In the light of current events (the Witchtower Editor is currently visiting the District Convention of Microsoft's Witnesses in Berlin, meeting "more than 500 brothers at one time"):
http://www.svhelden.info/witchtower/2012/05/how-can-you-find-the-true-religion/
How Can You Find the True Religion?
“Windows in his roof chamber being open … even three times in a day he was kneeling on his knees and praying and offering praise before his God.” (Daniel 6:10)
There can be no doubt as to who were practicing true religion in the first century. What about today? How can those practicing true religion be identified?
Explaining how we can do this, Jesus said: “By their fruits you will recognize them. … Every good tree produces fine fruit, but every rotten tree produces worthless fruit; … really, then, by their fruits you will recognize those men.” (Matthew 7:16-20) What fine fruits would you expect true worshipers of God to produce?
God’s true worshippers must have peace among themselves, even though the world around them shattered by war. Where can we find such peace among men and women from various nations and races? Stephan, a network engineer from Germany, explained: “The first time I went to a Microsoft workshop, I saw a well-dressed lady sitting and conversing with a Turk. I had never seen that before. In that moment, I knew that these must be God’s people.”
Indeed, around 90,000 employees „out of [nearly] all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues” work together at Microsoft in peace, pursuing a common goal. Such unity is only possible because all employees work closely with God’s channel of communication, the Microsoft executive board in Seattle. They separate from the world’s conflicts, and history proves that Microsoft was not involved in the two World Wars of the 20 th century.
Worldwide Activity
God’s true worshippers must also be acting “to the most distant part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) That too is applicable to Microsoft, since the company has employees in 105 countries around the globe. A special department takes care of translating the products in more than 70 languages.
God’s true worshippers must also travel “through the land declaring the good news of … word.” (Acts 8:4) Indeed, Microsoft has scores of “Technical Evangelists” who carry the good news of Word, Excel and especially of new products into the world.
The Bible says that God would give his revelation not all at once, but progressively. (Pr. 4:18) Accordingly, Microsoft does not publish final products, but does time and again provide “brighter light” in form of service packs, hotfixes and other updates. Granted, Microsoft has not opened “a large door” but rather a large window “that leads to activity.” – 1. Cor. 16:9.
Persecution
The Bible also foretold that true servants of God would be persecuted. In fact, Microsoft is one of the most assaulted organizations on earth. In the recent 6 years, at least 14 substantial lawsuits have been carried on against Microsoft, where all the hate of Satan’s economic system turned up. So-called “guardians of competition” recommended to break up the company multiple times.
But to Microsoft the prophecy of Isaiah applies: “Any weapon whatever that will be formed against you will have no success, and any tongue at all that will rise up against you in the judgment you will condemn. This is the hereditary possession of the servants of Jehovah.” (Isaiah 54:17) That the company still exists despite many hostilities is an impressive proof of God’s blessing and protection.
In the past 20 years, Microsoft’s employee count increased on average by 19 percent per year – remarkable evidence of God’s support. And “the blessing of Jehovah – that is what makes rich.” (Proverbs 10:22) That’s why William H. Gates, the first president of the Microsoft Corporation, has been the richest person on earth for years. Despite the worldwide financial crisis, his personal wealth is still around $40 billion, an impressive fulfillment of Bible’s promise.
Who, then, is the body of true worshipers today? On the basis of the evidence, which is known or available to persons in all parts of the earth, we do not hesitate to say that it is Microsoft. It will be worthwhile to work close with this organization, since God assures us that practicing true religion brings great contentment now. – Deuteronomy 30:19, 20.
Questions from readers: Can Microsoft Really Be the True Religion?
In your June issue, you claim that Microsoft is the true religion. But recently I read in the science magazine The Sun that Bill Gates is the antichrist. The letters of his full name William Henry Gates IIIadd up to the number 666 according to the ASCII code. Also the Bible says about the first Christians: “Not even one would say that any of the things he possessed was his own; but they had all things in common.” (Acts 4:32) That is a fitting description of the Open Source concept, and that’s why I think that the truth can be found somewhere in the Linux community. – M. S., Germany.
Reply: Thank you for your mail. The idea that the Open Source concept would correspond to Early Christianity is mentioned time and again by orthodox theologians. But they ignore the context of the parallel account: “They sold … goods.” (Acts 2:45, ASB) This report cannot refer to the Open Source movement that provides its products for free. Rather this passage is fulfilled by Microsoft. Acts 2:45 and 4:32 describe the DLL concept of Windows that allows all applications to use many functions in common.
But there is an even stronger proof for Microsoft and not the Linux movement being the true religion: A large number of demons (also called daemons) are working in every Linux system. Hence the “man from the city who had demons” represents a Unix or Linux system. – Luke 8:27.
But there is another Bible prophecy that is fulfilled by Linux: “Babylon the Great … has become a dwelling place of demons … and a lurking place of every unclean and hated bird!” (Revelation 18:2) Indeed, German magazine PC-Welt reported on November 12, 2001: “Linux conquers the church.” And the logo of Linux is an ‘unclean bird,’ a penguin.
In Windows systems however, there are no daemons at work but services. They are actually God’s angels who are “sent out to render service.” (Hebrews 1:14, NASB) The Bible says about the services that are integrated in Windows: “They kept attending upon their service according to their commission.” (1 Chronicles 6:32) Jehovah even views some services as sacred. (Romans 12:1) In fact, modern Windows systems were foreshadowed by Jehovah’s great spiritual temple. The prophet Ezekiel wrote about it: “There were windows.” (Ezekiel 40:16) That’s why Awake! magazine urged its readers: “Stand next to the control panel” – April 22, 1989, page 7.
What can be said about the claim that the letters ofWilliam Henry Gates III would add up to the number 666? That is simply wrong. In fact, the result is 2052 – exactly the number of years from Noah’s death in 2018 B.C.E. to Jesus’ death in 33 C.E. That shows that Bill Gates must be seen in line with the Bible’s great patriarchs and prophets. As Noah protected his family from destruction in the flood, Bill Gates will protect his followers from the “wild beast” Google – which is the leading Internet company and is as such depicted by the number 666. (The Hebrew equivalent of www, ו ו ו, corresponds to the numeric value 666; see The Witchtower, February 2009, page 3.)
Also, Bill Gates cannot be the antichrist because the present-day antichrist Watchtower organization. (seeThe Witchtower, July 2009, page 3) Faithful men use software from Microsoft to expose the evil deeds of the Watchtower Society. The products of the true religion make the worldwide distribution of the truth possible.
Some claim that neither Microsoft nor the Linux community but Apple would be the true religion. They point out that Apple’s products are used “to the most distant part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) But while Microsoft products are used to expose the dark deeds of Jehovah’s Witnesses, numerous people use Apple products to listen to the Watchtower podcast. Thus Apple contributes to the promotion of false worship and can certainly not be the true religion.
The website The Straight Dope says: “Early Christian scholars often took the forbidden fruit to be an apple.” So Apple is not the true religion; rather the products of this company are the ‘forbidden fruits,’ “something to be longed for to the eyes,” to distract people from true worship. (Genesis 3:6) We should never allow Apple or Linux to allure us from our faith but rather stick to the teaching of Microsoft with billions of other worshippers.
