"It has been said..." in the AWAKE!

by Nathan Natas 20 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Nathan Natas

  It has been said that Bboyneko hasn't posted lately because he hurt his back break dancing.
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  NeonMadman

  One of the things that they frequently neglect to tell you when using the phrase "It has been said..." is that they are the ones who have said it.

  I have a recording of a talk by Judge Rutherford that he begins by saying, "It has often been said that religion is a snare and a racket..." Well, of course it had been said. BY HIM! And often. But phrasing it that way gives it a false appearance of general acceptance, and thus of credibility.
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  JeffT

  Rutherford was fond of quoting himself. The local library has a couple of his books, in one ot them a chapter starts out "It has been said (and with some authority I might add)... I've forgotten the rest of the quote but it was about Jehovah living in the Pleiades. After some more research I discovered that the authority he was quoting was himself.
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  Jankyn

  The phrase "it has been said" is what we English teachers like to call an agentless passive construction. It is a great way to (1) avoid taking responsibility for what you say and (2) avoid providing documentation for your sources. It is my personal mission in life to stamp out agentless passives in the work of all freshman English students.

  The consistent use of this phrase in WT publications makes absolutely laughable the claim that reading them provides the equivalent of a college education. Furthermore, I can pretty much guarantee that the entire Writing Department would fail my First Year Composition class--and that's without taking content into consideration.

  Jankyn, red-pen toting persecutor of all students who begin essays with the phrase "Throughout history..."
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  Matty

  I vaguely recollect hearing about something in the Awake that quoted a newspaper article that discussed the proliferation of earthquakes in the twentieth century compared to previous centuries. What the Awake neglected to mention was that the newspaper in question was in fact quoting from an even older issue of another Awake magazine. If anyone can pin this down to a particular issue I would be grateful.

  (edited for spelling!)

  Edited by - Matty on 25 June 2002 14:32:24
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  JeffT

  Jankyn - good for you.

  The lack of footnotes alone would get the writers of the WT flunked in any decent compostion class. Of course if they footnoted their stuff, people would be able to see the exact quote in context.
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  NeonMadman

  Jankyn, red-pen toting persecutor of all students who begin essays with the phrase "Throughout history..."

  Errr...what's wrong with the phrase, "Throughout history..."?

  Seriously, though, I wouldn't have a problem with their using the phrase "It has been said..." if they were using it to refer to something that was actually commonly said. For example, "It has been said that a stitch in time saves nine." The problem is that they are using the phrase deceptively to give credibility to their own words and, as you point out, to avoid taking responsibility for their assertions and to avoid providing documentation. It is this disingenuousness, not the phrase itself, that is disturbing.

  Tom
  (Hoping my grammar is correct in this post)
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  detective

  It's also been said that you shouldn't believe everything you read!

  Too funny! Go, Nathan!
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  Dutchie

  Seems to me that "IT" has a lot to answer for! Simply hilarious!
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  Nathan Natas

  Hi Jankyn,

  I invite you to examine my newest thread, "not without good reason..."

  I enjoy the technical insight that you bring to the analysis.