some of their core dates! But Freddy was his entertaining sidekick. It was like bad cop, good cop (only Franz was the REAL bad cop, inventing the blood transfusion ban and all.)
Knorr knew, like any powerful chief executive of a large corporation, that you have to have a formidable leader, and he saw the 17 men brought in back then as lesser men. He, Rutherford and Franz loved to castrate them with stupid Bible comparisons, using the old "Ruth" and "Naomi" classes, etc. Every new set of leaders were made out to be of a lesser class. Back in Russell's time, even he believed the "Great Crowd" was a secondary heavenly class, not quite godly enough to be of the real faithful and discreet slave.
Recently they did it again these last two years, degrading the authority of those who partook of the Lord's Supper as being no different, smarter, or able to answer questions than any other earthbound JW (which was a pre-emptive political attack on the coming splits in the organization - kill off the credibility of up-and-coming charismatic leaders BEFORE they get enough steam up to draw away a crowd.) That's practically all they've been writing about lately! It's ALL POLITICS.
There were many overseers at Bethel that Knorr actually hated, and he would bide his time before he castrated and insulted them publically. He LOVED to do that. And he was clever enough to hide his true motives behind theocratic reasons.
He knew Jaracz was a hard-core jerk like himself that would sacrifice anyone for the sake of the mighty organization.
When Jaracz took over, the house fell apart. But it really did not become obvious for some time... Jaracz was slick.
It is my personal opinion that Knorr WANTED the organization to die off if he couldn't lead it. Shocking?
It's true of almost every dying cult leader that has ever existed. Jim Jones, David Koresh, and so on. It's all in the male ego.
Randy
