Hi playdrums,
I enjoyed your thoughtful and intuitive post. You didn't attend the Memorial with blinders on. You saw through the charade for what it really is. I too noticed how strong they emphasized that most of us in the audience do not have the hope of going to heaven. For many years I believed everything that the JW's said. Imagine my shock when I discovered that I had believed in a lie and that I had taught my family to believe in that lie.
When Jesus insituted the Memorial there was no indication on his part that there would be two classes of Christians. You know, one group going to heaven and the other group to live on the earth forever. The JW's take the simple explanation of scripture at John 10:16 and twist it. Jesus said: "And I have other sheep not of this fold, those also I must bring, and they will become one flock, under one shepherd." The JW's teach that the other sheep are synonymous with the great crowd mentioned in Revelation chapter 7. They say that the other sheep have the hope to live on the earth forever. However, the explanation of John 10:16 is made clear when Peter is sent to an Italian named Cornelius, a gentile. The other sheep are simply non-Jews that come to have the same hope of reigning eternally with Christ in heaven.
The partaking of the emblems is supposed to be reserved for all Christians. Jesus did not make distinctions which would put one Christian in the heavenly class and the other Christian in the earthly class. Also there have been millions of Christians that have lived down through the centuries. Was their sacrifice in vain? If the 144,000 as mentioned at Revelation 7 and Revelation 14 is to be taken literally, then I guess that the vast majority that have sacrificed their lives have done so for nothing.
There was a couple of other threads that dealt with why so many JW's have been duped. It is based on a scripture at Matthew 24:45-47, where it says: "Who really is the faithful and discreet slave that the master has appointed over his domestics, to give them their food at the proper time. Happy is that slave if his master on arriving finds him doing so. Truly I say to you, He will appoint him over all his belongings." The JW's teach that the Governing Body of the Watchtower Society are the Faithful and Discreet Slave appointed by God to dispense spiritual food to the rank and file nobody, otherwise known as the other sheep. The reason playdrums, why the people in the audience cannot use their own brain to reason is that they have been taught not to question these group of men that make up the Governing Body because they are God's representatives. To disagree with them is to disagree with God. To disagree with the Faithful and Discreet Slave is looked upon as apostasy against God.
So, the only way to get your girlfriend to see the deception of the WT is to slowly but surely get her to see that those men that say they are the Faithful and Discreet Slave are nothing more than men bent on power, position and authority. Encourage her to read the Bible on her own without WT interference. I did so and it was an eye opener for me. Also, the WT has hid it's true history from the rank and file JW. It has hurt thousands of innocents due to its warped sexual abuse policy. Thousands of innocents have been sexually abused either by their own family members or by elders or ministerial servants. Instead of encouraging the victims to take their story to the police, the victims were threatened with disfellowshipping if they spoke out. They wanted to keep up the delusion that sexual abuse didn't happen among Jehovah's "clean people."
The WT teaches that the UN is the peace beast of Revelation that will soon turn on false religion and destroy her yet, the WT was part of the UN as an NGO for about ten years from 1991 to 2001 until they were exposed by "opposers." What I wrote is just a tip of the iceberg. There are volumes of material on the JW's that proves their claim to be God's exclusive organization is a falsehood. I hope that your girlfriend will be able to see it. Thanks again for your informative post. I look forward to "hearing" more from you.
Mr. Shakita
