The Watchtower and Fire-Walking

by VM44 10 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • VM44
    VM44

    Here are some comments from The Watchtower concerning fire-walking.

    Note that the 1955 comment was somewhat reasonable, but in the 1970's and 80's they were back to saying that evil spirits were protecting the fire-walkers.

    --VM44

    *** g35 11/20 p. 116 British Empire *** (From Leolaia's Golden Age Goodies thread)Fire-Walking in Britain

    Unwilling to learn anything from the Bible a flock of British scientists built a pit filled with seven tons of oak logs, one ton of firewood, one load of charcoal and ten gallons of kerosene, and after it had been burning for eight hours, and the surface heat was found to be 800 degrees Fahrenheit, they saw Kuda Bux, a young Hindu, walk the length of the pit, pausing fire seconds at each step, and emerge unscathed. This happened at Carshalton, Kent, and was a case of demonism, pure and simple. Two British medical students who attempted to emulate the feat were severely burned after a few steps and had to jump to safety.

    *** w55 9/1 p. 528 par. 15 Part 1—What Do the Scriptures Say About "Survival After Death"? ***

    15 Instances of fire walking, which have been observed in India and elsewhere, have generally been attributed to some occult influence or power, but science has been able to prove with some success that there is a trick about this, dependent upon ordinary laws of nature, thus removing this from the realm of the really occult. But the more science investigates the more it is faced with the evidences of a truly occult power, of invisible forces producing supernatural acts and happenings among men.

    *** g73 12/8 p. 23 Fiji—Palette of the Pacific ***

    The Fijian ceremony is no less spectacular. They heat up a huge pit full of large boulders (from their home island of Beqa) until these are white hot. This takes about eight hours. Then the bete (priest) leads the colorfully dressed fire walkers over the stones without a single burn. While medical authorities cannot explain how it is possible, students of the Bible realize that it is due to the power of wicked spirits.

    *** g81 2/8 p. 30 Watching the World ***

    Atheists Fire Walk

    The Hindu newspaper of India reports that a group of atheists held a fire-walking demonstration at their center in Vijayawada. "The volunteers took a few paces across a six-foot diameter pit of red hot coal and came out unscathed," says the report. "The demonstration was organized by the Atheist Centre to end the belief that only the saintly can walk on fire." Apparently the same forces that assist "saintly" Hindus to keep their feet cool also see a common cause served by assisting atheists.

    *** w81 9/15 p. 15 Insight on the News ***

    Insight on the News

    Fire Dancing Just a "Gimmick"?

    After watching a group of people dance on a bed of burning coals in Greece, a visiting American wanted to try it himself. He jumped onto the coals—but with disastrous results. He burned the skin off his soles. Not only was intense pain a problem, but he was almost lynched by the fire-dancing religionists who viewed him as desecrating their ceremony. Police had to rescue the screaming man from the mob.

    "I thought that they just skipped over as quickly as possible, that it was largely a gimmick," said the 29-year-old American from his hospital bed. He added: "The blind religious ecstasy the fire dancers are in when they do it is quite incredible. I would not advise anyone else to try it. All I managed to prove was that these people are genuine."

    Fire walking and fire dancing, appearing in many cultures, need not necessarily be viewed as a "gimmick" or trick. It can be "genuine" in the sense that superhuman forces are involved. Because wicked spirit forces are behind the magical and occult practices mentioned at Deuteronomy 18:10-12, the true God viewed such as "detestable" in his eyes. These demon angels understand methods of insulating flesh from hot surfaces.

  • VM44
    VM44

    "Apparently the same forces that assist "saintly" Hindus to keep their feet cool also see a common cause served by assisting atheists."

    Yes, the "forces", or laws of physics, work equally well for Hindus and atheists.

    "It can be "genuine" in the sense that superhuman forces are involved. ... These demon angels understand methods of insulating flesh from hot surfaces."

    How does this Watchtower writer know "superhuman forces are involved"?

    It turns out that the people who fire walk know when and how to walk over the hot coals so that the soles of their feet along with the carbon covering the coals provide enough thermal insulation so that they can transverse a "bed of coals" barefoot. No need to bring "demon angels" into the explanation.

    What happened to the wisdom that was shown by the writer of the 1955 Watchtower article?

    "students of the Bible realize that it is due to the power of wicked spirits."

    OK, where in the Bible is fire-walking mentioned?

    --VM44

  • VM44
    VM44

    It is to The Watchtower benefit to promote a belief in wicked evil spirits, and they use stories like those given above to promote superstitioius belief in spirits.

    Rather than researching what actually was taking place when fire-walking is done, the Watchtower writers just go off and start writing whatever they think fits in with the propaganda they wish to pass off onto the people.

    --VM44

  • VM44
    VM44

    "He jumped onto the coals—but with disastrous results. He burned the skin off his soles."

    Sheesh, what did he expect? Jumping on the coals? What better way to maximize contact between feet and the actual burning coals? That is NOT what fire-walkers do. No wonder this dummy got burned.

    This guy didn't even bother to ask the fire walkers what they did when they fire-walked.

    Talk about "Fools jumping in"....and then getting burned!

    --VM44

  • VM44
    VM44

    Fire walking is dangerous even when attempted under the direction of those who know how to do it. --VM44

    http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/02/27/1014704967158.html

    KFC bosses aren't chicken, but they sure are tender

    Les Kennedy

    February 28 2002

    It was meant to develop leadership skills, but the fire-walking exercise for 30 managers of the KFC fast food chicken restaurant chain was too hot to bear.

    Among 20 taken to Hunter Valley hospitals yesterday for treatment to a range of burns to their feet was Roger Eaton, the chief executive officer for Tricon Restaurants Australia, which owns the Australian franchise rights to KFC.

    The mass burning took place on the last day of a management development conference for 180 KFC executives and managers at the Horizons golf resort at Salamander Bay, Port Stephens, north of Newcastle.

    In all, 11 ambulances responded to the emergency at 1.40pm when the resort reported about 30 people suffering burns to their feet as a result of a fire-walking exercise over the ashes of burnt timber.

    But an ambulance spokesman said of those injured, most of whom were aged 20 to 30, seven received serious burns which required treatment at Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital.

    Thirteen others were taken to a clinic at Nelson Bay with lesser burns, while 10 others were treated at the scene by ambulance officers for minor blisters, an Ambulance Service spokesman said yesterday.

    Both Tricon Restaurants Australia and WorkCover began immediate investigations late yesterday into how so many people came to be burnt during the fire-walking exercise undertaken by many companies throughout Australia as part of leadership development and management bonding schemes.

    Tricon Restaurant Australia chief legal counsel Angus Armstrong said last night that the company regarded the safety of its staff above everything and it was at a loss to explain how it occurred.

    Mr Armstrong said the accident happened on the last day of a two-day management development conference and that the fire-walking was one of the last exercises of the program that was conducted on a voluntary basis.

    An independent company conducted the fire-walking exercise and KFC had used it twice before without incident, Mr Armstrong said.

    He said the seven taken to John Hunter Hospital, among them Mr Eaton, were initially feared to have serious burns, but their burns had been found not to be so severe.

    "We have been told that they will be released overnight. We are very pleased to hear that they are not as severe," Mr Armstrong said.

    "We are also conducting a thorough investigation into the incident and we are working closely with WorkCover."

    Mr Armstrong said it was "totally unacceptable" that anyone should get hurt and Tricon Restaurants "will be reviewing the types of exercises" it conducts at future conferences.

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia

    One amusing article is a 15 August 1973 Watchtower piece on witchcraft that calmly states:

    Many of the people began to listen to Bible truth from the Witnesses and have broken free from their superstitious bondage

    Yet the same articles states:

    That those dabbling in witchcraft will be drawn into the use of drugs and into degraded, immoral and disgusting sex practices. Above all, they are in the greatest peril of coming completely under the control of the demons, where they may commit almost any crime, including suicide or murder, or may go insane. Are these "demons" actual persons, real personalities? Or are they mere forces of evil in man, as some say? Let no one be deceived into thinking they are not actual persons. The Bible corroborates what has been said about the dangers involved in witchcraft and gives us definite identification of the demons. It shows that the demons are spirit persons, chief of whom is Satan the Devil.
    The demons know they are soon to be destroyed, and so whip up violence and corruption in the earth in order to carry everyone to destruction with them, if possible.
  • VM44
    VM44

    A superstitious belief in evil spirits is _essential_ to The Watchtower's "grand scheme" of understanding the Bible.

    --VM44

  • VM44
    VM44

    The Watchtower once even quoted a report about the actress Elke Sommer's house being haunted! --VM44

    *** w66 12/15 Repelling the Attack of Wicked Spirits ***

    A recent case, advertised on the front page of The Saturday Evening Post of July 2, 1966, was "The Haunted House of Elke Sommer." A check made with previous owners of the house showed a history of its being haunted. See the article "Are Haunted Houses Hoaxes?" in Awake! of June 22, 1965.

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia

    Do you have that 1965 Awake! ?

  • VM44
    VM44

    Nope. Don't have that one. --VM44

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit