The Scientific Method works because it sets an outstanding standard of proof:
State your premise in such a way that it CAN BE PROVED FALSE by a specific example of counter-fact.
This is called falsifiability. Proof rules.
Scientific Theory is the result of constant testing for contraries.
The opposite of this is mere assertion from an AUTHORITY. An unimpeachable authority stand above argument, reasoning,
testing and opposition.
For an Authority of this sort the game begins and ends by avoiding at all costs any obvious TEST which disproves authenticity.
Tomorrow it will definitely rain can be disproved by a sunny day.
Obviously, mainting the illusion of Authority rests on avoiding such disproofs at all costs.
When William Miller and his Second Adventists set the date for Christ's return with authority (from scripture) and logic (various dates matching various scriptures) they made the astonishing error of being precise, exact and definite! They did this because they were HONESTLY wrong.
They were in error the FIRST time. But, the second time they set a wrong date they were already intellectually dishonest and suffering from stubborn hubris.
The modern beginnings of the Adventists signalled a state of mind triggered by a thirst for ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY.
The most certain thing the believers had in their world view was SCRIPTURE!
Their false premise was that Scripture revealed inerrant truth about when Christ would return. From this false premise they compounded their error by building argument on argument and tying it all together in an appealing argument of "proof".
From this Adventist beginning Pastor Charles Taze Russell followed. He was just as wrongly innocent at the beginning. You might say he was naive. But, he was educated, stubborn and wealthy. That can take crackpot certainty a long, long way.
Where Russell made his worst error was in his certainty. He foolishly (because he was naive and honest) made his theories TESTABLE as to falsifiability. In other words, he set himself up to prove whether or not he was a crackpot and a fool!
Armageddon was advertised as, "not the beginning of the end, but, the end itself." 1914 was selected based on various ideas already worked out by other sincere crackpots.
1914 came and World War One broke out.
This was viewed as PROOF certain. Except....it wasn't.
It was DISPROOF certain......unless.......unless......unless......
Yes, unless Russell backtracked and started removing the falsifiable statements from his previous statements. He did. He began shifting emphasis. He couched previous sentences in changed language.
At this point, Russell proved himself dishonest. It turned him from a naive believer into a fraud. No doubt about it.
He died in 1916 with nothing turning out the way he had predicted.
He had been declared the Faithful and Wise Servant whom the Master had appointed over all his belongings.
The only problem was that the Master had selected an intellectually dishonest man who could not admit his error.
Anybody who cooks the books, changes the dates, weasels the language and acts as though he is correct when he is provably incorrect is not a man of integrity.
Followed by Rutherford, the same pattern continued. Date setting, claims made, language of certainty. Hubris, outrageous bragging and ranting all fell flat as dates and events never came to pass as predicted!
Here is where the above TOPIC TITLE comes in: Re: Watchtower's use of qualifying words
If you are going to maintain the illusion that Jesus is guiding you, the Holy Spirit is directing you and that you are the chosen mouthpiece of Jehovah announcing His Kingdom on Earth---well, you better not keep on flunking the tests of your legitimacy.
Weasel words commenced with Russell when he discovered he was wrong and continued with Rutherford and Fred Franz up through and including the 1975 fiasco.
From 1968 through 1975 the most important event advertised by Jehovah's mouthpiece was called "The End of 6,000 years of human existence" which "wink wink--nudge nudge" meant Armageddon.
It didn't happend. Plain and simple falsifiability. End of story. Right?
No.
The qualifying continued. The weasel words continued. The crackdown on demands for apology commenced.
The heart of the Watchtower hardened like never before.
Fred Franz was the author of this (and previous) humiliations to Jehovah's mouthpiece as the resident oracle and channeler of Jesus' specific instructions. He was proved to be a fraud and a liar and false prophet.
What did the Watchtower do to him?
It made him President! The reward for a false prophet in scripture was death.
The Watchtower promoted the author of the lies!
Need we say more?
They can avoid as many specifics as possible now and merely churn the same old fermented dreck as before--but, the matter has long been settled.
THE WATCHTOWER SOCIETY IS AN ORGANIZATION OF FALSE PROPHETS ruling over a deluded mass of witless dupes.
