Is the Watchtower Organization Playing a Practical Joke on JWs?

by Disillusioned JW 9 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Disillusioned JW

  By a number of its teachings, rules, and practices is the WT organization playing a practical joke on JWs?
  
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  road to nowhere

  No. They have no sense of humor. Nor conscience or empathy
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  asp59

  I wonder sometimes if they want a lots of people to abandon religion. Maeby to rebrand and get other members that can push forward org with new ideas and money. I mean how can they print something like overlapping generation or have tony Morrison giving speeches. It's not natural for group of people to take such bad decisions. This must be in the plans.
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  Disillusioned JW

  asp59 you might be on to something. I disbelieve that the governing body members want to destroy all religion to the point of even destroying the JW religion, but maybe the people directly running the WT corporations want to do such. Maybe the people now running the WT corporations are PIMO and are giving the governing body a figurative rope to figuratively hang themselves and their religion, by allowing the governing body to have so much attention and thus reveal their shortcomings (at least that which non-JWs would consider to be shortcomings).

  Having governing body members give speeches in videos is like Rutherford and Russell having their names listed as the authors of their books and WT articles, a practice that was recognized during the Knorr era as being a bad practice for it tended to create a cult following (at least in the case of Russell). We see during the past 10 to years that the WT/JW religion has become much more cult like in its behavior.

  It was about 20 years ago that the governing body ceased being a part of the WT corporations. That was done to protect the governing body from lawsuits against the WT and those running the WT. But by so doing the WT corporations now have a degree, at least legally, of independence from the governing body. If the WT will eventually end the JW religion and then transform the WT into an atheistic secular organization which encouraged secular higher education and which taught the public how to obtain fulfilling secular lives that would be great!

  Image if in the future a transformed WT (likely with a change in the name of the organization) taught cosmological evolution, chemical evolution, and biological evolution in its literature, instead of intelligent design biblical special creationism. Imagine if it taught how to be successful in business and in other careers in its literature. Such would benefit human society and it would bring new ideas and money into the organization! Imagine if it became a major publisher of atheistic literature and once again took up Rutherford's theme of "religion is a snare and a racket" - but without promoting worship of Jehovah or any other alleged deity. Wow, that would be awesome! If it did that I might would join the remade organization for then it would be the type of organization that I already want to exist (and which I sometimes fantasize of of trying to bring about)!
  
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  Disillusioned JW

  The WT magazine could become renamed as "The Watchtower: Announcing the New World Society". It could take up the theme of part of the Golden Age magazines about the world getting better, as shown by the technological improvements and the increase of human rights - or perhaps those themes cold be part of renamed Awake! online magazine.
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  luckynedpepper

  But by so doing the WT corporations now have a degree, at least legally, of independence from the governing body.

  If you are a member of a Congregation corporation, the minute you cease to meet the criteria set in the by-laws, you lose your membership in the congregation and lose your position as an Officer, etc. The same thing here- the minute a WT corporation member / officer steps out of line; they are disciplined and removed, either defacto or procedurally. There is no real autonomy.
  
  
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  Overrated

  Just a Real Estate Empire made to look like a religion with 8 dumbasses at the lead.
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  OnTheWayOut

  Adding to Overrated's comment- It's no joke.
  
  Watchtower was established as a giant printing corporation and the locals were allowed to fall as independent congregations and as long as they bought the books and magazines and resold them to the public. From the beginning, control was established over the independents so that they would see a need for the books and magazines. But really, they controlled their own land.

  Two major things happened to change that. First and foremost was a concern that the United States faced a possibility that profits from products that religions sell was going to be taxed. So Watchtower started charging no set amount for literature and sought "donations" for it. That sounded good, as they were a clearly established cult and cult members would contribute all their money to the cause- IN THEORY. It didn't work out quite that way.
  
  Secondly, Watchtower saw a gold mine in the quick build arrangement and remodeling of KH's. Borrow from Watchtower to build, pay loyal brothers for their equipment and building supplies at high rates, offsetting the cost with absolutely free labor and all should be fine. If a congregation ever had surplus amounts of money, tell them they needed to remodel the hall and use the quick build arrangement. That way, the construction suppliers stayed in the money.
  
  But even this wasn't enough. Congregations could eventually pay off the mortgage and despite the control of Mother, deny the need for remodeling. Remodeling wasn't much of a boon for Mother, but more for their loyal construction companies. Mother needed more and still kept losing more money on that dammed literature deal they thought would work out.

  McDonalds established themselves as the king of the real estate model for hamburger restaurants. The sales are important, but the expansion of the corporation via real estate transactions is more important to the corporation. Whether Watchtower directly copied that or just figured it out thru the quick build arrangement, soon Mother was stealing all the properties away from those that actually paid for them.
  
  The literature had to be a bit profitable to stay afloat, but it kept having to be scaled back to stay alive. Today, I have little doubt that it is a burden that only still exists because old-timers prefer printed materials and old-timers are their only real contributors of money. The magazines will soon die and most printed materials will cease as the presses get older and no modernization goes forward anymore.
  
  Back to the original subject. Doctrinal changes are designed to sell more printed materials. It doesn't work anymore, so now they just don't care. If crazy changes driven by desperation come out, they don't care if it shakes off many members. Those members were not contributing enough money anyway, and Watchtower can sell more Halls if there are less members.
  
  Edited to add- The paperback Bible could stay in existence similar to Amazon's print-on-demand. You order it and a computer prints it and binds it softbound. That's the future I see for Watchtower's printed materials. Although, they could just tell people to get a tablet Bible.
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  Overrated

  To quote McDonald's " 8 Million Sold and Dropping !"
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  Disillusioned JW

  Maybe instead of saying "Is the Watchtower Organization Playing a Practical Joke on JWs?" I should have said "Does the Watchtower Organization Regard its Readers as Fools and are they Secretly Laughing at Them?"

  The WT literature has many times used odd language where they say one thing but word it in such a way as to suggest something else. They have said that a number of JWs drew incorrect expectations about a number of things, including about 1914 and 1975, though it was the WT itself which proclaimed and taught those expectations in the WT's literature to JWs. The WT, after they said it was a conscious matter for JWs to accept non-military service (such as being medical workers) instead of having to go to prison for refusal to engage in combat, said JWs were foolish to reject such an option - even though the WT previously said that those accepting such an option would be committing a grave wrong. A tremendous number of times the WT has made extravagant claims and have told JWs that they must agree with what the WT says or risk being shunned, yet later the WT abandoned a number of its claims saying their own claims were in error .