" why do they take 4 years to reinstate people who are trying to come back in? "
You said it Ding
especially if they claim the door of the Ark is closing soon
by the time some are reinstated they might have missed
the boat
Is there a new "full court press" to bring back "lost ones"?
by tenyearsafter 34 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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steve2
As Blondie said, this is the Memorial "season". The push this year has been to get as many "auxiliary" pioneering (not sure if the term auxiliary is still current) because the required hours per month are now a lot less than in previous years. Also, there have been some pretty big natural disasters which are generally good for generating interest in supernatural solutions and great for end-times business (that is, if you're lucky enough to survive the disasters ).
Is it part of a new initiative to bring back the back-sliders and assorted others? It's probably not an overt step, but when the JWs go fishing they often catch more than they planned to catch.
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satinka
Tenyearsafter wrote:
Has anyone else been seeing an up-tick in these "prodigal son" appeals from JW friends and family?
Can’t say that I have noticed such a phenomenon. My PO brother is the only one who calls, perhaps once a year. But only on official family business. There is no religious discussion. My family is obeying the “disfellowship order” a term used in the Watchtower. Regarding association with disfellowshipped ones, "Satan's influence…will be to cause the other…members of the family to…join…his course…To do this would be disastrous, and so the faithful family member must recognize and conform to the disfellowship order."—Watchtower 1952 Nov. 15, p. 703.
Highlander wrote:
The memorial season, along with current events such as the recent earthquake and unrest in the middle east may be causing some to put in more effort to get us heathens to return to the flock.
Indeed I would hope the recent events make us think. But because I think, I also know the jws don’t have the answers. Change is imminent, but events won’t occur as the jws figure. A world full of jws…? I shudder to think of such an inconceivable possibility. A belief steeped in fear, hate and bigotry will never --- could never --- result in paradise.
Igot2beme wrote:
I have the same sister that comes by on a regular basis (one time a week).
Do you suppose she is counting time? I know that when my PO-brother calls, he is counting time.
Quendi wrote:
One of my close friends who is a JW has been employing the "full court press" with me to persuade me to get reinstated. I've been disfellowshipped for more than five years and told him a year ago that I would cease any and all efforts to return. But it has only been in the last three months or so that he began urging me to return to meetings and particularly to attend next Sunday's Memorial "celebration". He has cited the urgency of our times and how the organization is making an effort to get "lost ones" to return. I am very touched by his love and concern, but my resolve to stay the hell away is firmer than ever.
Like you, the more time goes by, the stronger I feel about keeping my resolve to stay clear of the cult of dubdom. I see this religion as a very sick, destructive, power-hungry and controlling cult. I wish my family would open their eyes and peer through the cracks, which are ever-widening.
Wasblind wrote:
It's a shame to go through life that way, even Jesus said do not get terrified. It would be somethin' If God where to say: all those who didn't enjoy the first gift I gave you, won't get another one wouldn't that be somethin?????? Just the fact that we are alive now is truly a gift. But I'm glad God wouldn't put a stipulation like that on us , cause some people can't help the situations they are in now
I agree wholeheartedly with your comments. I know from personal experience how the JW religion instills in its members such fear. The Bible says Jehovah is “fear-inspiring.” If I didn’t purge such terror-filled beliefs upon leaving, I would have surely self-destructed. Furthermore, any god who would want his/her followers to be fearful is a sadistic being not worthy of worship. Jesus clearly did not want his followers to feel fearful. It has become clear to me that Jesus is loving and does not carry the same “energy” as Jehovah by any stretch of the imagination.
Reopened Mind wrote:
I agree with Outlaw, you're probably on someone's radar. It also could be that more are auxiliary pioneering this month because of the reduced hour requirements (only 30).They need something to do to ease their conscience that they are actually accomplishing the preaching work. So they put you on their radar.
I agree with Outlaw, too. It helped that I moved to another province to get away from the JWs. When someone calls on me now, it is someone who does not know me from Adam trying to sell me magazines.
Reopened Mind also wrote:
Have any of the prophecies of the WT come true in their 130 year history? Why would you believe them now?
NO! All their new light sounds very much like regurgitated “old light.”
LV101 wrote:
it's a business/membership drive --- perhaps the funds are low w/the economy and they need bodies for dollars. of course the brainwashed members are spouting off the scare tactics to get their friends/loved ones back but the good ole boys at the top can't scream out for more moolah so it's thusly cloaked in fear tactics.
Book publishing is taking a hit these days. Funds are always low when conduct defined as “misappropriation of funds” occurs, described in a former thread posted by Farkel at http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/13068/1/Walter-Salters-Letter-4-Newbies. This article speaks of the past president Rutherford. Naturally, Salter was quickly discredited and disfellowshipped by the powers that be as described in this thread http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/149159/1/The-disfellowshipping-of-Walter-Salter posted by onacruse.
The New York Times reporters who write flattering articles about the JW activity can’t come cheap, either. I know enough about PR to know the jws hire reporters to do just that. The article I refer to is found at http://nyrm.org/2010/05/13/the-most-widely-read-magazine-in-the-world/
Just my 2 cents.
satinka
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tenyearsafter
Good comments everyone...
LV101...you might be right that the membership roles need fattening...if they keep changing the pioneering hour requirements, by next year it will only be 10 hours reported to make the time and be in really good standing!
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thetrueone
Fear mongering is what the WTS uses to cull people toward them for exploitation purposes.
There many elements of fear that the WTS uses to pursued people to work for the organization.
Fear and guilt is also implied to the followers that if you don't grab back ones who left the organization they will surely
die soon. This incident of calling up people to get them to go the memorial is another vehicle to entice people back
and get them studying again, which has the potential of building more moral and financial support for the WTS.,
at the same time relieving some the pressure placed on to the JWS at this time of year.
For newly left JWS, a call to return to the kingdom hall is quite common.
Expect more for a little while too.
As far as someone's stupid comment that peace and security was announced at the UN, signaling the END is imminent,
tells much of the person's own intellectual honesty and of the organization itself.
JWS are brainwashed to do what they do by using tactics of fear and provocation, researching the history of this organization as it has evolved
shows that this aspect of inducing fear has increased substantially of the years.
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seawolf
I am getting e-mail with screen shots of the UN website (http://www.un.org/en/peace) stating "Peace and Security", being told that this could likely be the last Memorial celebrated and that the door to the Ark will be closing soon.
They were saying the same stuff back in 1986 when the UN declared 1986 the Internal Year of Peace. http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/40/a40r003.htm
Guess now is different than back then.
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thetrueone
The WTS. is always creating disingenuous stories to validate themselves and to create a state of urgency for the believing adherents
to work harder proliferating the Organizations literature. When you look analytically at what they say, you can see there
is a obvious agenda to stimulate more purchasing and distribution of the WTS literature and to strengthen the power
of the people leading this organization. Why are people so stupidly willing to say and do what the WTS tells them
is because there is that ever present element of fear, that exploits these people's own inherent ignorances and insecurities.
Armageddon is near and your either going to live on in paradise or be brutally killed .....its that simple
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LV101
satinka --- thanks for links and didn't realize it was "the most widely read magazine in the world," holy moly. thought i'd read it was the 2nd and couldn't believe. talk about great free labor. i understand the number printed but most of these are piled up in witnesses homes so how is this a trustworthy number. can't imagine people shelling out money for this tripe in these difficult times.
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blondie
*** w05 2/1 p. 32 "Keep on the Watch"***With a worldwide circulation of more than 26,000,000 copies in 150 languages, The Watchtower is the most widely distributed religious magazine in the world.
*** w02 5/1 p. 23 par. 17 Who Will Survive the Day of Jehovah? ***Jehovah’s blessing is also seen in that Jehovah’s Witnesses publish the most widely distributed Bible-based publications in all history.
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The WTS rarely says anything but the Bible is most widely read...In the 70's it said that the Awake and Watchtower was the most widely read newsmagazine but no longer.
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The WTS has no way of knowing how many magazines are actually read by non-jws.
*** w73 10/15 p. 640 They Would Circle the Globe! ***Read the world’s most widely read news magazine. Send only $1.50, and receive Awake! twice a month for a year.
*** g74 2/22 p. 32 Around the Globe More Than 18 Times ***Yes, if you were to lay end to end the copies of the Watchtower and Awake! magazines printed by Jehovah’s witnesses in the past ten years, they would circle the globe more than 18 times! Why not find out why these are the most widely read magazines in the world? Send only $3 and receive both magazines (four copies a month) for one year.
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tenyearsafter
seawolf...the difference is that we are 25 years closer to the end than in 1986!