The Paradise Resort Bus.

By Stuckinamovement(JWN).

Imagine boarding a bus with your family for a long anticipated vacation. The destination is a place that is promised to be beautiful warm and sunny. As you are boarding the bus you are given a ticket stub with several paragraph's of fine print. Thinking nothing of it you stuff it in your pocket and find your seat on the bus. As you sit down you notice that all of the windows on the bus have been blacked out. The inside is lit with rows of florescent lights.


The bus is full of friendly excited people who are looking forward to the same vacation. There is a palpable sense of joy as the bus pulls away from the curb. Many people on the bus are pleasant people with their children, who are along for the holiday. Your wife and children join in an impromptu sing along to pass the time.


Reaching into the seat back pocket you find the on board magazine that the Corporation publishes. It contains articles about the resort and promotional material about the corporation.


The bus stops several times and picks up a few more excited families who are on their way to the vacation resort. Dinner time approaches and the crew delivers the meal consisting of a single slice of toasted white bread. Unusual you think, but you eat it anyway thinking of the buffet that awaits you at the resort.

Minutes stretch into hours and day turns to night. The bus continues on. You begin to hear mumblings from some of the passengers as to how long the bus had been on the road without a stop. The Driver ignores the mumblings and presses his way into the darkness.


Daylight breaks and it becomes clear that the bus is continuing to motor along with no sign of stopping. The drivers have changed sometime during the night. The passengers mood has changed from exuberance and anticipation to somberness and fearfulness. The crew delivers the morning meal which is again a slice of dry white toast.


You try to scratch against the window to see where you are, to no avail. You become alarmed because now this “short trip” has now become very long. Reaching into your pocket you find your ticket stub which has the following printed on it in very small type.


Welcome to Paradise Vacation Tours.


We are glad that you have chosen Paradise Vacation Tours as your transport to your unforgettable vacation. Paradise Vacation Tours is the only Tour company of its kind. You will not receive a better experience anywhere else. You will notice that the windows are darkened for your protection and security.

By purchasing your ticket and boarding the bus you hereby agree to the following terms:


No one is permitted to leave the bus at any time for any reason. The only way you will be permitted off of the bus is if the crew removes you for disorderly conduct which includes any of the following:


Asking the bus driver questions about the route

Questioning the length of the trip

Speaking negatively to your fellow passengers

Failing to speak positively about the Paradise Vacation Corporation or Staff

Reading any other material other than is provided by the Corporation.

Refusing the on board meals specially prepared for this trip

Asking to leave the bus.

We reserve the right to change course at any time for any reason. Due to our state of the art Navigation system the trip is for an unknown duration.

We appreciate your patience and consideration. Thank you for choosing the most trustworthy transportation company in the world.




Alarmed now, you lean over and whisper to the elderly man sitting next to you. “How long do you think the trip will be?”

The old man looks at you with sadness in his eyes and whispers back, “ I boarded the bus in 1974”. “I thought it was a short trip to the resort and have been here ever since. I am am afraid to leave because I wonder where will I go once I get off of the bus? for all I know we might be in the desert or in an inner city full of crime. Plus, Paradise Resort has got to be close I keep thinking. I mean, I am at least a million miles closer than I was then”


Shocked, you turn to the window that is blacked out and look out at the world that you know is out there but hidden. The bus rolls on with yet another change of driver. The corporate magazine sneers at you as it displays a picture of a happy family in a mountain meadow.


The bus continues to roll on into the distance. The years pass and you become the old man.-


Questions


If you were in this situation, would you decide to leave the bus? Even if your family decided to stay on board?

How long would you ride before you decided to get off of the bus?

What does the fine print say about the corporation?


What type of corporation would advertise a trip to paradise and not deliver?

Many of us now realize that we are trapped within the “bus” of the Watchtower organization. We know that the promises that we have been given in the pages of the Watchtower and Awake have not materialized. We watch year after year, and mile after mile pass with no sign that we are close to our destination or that the drivers or leaders have any clue where they are going. The "spiritual food" that is served at each meeting and assembly is the same exact stuff that had been presented for years. It is as dry as white toast.


There are many that we see among our local congregations who have been patiently waiting for many years for something that will not happen. Just like the old man on the bus they feel that they have so much time invested that it makes no sense to leave at this point in time. They say "where else will I go?"


The actions of the Society have proved the “Corporation” to be corrupt. We are threatened with punishment if we question the direction of the Society. Simply put we are trapped. The bus will never stop. The passengers will change as time progresses but the destination to nowhere remains the same.


Which is better, to put faith in an organization that has NEVER delivered on its promises, or to take that chance and live your life in a moral way outside of the “protection” of the organization?


The Watchtower organization wants you to stay on the bus. They need your obedience, your effort, your time, and your life.