I remember having to read George Orwell'S "Animal Farm" in 11th grade. It was a mandatory assignment and after our readings there were discussions. A few years later, my own mother whom had worked in a local psychiatric unit related to me that she felt the Borganization closely resembled Animal Farm and also 1984. This was truly striking to me, but now more than ever it makes sense on so many levels. Animal Farm was about a group of animals that had run off the farmer and his family, in order to have their own farm and live for themselves. This is a unique parallel to C.T. Russell (and related Adventists) running from the churches of his day to start what he felt was a new, closer way of worshipping and serving God. Nothing wrong with that, right? I believe he had good intentions, just as the animals in Animal Farm had good intentions. But good intentions left unchecked can lead to disaster, and that is what George Orwell's novels point to. Be careful, be on the watch.
As in Animal Farm, we are now seeing the ruling Governing Body playing the shell game with the most sacred of JW doctrines, the generation of 1914 and the annointed. Does it get any simpler than those doctrines? In Animal Farm, there were originally 10 rules to live by, a code, and eventually the Pigs widdled them all away until there was just one rule: Work. Each time the Pigs did this, they did it very stealthily, usually at night, and would then tell the other animals that they "Misread", "didn't understand", or "there wasn't such a rule/law" to begin with. Following the orders of the Pigs became paramount. It left the animals puzzled, but they trusted their ruling class, and eventually the mind control and deceitful tactics caused many animals their lives and basic freedoms, until in the end it all came down to "Work." In the end, it was a depressing existance.
How far off is this from the reality of todays way of life in the Organization of Jehovah's Witnesses? Not far at all, and that is really scary. No longer is Christ the Head, but the FDS who somehow mediate for everyone to Christ. Truly, whatever the Governing Body says is to be taken as God's word, period - no matter how right or wrong it seems to the society's followers. Do what we say, or die. Complete obedience or leave. Resistance is futile, and if you don't assimilate you will die. Forget what we taught, said, or preached years ago or even yesterday, you misheard us, misunderstood us, or we never said it at all you worthless lower "sheep". You'd better study more, preach more, give more, for we demand more. The message now is go forth and PREACH, there is no time for family or to live in which the way Jesus commanded us to, because you are all to be busy making 5 meetings a week and studying and preaching. What's the matter, you tired? Surely, attending the meetings for spiritual food and being more active in the field ministry will make you all better, and if it doesn't - there is something spiritually wrong with YOU.
In the end, most JW's I know or see remind me of those mindless, exhausted animal workers of Animal Farm; slaving away while the higher-ups live the good life and while they themselves having nothing to show for it at the end of the day. Where is the Christ-like love they claim is everyone in the Org? I haven't seen anything remotely resembling love since about 1984 ironically. That's right around the time they squeezed the last remaining drop of joy out of all the congregations in my area with their announcement that no congregation picnics or get togethers should be held, for fear of drunkeness or apostacy slipping in. After that, the only joy or socialization you were supposed to have was meeting attendance and field service. Just slave away and put on a happy face. I was 5 years old in 1984, and it was all down hill from there in this religion. My own fully independant reseach did not start until 1999-2000, when I went looking for information about something my father used to off-handidly talk about; pyramids and 1914. Typing it into Yahoo! was like opening floodgates - and even after 9 years of the internet I am still discovering new things about the religion I grew up in - things that happened long before I or my parents were even born. How messed up is that?
Regards,
Wing Commander