The Fifth Wave: Watchtower History in a Nutshell
You may have heard jokes about them. You’ve probably encountered them when they came knocking at your door on a Saturday morning.
They are the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
If you aren’t really familiar with them, then you probably don’t have a strong view of this group one way or the other. Another religious group, you might think – maybe worthy of admiration for their zeal and strength of belief. They certainly are one group whose members take their beliefs very seriously. Unfortunately, many who have joined them have not had a good experience with their strict interpretation of the Bible and the social pressures to conform to a standard that goes against the flow of the rest of society. Also, unfortunately, these members had to suffer in silence as any criticism of the organization was viewed as tantamount to criticism of God himself.
And then came the internet, and the freedom that comes with anonymity.
Circa 1995-6, a small group put up a website called the Associated Jehovah’s Witnesses for Reform. For any Witness who felt that the religion was basically good but just needed some changes, those were exciting times. The talk of reform was on the net, but alas, the movement lost steam after a few years. Either the organization made enough small changes to prevent a massive defection, or the size of it carried a momentum that could not be significantly derailed.
Anyway, from that website (which no longer exists) I dug up a ‘call to arms’ and what I consider to be a pretty creative overview of the history of the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses from the days of the founder at the turn of the 20th century to the mid-to-late 1990s. My JW and ex-JW readers will be familiar with some of the terms, but for the rest here’s a short glossary of Witness-speak:
- Society: short for the “WatchTower Bible & Tract Society”, publisher of the Jehovah’s Witness literature and disseminator of doctrine.
- 1975: Many Jehovah’s Witnesses believed that the end of the world, or Armageddon, would occur in 1975. This was based on their chronology that 1975 marked the end of 6000 years of human history.
- 1914: Pivotal year for Jehovah’s Witnesses. Believed to be the beginning of the last days of this world.
- Generation: Refers to the doctrinal belief that one generation of mankind, beginning in 1914, would not pass away before the end of the world, or Armageddon, occurs. The exact definition of “generation” has changed over time. Initially referring to adults living during 1914, the definition changed to encompass anyone born since 1914. This had the effect of creating definite expectations for when Armageddon would occur – before the end of the 20th century. As time progressed well into the 1990s, the doctrine of the “1914 generation” was discarded.
- Bethel: The headquarters for the Jehovah’s Witnesses, located in Brooklyn, New York. Also referred to as “Brooklyn Bethel”.
- Nethinim: According to Jehovah’s Witness doctrine, only a small number of members are considered to be “anointed” and assigned the responsibility of “governing” the organization. Typically, these individuals were alive since the early days. As they grew older and their number diminished, members who were outside of that fold were eventually given the same responsibilities. They justified this arrangement by referring to the Israelite use of foreigners in service at the temple. These foreigners were known as the “Nethinim”.
And here is the work. (Keep in mind that this was written before broadband became prevalent, and the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses had just acquired a domain but not yet produced web content (you’ll see what I mean).)
The Society is in the dawn of its fifth wave, and
we can help shape what that
wave means, for us.
the first wave
The first wave was the ground breaking
work of Pastor Russell who
took the ideas of his predecessors
that would surely have been doommed
to obscurity, and established a
thriving and vigorous religious
Society proclaiming the end
of the world.
the second wave
Rutherford carried on Russell’s
idealism, but solidified central
control, removing Russell’s
successors and consolidating
his complete control over the
organization to gear it for
theocratic battle.
The battle lines were drawn,
he determined the enemy, and
mobilized people into an
efficient fighting machine
out to expose religion as a
snare and a racket, and expand
his influence over shaping the
religious topography.
Phonograph players bellowed
his proclaimations on
doorsteps of unsuspecting
victims. The society of
believers received a new
name. Persecution intensified,
as did the preaching.
Placards, picket signs, sandwich
boards, cars blasting announcements
in otherwise quiet town squares.
The Society was a car barrelling
pedal to the metal — destination:
Armageddon.
After Rutherford’s burnout in
the 1940′s, the nation was at
war, and the dual administrators
Knorr and Franz
took over to build a post-war
organization in a post-war
world. A world where corporations
loom large instead of the
army. Where CEO’s wield more
power than generals. And
insider trading yields more
fruits than covert operations.
the third wave
Knorr and Franz, the dynamic
duo who turned a monstrous
military machine into an
efficient engine
for marketing the good news.
We are publishers, we publish.
We need missionaries. We
need congregations. We need,
pioneers to blaze trails
to the unknown frontiers.
We need to think about
doctrine, scholarship,
the Bible.
They re-engineered the
organization that seemed
a near relic of the industrial
revolution to create a
utopian society, their
own worker’s paradise.
Buildings. More buildings.
They looked like of Soviet
design. Block-like, utilitarian,
anti-bourgeoise.
Create schools. America was
now king of the world.
And how easy it is now to
spread an American-based
religion. To expand
spheres of influence into
the darkest jungles,
the remotest deserts, and
tiniest of islands.
A new Bible translation
was printed to conform
to doctrines. Slews of
books to build up the
scholarly infrastructure
that was in decay and neglected
since the time of Russell.
Slight slip in 1975, but
the organization was
hardly phased. Nothing a
good purge, housecleaning,
can’t cure. As 1984 approached
people realized that Orwell’s
prophecies were coming true
in obscure religions as well
as states.
Color printing, art departments
expanded to increase production
of paradisaic and politically
correct themes of multi-culturalism,
Martin Luther King Jr.’s visions
of people of all races in harmony
melded with the Garden of Eden
reshaped to look like New England suburbs.
Positioning the message with a
new spin that took advantage of
eco-consciousness, they came
up with yet another clever hook
of “bringing to ruin those ruining
the earth”.
A new freedom that promises what
the advocates of the worker’s
paradise failed to provide.
A new world order that is
better than President
Bush’s.
A police state under Jehovah,
not America. One nation under twelve
stars, not 50. Revelation
Climax book, colored in communist
colors. A big red book to
overshadow Mao’s.
But the steam has been lost.
The frenzy of the Rutherford years
left a legacy of self-glorification
and brazen boasting that rings
hollow as we enter into an
information-rich age that
summons the demons of the
past at 28.8k speeds.
The last of the dynamic duo dying in
blindness was most ironic.
the fourth wave
We are left with the bureaucrats,
who never exercised much
power, but only rubber
stamped the ideas of the superiors.
They simply want to keep the machine
running, not to fix what’s “not broke.”
But so much is broke yet no
one wants to see it.
We hear knocking sounds,
a little black smoke,
strange clanging.
What is that?
Well, we are still
going. Numbers are still
up. Speed is there.
Don’t worry.
What’s to worry, right?
The bureaucrats have surprised
the public by showing some
vigor to save the Society.
A change in “generation.”
But, one wonders, is it too
little too late?
A century of 1914 does not
go away easily. Running
a car with no oil doesn’t
get fixed with an oil
change.
the fifth wave
The influence of the survivors
of the Rutherford era is
on the wane.
The internet has changed
the playing field, and
the monolith has been
slow to change.
Inertia of “more of the
same” has been hard to
overcome.
But glimers of hope
avail themselves.
More are taking advantage
of the new frontiers opened
by the information age.
Individualist JWs are now publishing books.
Putting up web pages.
Giving suggestions,
providing services formerly
the exclusive realm of the
Society.
And all the Society can muster
is a blank white screen
along the byways of
cyberia, as empty and
desolate as the leadership’s
minds and imaginations.
The fifth wave is
the reform that must come
and that is starting now.
Glimmers can be seen
in articles on “Reasonableness”
and implied admonishments
on elders to not control
people’s spiritual paths,
but to allow each to determine
their own, though in an
extremely narrow way.
Already, reformer “Nethinim” are
affecting the top, and are
putting these “subversive” ideas
right under their noses.
As time goes on, freedom will
only become better, but only
if we keep vigilance.
In all issues
that come up, spread the
message:
“principles not rules,”
“love, not punishment,”
“flexibility, not unreasonableness.”
By us keeping this to the fore in
the minds of all Jehovah’s Witnesses we
do our part in shaping the fifth wave.
Bethel has been forced to cave
in to reasonableness. Letters
have been deluging Brooklyn for
greater change: less rules,
and more love.
There is a foundation here of
wanting to do what is right,
and for years it has often been
directed towards ignoble
goals, diverted by misguided
insanity. But, we have a chance
now to bring that divine energy
that is love to the fore – one
aimed at conquering ignorance with
truth, one aimed at showing
love no matter what religious
barriers divide. One that embodies
the freedom and beauty of love that
personified the man known as Christ.
The love of Christ has been distorted
into fanatical obsessions
that have plagued all of Christianity
since the early years, and which plague
it now, the Society being one of the
foremost guilty parties. Now is time
to bring it to a close, and channel
the masses of wealth in material
and people into causes that are in
harmony with Christ’s original purposes
of reflecting the divine light of
truth and love in our every action and
thought, to free our minds to
explore and search and grow.
Now is time to bring
the fifth wave.
This overview brings to light a common pattern in the development of any “new” religion. The founder is typically a highly spiritual person, but his (or her) successors rarely possess the same degree of enlightenment. And so the survival of the group depends on other qualities of the leadership, such as strong organizational and motivational skills. The same could be said for the development of political regimes.
Even though the high expectations for reform did not come about, the increase in communication made possible by the internet has served to limit the amount of strict control wielded by “The Society”. It also makes sense that any changes would need to come about by natural evolution rather than revolution. To be involved with a truly well organized movement requires losing yourself to a cause, and this runs counter to the reasons for wanting change to begin with – the desire to break free.
This was definitely an interesting chapter in the history of this 20th century religious phenomenon.
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I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think that God might be displeased with what human society is doing to the earth. Or that he might someday take measures to remove individuals and groups that ensure it will always be business as normal. Life for most persons is not getting rosier, nor is there reason to think it will, without God’s weighing in.
Say what you want about Jehovah’s Witnesses. They seem to be the only game in town. The only group that comes to grips with the realities of human rule sullying the planet. They have a belief system that is coherent, consistent, and explainable, not requiring blind faith.
I’m not sure what you’ve pointed out is anything more than an organization responding to changing times, which any organization, religious or secular, must do. Has the Watchtower made some miscues? Undoubtedly, though I don’t consider myself qualified enough to point out what they are, or presumptuous enough to suppose I have ideas which would work better. From what I can see, miscues today are entirely consistent with what happened with the first century congregations….lots of contention there, lots of debate, lots of challenging the leadership of the apostles. Are things really that different today?
Thanks for the comment, tom sheepandgoats.
Whatever I say or write about Jehovah’s Witnesses is based on my own experiences. I was baptized in 1984 and even served as an elder for a short time. I’m no longer active, but I also don’t have negative feelings about the time that I was. In fact, I have to say I have fond memories of those days.
My reason for this particular post was to preserve a piece of work that I was impressed with. I just liked the writing. It was a call to arms filled with hope and expectation. You mentioned the debate that existed in the first century. Not that I would encourage contention, but no person or organization is above scrutiny and criticism. Sometimes progress can only come about through honest inquiry. I know that such inquiry was highly discouraged in the congregations so it was surprising to discover via the internet how many JWs had concerns that they couldn’t express openly. I personally met many of them.
But maybe things are different now. I’d be interested in your take on the climate within the congregations today.
Much as I appreciate the internet and use it as my unlimited library card, it is an extremely destructive force to organization of any stripe….religious, business, or political. Isn’t there some UTube video floating around showing John Edwards endlessly primping his hair? Does it really matter now what the man stands for? The primped hair video jets through cyberspace at lightning speed. Most of us will no longer focus on the man’s positions (because that’s hard) and will instead think only of the ridicule. (because that’s easy) Who knows if he wasn’t just hamming it up for pals?
All of us have full potential to say/do something asinine or inconsistent. With the internet, we can now be assured that the gaffe will be transmitted instantly to everyone and that they will draw instant conclusions at gut level. The truth of anything requires some thought. Some will have no interest in thinking, and some simply won’t have the time. But all will drink in the quick byte of so-and-so making an ass of himself.
Is there any example anywhere of organization that has been aided by the internet? Maybe some fledgling politician, too small to be noticed by traditional means, and also too small for the internet to tear him down as it’s built him up. Finding instances where the internet has built up organization is a challenge, but finding instances where it tears apart we can do in our sleep. If Christianity were simply some do-what-feels-good-at-the-moment movement, then it might be aided by the internet. But it’s not. Christianity’s predicated on the belief that we need guidance from a source beyond ourselves and that there is a specific channel through which that guidance comes.
So I’m not as optimistic as you that the internet can only bring positive changes.
You mention that “letters have been deluging Brooklyn for greater change.” Well, I suppose they are. But when have they not? Is today’s generation the first to know how to write letters? I suspect back in the days when Watchtower was constantly before the Supreme Court, letters (proportionate to population) poured in more than today. Are we to assume that the Society simply carted all letters to the dumpster until today, when their sheer weight demands attention? I doubt it. Letters from individuals have never been the primary driver of Christian policy. But neither have they ever been merely ignored. They are a source of feedback and always have been.
The Society was more regimented when people were more regimented. For whatever reason, people in past generations were less fragile than they are today and enjoyed greater self-esteem. You could give your counsel blunt without their falling apart. They could take, not just the good, but also the bad without undue complaining. People are different today. Probably due to decaying society, individuals are much less secure. So an added emphasis on “principles not rules, love not punishment, flexibility not unreasonableness” comes into being to meet changing times. And I’m glad to see it. But I disagree with your assessment that it all comes only because Watchtower is being outmaneuvered by progressive people with “subversive” ideas.
Because we live in a democracy and prevailing mindset is that democracy tops everything else, we get used to the idea that we should have a say in things. And as people become more individualistic, we become more insistent that our say should be heeded. But the Christian congregation is not organized that way, as it was not in it’s first century beginning. The apostles sought to maintain unity and to forestall the endless sects and divisions that were to come. Thus, the Bible mentions the necessity of an older man to “reprove those who contradict” [Titus 1:9] and deal with those “wanting to be teachers of law, but not perceiving either the things they are saying or the things about which they are making strong assertions.” (1 Tim 1:7) Lots of people make “strong assertions” today and lots of people “contradict.” It’s a function of the times we live in, and is aided by the internet.
Not all of Jehovah’s Witnesses today are 100% behind the program. Many are puzzled over this or that aspect of theocracy and many entertain their own pet ideas of how more of this, less of that, modification of this tactic, and so forth, would be beneficial. Some make suggestions via letter or traveling overseers. There’s nothing new, earthshaking, or unnatural about that. It’s not evidence that the organization is at some unprecedented crossroads. But in the final analysis we realize that the burden of directing things does not rest with us, but with a non-democratic channel which God has provided. We’re not presumptuous. We cooperate as best we can.
The first century apostles lost that battle to maintain Christian unity. The “wheat” was oversown with “weeds,” as Jesus foretold. (Matt 13:24-30) It would have happened much sooner had the internet existed back then.
As you know, the Society maintains we are in the last days of human rulership. God’s rulership over the earth is soon to come, preceded by a public preaching campaign to that effect. Not everyone agrees, I realize. But looking at the state of affairs today, it clearly is not laughable that God might find human rulership lacking. Watchtower is doing their best to maintain Christian unity in the face of a increasing divisive world. And they’re doing well, despite overwhelming forces to the contrary. They contrast with most churches, where unity is generally slight and rough and tumble politics is the order of the day.
Many groups of people have been trying to predict the end of the world for a very long time. I guess the chances of getting it right are increasing what with what we’re doing to the environment – just heard something on NPR yesterday, sounds like we’re doing ourselves as much good with polluting the ocean as the air…
Thing is, from what I can see, it will be the end of us and not really the end of the world. Where the oceans are concerned, for example, we’re making them unfit for all the seafood we like but great places for algae and bacteria.
We’re capable of doing some damage, but life strikes me as having a pretty tenacious hold on the planet and incredibly resilient. It may be egocentric for us to equate fouling our own nest with the end of the world. If I recall correctly the sun’s estimated to have another 5 billion years before burning out – an awful lot of time for things to happen on planet earth, with or without us. Do hope we stay in the game though.
Paul Martin: Thanks for the comment. You brought up a point that I had not considered, that we hurt ourselves more than we could ever hurt the earth. Those who have a more literal interpretation of the Bible might have some difficulty reconciling that with Revelation 11:18:
tom sheepandgoats: You certainly presented a well thought out witness to your truths. I want to clarify that, although I wish I was that creative and could take the credit, I did not author “The Fifth Wave”. I only echo its sentiments.
I agree that the internet is a threat to any organization that wishes to control the flow of information. Just think how such regimes as Communist China and middle-eastern fundamentalist states wish the internet didn’t exist. They reflect the viewpoint that to preserve a society you must strictly control it. And it certainly is possible to have the society you want through utter force – at least for a time.
However, with respect to a spiritual society, I do not believe that God wants or needs to have such control. Any religious organization that goes that route makes the same mistakes as the Pharisees whom Jesus chastized for their endless rules and regulations, and shows a lack of faith in God’s ability to move people though His spirit. It produces a people who, for the most part, go through the motions of whatever criteria the organization has set up to define spirituality, yet inside are no more spiritually advanced than anyone outside of that organization.
Instead of controlling people’s spiritual paths, Brother Russell only sought to provide assistance to people who were searching for God. That, to me, is a more Christian approach.
Please see: http://www.watchtower.org/
for more information on Jehovah’s Witnesses
Jehovah’s Witnesses beliefs:
A) They are at your door to recruit you for enslavement to their watchtower corporation,they will say that “we are just here to share a message from the Bible” this is deception right off.
B) The ‘message’ is their false Gospel that Jesus is ruling in heaven already since 1914.The problem with this is it’s not just a cute fairy tale,Jesus warned of the false prophets who would claim “..look he is here in the wilderness,or see here he is at the temple”
C) Their anti-blood transfusion ban has killed hundreds if not thousands
D) once they recruit you they will “love bomb” you in cult fashion to also recruit your family & friends or cut them off. There are many more dangers,Jehovah’s Witnesses got a bad rap for good and valid reasons.
99% of the world has rejected the teachings of the Watchtower Jehovah’s Witnesses, the darker truth is they are a destructive and oppressive organization.
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Danny Haszard Jehovah’s Witness X 33 years http://www.freeminds.org