"We needed to use the library"... and other wacky Watchtower excuses.

by cedars 42 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  cedars

  Hi everyone

  I'm sure we're all familiar with the crazy excuse that the Watch Tower Society leadership came up with to justify their nine year period as a UN NGO (Non Governmental Organization). Amazingly, this seems to make perfect sense with Watch Tower apologists, who don't stop for a moment to ponder the following:

  1. You don't need to be a UN NGO to use the UN library
  2. If it was so innocent for them to hold UN NGO status just to use the library, why did they withdraw their status when the issue received media attention?

  That aside, we are now witnessing the unravelling of fresh scandals to hit the Society, most notably:

  • The Steven Unthank case in the State of Victoria, where Governing Body members face the real threat of being prosecuted for failure to implement working with children legislation, and more recently...
  • The discovery that, for untold years, the Watch Tower Society was in the practice of burying chemical pollutants in barrels at rural locations in upstate New York, hypocritically going against their own condemnation of those "ruining the earth".

  So I'm wondering, what excuses will they come up with to justify the above fairly recent developments? Perhaps if we can pre-empt the excuses, it will expose them as being even more ridiculous when they are officially given.

  Cedars
• 

  Paralipomenon

  Get of her my people... unless they have a kick ass library.
• 

  cofty

  In the Australia case I think they will claim they believed the legislation did not apply since they do not work directly with children. They will claim that elders only work with adult members and children are constantly under the supervision of parents.

  I think this is how they have avoided needing to obtain CRB certificates in the UK.

  The challenge will be to show that the elders are given extreme levels of trust by members and have ample opportunity to abuse that trust.
• 

  NewChapter

  Perhaps an even more telling answer would be to the question: Why do you seek to remain exempt from legal measures meant to protect children? Isn't the inconvenience worth the safety of all those precious gifts from Jehovah? WHY???

  NC
• 

  blondie

  Not to be religious but Jesus said something that shows that religious leaders always have an excuse:

  (Matthew 15:1-6) 15 Then there came to Jesus from Jerusalem Pharisees and scribes, saying: 2 “Why is it your disciples overstep the tradition of the men of former times? For example, they do not wash their hands when about to eat a meal.” 3 In reply he said to them: “Why is it YOU also overstep the commandment of God because of YOUR tradition? 4 For example, God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Let him that reviles father or mother end up in death.’ 5 But YOU say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother: “Whatever I have by which you might get benefit from me is a gift dedicated to God,” 6 he must not honor his father at all.’ And so YOU have made the word of God invalid because of YOUR tradition.
• 

  ScenicViewer

  Love your posts Cedars. You always seem to hit the nail right on the head.

  The library response by Watchtower was probably the most ridiculous excuse I have ever heard. It's what a child would say. I don't know if there is anything that can top that.

  Whatever the Society comes up with it will involve some serious spin, and likely something about staying off the internet, and probably something about 'God's clean people' being persecuted. JWs themselves, most of whom won't know one iota of truth regarding the matter, will be in complete denial and say 'they make that stuff up to mke us look bad.'

  One elder I know once said to the congregation, "Never go on the internet and look up information about Jehovah's Witnesses because all you will find is pure garbage." I guess in this instance we did find 'pure garbage,' in the form of toxic waste.
• 

  cedars

  Thanks everyone, some interesting responses!

  Cofty, I'm not sure the answer you've proposed is necessarily an "excuse", rather an attempt at underming the relevance of the legislation. However, the bible urges us to give Caesar's things to Caesar, etc. NewChapter has alluded to the fact that there was no scriptural reason for them to ignore the need to comply with laws that are designed to protect children.

  I'm inclined to agree with Blondie, it is built into the DNA of the Governing Body to offer an excuse rather than admit guilt in anything. If the Unthank case reaches its desired conclusion, it's almost inevitable that the Governing Body will claim it is being "persecuted" (nod to Scenic Viewer) by the Victoria government. The question is - what excuse could it possibly concoct as to why it didn't comply with such a simple law?

  The same applies to the toxic waste dumping scandal.

  Cedars
• 

  ScenicViewer

  The question is - what excuse could it possibly concoct as to why it didn't comply with such a simple law?

  In response to the UN scandal, I believe the Society made the excuse that 'the requirements were changed,' and implied that as soon as they found out they disassociated from NGO status. (In reality the requirements did not change.)

  They may try the same tactic with regard to the WWC Act, claiming it didn't apply to them, but then it was changed.

  Or perhaps they will say the law still doesn't apply to them, but "to be a 'shining example' to the world we decided to comply anyway, and doesn't this give us one more reason brothers to align ourselves with God's clean, earthly organization today!"

  Regarding the toxic waste, they may say it was perfectly legal to dump at the time, therefore they are not in violation. Their responsibility to avoid 'ruining the earth,' whether legal or not, will be ignored of course.

  Spin meisters never run out of something to say. And followers who refuse to investigate and think for themselves will will be happy to swallow all of it.
• 

  cedars

  Thanks Scenic Viewer

  Yes, the excuse for the Unthank case would likely involve apportioning blame to someone else, or claiming that the goalposts were moved in some way. I think the pollution thing is a bit harder to dodge. It's kind of like a Governing Body member being photographed having a cigarette. There just isn't a way out of it. I think they're just hoping that particular story doesn't spread any more than it already has.

  Cedars
• 

  rebel8

  So I'm wondering, what excuses will they come up with to justify the above fairly recent developments

  This question deserves a musical answer.

  The first excuse of Witnesses is,
  That’s not the truth about me
  It didn’t happen at all.
  
  The second excuse of Witnesses is,
  That’s not the truth about me
  It wasn’t like that,
  And It didn’t happen at all.
  
  The third excuse of Witnesses is,
  That’s not the truth about me
  It’s New Light,
  It wasn’t like that,
  And It didn’t happen at all.
  
  The fourth excuse of Witnesses is,
  That’s not the truth about me
  We were just back calling (not trespassing),
  It’s New Light,
  It wasn’t like that,
  And It didn’t happen at all.
  
  The fifth excuse of Witnesses is,
  That’s not the truth about me
  It was just a library card,
  We were just back calling (not trespassing),
  It’s New Light,
  It wasn’t like that,
  And It didn’t happen at all.
  
  The sixth excuse of Witnesses is,
  That’s not the truth about me
  He came invisibly,
  It was just a library card,
  We were just back calling (not trespassing),
  It’s New Light,
  It wasn’t like that,
  And It didn’t happen at all.
  
  The seventh excuse of Witnesses is,
  That’s not the truth about me
  “Generation” a-redefining,
  He came invisibly,
  It was just a library card,
  We were just back calling (not trespassing),
  It’s New Light,
  It wasn’t like that,
  And It didn’t happen at all.
  
  The eighth excuse of Witnesses is,
  That’s not the truth about me
  We didn’t mean last century would end the preaching,
  “Generation” a-redefining,
  He came invisibly,
  It was just a library card,
  We were just back calling (not trespassing),
  It’s New Light,
  It wasn’t like that,
  And It didn’t happen at all.
  
  The ninth excuse of Witnesses is,
  That’s not the truth about me
  The Friends misunderstood,
  We didn’t mean last century would end the preaching,
  “Generation” a-redefining,
  He came invisibly,
  It was just a library card,
  We were just back calling (not trespassing),
  It’s New Light,
  It wasn’t like that,
  And It didn’t happen at all.
  
  The tenth excuse of Witnesses is,
  That’s not the truth about me
  We never said fractions were bad,
  The Friends misunderstood,
  We didn’t mean last century would end the preaching,
  “Generation” a-redefining,
  He came invisibly,
  It was just a library card,
  We were just back calling (not trespassing),
  It’s New Light,
  It wasn’t like that,
  And It didn’t happen at all.
  
  The eleventh excuse of Witnesses is,
  That’s not the truth about me
  The Friends can go a-voting,
  We never said fractions were bad,
  The Friends misunderstood,
  We didn’t mean last century would end the preaching,
  “Generation” a-redefining,
  He came invisibly,
  It was just a library card,
  We were just back calling (not trespassing),
  It’s New Light,
  It wasn’t like that,
  And It didn’t happen at all.
  
  The twelfth excuse of Witnesses is,
  That’s not the truth about me
  Nazi principles supporting--oops!
  The Friends can go a-voting,
  We never said fractions were bad,
  The Friends misunderstood,
  We didn’t mean last century would end the preaching,
  “Generation” a-redefining,
  He came invisibly,
  It was just a library card,
  We were just back calling (not trespassing),
  It’s New Light,
  It wasn’t like that,
  And it didn’t happen at all!