Belief is Irrelevant to Watchtower Leadership

by daniel-p 11 Replies latest jw friends

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  daniel-p

  The more I see what Watchtower leadership does, the more I think doctrine matters less and less. It used to be you had all these people in leadership positions constantly pondering the big questions. Watchtower articles routinely delved into complicated explanations of doctrine. The average member could explain the significance of all important dates and what it meant for worship in the 20th century. But now, as organizational trust evaporates and social media proliferates throughout members' lives, all emphasis from leadership is on behavior control.

  I don't think faith matters much anymore. As repeatedly drilled into the flock, the GB just want obedience. If you disagree, that's okay, as long as you still do what they say. As in a child-parent relationship, this would seem to be a healthier arrangement, but it undermines the locus of control that the Watchtower has historically exercised: belief. By relenquishing control over the beliefs of the rank and file, they shoot themselves in the foot. Rebellion is only one step away.
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  jeckle

  I like this I'm not shooting it down , but many jws I still know are pretty vehement about their doctrines.
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  daniel-p

  I should be more specific: belief is becoming irrelevant to the Watchtower Leadership, not the R&F. To the GB, and especially the elders, it matters less that you might disagree about some teachings; what really matters is whether you fall in line and know your place in the congregation, doing what the elders say.
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  WontLeave

  I think you mean knowledge is not important. Belief is extremely important to JWs and the leaders thereof. We don't have to know why we believe something, so long as we parrot back the right answers when asked. It's all about submission, and submitting your mind to the geezers in NY (or the writing committee; whoever the hell is in charge) is the prime directive of the Watchtower. They really don't care if you know anything, anymore. They'd just as soon you don't have a Bible for all they care about it. Just obsess over their writings and memorize the JW secret code words to demonstrate submission to the human overlords, and they're happy.

  I have a real problem with this mindset in people of any religion. The vast majority of churchgoers believe like a champ. What they fail to do is know. They can spout their doctrine all day long, but in no way can they back it up or explain why they believe it. JWs are the worst, because precious few people in regular churches have as much doctrine and as many tedious details as JWs do. Watchtowers have chimed in on just about anything that could possibly happen in life and JWs are under the impression knowing all of these rules is "the deep things of God". Since most of them have no Scriptural basis, they'd be hard-pressed to know why they believe them, so the authority of the Governing Body is pushed. Since the beliefs can't be demonstrated from the Bible, they must be an appeal to authority. Make the Watchtower appear as God's mouth and then there's no question as to accuracy or authority.
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  jeckle

  wont- I do agree with that. As a side note if poeple practiced love you dont need so many laws. my 2 cents thanks
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  OUTLAW

  I agree..

  1975..Meh..Never happened..

  The Book Study is the most important meeting you can go to..Cancelled..

  The Generation of 1914 will not pass away..Nevermind..

  Beliefs come and go in Watchtower World..

  Obedience to the WBT$ is the one thing that never changes..

  ..................... ...OUTLAW
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  daniel-p

  SAYING you believe something is more important than not actually believing it, even if both you and, say, an elder know you don't really believe it. In that way, the ACT of obedience is more important than the belief itself.

  I know belief is supposedly very important to the FDS and the R&F, but more and more, just falling in line is what's important and placed as a JWs #1 priority.
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  OUTLAW

  I know belief is supposedly very important to the FDS and the R&F, but more and more,

  just falling in line is what's important and placed as a JWs #1 priority.....Danielp

  JW`s don`t care what they believe..

  If they did it wouldn`t be so easy for the WBT$ to change whatever they want at the drop of a hat..

  Obedience to what the WBT$ wants,is paramount in WatchTower World..

  ..................... ...OUTLAW
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  Nickolas

  Agreed. When pressed about the obvious wrongness of shunning her nephew, my wife replied that obedience is most important to her and other Witnesses. Right out of her mouth. No ambiguity. Control, control, control. Control their actions, control their thoughts, control their lives and add to whatever numbers are important to the leadership. Numbers of publishers, numbers of baptisms, numbers of hours in FS and, most importantly, numbers of dollars to the bottom line.
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  tec

  The only thing that they have to get people to believe is that the organization is God's channel. Once people believe that, they'll do anything that channel says, changes, clarifies, or scratches. At least, that was the case with me. Proving that they were God's channel was hard, but that was really the only obstacle to overcome, to ensure obedience over anything else.

  I believed they were that channel whole-heartedly for only a few days. That doesn't seem like a lot, but it was enough to have this whole fuzzy, blinders feeling going on. I threw out the baptist stuff that came in the mail without even looking at it; without even questioning this blind obedience. I can only imagine how much harder it would have been to 'wake up', had I invested more than a few days in this thinking - a month, a year, a life?

  Peace,

  Tammy