Does WTS want the goverments to turn on them?

by jeremiah18:5-10 12 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  jeremiah18:5-10

  Considering that the WTS has long held the view that the "wild beast" would turn on and destroy false religion and that "gog of magog" would attack "God's people", does WTS want and in fact hope that their radical views and rigid/unyielding practices will incur the wrath of governments and courts?

  This would seem to be a win-win for them. Any adverse judgments are going to be spun as fulfillment of prophecy and be used to further pull the ranks together. Any victories are viewed as Gods blessing.

  It seems they are desperate at times to manipulate the governments into turning on religion, including their own.

  Thoughts?
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  BlindersOff1

  They will try to spin the Candace Conti case that way .
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  jeremiah18:5-10

  It seems if they were at all interested in self-preservation and growing the ranks, they would effort to be more politically correct. I think they will only get more obstinate, more resistant, and more radical in their views and actions. As a real, genuine cult, at some point doomsday has to come, whether authentic or manufactured. Considering I have a significant numbers of family still in, this scares me. I have no hope of freeing them.
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  jeremiah18:5-10

  I fear there will never be a change to the child abuse policies, DF'ing policies, or hate-mongering toward other religions and others' views. It makes no sense for them to continue this course unless they simply want to continue to alienate themselves and incur public and legal wrath and call it a satanic attack.
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  OnTheWayOut

  While they indicate that anything against them is a fulfillment of prophecy, they do not actually want governments to turn against them.

  They want to rake in money and preserve the dangerous mind-control cult. If they could rake in money and manage to become more "mainstream," they would be thrilled. The Mormons have managed to pull that off for the most part, by sharing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at Christmas, being strong advocates of education, and by participation in politics. They are still whacko, but not so much screaming that the world is against them.

  Watchtower would love the same, but it isn't working out as well for them. Allowing college saw higher numbers of young JW's leave the organization. And WTS slowly tried to get back into the world via the United Nations but someone blew the whistle on them. They have slowly been abandoning some of their most difficult doctrines that separate them from the world by calling many things "personal choice" such as sports participation in school or taking blood by fractions instead of whole blood.

  But WTS is all about money. They are too worried about lawsuits and lack of contributions. Government turning on them would mean that lawsuits against them would be more abundant. Contributions tend to dry up when members are watching their backs.
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  jeremiah18:5-10

  But wouldn't taking a course toward "mainstream" betray their belief and teaching of being "in the last of the last days"?

  Of course that would require logic to realize that and we all know that die hard JW's leave logic in the baptismal pool water. I'm so frustrated with this organization, I want to scratch my eyes out!!!!!
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  DATA-DOG

  I think the WTBT$ likes to play both ends against the middle. They use double-speak and clever wording to try and set themselves up for a win-win everytime. The big part of pulling this off is ignorance among the sheep. That is why they forbid studying Hebrew and Greek and meeting in small groups.

  I believe that they know information is catching up to them. That is why they are distancing themselves from Russell. They also try to demonize the internet while benefitting from it. The longer they can use fear and mis-direction, the longer they stay in business. They are between a rock and a hard place.
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  jgnat

  The WTS is well past it's radical days. It's establishment now. If it wants to play the martyr's card, they pick some remote country and make a "stand" there (i.e. Malawi). That way they have a few colorful articles to publish without putting the corporation in danger. These days it's all about keeping the corporation fed and happy.
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  konceptual99

  The WTS is caught in a big morass of conflicting priorities. They have to keep the R&F convinced the big A is round the corner yet manage the fact that time is marching on regardless of every expectation they have raised. They have to embrace the use of technology and the internet yet the same tools are presenting a mass of critical/alternative views in a readily accessible form. Growth is being experienced in certain fields but established territories are stagnant at best. Encourgaing education and career development would help secure future contributions (c.f. Mormons) but experience shows that educated ones tend to exercise their critical thinking skills and do not make strong sheep.

  It's the same when it comes to the governments. Taking advantage of tax efficient organisational structures protects finances. Being able to build without major opposition solidifies the perception of the Witnesses as another acceptable religion. Being able to work within democratic legal structures helps further religious freedom and the publishing work. However, they also have to feed a persecution complex. In the face of ever increasingly speculative dogma, the harsh reality of persecution works to polarise the feelings of the R&F. It can be latched onto and faced as a group, helps gloss over issues of centralised, top down control and works on peoples' fears.

  To that end, even the most minor incidents are amplified. A bunch of looney, right wind nutters in Bulgaria attack a KH - it's a sign that the whole of eastern Europe could revert to cold war levels of persecution overnight. The French government take on the tax exempt status of the WTS in France - it's a sign that even liberal democracies are poised to pick on the WTS.

  The WTS needs new light. The WTS needs some limited persecution. The WTS needs events that can be seized on to promote feelings of urgency, group unity and unquestioning loyalty to the GB. These things in the minds of ones blinded by cognitive dissonance are the only hope for the WTS to perpetuate things for decades to come.
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  Satanus

  'But wouldn't taking a course toward "mainstream" betray their belief and teaching of being "in the last of the last days"?'

  Not at all. Lots of wacked out american fundy christian religions believe the same. They are quite similar.

  S