Yes I realise I come at this from what might be a unique angle. Also, I wasn't looking for failures in their doctrine, I found out about the self-evident doctrinal errors through be pleasant and helpful. I was lied to about their doctrines. Then I came to realise that just about everyone else had been lied to and no one quite realised it.
I can only speak of the congregation I was in - not many were equipped to effectively challenge the literature writers. Very few publishers could even distinguish between World War I and World War II. It wasn't that they were stupid, they were too trusting and were not supported with access to accurate facts to which they might have given due consideration. Many in my congregation had very good natures. They were kind and generous but they were being misled and were unable to challenge it. I could not challenge the quasi-intellectual spin either BUT there were some really silly inconsistencies such as the 7th trumpet being handed out in 1919 when 7th one was supposed to have blown in 1914. I went up to a district overseer and asked him about it and he said, "I never realised that before you have two options, either write to the Society or wait on Jehovah to correct things." I said, "I've tried writing, they don't do anything."
Shortly after that exchange there were no more district overseers.
Incidenatlly, it took a few years but after I pointed out that Appendix 5B in the NWT Bible entirely contradicted the 1914 doctrine (2006), they came up with this Revised NWT (2013). They removed Appendix 5B. I don't know if what I had said had any influence on their actions. But I could see how insightful Ray's words were, when he said that the idea of them reforming was wishful thinking.
Hi Vidiot
I appreciate its not news to everyone, just information in an easy to understand format, which I hope helps others to grow in confidence to stand up to these people who mess with language and numbers. Although I was lied to in my study, I never lacked the confidence to speak up. I had freedom of speech. Sadly, I know this is not the case for many.
The way I view it - they took the identity of the House of Jacob in order to pretend they were Christians. I was told that Jesus was the greatest Jehovah's Witness. Well because the Messiah came from the House of Jacob, that seemed quite a reasonable. But the Watchtower was never Jehovah's Witnesses, not in the proper scriptural sense that they wanted you to believe.