When the JW Broadcasting website was first announced at last year’s annual meeting I immediately relished the prospect of seeing Tony Morris in front of the camera in glorious technicolor for an hour-long show.
I consider myself Tony’s number 1 troll. He is, in my opinion, the most deluded, controversial and intellectually-challenged of all the Governing Body members, and I unashamedly thrive on his misadventures.
As Tony’s train-wreck performance at the 2014 U.S. branch visit showed (which has yet to find a place in the “on demand” section of tv.jw.org), his unguarded rants are an Achilles heel when it comes to exposing the authoritarian, backwards thinking of the Governing Body.
I was nearing the end of my recent stay in Belgium when the news came through that the new January 2015 episode of JW Broadcasting was Tony’s slot. I immediately watched the first 10 minutes with one question on my mind: “Would they let him speak his mind, or would they write his script for him and keep him on a tight leash?”
To watch the Tony Morris presentation without my comments, click here.
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this was indeed an authentic Tony Morris offering of verbal flatulence of the type other Governing Body members struggle to replicate. Here was a man whose ignorance was on show for all to see; who had no qualms about uttering such ‘pearls’ as…
“If we are in continued association with those who do not believe the same, it can erode our thinking and convictions.”
“It is one thing to work on a job with others, and quite another matter to immerse oneself in an institution of ‘learning’!”
“I have long said: the better the university, the greater the danger. The most intelligent and eloquent professors will be trying to reshape the thinking of your child, and their influence can be tremendous.”
The above three quotes show in a nutshell why Watchtower is so terrified of young Witnesses going to college and university. They know full well that the critical thinking skills gained, which are an essential part of learning, can equip a person to quickly see through their propaganda.
Put simply, education is Watchtower’s enemy. Knowledge is the antidote to their indoctrination techniques.
Nothing spells this out more clearly than the scripture chosen by Tony as a ‘basis’ for the prohibition on higher education. When the Apostle Paul, himself the beneficiary of a good education (or so we are told), spoke about “bad associations spoiling useful habits” he was apparently issuing a call to arms against the Ivy League. (1 Cor. 15:33)
The flimsiness of this scriptural invocation should by itself tell parents and budding students everything they need to know about Watchtower’s motives. Watchtower’s notion of “bad association” in this context is spending time with clever, well-read people who will help you to think for yourself.
But if there is one thing you should never underestimate, it is the potency of Watchtower’s coercion techniques on its indoctrinated prey. And in Tony Morris’ half-hour rant against eduction, these were out in full force.
A classic example can be found between 07:25 and 08:20, where Tony regurgitates a hypothetical scenario (repeated from earlier talks, see video below) in which parents drop off their child to attend university, and enroll him/her at the local kingdom hall only for ‘disaster’ to ensue once the child makes a break for it and starts missing meetings.
“My question is,” bellows an indignant Tony, “who dropped them off at the university?”
Thus the “three F’s” of a Tony Morris talk are deployed:
- FEAR MONGERING – “Let me tell you about a nightmare scenario that could happen to you one day unless you shape up.”
- FINGER POINTING – “Allow me to single out those who fell short of Jehovah’s expectations in this scenario, and who will pay the price for doing so.”
- FAULT FINDING – “Most importantly, here are the main culprits in this whole sad story who bear the most responsibility and need to explain themselves to God.”
- There is a fourth “F” in a quintessential Tony Morris talk, but to spare your blushes I will refrain from telling you it.
As transparent as these methods may be to you and I, it is sad to consider that they will work only too well on Witnesses who are stricken deep within their indoctrination.
As I express in my video rebuttal to Tony’s speech, Watchtower’s prohibition on higher education is an abhorrent manifestation of the organization’s all-encompassing greed and solipsism. To hijack the hope, promise and potential of young people in this grotesque manner by stifling their opportunities and assimilating them into their propaganda machinery as “pioneers” is utterly reprehensible and immoral.
I can only hope that a fortunate few among the ranks of young Witnesses will see straight through Tony’s nasal oratory and seize their chance to make a break for it, and make something of themselves before the opportunity passes them by.
Further reading…
- Friendly Atheist article on Tony’s higher education rant
- Deluded or dangerous? My thoughts on Anthony Morris III following his Rome visit
- After his branch visit performance, is “Tight Pants Tony” now a liability for the Governing Body?
- Watchtower continues crusade against higher education
Related video…
Yes!!! That’s who he reminds me of… Dick Cheney, can’t stand the man… Forgive me for not being politically neutral…
@Brother David. I know that what you are saying is correct. I have seen several youngsters from our own congregation who have gone to good colleges and are in good standing, in fact, looked up to. I will explain how this works in the Org. if you are new or young.
I can think of 3 youngsters in our congregation just recently who attended and are attending college right now and are looked up to as “fine” examples.
One young girl was away from home and was going to college in our town and one of the elder’s wives picked her up from the dorms and brought her to the meetings and was so proud of her like she was her own daughter. When I couldn’t conduct a study with a young girl that I had started, I turned the study over to this young girl and both her and the elder’s wife that picked her up for meetings converted her. And then the girl graduated and moved away. The people in the congregation treated her like a little princess and nobody made any comments about her going to college.
The other two that are going to college are the children of a ministerial servant who also went to college and has a really good job. His oldest son got a full scholarship to a MIT. He is a genius. I remember that child giving grown up answers from the time he was 3 years old. Everybody in our congregation was also very proud of him. Last year, his younger sister was sent off to college with a going away party from our congregation and the elder who is a professor, is the one that had the going away party for her. I was forced to give her a going away card with a smile and money in the card, since everyone else in the congregation didn’t see a thing wrong with sending her off with a party.
It all depends on who you are in the congregation. If you are an elder or a close friend of an elder, they can do what they dam well please but those very same elders will point the finger at you if you even suggest you might want your child to go to college and those very same elders will give talks from the platform saying that it’s materialistic for anyone to go to college. To live like that and be happy about it, drives a sane person crazy. That same attitude is shown in the above letter that Cedars put on this post. The Society wants lawyers but they “say” they aren’t encouraging anybody to go to college????? Does that make sense to anybody????
Brother David
The org does not ‘prohibit’ you from associating with disfellowshipped ones, try doing it and see what happens.
@pickledbrain,Ime one of those you described,my interest in my final high school years was electronics,but I always had elders recommending a trade since “that will be useful in the new system,not things to do with electronics”.
At the time I had no reason to disagree with my elders so I followed their advice and got an apprenticeship in cabinet making,now at 52 the trade has been destroyed by cheap imports from Asia,I’ve got a fibroma in my right lung from mdf dust,just a matter of time and it will be cancer,of course back then “the generation that will not pass away “was not old enough yet to question the doctrine.
So my feeling is that anyone who bases their financial future on watchtower advice,from the likes of tight pants tony,had better have the best and tightest relationship with Jehovah because in the end that’s all your going have,and even that’s questionable without the full benefit of the new covenant.
Ten years ago I went to college, and one of the elders was actually a little worried about what the effect would be on me, of the strongly negative opinion in the watchtower about higher education. That was kinda cute. But, when I said it didn’t bother me because I thought it wasn’t applicable to me, I’m not so sure what he thought of that reaction… I never really understood back then why they would warn so strongly against it, while around here it’s almost a necessity. The elder didn’t have an answer for that one. Now I do, the fear mongering element is very much present indeed.
OF course they are against higher education. They are afraid someone will question and learn something factual that contradicts their ever changing doctrines.
There is another Video on You tube you can see Brother Loesh giving a talk in in Italy about 5-6 years ago against higher education and uses the most RIDICULOUS and extreme illustration against Higher education I have ever heard.
2 Things in Tony’s talk. I noticed. 1 he said the F&D Slave back in 2005 wrote an article about Higher education? Well, the F&D Slave in 2005 was different then the F&D Slave today right? Back then it was ALL OF THE ANNOINTED in the world, now it is ONLY the 7 GB members? So he is using a false F&D Slave understanding to prove his point. 2. In the video there was a PLAQUE given in “HONOR” of a Faithful JW in the Netherlands and the WT is very proud of it and highlighted it in the unveiling of it. Isn’t that the reason the JW”s say they do not celebrate B days? BC it draws attention to men and honors Men instead of honoring God? So it is OK to “Honor” someone as long as he/she is connected to the WT and they get credit for it? What a bunch of crap these guys throw on mankind.
When the WT starts to pay someone’s bills they can then
tell them to go to college or not. It shouldn’t even be on the their dumb video anyway. Education should be a non issue. None of their business what anyone does.
I’m sure this will be popping up on multiple blogs soon, but I think it’s hilarious that the February WT titled “How To Enjoy Your Work” features a window cleaner. I had no idea how much of a JW thing that really was, but then again I have worked for two brothers at different times cleaning windows. :)
Paul Grundy’s excellent article on Education goes into the topic in quite some depth which I thoroughly recommend. Higher education is about training you to think. Jehovah’s Witnesses train you not to think. That is the source of the problem.
“Did he incite his hearers to strap on a vest bomb and blow up a bus or train?”
He wants his viewers to give up their dreams and goals (or that of their kids) and live and work (for free) for the organisation he is leading.
It is a good thing to make the behaviour of the organisation public and show how they are used to manipulate their followers.
James Broughton –
I agree with you, as would the late
classical scholar, Sir Maurice Bowra, who believed that the object of higher education is not the accumulation of knowledge, but the training of the mind to think.
Yes, The Watchtower Society does not want their youngsters to have the ability to think for themselves. This lack of education allows the Society to do their thinking for them. No-one should have to look outside of the Watchtower publications for any guidance or advice, as theirs is ‘the best education anyone could have’. The perfect recipe for mind control!
Cedars – Maybe we should change the name of ‘Tight Pants Tony’ to ‘T.. Head Tony’ following his blunder over the pronunciation of ‘Mother’ in Spanish.
Could this be a ‘breast’ obsession looming??
“Evidently”, the “Organization” does not disfellowship members for getting a higher education or for other non-biblical-based directions (e.g. wearing “Spanx” or tight suits)… It does not have to. The “Organization” leverages “Groupthink” dynamics to take care of this for them…
Groupthink (from Wikipedia): “Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people, in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation of alternative viewpoints, by actively suppressing dissenting viewpoints, and by isolating themselves from outside influences.
Loyalty to the group requires individuals to avoid raising controversial issues or alternative solutions, and there is loss of individual creativity, uniqueness and independent thinking. The dysfunctional group dynamics of the “ingroup” produces an “illusion of invulnerability” (an inflated certainty that the right decision has been made). Thus the “ingroup” significantly overrates its own abilities in decision-making, and significantly underrates the abilities of its opponents (the “outgroup”). Furthermore groupthink can produce dehumanizing actions against the “outgroup”.”
StrongHaiku –
Scary but true. Right on.
All along the Watchtower.
Love ya lad. Let’s f*** em
Tight connection to my heart. Bob d.x
Brother David I know of two elders that were asked to step down because their kids decided to go to Uni, its not a good look when an elder gives a talk on higher education and all the demons associated with it, then their kids go, so the elders have to set the example of applying the dictates of the GB , sure its not a DF matter, but one is not in good standing and would be regarded as a week JW not spiritual and would no doubt not be giving privileges like handling the mike and prayer taking the witnessing group and so on.
@Wild Olive. Your comment is excellent and hits the nail on the head!! My heart goes out to you and I hope your lung problems don’t degenerate into cancer. The GB bear HEAVY RESPONSIBILITY & GUILT for encouraging their flock to go into trades instead of university!!
@Strong Haiku . BRILLIANT ANALYSIS your last comment .Really really enjoyed it.It is this Groupthink where anyone questions the GB or latest New Light is immediately shunned or looked upon as bad association & excluded from social events. I KNOW it has happened to me !!!
My pleasure. It helps that my girlfriend is getting her master’s degree in “Psychology/Counseling”. For the past year I have been telling her about my JW experience, my leaving, and all of the horrible fallout afterwards. She provides me a great objective perspective and insight on the JWs and in dealing with the dysfunctions from that.
On a side note: As of late, I have found it very useful to try to understand the “Organization” from an objective perspective (e.g. from a Business, Psychological, Legal, Religious framework) and look at the pieces. Take it apart and you find that the “magic” evaporates and it looses all power(“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain…”). Once I started doing that I was able to stop having fear to scrutinize the “Organization”. The only guilt I feel now is that it took me 25 years to do so.
To me, this is a perfect example of there being two religions inside of JW Land.
The one religion where they tell the world that they don’t condemn higher education and even publish that on JW.org
Then you have the internal religion where it’s not printed but they pretty much tell you that if you go for higher education you’re not spiritual, will not get privileges and are looked down by all.
It’s scary that this guy is running the Jw’s.
@Tom, glad to hear you quit studying after seeing the video. I wish it was available to me years ago. I might have avoided a bad decision and wasted time. Back then, my study conductor never said anything about higher education. He didn’t show me a May 1969 Awake, and it wasn’t in the baptism questions. I was like a fish, lured and hooked.
At least nowadays with the Internet, people can hear the full story, and make an informed decision.
As anonymous notes, some congregations tolerate and even celebrate higher education. But as Kat notes, others strictly adhere to the GB policy. It depends on the local body of elders, and thus the WT organization has this hidden riptide of disagreement and disobedience. Will it ever make a difference? Hard to say. But the WT has been known to change with the times.
Not that I would care though. They would still be guilty of other deceptions and hypocrisy.
Caveat emptor.
I imagine that the GB are pretty thankful when they may go to a doctor and he is able to provide them relief from whatever ails them. But on the other hand they discourage people from going to university – such hypocrites.
Since the watchtower discourages higher education, they should really not be using lawyers, accountants, doctors etc.
But then again since the lawyers and accountants are the ones really in charge of this religion, who would run the asylum?
@rob, you beat me to it. But let me add, they should not drive a car across any large bridge, because college educated engineers were required to build that bridge.
And what about WT computer programmers? Are they all two year tech grads? Or just high schoolers maybe? If so, I pity their self defense skills against hackers.
To reject technology, without hypocrisy, you must live like the Amish. At least they’re self consistent with their own ideals. The WT obviously is not. WT hypocrisy runs deep, to its very core.
It’s a long way down that rabbit hole …
I was at one time in a pretty liberal congregation, what really bugs me is the bubble that these folks lived (and continue) to live in…. They think that everything that is allowed in said congregation is how it is in ALL of the WT. It never ceased to amaze me on how things were happening in the KH, but there we were on Sundays being lectured on how said things are no bueno… no wonder most in the hall are on some kind of anti depressant or hooked on pain killers (dulls the mind). in fact the KOBE and his wife would take regular trips to Mexico to be able to get meds that are not prescribed here in the states. so happy I finally stood up for myself and bounced… It is my goal to be a better, well rounded person for my daughter (who still goes to placate her mother) so she can see that all of the propganda about those who leave the borg is BS.
Peace and love peace and love…
It is obvious that is not love for God or the truth that moves Tony Morris advising against higher education..
If he loved the truth I wouldn’t place himself at the same level as God and his son by deliberately misquoting Matthew 24:45 and calling apostate who interpretes that scripture as Jesus intended.
For Jesus all man are the same
Matthew 23:8 – “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.
Jesus wa humble although the Son of the most high
Matthew 8:20 – Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
Morris clearly enjoy that position showing an expensive suit, a gold rigs, better then a politican. He clearly is worlds apart from the humble Christians such as the apostles.
He clearly has no conscience, teaching interpretation of the slave group as it suits them.
He has no problem allowing wordly songs to be played in Kingdom Halls.
He has no problems selling bethels to ‘Babylon the Great’
Touble standards always apply to others like the catholic church, never to them.
He has no remorse for the thousand of people that soffer depression for losing their loved family, often becuase they did not want to loose their indegrity.
As all corrupted system, they will end like the Sadducees and Pharisees sects. I hope that they are more intelligent and they stop teaching lies if they really love God and respect their intelligence.
How can independent thinking ever be a bad thing. Only in WT is independent thinking painted with a scary brush. “Let us remember it was the devil and his independent thinking that led to his leaving god”.
The ability to use your mind and reason and come to your own conclusions is the beginning of maturity and higher education is a vehicle that can greatly assist in that goal.
Ha ha ha! I laugh at those idiotic overlords manipulating the membership like puppeteers. I went to university, got a degree in electrical engineering, and am working in the silicon valley for a world renown software company. Had I listened to those idiots, I would be mowing lawns like a dumbass in Fresno, CA with 100+ degree summer days barely making ends meet. Instead, I do well for my family, have an 8-5 job, and posses a certain set of skills (I love that movie!) that the Watchtower overlords would love to have in their Conditioning Center. (Watchtower) Had I not gone to university, they wouldn’t want me. I guess they have enough cooking and cleaning staff. What a bunch of hypocrites!!!
What kind of skills? Nunchuck skills? Bow hunting skills? Computer hacking skills? LOL! Nice.
Good on you for getting an education and making a life for yourself. The best revenge is success…
Although, I have to say, after 25 years I can still clean a window without leaving a streak, clean a carpet, and strip and wax a floor in record time. But now I pay someone to do it.
Woops! I think you were referring to “Taken”. My head went to “Napoleon Dynamite” incorrectly. Sorry about that.
If you are a young person coming here, don’t let the Watchtower make you think that you aren’t a spiritual person if you want to go to college to support yourself. If you want to go to college, don’t let anybody stop you. They are right when it comes to cost. If you think you might be in deep debt for the rest of your life, and you still want to go, try and find a cheaper way to get a degree but don’t let that stop you.
This is what the Watchtower wants you to think: That if you want to get a good job, you are materialistic but that isn’t true. There is nothing wrong in getting a good job to support yourself. You don’t want to be a burden on your parents or society to take care of you and there is nothing wrong with wanting to live decently.
The Society wants you to get a part time job so you can pioneer (sell Watchtower) so think about it. What kind of part time job is going to pay you enough money for health insurance, a car, car repairs, car insurance, food, clothing and rent? What if you want to get married and have children? Anybody who pioneers and quits is made to feel ashamed of themselves so a lot of couples either “accidently” get pregnant, or come up with some incurable disease or move away, rather than suffer the “shame” of being a “loser” that the society will make you feel by quitting so be prepared that if you start pioneering,, think of it as a life-time “career” for you.
How does the Society make you keep pioneering? Pioneer school, pioneer meetings when the circuit overseer comes around, being put up on the stage at assemblies, being invited over to people’s houses and on and on. As long as you play the part, people will admire you and invite you over to their houses. Once you have your car break down and you get sick, where will these people be for you? Will they give you the money for a new car or pay your rent or your doctor’s bills? No. You will be on your own. You won’t be able to save for your future and you will be living from hand to mouth all your life and then when you get old, no social security.
So, all your life, you will be scrounging for a living by “putting Jehovah first in your life”. You will never count for anything except how many hours you put in service.
The society likes to say that JW’s don’t feel like they are “buying” their way into heaven by putting in hours, but that is exactly what it is, just not heaven, but the earth instead.
It is your life that is in front of you. Don’t waste it, being an unpaid magazine salesman.
Amen to all of the above comments.
It’s just too stupid for words.
http://tv.jw.org/#video/VODProgramsEvents/pub-jwbmw_E_201501_2_VIDEO
Years ago the teachings made kind of sense but now it is becoming total speculation and fantasy.
How Jesus communicated his decision? Is it a fact? or because they were too good, so they were selected automatically. What kind of reasoning is that?
How people that love God can say such fantasies. This is making up myths and lies. This is scary!
How can they channel all this devotion to few men in US, how can they accept it without feeling ashamed in the eyes of God?
This is mind blowing!!!!!
@Anonymous your comment about pioneering above is EXACTLY what happened to me and my feelings . I went to pioneer school in 1982 and was used on the platform at circuit assemblies as a fine example what a young single adult brother should be like (90 hours a month ,240 mags &6 bible studies a month , 3 of whom got baptised) . Yes I FELT SPECIAL but when I run out of money & burnt out mentally& physically I came off pioneering let’s be honest I had the field service overseer visit me for the first time in 3 years & ask me IF I HAD COMMITTED A SERIOUS SIN!!! Noooo I said I WAS WORN OUT!! This man ??? Visited me a week before the circuit overseers visit because it would look bad on him if the number of pioneers in congregation were going down .It is all about NUMBERS,NUMBERS!! Hours,books,studies,brochures,etc I know one pioneer who came off & he said he was distraught with himself for letting the JEHOVAH & congregation down !! He committed SUICIDE a few years later!! Another pioneer came off & had a MENTAL BREAKDOWN & tried to kill his wife. He was disfellowshipped & his wife divorced him! This organisation messes with people’s heads & turns them into depressed people because of FAILED PROMISES!! GENERATION is only 70 or 80 years changed to Generation of wicked people in 1995 & then Generation of overlapping anointed in 2010 . WHAT NEXT when another 10 years have passed !
Matthew chapter 24 (NKJV)
24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.
The WT fulfills this prophecy. Failed promises, false claim to be the “faithful and discreet slave,” etc.
@David, thanks for the video link. They say plainly: the GB is the FDS. The July 2013 WT said the same thing, but with wording that left some wiggle room for deniability. But the video says it loud and clear. It’s undeniable now.
They said the FDS “new light” protects us from apostates, who could claim to be anointed, sowing confusion among the sheep.
But the WT itself is the false christ Jesus warned about. The WT has always misapplied Jesus words about the FDS, claiming the title for themselves. Jesus was not asking anyone to claim the title. He was showing what qualities he looks for in a slave. Only Jesus can judge his slaves. They can’t judge themselves. Anyone claiming such a title, is taking the place of Jesus.
That’s what false christs do. They take the place of Jesus.
@anonymous,isn’t it interesting how if a person questions the validity of so called “truths”that somehow they become unspiritual/fleshly thinker,I was trapped by that assumption for a long time,then one day I realised that I accepted what I was taught as Gods truth,I wasn’t the problem nor was my attitude,what was taught to me just wasn’t true,I hope jws reading this wake up to the deception.
@David, thank you for that post. I watched the one you were talking about and it shows how gullible Witnesses are to accept what he (Watchtower) says as truth. He referred to the great crowd of other sheep. The Great crowd aren’t mentioned until Revelation and they are the ones that come out of the Great Tribulation. There isn’t any place in the Bible where you will see Great Crowd of other sheep. The other sheep are what Jesus was talking about who weren’t Jews so obviously had to be the Gentiles. So, that was a lie.
Secondly, he said that the Faithful and Discreet slave was appointed in 1919 to feed the domestics. How many comings are there? If he came in 1919 to appoint the Faithful and Discreet slave, then that means when he comes again during the Great Tribulation to judge the nations, that would be his 3rd coming. The Watchtower has always said that Jesus came the 2nd time in 1914, then again in 1919 and stayed (presence). They can’t get their story straight. How many times does Jesus come anyway?
Third, the parable says that (if) the slave does a good job feeding Jesus sheep, THEN Jesus would appoint the slave over all his belongings. So, since Jesus hasn’t come the (3rd) time and hasn’t passed judgement that they did a good job feeding the domestics, they can’t claim to be the Faithful and Discreet slave. Only Jesus does that when he appoints the slave over all his belongings just as White Rabbit said in his post.
In the past, we were taught that the Faithful and Discreet slave was all of the 144,000 right? Who gives these men the right to make that claim for themselves? How arrogant can these people be?
I got into a discussion with my husband over this article a couple weeks ago. I had watched Winston’s videos (Watchtower Examination) that he has posted about how the Society destroys the 1914 doctrine with that July 2013 Study edition of the Watchtower and my husband had insisted that Jesus’ presence or parousia happened in 1919 and that he is still “present” and so using that 1913 Watchtower and all the articles that Winston pointed out in his video, that Jesus presence, 2nd coming, parousia, coming, all meant 1914 according to what the Watchtower had always taught. He didn’t believe me until I got out all those articles and showed them to him.
So, this new understanding is basically saying then that Jesus didn’t come in 1914 or 1919. Also, was Jesus “invisible” presence in heaven or on the earth? When was he ruling among his enemies? In Heaven? How could he be ruling in heaven among all his enemies? Would he have enemies in heaven after he kicked out Satan and his hoards down to the earth? There are so many questions that the Society can’t answer so they just say all these ridiculous things and the Witnesses just accept it as truth without a question or a whimper. It’s sad and pathetic just as you said Wild Olive.
These guys think by virtue of the fact that they were born with a penis and have a deeper voice than
women that they are just so much smarter than the average Joe or Sally.
I think these guys talk and talk and talk and their wives or anybody else that is forced to sit and listen to them, don’t say a word to them, only because the people who have to listen to them are polite and don’t want to tell them that all they are, are big bags of wind.
How many people have the guts to stand up to these guys and ask them some intelligent questions and make them answer them coherently?
@White rabbit& &@Anonymous& @Wild olive . You all have made Excellent Analysis of how the GB operate . One sister said to me ‘There are so many changes in the last few years of what we used to understand about 1) The Generation 2) Sheep& Goats 3) F&D Slave 4)Gog 5) wise & foolish Virgins 6) King of the North etc that she has given up working it out & just believes anything the GB says as they are chosen by JEHOVAH !! So basically if you keep changing doctrine & teachings so frequently it causes confusion & you hand over your whole body & mind to the GB without reasoning like it says in 1 John 4v.1,2 . SCARY & FRIGHTENING what is happening to millions of JWs!!
Folks,
The governing body are claiming to be an illustration, or a story, or a parable! They may as well claim to be the Good Samaritan!
The Good Samaritan didn’t really exist. JESUS wasn’t reporting an actual event. He was forming a moral point through a story that his audience would understand.
The faithful and discreet slave is not a “class” or a group of people. It’s an illustration of how JESUS expected people to behave if they had to have any authority over fellow Christians. This authority had checks and balances, that have been completely ripped apart by the WTBTS.
My goodness! These morons take a literal number from figurative tribes (144,000), they claim domination of all with a parable about slaves!
When was the last time you heard of any slave telling other people what to do? It’s absolute nonsense!
If we are to be judged by JESUS, then let us all relax. We simply have to treat our fellow human beings, and all life, with compassion.
Peace be with you,
Excelsior!
@ Excelsior . Couldn’t agree more with you !! F& D slave is a parable just like Good Samaritan !! 144,000 CANNOT be LITERAL . Why?? Here is proof .In the Proclaimers book there were just over 52,000 anointed taking the emblems in 1935 . There were 90,000 taking emblems in 1925 but after failure of Abraham , Isaac & princes returning to earth the numbers went down to 17000 in 1927 . In 1982 there were 8000 taking emblems! Now in 2014 there were 14000!! In the first century 3000& then 5000 were baptized on just 2 days in ACTS . Then good news preached in all creation !Nero burned alive , threw to wild animals 1000s of Christians there were congregations all over the Roman Empire As far down as France,Spain, Cyprus,Crete,Italy,Turkey,Corinth,Galatia,Thessalonica,Philipi,Jerusalem,etc Peter was in Babylon. The number of anointed Christians by end of first century alone was way over 200,000 by the time John died on Patmos in 98ce. Remember Rutherford said GREAT CROWD didn’t start until 1935??? Where is that date in the Bible?? All Christians before this date were Anointed . I SMELL RATS !! LARGE ONES ??? They love PORKY PIES !!
Wow Anthony Morris is so damn crazy. Why can’t JWs see all this cultish stuff. Ugh.
I’d rather play grand theft auto 5 than watch this crap
Great comments on all of the inconsistent interpretations from the “Organization”. Here is something to consider that might add another piece to explaining their constant need to “explain” everything:
We all know our brains are wired to pick up patterns from noise (e.g. visual images, sounds, etc.) to get us through every day life. However, this innate tendency can become so exaggerated that it seeks patterns even when there is none. This phenomenon is usually categorized as “Apophenia” (i.e. “…the experience of seeing patterns or connections in random or meaningless data.”)
There are lots of good studies and books on that (and other related) phenomenon. One of the most interesting ongoing question being debated is whether apophenia is a sign of a mental disorder, or if a mental disorder is a consequence of such experiences, or if people who have a mental disorder are particular susceptible to this phenomenon.
When we consider the long history of the “Organization” this should not be a surprise. From its inception it is very clear that it has been built on layers and layers of trying to find patterns from noise (e.g. numerology, pyramidology, “type/anti-types”, etc.). The operative word being “noise”…
@StrongHaiku, I looked that term up on Wikipedia and it’s interesting. Yesterday I listened to the latest jwpodcast and Louise Goode was encouraging us to watch that video on Youtube Mental Illness and Jehovah’s Witnesses by Randall Watters and I listened to it and he had some very interesting statistics about different forms of mental illness in the Society and generally,mental illness among Witnesses is much higher than the general public. They don’t know for sure if it’s that the Society attracts the already mentally ill, or that the teachings turn a person mentally ill, but it is definitely worse in the org.
That illness (apophenia; seeing patterns where none exist) sounds a lot like the Revelation book to me and wouldn’t a person have to be mentally ill and with a half-baked brain in the first place to buy all that nonsense? What about the Governing Body to come up with all that crazy stuff?
@anonymous, thanks for the call out of the latest JWPodcast. I found it interesting as well. From my own personal experience, I would say that even if a person doesn’t start out with a mental disorder when they enter the “Organization”, the ongoing pressure of “groupthink” and “Undue Influence” will likely leave the person with a large number of neurotic tendencies and possibly worse…even after they leave.
On a side note, Michael Shermer has done a lot of work on the topic of apophenia and other related phenomenon. If you get a chance check out his three TED Talks (https://www.ted.com/speakers/michael_shermer). His talks are both educational and entertaining. Enjoy!