JW.org Focus on the Past - Have Always Wondered?

by JWTom 18 Replies latest jw experiences

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  JWTom

  Just curious of others thoughts.....while watching the latest round of convention videos with my PIMI wife it was highlighted again in the content how much the WT org. has always focused on the past (in my opinion). Many of the historical events that are highlighted as significant are from 100+ years ago in some cases. These historical events mean little to current JWs and most (all?) don't grasp any meaning in the things that have happened around 1900 timeframe.

  As I have worked with many large organizations as part of my career - it has been a striking contrast for me as most large organizations will give some acknowledgement to their past.....but in almost every example they are focused on the future and their current audience/membership/customers/etc. How they can do things in a way that sets their specific organization on a positive path for the future.....for whatever area they may focus on.
  

  Watching the convention videos confirms that largely old white men present messaging and there are routine references to the significant things from the early 1900s. Not surprising that the org is flatlining/dropping in membership.

  To answer my own question, my thought is that the org continues to struggle with an new content and so going back to things from the past is the only tool in their tool belt.

  Just curious if others have had that realization before.
  
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  slimboyfat

  It’s true. An instructive comparison/contrast might be the video “Jehovah’s Witnesses — The Organisation Behind the Name” from 1990.

  Because in that 1990 production, the Watchtower was very much present/future oriented.

  Why the change?

  Great to hear Jack Barr, too. For me this video was the height of Watchtower’s message in terms of relevance and believability.
  

  https://youtu.be/r-HGKUX8dU8
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  TTWSYF

  Interested in the past? Maybe, but not THEIR past
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  Ding

  Maybe that's because every time they try to predict the future they get it wrong.
  
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  JoenB75

  I agree with Slim that the video is very good 👍. They were probably stronger back then. You almost feel it is fun and exciting to be JW 😁
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  BourneIdentity

  I don’t think they want to look forward, because no JW wants to picture this old system going on another 5, 10, 15 years. You should have seen some of their reactions to the media center completion date of 2026! Many don’t have much longer to live, the end was supposed to happen 45 years ago in 1975.
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  TTWSYF

  the end was supposed to happen 45 years ago in 1975

  No it wasn't. They only told people it was supposed to happen. Much like THEY did a dozen other times....

  They're not interested in THEIR history.
  
  
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  careful

  Yes, SBF, a nice contrast. It goes to show how things have changed in 30 years.

  Why the change?

  The future, except for looking forward to the new order—looks bad for current JWs. Before the coronavirus the field service numbers were down, either flat or showing decreases. Outsiders are rarely converting. Congs are merging and KHs sold off. Financially things are bad and the future there looks more desperate daily. The CSA issue isn't going away and lawsuits continue. In several respects they are doctrinally adrift. Things are either stagnant or going backwards. Governments are putting pressure on the org. The GB feel they are under siege.
  

  What other choice do they have but to play up the past and recycle the old stuff in their new electronic format?
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  Acluetofindtheuser

  There are no current GB prophets in JW land that can decipher the cryptic future prophecies of the bible. Therefore, all the imagined stuff of the past given to us by Russell, Rutherford, Franz and Freddie is the only content they have to work with.

  How will Armageddon really play out?

  How will Paradise really be restored to the earth?

  How will the aging process be reversed after Paradise is restored?

  How will the good dead people come out of the ground after Paradise is restored?

  Nobody knows!
• 

  Giordano

  The problem is that like any number of religions the WTBTS painted it's self into a corner.

  How do you walk back a church approved teaching? If you do...... you weaken your believers.

  What changed every thing was the internet. Starting in the late 1980's and then into the 1990's we finally had information about the WTBTS. All of a sudden we could second guess the historic claims..... if not all religions............ most of them. Many of these religions became boutique religions. The Mormons, the WTBTS, the Christian Scientists....people who were trapped in these newer religions began to question what and why.

  I think we forget that the Jehovah's Witnesses or the WTBTS was formed in the 19th century as a publishing house. This was a time when a high school education was a big deal. This was also a century that flourished with many many new religions.

  Looking back it is obvious that traditional religions were no longer providing clarity and a message that you could trust.You name it and there they were....... a bunch of new religions each with a message, a plan and a way forward.

  People joined because religion was a mainstay of daily life.

  We didn't know any better.

  Lets remember that being a JW was also being in a social construct. Over the years your family, friends etc. were in those closed off and private religions. We had a vague idea of how it started but hardly a library had a history of the JW's. We went along and got along and only learned later that a lot of the trust we put into the Society and head honcho's....... was misplaced.

  Their are tons of religions that turned out to be a fool's folly.

  JW was just one of them and judged on many different levels...... a total failure. Their numbers are not the sign of their real value.........it's the intent that matters.