The lure of paradise earth?

by little witch 30 Replies latest jw friends

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  little witch

  Can someone explain to me what the excititment is concerning paradise earth, as the dubs see it?

  Paradise seems to be the carrot on a stick for witnesses, but little information seems to be offered.

  From what little discription they do give it seems to me to be a boring place to be. Let me give some examples.

  All peaceful (no disagreements ever) ie, " I would like pomegranates and avocadoes for dinner" "I was just thinking the same thing sister"!

  What of things are absolutely perfect in that sense? There would be no art for one. Such things are open to interpretation. Interpretaion and critiqe, two things that couldnt possibly exist in the dub version of paradise. If I were to see a painting for instance and said " I don't care for this peice" isnt that conflict of some sort?

  And what about these silly pictures of obviously western peoples petting free roaming African lions? Are the animals to be redistributed over the earth? Is that what they are saying?

  And how would the peoples of earth be in contact with each other? I assume that airplanes, cell phones, and cars would be eliminated due to the fact that they are a product of corparate greed etc...

  And who exactly are the makers of the well-tailored western clothing and high heel shoes so often portrayed in the pictures of this paradise? Are there sweat shops in the new order?

  Ok, my post is a little on the silly side. What I am suggesting is this. Paradise is not IMO what keeps most dubs in, I believe it is the fear of armeggedon. Of gods wrath.

  I think this because discriptions of paradise are lacking in the literature, as compared to armeggedon and all the pictures and descriptions of that event.

  It seems to me that their visions of paradise were hashed out in the mid- 1900's. Does anyone know when they came up with paradise v heaven?

  I ask because it seems rooted in "land for all" and seems very agricultural in nature.

  Any comments greatly appreciated.
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  Nosferatu

  One thing that keeps dubs going is the promise that they'll become perfect - health wise in Paradise Erf. The lure for the adults is being able to throw away their glasses, their canes, they'll be able to walk again, there won't be any more physical pain, no dental work, etc etc. The lure for the children is playing with lions, sheep, alligators, etc. I think those play a big part as well as the fear of dying at armageddon.
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  gitasatsangha

  It's the lure of the myth of permanence. JW's have their natural reasoning flipflopped in favor of their aversion to impermanence. In other words, we know that everyone who has ever lived as died, and we will die also. Some persons try to get around it.. freeze their bodies in liquid N2 and hope for the future. Witnesses don't have that kind of money to throw around, but they want the same thing: immortality.

  And immortality rarely has anything to do with quality of life. Look at how wretched medicine allows us to become, just in the name of living another day, making euthanasia illegal. It is just this grasping after what cannot be had. It's as natural to die as it is to be born, but Witnesses are corrupted into thinking otherwise. They are told that in fact dying is NOT natural for human beings, but is in fact the result of two distant ancestors eating some fruit a talking snake conned a woman into munching. That in itself should have thrown up big signal to us at some point. But it goes further. God had to make us Unpermanent because of the whole fruit thing, but he's made a way out of it, in some complicated formula involving a sacrficice (and if you get right down to it, Christianity really is a cult of human sacrifice) of God's son, selling Watchtowers etceter until you get to survive when God get's medieval again and kills most everybody else. But after that (and Armageddon's dissapointing sequal a thousand years later), you get to live forever, like you were supposed to.

  And we put aside our wonderings about what the hell we were going to do for a trillion billion years eating fruit and living in the Southern Alps, playing Rummy with Brother and Sister Jones for the billionth time, or whatever they always paint Paradise as being. We put that aside, because we've already given up our sanity to this desire to never die. Some people come up with fantasies of colonizing the universe, not that that wouldn't be boring after awhile too. Oh look.. wow.. another nebula. Great. Wish I could have sex, but Jehovah lovingly took that away after Armageddon. Oh God I wish I could die.

  But we put those thoughts away.
• 

  Carmel

  Pure materialism! Yet they are the first to decry materialism...go figure!

  carmel
• 

  little witch

  I see what you mean Gita.

  But deeper. Because babylon the great teaches a very similar never die thing (heaven, and btw, a direct ticket. mainstream christianity teaches that we will NEVER die, but go straight to the lord)

  So I guess my question is, why make the trade in for the direct ticket?

  And why is the vision of paradise earth not more fully understood since god is speaking directly to witnesses? Should we not have a better picture of what things will be like? Why the emphasis on armeggedon with all those cool pics of distruction, and not on paradise?

  Thanks for your responses. This is something I have been pondering about a great deal.
• 

  Nosferatu

  I have another comment to add...

  I think what's happening with the young ones in the borg is technology is getting too advanced to go back to the basics. Playing with lions may have been a wonderful thought back in the 1960s, but now you have more young ones who would rather sit inside and play video games rather than playing with their puppy outside. If the WTS wants to keep younger ones in, all they have to do is say, "you'll be able to play video games that are far more advanced than any from this old system of things". Tell me what kid won't fall for that!

  I also forgot to mention another lure that applies to everyone- being reunited with loved ones because of the resurrection. People who die at armageddon won't be resurrected, but people who died before armageddon will. It's an absolutely brilliant piece of bullshit to keep people loyal, but still have hope.
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  franklin J

  Nos,

  you have a good point about the resurrection. The Paradise earth is a subjective perspective; but to be reunited with deceased loved ones is a powerful motivation.
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  little witch

  Nos,

  You see what I mean. The old idea of paradise is boring and stale. It isnt pushed very much now days.

  I am not suggesting that they should update their paradise idea, I rather like the thought that it is unattractive. lol.

  I am thinking that fear is the driving force. Never once did I hear a good talk on paradise, or hear it discribed in detail.

  On the other hand, visual pictures were aplenty, as well as verbally colorful discriptions of armeggedon.

  Thanks again for all responses.
• 

  gitasatsangha

  And why is the vision of paradise earth not more fully understood since god is speaking directly to witnesses? Should we not have a better picture of what things will be like? Why the emphasis on armeggedon with all those cool pics of distruction, and not on paradise?

  There are several thousand sects of Christanity right now, and JW's are one, though the argument could be made they are too distinct from Chrsitanity to be considered Christian. Anyway, selling fear get's em to stay. People don't go to the door selling armageddon. It doesn't work. If you want negative enforcement to get people to believe in you, burning hell is much more unplesant then nonexistance. And hellfire is something the Witness theologians can't fall back on, as they've never taught it.

  But this paradise earth thing was a big seller for people because of the never dying aspect of it. Almost every religion teaches something or other about what happens after death, be it heaven, hell, transmigration, purgatory, rapture (which does involve death of the body), samsarra, or some other form of reincarnation. The Witnesses are pretty unique in that they still teach that the majority of their followers will NEVER die. That's really their only selling point. I think the concept of paradise earth did once appeal to people, especially in the industrial age, and probably still does in some third world countries, who long for clean places to enjoy that they never have before. However, the religions of the east offer basically the same thing (in a very crude view) in reincarnation, so the Witnesses aren't the only heaven-alternative these days.

  But I think that the never-dying thing is still their modus operandi. They won't depart from it easilly, beacuse without it, they will be just another religion.
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  little witch

  "selling fear"

  I believe so. I also agree that door to door is heavy on paradise, lite on armeggedon.

  Once they get new ones suckered in the reverse is true. Heavy on armeggedon, lite on paradise.

  Good points Gita