Scratching my head over "Watching the World", March 2011 Awake. Ideas?

by Open mind 12 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Open mind

  Anyone familiar with the Awake! magazine knows that "Watching the World" often gives little news snippets with no further analysis or spin-doctoring from the Writing Dept. This is because for the JWs reading it, they can do their own spin-doctoring and for any potential converts, it makes them think the Awake! is doing unbiased reporting.

  Here's an example from the March 2011 Awake! that fits the typical WT model:

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  The "credibility gap" caused by the Catholic Church's "mismanagement of the clergy sex abuse crisis" has resulted in its "largest institutional crisis in centuries, possibly in church history." -- NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER, U.S.A.

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  JWs can jump in on their own and add whatever typical WT spin they feel like. "See, Babylon the Great, is truly reprehensible." Etc. BTW, the bolded words in the above quote are exactly as they appear in the Awake! The significance of that will become apparent in this next quote from Watching the World. Here we go:

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  Scientists who sequenced DNA from the frozen hair of a Greenlander who died some 4,000 years ago found that he "appears to have originated in Siberia." -- REUTERS NEWS SERVICE, U.S.A.

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  Again, the bolding is exactly as it appeared in the Awake! magazine.

  My question for you fellow JWNers is, what is the significance of this information from the perspective of JWs?

  For further background on the DNA sequencing, here's a link from National Geographic.

  http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/02/100210-ancient-human-dna-hair-saqqaq-inuk/

  In a nutshell, the significance of the National Geographic article is that DNA sequencing capabilities are getting better and cheaper and that a culture of people who lived in Siberia around 5,500 years ago, probably migrated to Greenland and this guy's hair belonged to that culture. Cool. Interesting. But what JW significance does it have?

  Global flood? Evolution? "Cave Men"?

  I'm kinda stumped on this one.

  om
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  DanaBug

  First quote, to reinforce the idea of Babylon the Great, by their fruits you will know them, yada yada.

  Second quote, to give the impression that the Awake is an up to date, relevant magazine with reliable information.

  The bolded words together insinuate, to me, that nothing outside of what comes directly from the Org is really credible. They're usually assumptions or claims that later turn out to be false. So don't trust it. But maybe I'm reading into it too much.
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  sabastious

  The Watching the World section of the Awake has a clear agenda of which you have already pointed out:

  It aids in allowing the Witnesses create their own fear mongering scanarios while at the same time appearing to be merely "reporting the news."

  Win win!

  -Sab
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  Soldier77

  Hmmph... no wonder why I haven't read an Awake! article in over 10 years... even while I believed the WTS shit, I never read it. It was so... so elementary.
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  Kudra

  My first thought is that they are implying this hair is contemporaneous with "the flood" as that event is supposed to have occurred 4000 years ago.

  You are led to believe that "the flood" was truly global because it covered land in Siberia, killed a human there and the retreating floodwaters deposited the hair thousands of miles away in Greenland.
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  OUTLAW

  The "credibility gap" caused by the Catholic Church`sWBT$ "mismanagement of the clergyJehovah`s Witness sex abuse crisis" has resulted in its "largest institutional crisis in centuries, possibly in ChurchWBT$ history." -- NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER, U.S.A.

  Scientists who sequenced DNA from the frozen hair of a Greenlander who died some 4,000 years ago found that he appears to have " Evidently originated in Siberia." -- Reuters News Service U.S.A Watchtower Jan.1 20011

  ..................... ...OUTLAW
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  Sapphy

  Yep, I agree with Kudra. We're meant to 'think' "wow science has proved that the flood killed someone in siberia and the flood waters deposited them in Greenland"
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  stapler99

  If that is the intended interpretation, it is stupid. The only way they could know what the DNA of Siberians look like is by measuring recent Siberians. Presumably their DNA would have nothing in common with "anti-diluvian" Siberians.

  No, I can't think of another reason why they think it's interesting. Maybe they are pushing that "we are are all the same under the skin" by claiming that the races are muddled up.
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  WTWizard

  The worst is that they do not want people going online and cross-referencing anything. When they tell you not to use independent sources, they had better be right--all the more so if they expect you to stake your life on it. When you encourage people to do searches online and you're wrong, that's one thing. But, when you demonize such independent research, stake people's lives on your claim, and then you're wrong, that is far more serious.

  Please research these things on your own--getting both sides of the story before making a final opinion. It isn't hard to find search engine terms to come up with all the links you need on any subject, and researching several different ones from all sides of the story is likelier to give you the truth than just accepting any one source. And, what's with all these weasel words on doctrine that they expect you to stake your very life on without even cross-referencing anything?
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  cameo-d

  The "credibility gap" is a hint that the Catholic church is about to cause a much bigger distraction so they don't have to deal with the issue.