Does Jehovah Still Call Black People the "No-No" Word?

by arko_n9ne 28 Replies latest watchtower scandals

  • metatron
    metatron

    You guys seem to be discussing - mostly 'ancient' history within the Watchtower. Yes, there was a time when there was a written directive in Bethel that blacks would be referred to as "Negro" (capitalized) in print. You gotta understand that they went along with whatever the world dictated, pretty much - unlike US churches that actively fought for civil rights.

    I can remember an older Bethel brother (now long deceased) who warned me not to marry a Puerto Rican sister 'because your kids could be half black'. It was the times back then, you see.

    Racism in the organization today is small potatoes. Their dismissive, condescending attitude towards WOMEN is far more important! How long can this cult continue to think that women are inferior or incapable of leadership?

    Especially if this cultish concept of women is supported by a Governing Body that might include a divorced wife beater? Hello?

    metatron

  • arko_n9ne
    arko_n9ne

    i am equally disgusted with their treatment of women. i remember the back of a watchtower comparing women to antique lamps. it was trying to explain why women are not to be viewed with low regard. but the whole thing was just condescending to independent women.

    but my question was whether or not the wts ever formally backtracked on the race issue like they did every time they failed in prophecies. i enjoy the stories as they help paint a picture of the wts over the years.

    but still never got an answer...lol

  • Band on the Run
    Band on the Run

    Do you realize that when the Witness wrote that racist drivel, abolitionist Christians (mostly Quakers) worked to end England's involvement in the slave trade and American abolitionists helped trigger the Civil War. Somehow these Christians were not too immature.

    Interracial breeding causes medical problems? What stupidity.

    To be fair to the Witnesses, in my life I never heard them called anything but "colored." "Colored" carried taint. When the rest of the world moved on to Negro, black, African-American, I heard colored from JW relatives. The fact is my family found all sorts of excuses to not be with black people. I read this tome on Slavery and the author's observations that no one knows what they would have done under slavery. I equate the Witnesses as a black female religion. It is what I knew. Why a bunch of black women would want female hating white overseers was always beyond me. Integration in the North was viewed as a very harsh fact. Yet my family was very attached to specific black JWs.

  • Band on the Run
    Band on the Run

    Do you realize that when the Witness wrote that racist drivel, abolitionist Christians (mostly Quakers) worked to end England's involvement in the slave trade and American abolitionists helped trigger the Civil War. Somehow these Christians were not too immature.

    Interracial breeding causes medical problems? What stupidity.

    To be fair to the Witnesses, in my life I never heard them called anything but "colored." "Colored" carried taint. When the rest of the world moved on to Negro, black, African-American, I heard colored from JW relatives. The fact is my family found all sorts of excuses to not be with black people. I read this tome on Slavery and the author's observations that no one knows what they would have done under slavery. I equate the Witnesses as a black female religion. It is what I knew. Why a bunch of black women would want female hating white overseers was always beyond me. Integration in the North was viewed as a very harsh fact. Yet my family was very attached to specific black JWs.

  • Band on the Run
    Band on the Run

    I have no WT research materials nor do I ever want them. Frankly, I don't know what type of key word search would yield a result. The references to black or African-American would be too numerous. Perhaps Google Scholar has a scholarly article concerning it. It is such a key part of the Witnesses. Perhaps it was a key part of the Witnesses. Would adding 'Ham" yield better results.

    Is there a multivolume large encyclopedia type of document that lists all the New Light and policy directives?

    As I've written civil rights is my area of expertise. It is sad but I think the Witnesses were typical of churches. When I read landmark civil rights cases before the Supreme Court, I note who the attorneys were and the clients. All the big cases had amicus briefs filed by the ACLU, the NAACP, the black Southern churches and the main Jewish organizations. If I recall, it was not until late as 1969 when the National Council of Churches (Christian mainstream) filed an amicus briefs. The Christians, aside from Southern black ones, took no side.

    There were quite a few Northern Christians active in the movement. As race traitors, they were at extra risk. The ministers would wear clergy outfits purposefully.

  • mrsjones5
  • Band on the Run
    Band on the Run

    Thanks for the links. I read them quickly.

  • Mary
    Mary

    Here's a couple of quotes I found on the subject. No apology though and I wouldn't want to hang from the end of a rope waiting for one. It would all be put down to "noo light":

    WT 1966 7/1 p. 391 Equality for All-Regardless of Race or Nationality

    Because it is God's will, equality of rights and privileges for all races and nationalities is certain to be realized. However, it will not be as a result of any civil rights movement or present-day social reform. Prejudices and hatreds are too deeply engrained. Throughout human history man's attempts to eradicate them have miserably failed, and continue to fail. Understandably, some human observers feel inequalities are inevitable.

    Yet what man has failed to do, God will soon accomplish. How so? First, by bringing about the destruction of this wicked system of things and preserving alive only prejudice-free servants of God into his new order. Then the promise of Jesus Christ, recorded in God's Word, will be fulfilled: "All those in the memorial tombs [regardless of race or nationality] will hear his voice and come out." (John 5:28, 29) Under the righteous rule of God's kingdom these multiracial, multinational resurrected ones will learn to live with one another in peace, free from previous hatreds and strife.

    That an administration operated in harmony with the principles of God's Word can bring about this effect is apparent by examining the present-day organization of Jehovah's witnesses. It is a matter of public record that Jehovah's witnesses practice brotherhood of all races and nationalities, and do not merely preach it. With genuine affection they call one another "Brother" or "Sister," and they also treat one another as equals. To obtain a foregleam of how equality for all will be realized in God's righteous new system of things, associate with the organization of Jehovah's witnesses and see it in practice today.

    Awake! 1987 6/8 p. 23 Part 7-1960-1969 The 1960's-A Period of Turbulent Protest I Have a Dream"

    In the war of protest, students may have taken the lead, but they were not alone. For example, the U.S. civil-rights movement was supported by blacks and whites of all ages under its leader, Southern Baptist preacher Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1963 over 200,000 people marched on Washington, where King inspired them with his "I have a dream" speech.

    A measure of success was achieved when the U.S. congress responded with what has been called "the greatest outpouring of human rights legislation in this century." And personal success came when King was awarded the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize.

    Watchtower 1956 10/15 pp. 612-613 Is God a Segregationist?

    Today true Christians follow that good example. They follow the Christian principles of love, pointing to the blessings of God's kingdom as the only real solution to all of earth's problems, and announcing that under that kingdom rule there will be no segregation on any basis but a oneness of all mankind under their Creator, Jehovah God.

    Far from teaching segregation, the Bible condemns it. Paul publicly rebuked Peter for being ashamed to be seen with the uncircumcised Gentile Christians. And he wrote: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, . . . for you are all one in union with Christ Jesus."-Gal. 3:28, NW.

    Then what should the true Christian do about it all? He does not spend his time trying to solve all such social problems, because neither Jesus nor the apostles took such a course. They did not agitate against Rome's occupation of Palestine or even against the actual slavery that was common then. They stayed free from such issues so that they could do their far more important work of pointing to God's kingdom as man's only hope.........Men of all races are examining the Scriptures. They are seeing this wise course and are teaching others of the glorious conditions of peace that God's kingdom soon will bring to earth. The blessings that this God-directed kingdom will provide will prove once and for all that God really does love all men who serve him, and that he is no segregationist.

  • arko_n9ne
    arko_n9ne

    Thank you kindly, Mary.

    Your information has verified theories I've had, and opened doors that were once closed.

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