"Fear has a great hold on the Witnesses. Witnesses are afraid of what their neighbors, their friends, relatives and Watchtower Society leaders might think if they were even so much as to read the Bible on their own. For over a century the Watchtower Society leaders have dominated their lives, told them what they can read, what they should believe and do. To ask a sound religious question is a demonstration of lack of faith in God and the organization, according to the Watchtower Society leaders. As a result, Jehovah's Witnesses do very little independent thinking. They are victims of the Watchtower Society leaders and fear; but freedom is in sight."Read the full article, including Watchtower publication quotations and decide for yourself whether the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, under the uninspired, error-prone direction of the self-appointed Governing Body use fear to control Jehovah's Witnesses.
Thursday, 5 August 2010
Are Jehovah's Witnesses the New Irish?
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To quote Wikipedia:
ReplyDelete"CITATION NEEDED"
Like this:
"Fear has a great hold on the Witnesses. Witnesses are afraid of what their neighbors [citation needed], their friends [citation needed], relatives [citation needed] and Watchtower Society leaders [citation needed] might think if they were even so much as to read the Bible on their own [citation needed]. For over a century the Watchtower Society leaders have dominated their lives [citation needed], told them what they can read [citation needed], what they should believe [citation needed] and do [citation needed]. To ask a sound religious question is a demonstration of lack of faith in God and the organization, according to the Watchtower Society leaders [citation needed]. As a result, Jehovah's Witnesses do very little independent thinking [citation needed]. They are victims of the Watchtower Society leaders and fear [citation needed]; but freedom is in sight."
What "full article" are you referring to?
Although I do intend to respond to your more pertinent questions when I get the chance, I feel that this is simply outrageous. I have seen like claims many times. Will you finally be able to source them?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe article is here. You'll be able to see all of the citations from Watch Tower publications which the quotation is drawn from, which itself is based on an article from 1958 which addressed Jesus' words in Luke 21:8. This 1958 article is one of the very few times the Governing Body has tackled this verse, a verse which convinced my wife that Jehovah's Witness do not have "the truth".
ReplyDelete"Will you finally be able to source them?". Please. Are you trying to suggest I make outrageous claims about the Watch Tower Society and the self-appointed "governing body" without backing them up with citations and quotations?
StandFirm is swatting at gnats. Does he really think we don't have the full article or are trying to hide it?
ReplyDeletehttp://savedfromthewatchtower.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-irish.html - the full article that I'm referring to.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should break it down... what I've quoted is a paragraph where the references to the Irish are replaced with the Witnesses. And the basis for doing so is provided via series of quotes from Watchtower publications that show the level of control the Governing Body has over the Witnesses, much like the Catholic clergy supposedly has over the Irish.
When it comes to trying to hide the truth, it's the Governing Body who are guilty of that. For instance, I've heard that at the current summer conventions, the talk "Remain in the Secret Place...." claims that that Witnesses pointed to 1914 as the start of the last days due to the wars, earthquakes, famines etc.
That is utter nonsense, as the Proclaimers book bears out. Russell and the Seventh Day Adventists - not the Witnesses - pointed to 1914 as when Armageddon would start. And they did so due to esoteric calculations by a Baptist minister called Miller. Wars and earthquakes had nothing to do with it!
The Governing Body are adept at hiding the truth and re-writing history to suit their needs.
But, apologists like StandFirm would rather plough over centuries-old ground like the Trinity/deity of Christ than squarely address current lies and deception from the mouth of the people he trust to lead him to salvation.
That is a real, saddening shame.
The Apologetic Front:
ReplyDelete"StandFirm is swatting at gnats. Does he really think we don't have the full article or are trying to hide it?"
My apologies. The article is linked under the words "Read the full article" in the post. I did not notice this before since it is almost the same color as the rest of the text and I did not move my mouse over it.
You write:
ReplyDelete"But, apologists like StandFirm would rather plough over centuries-old ground like the Trinity/deity of Christ than squarely address current lies and deception from the mouth of the people he [supposedly] trust[s] to lead him to salvation."
I would love to discuss any subject. You already picked the issue of 'Jehovah' in the NT, and I will do that response after I finish an article on the United States Oath of Allegiance. Would you like something else to take precedence?
The colour of links in the blog has been changed to make them stand out more, apologies for any confusion caused.
ReplyDeleteI would love to discuss any subject. You already picked the issue of 'Jehovah' in the NT, and I will do that response after I finish an article on the United States Oath of Allegiance. Would you like something else to take precedence?
I have no preference. As you can see on this blog, I've raised many issues with the Watch Tower Society and the Governing Body. The most recent is their claim to be essential for salvation, to be the word of God and to be, in effect, Jesus himself. All of this can be found in the October 2010 Watchtower magazine.
If you, as a Christian, are happy and satisfied with their elevation, then you'll see no need to defend, explain or apologise for such statements from the Governing Body.
However, if you, as a Christian, feel a twinge of discomfort when you read such statements as;
We cannot hope to acquire a good relationship with Jehovah if we ignore those whom Jesus has appointed to care for his belongings. Without the assistance of “the faithful and discreet slave,” we would neither understand the full import of what we read in God’s Word nor know how to apply it. (Matt. 24:45-47)
...then maybe you'll want to just ignore it and hope that it'll "go away".
Whatever you decide, there are tons of issues raised on this blog that you're more than willing to tackle as an anonymous Jehovah's Witness apologist.
Quick Question - why are you anonymous? Is there something you're in fear of?
Whatever you decide, there are tons of issues raised on this blog that you're more than willing to tackle as an anonymous Jehovah's Witness apologist.
ReplyDeleteShould read "more than welcome..."