Does anyone else notice?...

by still_in74 19 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  still_in74

  I started this in another thread but I think it deserves its own........

  Does anyone else notice, that as they see the WT for what it is, the WT articles seem to not actually "teach" anything anymore? - it just seems to constanly preach over and over to not listen to apostates, not listen to news/internet/documentaries, not listen to anything critical of the org. just to read the bible and "by extension" bible-based literature.
  This "by extension" phrase has come up more so recently, or at least that I have noticed.
  The new "study edition" of the WT has wasted no time in hammering the R&F with repeated warnings of apostate lit and websites & not to read anything "critical" of the org.

  The March WT is really heavy with this. The way they twist words, for example in the study about "Valueless Things" one paragraph says something along the line of:"If someone says something critical of the org. or elders or anyone, ask yourself: "is this person following what the bible says? Is this promoting unity within the brotherhood?"

  This seems to be the repeated theme in all studies now. Only listen to the WT. Don't trust what anyone tells you. Don't believe them. Don't trust anyone but Jehovah, and by extension is FD&S with its representative GB.

  I have to admit, I dont know how even hardcore dubs dont see this as cultish. Big surprise the WTS made this a non-public magazine now....

  Any comments??
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  still_in74

  ah dam.... bttt
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  Pioneer Spit...oh, i mean Spirit

  Maybe we're working! We've put them on the defensive. I know that everything I emailed to my dad last year, he responded with 'is that from the internet?' There's real fear there, placed by the WTS.
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  Gopher

  Ever since their last prophet (Fred Franz) died, the WTS has been a lot less daring and inventive in its writing. They do a lot of copy-and-paste from past issues, and tell their followers to "love Jehovah's [endless] reminders".

  The #1 teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses has become loyalty to the organization. No wonder people call them a cult.
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  darkuncle29

  They are getting kinda shrill.
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  Pahpa

  When a Witness offers to "study the Bible" with someone, he means studying a Watchtower publication that explains (interprets) the Bible. Private Bible Study is discouraged in the organization as evidenced when some of the Bethelites met together for this purpose in the early 1980s. This mentality probably goes back to Russell's day when he boasted that a person reading only The Studies of the Scriptures would be more informed than a person reading just the Bible.

  There are other factors keeping many JWs in the organization even if they disagree with the Watchtower or sense that something is wrong in the organization. Many have converted from other religions. It would be difficult for a JW to admit that he is wrong again. Some have many years of commitment. For them it is like an investment that they keep hoping will have a good return.

  And, of course, there is the fear factor. JWs have cut off old associations and friendships. They have alienated most of their family members. They rationalize that the organization is the only family left for them. So, the fellowship of other members is their real "security blanket."

  They probably deserve our pity than than our criticism.
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  Hope4Others

  Yes, I think its called Paranoia..condition the WT has. Desperation to control the people, keep the people, use the people kicks in again & again.

  Hope4Others
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  Borgia

  Even the questions from readers are a rehash of old stuff.
  
  always in for a good laugh, though.
  
  Cheers
  
  Borgia
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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  still_in74: Yep, I agree. They seem to have hoped that they could keep the growth of 1980-2000 just by continuing to say the same things over and over. Since that hasn't been working, they just get more intense with the crazy cultish control. Now, just to be lazy, I'll paste in a PM I sent another member for my further observations:

  After the Awake went to once a month, the whole 2 WT & 1 Awake was a disaster in the field. The Awake really didn't improve in quality, but it reduced expenses from Art to Translation to Printing. So, this year's WT split similarly reduced expense, but hasn't improved quality. Overall, the message has deteriorated badly and the material is increasingly produced with cult spin. As you said, removing the study articles from the general public makes them "Kool Aid" for increased mind control.
  
  I'm a few years out now, so I'm not sure of the latest developments among the departments. I may be off-base now, or maybe I'm not. Writing Department were such perfectionists that they considered all others to be unsophisticated idiots, especially the Teaching Committee. Teaching made a lot of stupid mistakes, were late on deadlines (like this year's District Convention theme, no doubt), and were not technology saavy. Jaracz didn't like computers or Writing. He clearly believed that everyone should just read the Bible and they would all automatically agree with him. I didn't deal with Service Department directly. In my experience, they tended to be reaction-driven, behind the curve, relied extensively on form letters, and really didn't seem to understand the statistics and information that was coming across their desks. That's the way things used to be, anyway.
  
  I suspect that among the current GB, there is a lack of direction. What I knew of the new members, they were followers, not leaders. Jaracz doesn't have any forward momentum to be a leader, he struck me as a 'keep doing more and more of what we've been doing' type. The result? Stagnation. Pubs are pressured to do more and more of what is not effective. Worn out old lessons are re-hashed, like studying the Revelation book again, and WT lessons that are nothing more than re-compiled KM articles. I suspect that Writing Department has been given some weird direction like stating the things about oral sex, but hiding it an article about conscience. Also, the wording of the 1935 and generation explanations, but burying it in less obvious paragraphs.
  
  Anyway, the more I found out about the inner workings, the more I realized that God wasn't driving this organization. In the last few years of Bethel, I found the 'weirdness of things' going way off the top of the charts.
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  Maddie

  Yes most of it is repetition because this is a technique of mind control. I have planted the seed with my JW son about it so I hope he sees it for what it is

  Maddie