Fading policies and doctrines

by Saltheart Foamfollower 11 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Saltheart Foamfollower
    Saltheart Foamfollower

    First a clarification - this is not about policies on faders etc. It is about how the borg allow policies and doctrines to fade rather than correct them and apologise for mistakes. Here are two examples of what I mean:

    1) Up to the 1970s they taught that all of the evidence for ice ages was really caused by the flood. I heard this repeated last year by a long time witness. As far as I can determine, they have not repeated this claim since the mid-70s but have never said that all of the scientific evidence points to ice ages with many of the features being impossible if caused by liquid water.

    2) Last year in the June Km they started a policy of witnessing at nursing homes which was quite involved. Since then I don't know of any cong that has done this and the CO hasn't mentioned it. This seems to happen with initiatives (though sometimes COs have been known to ask why such and such isn't being done a couple of years later).

    I understand (though don't agree with) why they don't say they were wrong, but I don't know why they launch initiatives and then drop them straight away. Anyone know of other examples or can explain their actions?

    SF

  • OneEyedJoe
    OneEyedJoe

    They try things to see if it sticks and if not, they drop it. I think that's how most cults evolve - they're not lead by psychologists that are experts on manipulation, they just try lots of stuff and stumble upon things that work and keep doing it. The JWs didn't start out with DFing, but they tried it and it worked so they kept it up.

    Another idea that they've allowed to fade away is the 7000 year creative day. They've never said they were wrong but they've stopped talking about it and a CO recently gave a talk in which he acknowledged the age of the universe as being 13.8 billion years.

  • Magnum
    Magnum

    I used to read and hear about how mammoths, etc. were found frozen with grass in their mouths as if something killed and almost instantly froze them. It was said that the flood almost instantly changed the climate, killing the animals and freezing them with food still in their mouths. Haven't read/heard that in a long time.

    About 20 years ago a policy was instituted that instructed elders to call on JWs when they had been baptized a year to see how they were doing. At first, I diligently kept a list and informed other elders of those who were due for a call. It seems that the policy just faded; I never heard anything else about it, and I quit worrying about it.

  • Saltheart Foamfollower
    Saltheart Foamfollower
    Interesting Magnum - our CO always checks up on 1 year visits. Looks like they make their own rules up as to what is important.
  • Phizzy
    Phizzy
    They are allowing the 1914 Doctrine to fade.
  • Londo111
    Londo111
    I've been calling it a pocket veto.
  • blondie
    blondie

    On 1914 doctrine, I assume they will reinvent it as they have with 1874 and old 1914. Most jws could not explain any version of the 1914 doctrine.

    The WTS waits when most of the jws alive during the most current knowledge of any doctrine die off. The 1975 policy....they stop mentioning it. In other cases they wait until the jws are dead and stop mentioning as in 1925...I never heard of that until I read some older publications.

  • prologos
    prologos
    Saltheart Foamfollower Anyone know of other examples or can explain their actions?
    In the 60-70 they introduced rules about bedroom gymnastics for married couples, but dropped that before the foreign language wt mags got shipped. embarrassed red faces.
  • blondie
    blondie
  • Beth Sarim
    Beth Sarim
    yeah, I agree 1914 is such an old date now, I see it more and more fading into the background with the ''generations'' teaching now covering it.

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