Danny:
While I agree with you, I find that most analogies they present as arguments are much more subtle than the one you mentioned. First, my familiarity with this verbal analogy does not indicate that the owner of the house knew that the people he left in charge were bad people. He was simply ignorant of their potential and assumed that they would do the right thing. Secondly and thirdly, if the people inform the owner that they are devastating his family and house, one is free to assume that the owner can't really hurry back to resolve the issue and kick them out.
At the same time, I realize that the Watchtower has to appeal with their message to a large number of people. Unfortunately, this means appealing to the lowest common denominator. It's like my brother-in-law, who is a technical writer for military contracts, says: "You have to aim for an 8th grade education and no higher." What that means is you have to make things simple enough for people with limited education or understanding. That explains the serene pastoral depictions of the "new order" that I see in the magazines and books. If I had to live like that, petting lions and having eternal picnics on some meadow, I'd kill myself. What are they thinking? Well, even then, in paradise, I guess we won't be thinking about going to outer space or using any electronics.
The argument I made does not negate the deception that the Watchtower Society perpetrates. If the analogy is correct, how could God be so ignorant as to not know that the people he left in charge would do these bad deeds in and to his "home"? Why didn't he take relatively quick action as he did before when he caused the great flood instead of waiting for thousands of years? Assuming that God knew all along what was going to happen and had to let it happen (as in the case of Adam and Eve, you know free will and all that stuff), why let it go on when the issue had already been tested? Those are the questions in my mind!
What I'd been used to from the Organization was the blatantly skewed logic that they subjected me to. For example: While living at Bethel Farms, I had to be late to work in order to return keys to a car that I had "borrowed" from the farm office so that I could attend my congregation meeting the night before (my car was out of commission). I was written up (without my knowledge) for being late. After I found out, when I tried to explain that it was not possible for me to show up for work at 8:00 sharp because the farm office opened at the same time and they needed the keys first thing in the morning, a huge issue developed. It ended up with me going to assistant Factory Overseer, a cynical bastard, who eventually said to me: "The fact that others are on time means that you too can be on time." I said: "So, the fact that other people are late means I can be late?"
I faced such reasonings early on in my "career" at Bethel, but I shined them on do to my awe of the place. During an early orientation talk, we were told in the same instance that while we should consider Bethel our home and treat it as such, we could not do what we wanted, such as bring in furniture and put up pictures. Furthermore, we were told that before we set out to change things, we should remember that the "way" things are done at Bethel obviously had Jehovah's blessings and we shouldn't try to change anything. So, that meant (in one example) that if you were a press operator (supervisor), the other members of the team couldn't take turns and do your job. That left the operator to look pretty in front of the tours and receive all the limelight while meerly supervising the others and not doing the hard work (yes, there was a pecking order and no way to advance). That's the way Jehovah wanted it. A few years later, I learned that "Jehovah" didn't want that anymore and crews started to take turns at different jobs. But, not until after a lot of people left discontented and frustrated by going against "Jehovah". That kind of thinking really pisses me off because it's more insidious than some silly illustration, verbal or pictorial, aimed at child-like mentalities. I guess that's why they don't want you to get a higher education. That increases their chances to pull the wool over our eyes.
Etude.
