March 2020 Broadcast - Hard Push to Baptism. Why? (page 2)

Smiles

Yes, same as always, but now adding more water & Jesus to their recipe, which is suspicious.

Half banana

This emphasis on Jesus is a new departure. Could it mean that to hold on to the membership they actually listen to what the sheep are thinking?

If this proves to be so then it is a significant marker in the decline of the authority of the GB. It is what would be expected to be seen in the twilight years of a cult.

It would be stunning if the GB were to ever become that warmly responsive to the low level JW membership masses, but that seems highly unlikely because it suggests the GB would even scrap prohibitive doctrines such as blood refusal and same sex marriage for the simple reason of increasing membership numbers.

The GB has repeatedly taken a stance that their God Jehovah is not primarily concerned with the "numbers", as seen in the account of Noah... only eight persons being saved. Whereas if God were to have been primarily concerned with numbers and subsequently lowered the qualifications for salvation, greater numbers would have been saved from the flood of Noah's day. M. Stephen Lett has been a front man for that JW logic.

The GB has always been crafty, and will rarely depart from the JW status quo unless caught in a corner forcing their hand, as seen in their recent modifications to the 1914 generation doctrine, their acceptance of younger emblem partakers, and allowing women to be involved with consoling victims of sexual abuse.

There must be some other motivation for their shift to more Jesus and more water dunking. As suggested by you @Halfbanana and @Alanv, one possible motivation may be to compensate for embarringly sluggish statistics in other categories by ramping up the baptism numbers among children and niche under-educated populations.

Another motivation of the GB could be to appear as a more mainstream denomination of Christendom for legal advantages.

Or it may be just another WT attempt to rebrand itself while keeping within it's own tight doctrinal parameters, with the hope that dangling Jesus out there alittle more than usual may appeal to a wider demographic of potential converts.

steve2

They interviewed the old JW croney, RP, but for some reason they left out his middle initial (I).

DATA-DOG

A couple of years ago the GB directed a WT article to be written which dealt with the hierarchy of the ORG. The GB were prominently featured and Jesus was barely included in the illustration. You could tell it was Jesus by the crown if memory serves. Other than that...nothing very glorifying to the one who deserves all the glory by the decree of The Father.

That’s just one aspect of Da Troof that bothered me for years. The Bible itself states that “Jehovah” wants everyone to honor Jesus, yet the GB, Jesus’ own brothers ( 🤔 ) refuse to do so.

This lack of showing honor to Jesus is so ingrained that any congregant who mentions Jesus too much is eyed with suspicion. As a matter of fact, if you claim to have a personal relationship with The Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you are considered to be leaning dangerously close to apostasy at worst, and mentally and emotionally unstable at the least.

DD

Smiles

@Dog

Very true. Decades of sidelining Jesus in the Watch Tower doctrines have really diluted Jesus in the minds of PIMI JW adherents. Even today, when listening to the prayers of any JW, particularly at their gatherings, any mention of Jesus is usually only at the end of their prayers and limited to a mechanical sounding "in Jesus' name, Amen" or "in the name of our King and Redeemer, Jesus, Amen." A few will go as far as to say "our High Priest, Jesus, Amen." Rarely in JW prayers will you hear much of anything else beyond that about Jesus, except briefly during the annual spring Memorial season when they really play up the "come to Jesus" message, which in reality is just an annual marketing strategy to get more people to "come to the Kingdom Hall" rather than really "come to Jesus."

And you are right about being eyed with suspicion for overemphasizing Jesus in talks and comments, as if that could be evidence of a JW "leaning toward apostasy." Too much Jesus will trigger red flags in the minds of PIMI JWs.

To outsiders reading this it may sound like crazy "apostate driven lies", but this really happens in local congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses. The JW love bombarding will quickly dry up, replaced by an increasing air of suspicion that often leads to a reduction of special privileges and an unofficial shunning of sorts. All that scandal from a person making a practice of merely emphasizing Jesus more than Jehovah.

This is another reason why some of us are a bit shocked to hear GB members now delivering heavily Jesus-centric messages on the JW Broadcast programs. Many a low level JW have taken flak for doing exactly the same thing. But when the GB or their "helpers" do it to appeal to a wider audience of potential converts, it's ok. Sad part is that PIMI JWs will not detect the hypocrisy, and if it is brought to their attention, the PIMI will defend it.

Similar to when Anthony Morris III was recently caught on video purchasing absurd amounts of hard alcohol on a lazy Sunday morning... If any other JWs had been caught doing that they could expect an impending discussion about notoriety, loss of exemplary status, and loss of privileges. But not so with TOMO3GB, he is still GB gold, maybe even platinum level. Although I was recently informed from a reliable source that Scotchgate was "dealt with internally." But this is for a different topic.

smiddy3

Jehovah`s Witnesses have always been criticized by Christendom as not being a Christian religion and looked more upon as being an Old Testament religion with their emphasis on the name Jehovah.

Maybe its finally dawned on them they may gain more approval / acceptance / converts if they start bringing the name Jesus back to the fore.

Half banana

Christianity from the 3rd century onward lauded the "name of Jesus". That's right, it was not there in the first century. This motivating thread of worship was included in the Roman Bible (4th century). It gave a mental focus for christians as did the character of his mother Mary. It was the suffering of Jesus and the heartbreak of the mother which the believers could identify with in their own lives. In contrast it's hard to visualise God the Father in terms of humanity, although Michelangelo did a very good job of it on the Sistine chapel ceiling. People as a rule do not strongly identify with God, the exceptions to this are either institutionalised or become political leaders.

I imagine that from sifting through resignation letters coming to Bethel, it has been noticed that many Witnesses feel they can't have the personal attachment to Jesus offered by other religions (that a religion could offer such a thing is beyond me). Nevertheless recently baptised or disaffected JWs could feel that they are missing something when it comes to a close relationship with Jesus which can be had elsewhere.

The JW doctrine does not offer traditional comforts and if this means loss of membership they will make amends as you say Smiddy. However I cannot think that WT leaders have ever once changed fundamental doctrine by listening to what people are saying or wanting to believe. This could be an indicator of future developments to cope with declining interest.

The GB with forked tongue say "numbers are not important" but as we all know membership numbers are paramount to the cult because numbers equals income.

nowwhat?

6 or so years ago they had a convention theme that focused on Jesus. I thought at the time they finally saw the light. But then went right back to their old Testament ways

road to nowhere

Also mentioned dropping non productive return visits and ringing bells where people are not home.

Every study I have seen lately is a special needs person except born ins, and not all them.

So much for getting to nap in the car while the other 2 go have cookies at a RV.

March 2020 Broadcast - Hard Push to Baptism. Why?

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