"Neutrality" is Nonsense

by metatron 22 Replies latest jw friends

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  M.J.

  right on.

  As for the point drilled in by the WTS about each country saying "God is on our side"...

  Think of the situation of the plane that crashed in PA on 9/11, when the hijackers missed their D.C. target due to the uprising of the passengers against them. The passengers were faced with a decision. Resist these terrorists with deadly force and save many other lives as a result, or passively accept the fate that the terrorists had laid out. (I wonder what a JW on that plane would have done!)

  Both terrorists and passengers each believed "God is on our side"!

  Should that fact be used to discredit the brave, selfless act that the passengers performed? Should it have been a reason for them NOT to act? Should they have sat back and said, "I will not become involved. It is not my place."

  Thank goodness they did NOT think that way.

  Thank goodness those who resisted Hitler did NOT think that way either.
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  greendawn

  True, the JWs never aknowledge that so many had to die to prevent the world from becoming Nazi fascist dominated something that I believe wouldn't be nice for them as the Nazis were deeply anti religion. They certainly wouldn't even dream of the freedoms that they get in a democratic context.
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  Narkissos

  I don't like the idea of "neutrality" either.

  On the other hand, conscientious objection, desertion, insubordination, mutiny, civil desobedience, resistance, sabotage... don't you praise such acts when they occur on the other side of the battlefield?

  A lot of wars were stupidly started, waged, kept on. And the individuals who conscientiously stepped out of them, especially without any religion or party instructions, have my upmost respect.
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  M.J.

  On the other hand, conscientious objection, desertion, insubordination, mutiny, civil desobedience, resistance, sabotage... don't you praise such acts when they occur on the other side of the battlefield?

  ahh yes. Very fitting that a Frenchman would make this point.

  I agree with conscience taking precedence in any given situation and respect that.
• 

  proplog2

  Metatron:

  No one has ever died for me. I will defend my own SELF. I will kill my enemy when he is looking me dead in the eye. Or my enemy will kill me.

  Unfortunately governments make enemies and then expect others to fight their battles.

  At the point where governments threaten to lock you up if you don't fight their enemies - I think its time to consider who your real enemy is.
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  Jankyn

  In Commandant at Auschwitz: The Autobiography of Rudolf Hoess, there are a couple of passages where he praises the JW prisoners for their good attitude and healthy work habits. He's the one that suggested that, after the war, JWs could be used as laborers in the occupied areas without the danger of allowing untermenschen (everybody who wasn't Aryan) to survive.

  What's funny is that when I read those parts out loud to my mother (I read this for the first time in 9th grade), her comment was, "What a wonderful witness they gave!"

  Excuse me. The guy praising them RAN AUSCHWITZ CONCENTRATION CAMP AND KILLED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS, IF NOT MILLIONS, OF PEOPLE! What a wonderful witness they must have given, as he passed by them working on the way to inspect the gas chambers and crematoria!

  Who wants praise from that man? And if that's neutrality--impressing psychopathic war criminals with their attitude and work habits--they can keep it.

  Jankyn
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  Star Moore

  Yes, good post. I left the Wt partially because I no longer wanted to be neutral in the war we are in. I want to say, "yes, I'm against it", something I wasn't allowed to do in WT. Also I would like to vote or even campaign..
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  ocsrf

  Whilst I have no time at all for the J W beliefs anymore, I have not been drawn towards nationalism either. Why should I believe that Britain is the best place in the world, when it clearly is not ? Why give blind allegiance to a country {which means simply supporting politicians in their decisions] simply because I was born and live here?

  I do have the utmost respect for those men who died fighting for the freedoms that we enjoy and I do not wish to berate anybodies viewpoint . I am trying to learn tolerance since leaving the dubs. I wonder though how soldiers at the time really viewed their service. Basically soldiers, like my father, were mostly conscripted to fight for their country , whatever side they happened to be a part of. They were all told that the cause was just. They all believed that they had "God on their side".

  I do agree that there were many heroes who opposed the Nazis without the benefit of a large organization around them. And I am sure that we will not read about them in the Watchtower

  Of course the issue involves much more that WW2. Every issue and conflict is different. I do not call myself "neutral", that would be too much of a self righteous stand. Perhaps I am just a cynic who does not trust what our leaders have to say..

  Well said,

  I too am a cynic, Bush has alot to answer for. The reason for the most current war is a lie. I feel bad for the families who lost loved ones and young men who now have missing arms and legs. Those people in Iraq are far from being free and terrioism did not loose ground due to this war.

  OC
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  r51785

  I agree that neutrality is nonsense. Are you familiar with the Catholic doctrine of just war? I think that his concept is much more "Christian" than the WT "neutrality."
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  Leolaia

  M.J.....That was a very thought-provoking post! A very simple deconstruction of the Society's naivete.

  And thanks metatron for starting this thread...I wonder how WWII veterans who become JWs come to regard their own sacrifices. My uncle (JW elder) flew a plane over Normandy on D-Day. I know he does feel some pride about that....he has pictures and memorabilia from it in his study. Yet, according to the Society, his sacrifice means nothing.