by metatron 20 Replies latest jw friends
They indeed have hurt enough people. However, they've only hurt a relative drop in the bucket compared to Roman Catholicism, so I don't think we can look forward to its going away on that account.
Perhaps a little Jewish lightening at headquarters?
francois
Metatron,
I agree partially with you, but you forgot the "P.T. Barnum Syndrome" is still as valid as it ever was.
The Watchtower Cult counts on that Syndrome, and dub baby-making to shore up its ranks. Sadaam Hussein stated that if he only had 5,000,000 Iraqis alive (out of 25,000,000) he would still have enough to run his Country and get what he wanted. This means that if 20,000,000 (or 80%) percent of Iraqis are killed, he could not care less. Rutherford proved decisively that he could create his New Cult when 75% of the Bible students left him between the period of 1918 and circa 1926. He succeeded brilliantly in creating the modern Watchtower Religion(tm).
Never underestimate the veracity of the "P.T Barnum Syndrome," metatron. BTW, I hope you are right, as you well know. I just don't think the WTS will disappear.
Farkel
But Fark, that is precisely the point - there is no Barnum now. Instead of a charismatic showman running the "Greatest Cult on Earth", you've got faceless beaureaucrats with neither the imagination nor the inclination to take bold steps to breathe life into the org. Unless there is another power struggle and wresting of control akin to the one Rutherford effected, the Tower is doomed to sink into a sea of mediocrity - it has no children to pass the family business on to.
metatron
That is an excellent summary of the legacy that has been passed on to the last generation!
Great post
Brummie
I think that Farkel's point is valid. People believe in crap because they WANT to believe in crap. I mean, there are still people who claim to be "samaritans" living in Palestine! Still practicing what is left of their millennia old religion - and they are dying off.
I really can't see another Rutherford, though - there just isn't anyone that charismatic in the organization! They've all been disfellowshipped or have sought better opportunities.
The status quo will continue - mediocre growth in developed lands, even declines, and continued growth in the Third World, because they really don't have anything else going on.
CZAR
Makena:
lamenting that it took me 40 + years to realize that I had been duped!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Such is life. It took me that long too, and at the end, it wasn't even that I realized that I had been duped; they had to kick me out (against my will)...and only then did my mind even have a chance to clear; it's still clearing, every day.
Farkel, your are right on. The True Believer, The Addictive Organization, and Why Conservative Churches Are Growing are just a few of the many sociological works that show the fundamental inevitability of success of religions like the WTS. There will always be a percentage of vulnerable unfortunates who willingly, even gladly, fall into the grip of these scams.
metatron: I'm sure you remember the days when it was a given that every decent JW kid vacation pioneered (as it was called when I/we were growing up) at least one month of every summer vacation, every decent kid was baptized by mid-teens, and Bethel service was the default goal of every young brother worth his salt. Those days are indeed long gone...and good riddance.
Craig
I imagine the Watchtower will survive as a curiosity, fulminating at the world as it passes them by
Like the "Wobblies"
Like the "Shakers"
Like the Flat Earth Society
It is sufficient for me to think that they've gelded themselves, that they are functionally sterile, unable to pass on their
intolerant fantasies to another generation. In the realm of compassion, they are reaping what they've sown.
metatron
Great Posts!
In my opinion, education is the enemy of the "society". As much as they try, they cannot control the ability of the individual to educate himself. Every day they are having to loosen the grip of restrictions in order to prevent outright revolt or division. It's now "ok" for kids to go to college. This generation that takes the step to educate themselves will be the one that stops the growth of the "Organization". Without the specific time period for armageddon many more will decide to plan for the future by getting and education. This is an exciting time for us.
TimB
True true. Education will continue to hurt them. But I think that the removal of all 'time' constraints is their biggest problem. Until 1995 you always had the 'generation' thing looming above your head like a pile of bricks - no time to waste you know, the big A could really be any minute now. But that's gone, the year 2000 is gone, and things are just chugging along like always. Add to that the easy access of info on the web, and you've got a huge pin deflating their ballon. I don't think they will go away though. A new generation is being indoctrinated as we speak, my (30 something) gen is raising children in the truth lie. Some of them will 'take' and pass on the evil meme.
The sad thing is that a LOT of these kids that dump the WT never 'get over it' and at some point in their life when things are bleak, they will think that it is all their fault for leaving the 'truth' and return to that vomit. All we can hope is that like an avalanche people who get eduated about the WTBTS begin to pick up speed and pass on that to others. We have our own meme to pass on ...
Tyydyy/TimB - good to hear from you. Howz that awesome golf swing?
You wrote: This generation that takes the step to educate themselves will be the one that stops the growth of the "Organization". Without the specific time period for armageddon many more will decide to plan for the future by getting and education. This is an exciting time for us.
Well said - I totally agree - education and continuing stagnation at the meetings will be a drain on new blood. We do live in exciting times!
All best,
Mak
