Writing Style of WTBTS

by Band on the Run 18 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Ding

  Specialized lingo is one of the tools of mind control cults.

  It helps isolate members from the rest of society.

  Pay special attention to adjectives that are used repeatedly.

  "Humble" ones submit to Jehovah's arrangement and wait on directions from his organization.

  "Proud" ones run ahead of Jehovah and think they know more than the faithful and discreet slave organization he has chosen.

  Using just those two words, they keep JWs constantly concerned about which category they belong to in the minds of other JWs.

  You wouldn't want to develop a bad reputation at the hall, would you, brother/sister?
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  sd-7

  I was reminded of the Society's writing style when I read '1984', and they discussed a pedantic style of asking questions and then quickly answering those questions. It's just Brother Winston Smith speaking into the speakwrite, that's all.

  In recent years, some have felt that the 'faithful slave' has somehow failed in its commission to provide spiritual 'food at the proper time'. But is that true? Or is it that some disloyal ones have been unwilling to accept scriptural counsel that applies directly to them? A humble attitude will help us to accept counsel and love discipline, rather than face the consequences of disloyally abandoning Jehovah's side.

  --sd-7
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  Yan Bibiyan

  DagothUr,

  Don't forget "Socialist Realism" used for the ugliest concrete-bouldered pieces of "art" ever casted. To top it off, we had to marvel them.....
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  Band on the Run

  Wooden language is the perfect term for it! Specialized vocabulary exists. Also, I never put it together but the first paragraphs aren't outrageous. Part of me is curious as to how many paragraphs down, it gets uniquely Witness like. I never knew Witnesses socially, aside from my family. It is amazing to me to post here and to be able to relate my experiences. The validation was missing. I would expect the Internet has not been kind to the Witnesses on the theory that access to information hurts cults.
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  WalkTall

  A few years ago, during one of my "I need to be more theocratic" stages, I vowed to read every WT and Awake from cover to cover. It lasted one month. I felt like I was insulting my own intelligence while I was reading it, plus it was downright depressing with all the emphasis on how bad the world is. And that was even before I woke up.
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  moshe

  Prose the WT contains not, for in Bethel the knaves hold sway o're the minds of brothers who hope the end is near.

  Thy neighbor's death by God feels good for them who hope to live in paradise.
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  DagothUr

  Yan Bibiyan: Yes, any form of surrealist art was "decadent". And abstract art was tolerated only if it was not too abstract.
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  VM44

  The purpose of Watchtower writing is to deposit certain thoughts with the leader.

  That is why the so-called "balanced view of...." articles always emphasize the NEGATIVE aspects of whatever subject is being discussed. The Watchtower wants the reader to remember those negative aspects at a latter time.

  The Watchtower is shaping a person's thoughts thought the use of the written word. They have found the style of writing that they use to be useful for that purpose.
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  doofdaddy

  The only time I have ever read the verb happifying was in a wt. I guess that is their trademark..We're kinda quirky, we don't stand for accepted norms, we're original, we're the only source of truth, so we're different from every body else.

  At one point I thought that was cool but now I see it as a C...U...L...T!!