Final Light
"We may ask, Just what does obedience mean, and what is involved in our obedience? It actually means compliance with commands, a readiness to perform that which is required or directed by authority, a dutifulness. Obedience is a divine requirement and includes a joyful, willing submission to do the will of God."
w52 9/15 p. 557-558
"A divine requirement"
Such an eloquent application of horseshit. Yet, a necessary evil in the day to day activities of a doomsday cult. It is objectively true that maintaining a perpetually obsequious base is of the utmost importance to the Watchtower, however, should we ask ourselves why they want this? Is this clamor for control important beyond their spiritual claims?
In so much as the leaders of the Watchtower would love to have completely mindless individuals at their disposal; it is far more useful to have members with at least a marginal ability to make decisions for themselves. This is the idea behind "making the truth your own," which follows a premise where if a person were to research the teachings of the Watchtower they would eventually come to have a personal understanding of its doctrines. They would come to "own" these truths without assistance from the Watchtower literature.
The grift here is that the only way to come to this personal decision is by exclusively using their propaganda as points of reference. As nefarious as this may be, it does not affect the usefulness of having a person think they are in the driver's seat. It gives them confidence and pride; enough to make them defend the Watchtower's doctrines as if they had a personal stake in their adjudication; as if they were being attacked. This is how we end up with apologists on social media; some of which, consider themselves warriors for the truth, popping into a negative thread relating to Jehovah's witnesses to make a stand for the truth.
As expected, the fallacious nature of their contrived ownership is laid bare in their inability to engage in meaningful discourse. I've noticed that many of them are able to produce a vigorous opening salvo, yet struggle to follow up. They often end up cowering into obscurity and blocking anyone who attempts a counterpoint. Other's devolve into threats, with the last quiver in their bow being "You pay at Armageddon!" Pay for what? Pay for leaving? Pay for having a differing opinion? All of the above. The Watchtower has trained them to believe that your freedom is an affront to the validity of their bondage.
Again we have to ask why? What good does it do the Watchtower to have such inept acolytes? To answer this we have to look at the events that lead to their end times scenarios.
We don't often consider what's accomplished through the implementation of the Watchtower's "New System," however this is one of the few things they are openly transparent about and it should be terrifying all of us.
They have in the past expressed open disdain for world leaders and governmental systems. To them, the world is a bad place, run by bad people with bad ideas and the only place a person can find anything good, is under their rulership.
"Who besides the King Jesus Christ constitute the “new heavens”? The angels in heaven? No, God has purposed that the “new heavens” or Kingdom government would be made up of the King together with a limited number of “a new creation.” The small number of those who would make up the “new creation” is taken from among mankind. The number of those who will be joint heirs with Christ in the heavenly kingdom is small in comparison with the billions of mankind that will eventually gain everlasting life on this earth. So Jesus Christ said to the anointed Christians: “Have no fear, little flock because your Father has approved of giving you the kingdom.” In the book of Revelation, the number of this “little flock” is given as “the hundred and forty-four thousand, who have been purchased from the earth. . . . These were purchased from among mankind as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.” Thus the “new heavens” will be made up of Jesus Christ and his 144,000, the “joint heirs with Christ.”—2 Cor. 5:17; Luke 12:32; Rev. 14:3, 4; Rom. 8:17."
w60 8/1 p. 461
It's worth it to take a moment and really mull the above insinuations. Maybe even take a walk and listen to some music and then come back to this and consider that these people believe they should rule the world. These are the same people who once believed that blood contained personality, organ donation was cannibalism, tight pants are the work of gay men to see straight asses more clearly and that Jesus came to earth and invisibly picked them as his chosen conduit for truth.
To the extent that we are willing to entertain the idea that they believe what they write, and seeing as how there was no vote on their conduit status; we have assumed that to them democracy - as it is understood in the modern world is a fruitless endeavor. This is problematic when you consider they have 8 million members who have internalized this concept. Are you starting to see how this all comes together?
We know they are paying out for CSA lawsuits. We know there is a measure of Apathy within their ranks that grows every day, however, despite their financial setbacks, most of the Watchtower's business dealings are practical and result in continued fiscal viability. Somewhere in their collective neural network is a spark of business acumen. So while on one hand, they have a barely conscious "great crowd" living a so-called simple life, on the other, there is a multi-armed conglomerate with enough capital on hand to buy and flip some of the most prestigious real estates in New York State. So what is going on here?
What's going on is conflicting interests. The Watchtower, like most religions, has a foot in both worlds; the difference, of course, is they aren't a religion. So the corporate wing of their organization is at the mercy of the religious zealots. Additionally, it is likely that many of their corporate personnel are themselves Jehovah's Witnesses. We can imagine the kinds of problems this may cause.
This may account for some of the erratic expansion plans that have occurred over the last few years. An example of this being the forecasting of expansion and growth only to have those plans scrapped in lieu of massive downsizing and consolidation. It turns out they aren't a corporation either.
They are a parasite that sucks at the tax-free teets of any country that will have them. Their financial endeavors are nothing more than a way to facilitate their religious exhibitions. Despite having hypnotized the external world into acknowledging them as a permanent fixture on the American landscape, the facts show they are very much in the business of ending. However, that end is not so much for them.
"Today, we have a clear understanding of the illustration of the sheep and the goats. Regarding the identity of those mentioned, Jesus is “the Son of man,” the King. Those referred to as “my brothers” are spirit-anointed men and women, who will rule with Christ from heaven. (Rom. 8:16, 17) “The sheep” and “the goats” represent individuals from all nations. These ones are not anointed by the holy spirit. What about the timing of the judgment? This judgment will occur toward the end of the great tribulation just ahead. And what of the reason why people will be judged as either sheep or goats? The outcome hinges on how they have treated the remaining ones of Christ’s spirit-anointed brothers on earth. With the end of this system so close at hand, how grateful we are that Jehovah has progressively shed light on this illustration and on the related illustrations recorded in Matthew chapters 24 and 25!"
w15 3/15 p. 26-27
This scenario has been changed at least 3 times over the years. The current iteration is a clear indication that greatest tribulation that man will have ever faced, will leave a significant portion of the "little flock" alive. What about the great crowd?
Their fate is much less certain. It seems the Watchtower is building an international army of irrational soldiers who are only capable of firing a single shot before retreating. They are now and we were then, the expendable human shields who were willing to give our lives for a false truth that we had made our own. The great crowd is the fertilizer that allows the little flock to grow into a monolith of malevolence.
This may sound like something you've heard or thought before and it may not immediately alarm you, however, history has something to say about what I've just posited to you.
Heaven's Gate, Los Angeles: 39 dead by poison based on a belief that the only way to survive a coming global cleansing of earth was to leave your physical body and rendezvous with a space ship in the tail of the Hale Bop comet. It has been reported that there are two surviving members who continue to maintain the cult's website.
"[We do this] to make the information available to those who are interested in learning about it," the administrators wrote. "In a way, it is like planting seeds into the future so that people can get familiar with the ways of the Next Level and prepare for an eventual return."
The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, Uganda: 395 Members died by poison, stabbing and fire following a revolt due to a failed doomsday prophecy. It has been rumored that the leaders of this group are still alive and an international warrant has been issued for their arrest.
The People's Temple, Guyana: 916 dead by suicide and murder. This was in 1978, 4 years after the People's temple relocated from San Francisco to Guyana.
At the end of 1978, the Temple declared bankruptcy, and its assets went into receivership. In light of lawsuits, on December 4, 1978, Charles Garry, the corporation's attorney, petitioned to dissolve Peoples Temple. The petition was granted in San Francisco Superior Court in January 1979. A few Temple members remained in Guyana through May 1979 to wrap up the movement's affairs, then returned to the U.S.
The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, International:
At Lilongwe in central Malawi, over a thousand women have been raped, men have been beaten unconscious and a number of them have been killed. It is because Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse to buy the Malawi Congress Party card. This card declares the holder to be a member of the ruling political party of Malawi. But for Jehovah’s Witnesses to buy a political card and thus join a political party would be an open denial of what they believe and stand for.” Awake! 1976 Aug 8 p.5
And there is this,
May 22, 1994, Awake Magazine in which the Watchtower brazenly cites the deaths of 26 children as a window dressing for their coming Kingdom. This is the Watchtower telling you exactly what they are and what they want. They are blood wraiths. Spiritual vampires feeding on a frail and weak flock of self-proclaimed sheep.
They want your life and they want your knees bent for all eternity and they want you to give your essence willingly.
If the true story was ever told of the number of those who have died as a direct result of the Watchtower's policies, it is likely that number would far exceed any of the above-mentioned cults.
This is their work, their business and they are doing it in the open and with very little scrutiny. Not being a traditional religion or cult is what they pride themselves on. A brief read of their literature will show that they have studied cults and what makes them rise and fall.
"Some think of a cult as being a dangerous religious sect with a human leader. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not look to any human as their leader. Rather, we adhere to the standard that Jesus set for his followers when he stated: “Your Leader is one, the Christ.”—Matthew 23:10.
Far from being a dangerous cult, Jehovah’s Witnesses practice a religion that benefits its members and others in the community. "
source: Jw.org
They are clever. They understand what the common perception of a cult is an attempt to disarm that notion by niching themselves as "Far from being a dangerous cult." In the above text, the word dangerous is added to show that not all cults are so bad, while the phrase "Human leader" is used as a nod to their collective leadership model. Clever indeed. Clever and definitely dangerous.
The fact that there is a functioning brain behind sock puppets like Stephen Lett should give us pause. It means that his aw-shucks'ng and over-emotive gestures are nothing more than pantomime - a ruse.
Somewhere in the bowels of this beast, serious conversations are being had on issues that threaten their solvency. Consider for a moment that The People's Temple still had a lawyer running their affairs a year after Jim Jones ordered the physical liquidation of the group.
If you've ever entertained the idea that the watchtower cares too much about its bottom line to order a mass suicide, know that the deaths might not include the Watchtower itself and that bloodshed does not end cults, especially not the Watchtower. They have learned from the mistakes of cults in the past and have been able to spill copious amounts of blood and pass those deaths off as the successful application of divine inspiration.
There's more. The use of inconsistent doctrine is another clue to the Watchtower's views on the "Great Crowd." They seem to be conducting an ongoing exercise in loyalty. Small doctrinal changes are used to bring down the defenses of members. Periods of apparent doctrinal stability is often upset by a large scale blinding proclamation.
For example "Millions now living will never die"
Let me be clear when I say this. I do not know if they plan these things and I do not favor a grand conspiracy, however, I do believe they study the results of everything they do and move forward based on the new information.
One example is 1975. This was a major exercise. One where they learned that they could plant an idea using little more than innuendo and the sheep would follow their orders without question. They also learned that they can basically make up just about anything and it would have to be believed.
The next major exercise would have to be overlapping generations. To this day there are Jehovah's Witnesses who have no understanding of this doctrine, yet they are as loyal as they've ever been. Some even more so. They are grateful for the "clarifications." They nod their heads to every change as if they were aware of anything being wrong with the original position. In truth, they won't ever know when something is wrong because they don't have the language to explain what could be wrong with Jehovah's organization.
There is no phrase in the vocabulary of the average believer to express discomfort. To are never able to say they can't or they won't. They aren't even able to express that they may, might or may or might not. This inability to voice discontent is exactly how dangerous cults end up walking their constituents of a proverbial cliff; they seal off every escape route, tape their mouths shut and commanding them to walk at a brisk pace.
In the years following 1975, those who remained in the Watchtower organization were never able to have a grassroots debate regarding what occurred. There was no healing period. They simply continued doing what they'd always done. Waiting and hoping that the Watchtower will give them an explanation they can use to continue being discontinued.
Eventually, they were given a script that contained a single line "It was your fault." They cheered, and embraced this as if it was true and they gleefully parroted some version of this idea, to anyone whom they might encounter asking; What about 1975?
"We were overzealous"
"We ran ahead of the Organization"
"They never said the end was coming in 1975"
"It was our fault"
To this day, they continue to parrot some version of this self-deprecation.
Their latest exercise was, of course, their command to obey any instructions given whether or not the command makes sense. It cannot be stressed enough how serious this command is, especially in light of all they've done in the past and all they face going forward. We all know their Great Tribulation is not coming. It is in fact nonsense, however, this makes their command for blind obedience even more ominous.
The fact that there wasn't an immediate mass exodus as a result of this command taught the Watchtower they have more options than simply waiting on Jehovah. They can if they ever choose to do so, manufacture a Great Tribulation.
Think again about 1975. Paul Grundy's Jwfacts.com has provided a wealth of information on this topic, of which I invite anyone that may be interested to read in its entirety.
For the sake of brevity, I will present you with this. 1975 was a completely contrived attempt by the Watchtower to find a way to make the end of the world a reality in the minds of its members. 1975 transformed the Watchtower in ways that we may never fully comprehend. Most religious movements do not start out with a mission to become something awful. The watchtower's roots are in the second advent or restoration movement. They used to call themselves "Bible students" however, their trajectory since 1975 has become increasingly cult-like and their influence over their adherents has become an emergency. It's a process. They began to regress once their backs are against the wall and their influence is waning So as we rejoice at what we perceive to be a decline, we must also consider that each in-road is booby trapped.
Consider the conventions, the memorial, and the special talk. Consider the importance they place on unity and obedience. Consider how at any time they could call nearly every Jehovah's Witnesses (active and inactive) into a meeting without leaving a paper trail.
This is not a flag being planted or a prophecy of things to come. This is an exercise in caution. This is the case being made that the Watchtower has been slowly loading a gun and at this time, their magazine is full.
w52 9/15 p. 557-558
"A divine requirement"
Such an eloquent application of horseshit. Yet, a necessary evil in the day to day activities of a doomsday cult. It is objectively true that maintaining a perpetually obsequious base is of the utmost importance to the Watchtower, however, should we ask ourselves why they want this? Is this clamor for control important beyond their spiritual claims?
In so much as the leaders of the Watchtower would love to have completely mindless individuals at their disposal; it is far more useful to have members with at least a marginal ability to make decisions for themselves. This is the idea behind "making the truth your own," which follows a premise where if a person were to research the teachings of the Watchtower they would eventually come to have a personal understanding of its doctrines. They would come to "own" these truths without assistance from the Watchtower literature.
The grift here is that the only way to come to this personal decision is by exclusively using their propaganda as points of reference. As nefarious as this may be, it does not affect the usefulness of having a person think they are in the driver's seat. It gives them confidence and pride; enough to make them defend the Watchtower's doctrines as if they had a personal stake in their adjudication; as if they were being attacked. This is how we end up with apologists on social media; some of which, consider themselves warriors for the truth, popping into a negative thread relating to Jehovah's witnesses to make a stand for the truth.
As expected, the fallacious nature of their contrived ownership is laid bare in their inability to engage in meaningful discourse. I've noticed that many of them are able to produce a vigorous opening salvo, yet struggle to follow up. They often end up cowering into obscurity and blocking anyone who attempts a counterpoint. Other's devolve into threats, with the last quiver in their bow being "You pay at Armageddon!" Pay for what? Pay for leaving? Pay for having a differing opinion? All of the above. The Watchtower has trained them to believe that your freedom is an affront to the validity of their bondage.
Again we have to ask why? What good does it do the Watchtower to have such inept acolytes? To answer this we have to look at the events that lead to their end times scenarios.
We don't often consider what's accomplished through the implementation of the Watchtower's "New System," however this is one of the few things they are openly transparent about and it should be terrifying all of us.
They have in the past expressed open disdain for world leaders and governmental systems. To them, the world is a bad place, run by bad people with bad ideas and the only place a person can find anything good, is under their rulership.
"Who besides the King Jesus Christ constitute the “new heavens”? The angels in heaven? No, God has purposed that the “new heavens” or Kingdom government would be made up of the King together with a limited number of “a new creation.” The small number of those who would make up the “new creation” is taken from among mankind. The number of those who will be joint heirs with Christ in the heavenly kingdom is small in comparison with the billions of mankind that will eventually gain everlasting life on this earth. So Jesus Christ said to the anointed Christians: “Have no fear, little flock because your Father has approved of giving you the kingdom.” In the book of Revelation, the number of this “little flock” is given as “the hundred and forty-four thousand, who have been purchased from the earth. . . . These were purchased from among mankind as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.” Thus the “new heavens” will be made up of Jesus Christ and his 144,000, the “joint heirs with Christ.”—2 Cor. 5:17; Luke 12:32; Rev. 14:3, 4; Rom. 8:17."
w60 8/1 p. 461
It's worth it to take a moment and really mull the above insinuations. Maybe even take a walk and listen to some music and then come back to this and consider that these people believe they should rule the world. These are the same people who once believed that blood contained personality, organ donation was cannibalism, tight pants are the work of gay men to see straight asses more clearly and that Jesus came to earth and invisibly picked them as his chosen conduit for truth.
To the extent that we are willing to entertain the idea that they believe what they write, and seeing as how there was no vote on their conduit status; we have assumed that to them democracy - as it is understood in the modern world is a fruitless endeavor. This is problematic when you consider they have 8 million members who have internalized this concept. Are you starting to see how this all comes together?
We know they are paying out for CSA lawsuits. We know there is a measure of Apathy within their ranks that grows every day, however, despite their financial setbacks, most of the Watchtower's business dealings are practical and result in continued fiscal viability. Somewhere in their collective neural network is a spark of business acumen. So while on one hand, they have a barely conscious "great crowd" living a so-called simple life, on the other, there is a multi-armed conglomerate with enough capital on hand to buy and flip some of the most prestigious real estates in New York State. So what is going on here?
What's going on is conflicting interests. The Watchtower, like most religions, has a foot in both worlds; the difference, of course, is they aren't a religion. So the corporate wing of their organization is at the mercy of the religious zealots. Additionally, it is likely that many of their corporate personnel are themselves Jehovah's Witnesses. We can imagine the kinds of problems this may cause.
This may account for some of the erratic expansion plans that have occurred over the last few years. An example of this being the forecasting of expansion and growth only to have those plans scrapped in lieu of massive downsizing and consolidation. It turns out they aren't a corporation either.
They are a parasite that sucks at the tax-free teets of any country that will have them. Their financial endeavors are nothing more than a way to facilitate their religious exhibitions. Despite having hypnotized the external world into acknowledging them as a permanent fixture on the American landscape, the facts show they are very much in the business of ending. However, that end is not so much for them.
"Today, we have a clear understanding of the illustration of the sheep and the goats. Regarding the identity of those mentioned, Jesus is “the Son of man,” the King. Those referred to as “my brothers” are spirit-anointed men and women, who will rule with Christ from heaven. (Rom. 8:16, 17) “The sheep” and “the goats” represent individuals from all nations. These ones are not anointed by the holy spirit. What about the timing of the judgment? This judgment will occur toward the end of the great tribulation just ahead. And what of the reason why people will be judged as either sheep or goats? The outcome hinges on how they have treated the remaining ones of Christ’s spirit-anointed brothers on earth. With the end of this system so close at hand, how grateful we are that Jehovah has progressively shed light on this illustration and on the related illustrations recorded in Matthew chapters 24 and 25!"
w15 3/15 p. 26-27
This scenario has been changed at least 3 times over the years. The current iteration is a clear indication that greatest tribulation that man will have ever faced, will leave a significant portion of the "little flock" alive. What about the great crowd?
Their fate is much less certain. It seems the Watchtower is building an international army of irrational soldiers who are only capable of firing a single shot before retreating. They are now and we were then, the expendable human shields who were willing to give our lives for a false truth that we had made our own. The great crowd is the fertilizer that allows the little flock to grow into a monolith of malevolence.
This may sound like something you've heard or thought before and it may not immediately alarm you, however, history has something to say about what I've just posited to you.
Heaven's Gate, Los Angeles: 39 dead by poison based on a belief that the only way to survive a coming global cleansing of earth was to leave your physical body and rendezvous with a space ship in the tail of the Hale Bop comet. It has been reported that there are two surviving members who continue to maintain the cult's website.
"[We do this] to make the information available to those who are interested in learning about it," the administrators wrote. "In a way, it is like planting seeds into the future so that people can get familiar with the ways of the Next Level and prepare for an eventual return."
The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, Uganda: 395 Members died by poison, stabbing and fire following a revolt due to a failed doomsday prophecy. It has been rumored that the leaders of this group are still alive and an international warrant has been issued for their arrest.
The People's Temple, Guyana: 916 dead by suicide and murder. This was in 1978, 4 years after the People's temple relocated from San Francisco to Guyana.
At the end of 1978, the Temple declared bankruptcy, and its assets went into receivership. In light of lawsuits, on December 4, 1978, Charles Garry, the corporation's attorney, petitioned to dissolve Peoples Temple. The petition was granted in San Francisco Superior Court in January 1979. A few Temple members remained in Guyana through May 1979 to wrap up the movement's affairs, then returned to the U.S.
The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, International:
At Lilongwe in central Malawi, over a thousand women have been raped, men have been beaten unconscious and a number of them have been killed. It is because Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse to buy the Malawi Congress Party card. This card declares the holder to be a member of the ruling political party of Malawi. But for Jehovah’s Witnesses to buy a political card and thus join a political party would be an open denial of what they believe and stand for.” Awake! 1976 Aug 8 p.5
And there is this,
May 22, 1994, Awake Magazine in which the Watchtower brazenly cites the deaths of 26 children as a window dressing for their coming Kingdom. This is the Watchtower telling you exactly what they are and what they want. They are blood wraiths. Spiritual vampires feeding on a frail and weak flock of self-proclaimed sheep.
They want your life and they want your knees bent for all eternity and they want you to give your essence willingly.
If the true story was ever told of the number of those who have died as a direct result of the Watchtower's policies, it is likely that number would far exceed any of the above-mentioned cults.
This is their work, their business and they are doing it in the open and with very little scrutiny. Not being a traditional religion or cult is what they pride themselves on. A brief read of their literature will show that they have studied cults and what makes them rise and fall.
"Some think of a cult as being a dangerous religious sect with a human leader. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not look to any human as their leader. Rather, we adhere to the standard that Jesus set for his followers when he stated: “Your Leader is one, the Christ.”—Matthew 23:10.
Far from being a dangerous cult, Jehovah’s Witnesses practice a religion that benefits its members and others in the community. "
source: Jw.org
They are clever. They understand what the common perception of a cult is an attempt to disarm that notion by niching themselves as "Far from being a dangerous cult." In the above text, the word dangerous is added to show that not all cults are so bad, while the phrase "Human leader" is used as a nod to their collective leadership model. Clever indeed. Clever and definitely dangerous.
The fact that there is a functioning brain behind sock puppets like Stephen Lett should give us pause. It means that his aw-shucks'ng and over-emotive gestures are nothing more than pantomime - a ruse.
Somewhere in the bowels of this beast, serious conversations are being had on issues that threaten their solvency. Consider for a moment that The People's Temple still had a lawyer running their affairs a year after Jim Jones ordered the physical liquidation of the group.
If you've ever entertained the idea that the watchtower cares too much about its bottom line to order a mass suicide, know that the deaths might not include the Watchtower itself and that bloodshed does not end cults, especially not the Watchtower. They have learned from the mistakes of cults in the past and have been able to spill copious amounts of blood and pass those deaths off as the successful application of divine inspiration.
There's more. The use of inconsistent doctrine is another clue to the Watchtower's views on the "Great Crowd." They seem to be conducting an ongoing exercise in loyalty. Small doctrinal changes are used to bring down the defenses of members. Periods of apparent doctrinal stability is often upset by a large scale blinding proclamation.
For example "Millions now living will never die"
Let me be clear when I say this. I do not know if they plan these things and I do not favor a grand conspiracy, however, I do believe they study the results of everything they do and move forward based on the new information.
One example is 1975. This was a major exercise. One where they learned that they could plant an idea using little more than innuendo and the sheep would follow their orders without question. They also learned that they can basically make up just about anything and it would have to be believed.
The next major exercise would have to be overlapping generations. To this day there are Jehovah's Witnesses who have no understanding of this doctrine, yet they are as loyal as they've ever been. Some even more so. They are grateful for the "clarifications." They nod their heads to every change as if they were aware of anything being wrong with the original position. In truth, they won't ever know when something is wrong because they don't have the language to explain what could be wrong with Jehovah's organization.
There is no phrase in the vocabulary of the average believer to express discomfort. To are never able to say they can't or they won't. They aren't even able to express that they may, might or may or might not. This inability to voice discontent is exactly how dangerous cults end up walking their constituents of a proverbial cliff; they seal off every escape route, tape their mouths shut and commanding them to walk at a brisk pace.
In the years following 1975, those who remained in the Watchtower organization were never able to have a grassroots debate regarding what occurred. There was no healing period. They simply continued doing what they'd always done. Waiting and hoping that the Watchtower will give them an explanation they can use to continue being discontinued.
Eventually, they were given a script that contained a single line "It was your fault." They cheered, and embraced this as if it was true and they gleefully parroted some version of this idea, to anyone whom they might encounter asking; What about 1975?
"We were overzealous"
"We ran ahead of the Organization"
"They never said the end was coming in 1975"
"It was our fault"
To this day, they continue to parrot some version of this self-deprecation.
Their latest exercise was, of course, their command to obey any instructions given whether or not the command makes sense. It cannot be stressed enough how serious this command is, especially in light of all they've done in the past and all they face going forward. We all know their Great Tribulation is not coming. It is in fact nonsense, however, this makes their command for blind obedience even more ominous.
The fact that there wasn't an immediate mass exodus as a result of this command taught the Watchtower they have more options than simply waiting on Jehovah. They can if they ever choose to do so, manufacture a Great Tribulation.
Think again about 1975. Paul Grundy's Jwfacts.com has provided a wealth of information on this topic, of which I invite anyone that may be interested to read in its entirety.
For the sake of brevity, I will present you with this. 1975 was a completely contrived attempt by the Watchtower to find a way to make the end of the world a reality in the minds of its members. 1975 transformed the Watchtower in ways that we may never fully comprehend. Most religious movements do not start out with a mission to become something awful. The watchtower's roots are in the second advent or restoration movement. They used to call themselves "Bible students" however, their trajectory since 1975 has become increasingly cult-like and their influence over their adherents has become an emergency. It's a process. They began to regress once their backs are against the wall and their influence is waning So as we rejoice at what we perceive to be a decline, we must also consider that each in-road is booby trapped.
Consider the conventions, the memorial, and the special talk. Consider the importance they place on unity and obedience. Consider how at any time they could call nearly every Jehovah's Witnesses (active and inactive) into a meeting without leaving a paper trail.
This is not a flag being planted or a prophecy of things to come. This is an exercise in caution. This is the case being made that the Watchtower has been slowly loading a gun and at this time, their magazine is full.
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