Is the Watchtower really a cult? - Watch this!

by truth_about_the_truth 15 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  CountryGuy

  It's scary how close that was to the JWs. It's even scarier that most of us could have wore those tacky blue shirts.

  CountryGuy
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  MerryMagdalene

  is it really a cult, or good sales ability, or what's the difference? I also wonder who came up with these techniques first -- the direct sales companies or the WTBS?

  
  

  
  I think this is a valid question. I can't answer it, but I did post this once on another thread: (William Heath II was closely associated with Rutherford, and his father was said to have paid for a couple of Rutherford's Cadillacs and Beth Shan.)

  I did want to share the interesting similarity beween the early Coca-Cola company and the WTBTS company around the time when William Heath II and Ross Treseder were both salesmen for the former... An article at http://www.businessweek.com/chapter/tedlow.htm quotes Ross's remembrance of Asa Briggs Candler (Coke Daddy and devout Methodist) who would have the salesmen sing Onward Christian Soldiers with him at the close of the sales meeting. But here's the words that really stood out, making me wonder how much the Coca-Cola sales methods influenced the development of the JW door-to-door work?...just a thought... [red highlights mine]

  The sales force was of critical importance in achieving national distribution for Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola under Candler relied heavily on a personal, face-to-face selling approach. Although there are other ways to reach the customer--such as mass-media or direct-mail advertising-- personal selling has the advantages of high impact on the customer and flexibility. The salesperson can tailor the message to the individual customer, answering questions and responding to objections. At Coca-Cola, management worked to maximize sales force performance in such subtle exchanges. "Sales demonstrations can be staged," explained a Coca-Cola vice-president at a 1923 bottler convention, "one salesman taking the part of a merchant and the other taking the part of a salesman. Questions can be asked, ideas can be brought out, and a general discussion of territories can be gone into."

  Looks like religion influenced business and business may have influenced religion?

  ~Merry
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  willowmoon

  Thanks Merry. I agree, looks like business and religion are sharing proven methods. One company I researched had a list of success strategies that even included not reading newspapers, watching tv or reading books and magazines other than that company's literature. To keep the focus on developing sales. Interesting.

  willow
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  Evanescence

  Thank you for sharing that, very interesting

  Evanescence
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  DannyHaszard

  Watch "The Wave": an afternoon TV special about how cults get started (true story)
  on Real Video (www.real.com for free player)

  Part 1 (56k modems) 22 min.	Part 2 (56k modems) 21 min.
  Part 1 (DSL or cable) 22 min.	Part 2 (DSL or cable) 21 min.

  Of all the videos that Randy and myself have up this is my favorite,-Danny
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  ICBehindtheCurtain

  This is very interesting and makes alot of sense! Thanks, you guys.

  IC