This is important (Quoting Betsy and Jeremy C.)

by Hiddenwindow 13 Replies latest jw friends

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  Hiddenwindow

  The Society insists in its cultish talk. Given the secretive nature of the Governing Body's delibarations, we do not know what they are preparing for. Both Besy and Jeremy C. made excellent contributions to a recent thread, and I want to follow up. I saw three tv programs last week about cults that started as harmless brotherhoods and ended in the anihilation of many of its members or total seclusion. The Society has been talking a lot about how recent changes in the Organization have to do with the increasing pressures of life. They are faced with either changing the religion to successfully surf the world or hold on to dellusional measures. I may be overreacting, but I believe we are in decisive times. Those of us who have family inside must be alert. Again, thanks Betsy for the quotes (I only include one here but there are more) and Jeremy C. for the brilliant analysis.

  Hiddenwindow

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  *** w07 12/15 pp. 19-20 pars. 15-16 “Stand Firm and See the Salvation of Jehovah” ***
  
  “‘This is the way. Walk in it, you people,’ in case you people should go to the right or in case you should go to the left.” (Isaiah 30:21) As we get nearer to the outbreak of the great tribulation, we may well receive some detailed instructions. Our safe journey through those troublesome days will depend on our keeping in step with other loyal servants of Jehovah.

  I commented on this trend in another thread. Witnesses are being systamatically indoctrinated to believe that "instructions" (commands) will come down the pike for which there is no Scriptural precendent or basis. They are also being indoctrinated to believe that their safety will hinge on their unquestioning compliance with such "instructions", even if they do not understand them. Just think about the implications of this.

  When an organization reaches this point, the centralized leadership can institute any kind of draconian policies without any Scriptural reason for doing so. What will the deluded subconscious minds of these leaders tell them to do? And how far will the majority of the members go in their misguided allegiance to this kind of system? It makes you think. Yet, this is where the Watchtower organization is headed.

  When we look at history, we see that when an organization reaches this tipping point; it's gets very interesting; perhaps a bit frightening. This is the point at which all cultic groups have made their biggest blunders, and where their members have suffered the worst consequences.

  Jeremy C.
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  OUTLAW

  I enjoy the writing of both posters on this board..Although on this particular issue I do not agree..The WBT$ has been preaching this same message since I was a kid..Now my children are grown and the WBT$ still has the same worn out message..If the message is a tipping point..The WBT$ has been at a tipping point for over 100years.....................OUTLAW
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  Mickey mouse

  The article was actually worse than that. It cited the example of the Israelites trapped between the sea and the Egyptian armies. It then said (this is paraphrased) "we need to follow instructions from Jehovah's organization even if it may appear to us that those directions would place us in danger". That paragraph scared the hell out of me.
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  wha happened?

  Is this article 1 year old. If so, what has been written since then?
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  jamiebowers

  Those of us who have family inside must be alert.

  This is the kind of stuff that scares the hell out of me. If those crazy bastards in NY decide on something devastating like a suicide pact, what are we going to do for our friends and family who are still in? Even if there isn't something sinister like a group offing, I couldn't even stop my mom from allowing herself to die from lack of a necessary blood transfuson if the situation ever arose. I HATE THIS CULT!
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  Jeremy C

  I just happened to spot this thread tonight. I suppose that I should clarify my post within the context of the original thread. In no way was I suggesting that the Watchtower organization would commit acts on the same level as Jonestown. But, I do believe that a time will soon come when the Governing Body will make some kind of irrational decisions that will bring enormous attention to the organization. Instead of decisions causing physical harm to members, I had more in mind organizational decisions that would bring about enormous embarrassement and humiliation to the rank and file.

  What might such decisions be? Who really knows what the Governing Body is thinking. But remember, we are talking about men who believe that they are a modern day body of Apostles who are the sole channel of Divine communiation to mankind. They are men who believe that God and Jesus will dictate "new scrolls" to them - scrolls that shall outline a new global theocracy. These are men who believe that people like C.T. Russell, Judge Rutherford, and Nathan Knorr are helping to guide them from heaven. These are men who have stated in no uncertain terms that they will give future orders to the rank and file which require no rational explanations. Blind faith will be the order of the day. We can only immagine what these deluded old windbags might pull out of their rectal cavaties under the banner of "new light".

  It is true that they have printed statements similar to the above mentioned many times over the years, but this is a time quite different from the previous decades. The unprecedented amount of information on the internet with an increasing number of faders is adding to the Governing Body's paranoia about apostacy. Something obviously needs to be done; and soon. This perceived increase in the "opposition from Satan" is evidence to them that the end is ever closer at hand.

  Take all of this into consideration while adding a large scale event into the mix; such as another 9/11, and I could forsee the Governing Body issuing a proclomation for JWs not to do any traveling; not to make any large purchases, to take their children out of school, or a whole host of other knee-jerk reactions. Without pointing to any chronology, they could also inadvertantly unleash another 1975 fiasco by establishing a specified time frame for Armageddon. When cult leaderships feel increasingly under seige, they take very drastic and irrational measures.

  We need to remember something very important. JWs have been indoctrinated to believe that a time will come (near the end of this system) where scriptural precedent will not have to be adhered to as "new instructions" eminate from the organization. Since they are "new instructions"; the average JW would not expect such "instruction" to have a scriptural precedent. They believe that Jehovah is transmitting new information to the Governing Body "as the day draws close". The scary part of that is . . . . . so does the Governing Body. So, I wonder what might the deluded subconscious minds of the GB tell them that Jehovah is speaking to them.

  I do not see liberalization or attempts to become more mainstream coming down the pike. Cults do not go mainstream. Also, Jehovah has never been a very moderate, mainsteam kind of Deity. He is first and foremost a fist-pounding theocrat. And so are the crackpots who channel him.
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  JimmyPage

  I think you raise some excellent points Jeremy C. When I first read this article about "new instructions that may appear to put is in danger comparable to the Israelites and the Red Sea" I was fully under the control of this cult. I believed that paragraph. This seemed also to be set up by the year text at the time that made the end seem very close indeed.

  What a difference it has made in my life just being on this board. I used to be afraid every time there was bad weather, that it was a sign of the end. Reading the works of Hassan and Franz has completely set my mind and heart free.

  I worry though about my child. If the Governing Body were to pull a Jonestown out of their ass my family would likely go right along with it. I wish there was some way to communicate with them without their branding me satanic and evil.
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  slimboyfat

  What might such decisions be? Who really knows what the Governing Body is thinking. But remember, we are talking about men who believe that they are a modern day body of Apostles who are the sole channel of Divine communiation to mankind. They are men who believe that God and Jesus will dictate "new scrolls" to them - scrolls that shall outline a new global theocracy. These are men who believe that people like C.T. Russell, Judge Rutherford, and Nathan Knorr are helping to guide them from heaven. These are men who have stated in no uncertain terms that they will give future orders to the rank and file which require no rational explanations. Blind faith will be the order of the day. We can only immagine what these deluded old windbags might pull out of their rectal cavaties under the banner of "new light".

  Yes sure they still believe all sorts of crazy stuff, but if you look at their actions in recent years they have all been in a moderate direction, defending traditional beliefs and practices where they can, but dropping others where they become inconvenient. Allowing alternative service in the mid 1990s is a good example. They have not added significant new crazy doctrines, instead they have only tinkered with the ones Russell and Franz left them. Where they have made changes these can easily be attributed to four main motives 1) to save money 2) to follow legal advice 3) to appear more mainstrean to Western governments 4) to patch over time-frame beliefs that have become unsustainable (i.e the generation change and dropping the 1935 cut-off for the anointed). They show no appetite for coming up with anything new just for the sake of it, unlike Franz for whom doctrinal novelties were something of an addiction.

  It is true that they have printed statements similar to the above mentioned many times over the years, but this is a time quite different from the previous decades. The unprecedented amount of information on the internet with an increasing number of faders is adding to the Governing Body's paranoia about apostacy. Something obviously needs to be done; and soon. This perceived increase in the "opposition from Satan" is evidence to them that the end is ever closer at hand.

  Sometimes they may indeed be worried about the threat from apostates. At other times they may not think about it much, or legal threats may weigh more heavily on their minds. But most of the time they are probably just concentrating on their delusion that they have a special God-ordained function here on earth. They are too busy believing they are the chosen of God after all, to be worried too much by apostates. Even if they did believe apostates are a really big threat, and it was an all-consuming worry, it is hard to see there is much they could do about it anyway.

  Take all of this into consideration while adding a large scale event into the mix; such as another 9/11, and I could forsee the Governing Body issuing a proclomation for JWs not to do any traveling; not to make any large purchases, to take their children out of school, or a whole host of other knee-jerk reactions. Without pointing to any chronology, they could also inadvertantly unleash another 1975 fiasco by establishing a specified time frame for Armageddon. When cult leaderships feel increasingly under seige, they take very drastic and irrational measures.

  Well if we have a large scale "event" such as a world war or economic meltdown or a serious worldwide pandemic then of course all sorts of crazy things might happen, not just among Jehovah's Witnesses but in society as a whole. But the point is that if such an event did prompt the Governing Body to come out with radically new beliefs and weird "instructions" then this would be a departure from their conservative approach to changes in recent years, not the the contiunation of an underlying trend.

  Taking children out of school is a good example. The Witnesses tried this briefly in America in the 1940s because of the flag salute dispute and even set up "Watchtower schools". It did not last long. Whereas the organization was outright hostile to the authorities in the 1940s, nowadays, far from seeking to remove children from school, they print millions of carefully crafted brochures on how Witness children should be model pupils within the school system dealing with how to overcome minor difficulties over celebrations and the like. This one example in fact shows how far Jehovah's Witnesses have come in moving mainstream and in seeking approval from the authorities they once railed against.

  I do not see liberalization or attempts to become more mainstream coming down the pike. Cults do not go mainstream. Also, Jehovah has never been a very moderate, mainsteam kind of Deity. He is first and foremost a fist-pounding theocrat. And so are the crackpots who channel him.

  "Cults" invariably do go mainstream: Baptists, Methodists, Quakers, Mormons - Christianity itself. And Jehovah's Witnesses. Cults that end in suicide are very rare.
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  besty

  If the WTS ever cease and desist from human sacrifice AKA banned blood fractions and shunning then we can say mainstream.

  Until then we say cult.

  2008 has been a year of very significant change for the WTS - 2009 promises to be the same.

  Can you see the big picture yet?
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  slimboyfat

  On that score maybe we should call the Catholic Church a cult. Think of the millions infected with HIV/Aids because of its teaching on contraception.

  Losing one meeting off the schedule is a big change I suppose. But it does not fundamentally alter the organization or its culture. What specifically are you calling "significant change" in 2008?