Crying "Wolf!"

by Phizzy 9 Replies latest jw friends

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  Phizzy

  The WT/GB have been doing this for so long now that I get the feeling it has really had its day. Even when I was in, I for one had no fear of Armageddon, or any real belief I would see it in my lifetime anyway.( I was right about that !)

  I could feel then that it was difficult to really get any sense of urgency pushing the Bros, they just carried on with life, admittedly, with most of them still hoping to actually see a Paradise Earth.

  I get the feeling now that even long time JW's like my JW family are resigned to not seeing the "End", and more importantly, I think the general smell of Bull***t that comes from the GB has taken away a lot of the respect they used to get, and means that their chief weapon FEAR , is losing its power.

  The fear of being DF'd is still wielded as a weapon very effectively, but all the "End is soooo close" stuff has run out of puff with most of the R&F.

  The WT has "cried wolf" for far too long .
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  professor

  On the 100th anniversary of their crying wolf for 1914, now they say "will this be our last memorial?" They will never stop because it's part of the program.
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  professor

  You're right though, a sales pitch is nothing without a sense or urgency, and they're just not pulling it off anymore. Maybe for a minute in third world countries, but they can't even afford to send missionaries there anymore.
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  Phizzy

  I honestly think that if they do not change their primary message very soon they are done for.

  A 19th Century Apocalyptic tirade simply does not work in the 21st century.
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  sarahsmile

  What would you do if a major disaster was heading your way in three or six months from now?

  Right, so if the JWs really believed in Armageddon would they not do something! If you believed in "A"

  Would you include prayers for the people so God would change his mind!

  It would be the first thing on any JWs mind when visiting others. Prepare for a real natural disaster! It would be a constant on going conversation!

  There is no evidence that JWs actually believe WT end days! I never got in to a Satuday morning car with JWs talking about "A"

  It would be heartless to let loved one who were inactive of dfd die! So Jws would make sure they talked with them and prayed until the final hour!

  About the GB, they were never really important in the sixties and seventies. So it is hard to grasp how they are now the 144,000. I do not recall talks about them. Just a bunch if old dudes ready for the grave! Proving the Last generation was ready to die off.

  What are they going to do at Memorial because only the 144,000 partook, but, if the GB are the 144,000 that would mean all the partakers are false!

  Can you imagine how hard these changes are on seniors! Hard to switch the old doctrines off!

  I feel sorry for the ones who are still in and seeing their doctrines collapse yet they are not mentally and emotionally prepared! They must feel something stress, nervous break downs, heart issues, more cancer, lot of physicall illness.

  Denial just causes illnesses.
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  professor

  They have a spoon full of new light for those folks who gobble it up.
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  transhuman68

  True, the 'urgency' of Armageddon does seem to be diminishing, but so is the amount of time & effort that the WTS demands of its r & f, so maybe one cancels out the other. And really, as long as JW's believe that Armageddon will come 'one day' and that there will be a resurrection, it doesn't make much difference- if the religion is not too much of a hardship for them.
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  DesirousOfChange

  TRANSHUMAN: True, the 'urgency' of Armageddon does seem to be diminishing, but so is the amount of time & effort that the WTS demands of its r & f, so maybe one cancels out the other. And really, as long as JW's believe that Armageddon will come 'one day' and that there will be a resurrection, it doesn't make much difference- if the religion is not too much of a hardship for them.

  Very interesting thought regarding the effort now required as what was in the past. On the post about assembly changes it was stated that Dist Conv used to be at least 4/5 days and even 8 days long -- and from morning until 8 or 9pm!! Evidently(TM) WT saw that the R&F was burning out.

  My devout family members use that reasoning as their last resort: We know it will come someday -- because THE BIBLE says so. They never stop to reason that if WT is wrong about their basic doctrine, what else are they wrong about?

  Doc
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  Apognophos

  transhuman68 hit the nail on the head. The current religion is in some ways the Lite version of the old religion. They still have a long way to go before they could be considered a warm, fuzzy mainstream religion, but so many things have been loosened up that it is no longer necessary to be a diehard Bible-thumper in order to belong.

  Sure, there's still lots of pointless rules (no beards!) and guilting talks (give more of your time!), but important stuff like requiring the friends to take several days off of work to attend an assembly, and to avoid blood products (since fractions and substitutes can almost make up for whole blood now) are no longer requirements, so it just doesn't take the same level of super-devotion as in the old days.
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  DATA-DOG

  Yes, we are so close to the Big "A", that the loving GB/FDS has determined to let the friends slow down as the END draws near! At least in the 70's they believed their own religion enough to encourage the selling of homes and pioneering. Now it's like they stopped using what they're selling.