As a ministerial servant in the 1990's, I was sometimes bemused by the differences in the way the message and teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses were presented in public and private settings.
Let me illustrate.
During this period, talks from the public platform seemed to focus a lot on social issues, the environment, health and so on. Our position was stated as "nicely" as possible: "Look at all these terrible problems in the world, which are unsolvable because human governments and businesses will never change The System! How good it is to know that Jehovah God will soon fix the problems through his Kingdom government!"
While these sentiments may not have been "left wing" per se, they almost gave the organization the appearance of being humanitarian. There was so much emphasis on "education" and presenting the message in an appealing way.
But then, you had meetings for the ministerial servants and elders in private, and the tone was different.
I remember having a meeting with various brothers prior to one district convention. It was to discuss the running of the sound department. We opened with a prayer in which the brother said something almost to the effect of "bless our microphones." Then he read a verse from Revelation which had something to do with hearing. And this was just supposed to be an administrative/organizational meeting. I always liked to think of the brothers as being different from your "typical frothing fundamentalists"--more sensible and rational--but here I had this weird feeling of having stumbled into Uncle Bob's Prayer Hour.
Much more of a "right wing" feel.
Or as others have alluded to, all the fussing that went on behind the scenes when preparing for assembly demonstration parts. Wear the right kind of suit! Brothers, get that hair cut! Sisters, no short skirts! Etc. etc.
In the last few years, I think the publications have swung more "to the right" again (i.e. like the 50's and 60's) than they were in the early 1990's.
It almost seems to dovetail with the shifts in the political climate in the Western world.
I was disappointed ultimately to realize that the Witnesses had a lot more in common with the "Bible-thumping loonies" of the "churches of Christendom" than I had liked to believe.
Thoughts?
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