by JH 48 Replies latest jw friends
Do you think that the internet and XJW forums caught the Watchtower off guard? Just a few years ago, disfellowshipped ones were powerless and rendered silent by the Watchtower.
To what degree do you think the internet has made life difficult for the Watchtower?
YES
Definately!!!
To what degree do you think the internet has made life difficult for the Watchtower?
They were pretty much in total control before the Internet as JW's that were ousted didn't have a voice. Now we have all this information that is readily accessible and anyone can view it at their convenience. Apparently, a lot of people are.
Swalker
Yes, I believe they were caught off guard.
Thanks to the internet, everything about the WTS, doctrinal or otherwise, can come under the scrutiny of anyone who has a need for it.
Take, for instance, the NWT. There is a site where one person - not an x- JW by the way - began at Genesis and noted every revision or textual corruption and the rationale behind such. The evidence is so compelling as to be beyond any denial that the NWT is a seriously flawed "translation."
I wonder why God's "mouthpiece," his "channel," his "prophet" didn't see this coming?
Snowbird
Of course! Who could have seen it coming? Who would have known just a few short years ago that having a computer (at least one) in a home is almost as common as having a TV? And now that it's reality the only thing they can think of doing is to give talk after talk about "the dangers of the internet". That will work as well as the fear they tried to instill in us of TV back in the 60's.
This is the information age and information gives us power. Thanks to the internet the WT may not cease to exist, but it will never have the power it used to have. Their "golden age" has passed.
changeling
They are not a forward looking organization. That requires creative and critical thinking skills. Those are discouraged, and any members who have them are certainly never going to be put into responsible positions.
The WTS is a reactionary religion today, exisiting solely to keep itself existing, to keep the publishing empire going, even if in diminished form.
The Internet completely blindsided the WTS, and scares them to death. The main reason is that, in a totally open exchange of ideas, the WTS just gets the shit beaten out of it everytime. Thus their way of dealing with the Net is to vilify and demonize it, warning the rank and file to avoid it. Scare tactics! This works with the sheep, but the thinking members see through it eventually, check things out online, and leave the WTS and end up here on JWD!
On a discussion board like this, it doesn't matter if you're an elder or a CO or a Bethelite. Threatening someone here with being DFed or publicly reproved is meaningless. Appealing to your authority as an elder or an anointed one doesn't work here. Here it's put up or shut up. On these boards, if you make a statement, you better goddamn be able to back it up with facts, reason, logic and evidence, and it better be a hell of a lot more than a quote from a Watchtower magazine or someone on the Governing Body! We'll shred you in a second if you're thinking is sloppy, or if you don't know what you're talking about, or if you're "facts" are unsupportable or outright fabrications.
THAT'S why the WTS is scared of XJW forums - they can't begin to hold their own in the free and open debate of ideas. The WTS house of cards falls flat everytime. Their theology is indefensible when it's tossed into the ring of open and public debate.
Yeah! Three cheers for the Internet!!!
S4
SNOWBIRD,PERHAPS THEY DIDN'T SEE' IT COMING BECAUSE THEY ARE A NON-PROPHET ORGANISATION!
Perhaps it would be fair to say that most of the globe was taken off guard by the internet, the WTS moreso than most because they are out of touch with the real world they inhabit.
This article addresses this situation specifically:
snowbird
do u recall the site ur refering to?
Yes. I am sure that it took them by complete surprise.
