Comments You Will Not Hear at the 11-9-03 WT Study

by blondie 41 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  DanTheMan

  Will these remain faithful to God regardless of what adversity and hardship may come upon them? This is a question that each servant of Jehovah must answer personally

  I think that the r&f as well as the boys in Brooklyn need persecution to strengthen their own faith. I used to think I belonged to such a heroic organization, standing up to Satan's big bad world.
  

  Oh, and of course, the towerspeak highlights - the word witness or witnessing appeared an incredible number of times in this article:
  

  Persecuted for righteousness sake...
  falsely accused...wrongdoer...bear witness...witness...bearing witness...bearing witness...bear witness...witnessing...bear witness...bearing witness...faithful and true witness...suffer fierce persecution...bearing witness...faithful witness...persecution...Christian witnessing...persecution...bearing witness... persecution...persecution...last days...Jehovah's people...objects of hatred...persecution...stumble...protect ourselves...hated and persecuted...trials and persecution...suffering...suffered...true Christians...publicly praised...unity and cooperation...wholesome appearance...universal sovereignty...proved their integrity...Satan...Satan...firmly established...adversity and hardship...Jehovah permits persecution...give a witness...fine witness...trials and tribulations... benefit...persecution...endurance...fortify us to withstand...persecution
• 

  blondie

  No VOMIT ALERTS???

  Wait till next week, Cathy, when the WTS gets more specific. You may feel you need 2 pails.

  My husband often has remarked that he would have been able to take persecution from any source imaginable outside of the organization when we were JW's...but it was the persecution that came from within...that came just from going to meetings and having to deal with CRAZY people (mostly egotistical, power-mongering, self-righteous elders) in the organization;

  Doesn't the song go, "You always hurt the ones you (say you) love, the ones you shouldn't hurt at all."

  Dantheman,

  I used to think I belonged to such a heroic organization, standing up to Satan's big bad world.

  Yes, so did I until I started really studying history and saw the individuals and groups that helped save Jews in Europe. Who did the JWs save except themselves. Priests, ministers, young college students, nuns, all putting their lives at risk for someone outside their religious group.

  Blondie (persecuted no longer since she stopped going to the meetings)
• 

  Beans

  OUCH, good one Blondie!

  In many parts of the world, Jehovah's Witnesses are publicly praised for the unity and cooperation they display at their conventions and building projects (but not within the congregation where JWs have not talked to other JWs in the congregation for years) , for their honesty and diligence (see http://www.randytv.com/secret/unitednations.htm regarding the UN "honesty"), for their exemplary moral conduct and family life (see www.silentlambs.com re child abuse issues within the WTS), and even for their wholesome appearance and demeanor (yes, no beards prove one is a true Christian) .*
• 

  blondie

  Thanks, Beans. I felt "inspired" when I wrote that.

  Blondie (who has become "anointed" and has received her wings on another thread)
• 

  blondie

  Early Sunday morning...bttt
• 

  shamus

  Why thank you Blondie...

  I am totally in agreement with one poster here that said that they could deal with any form of persecution from outside the congregation, but not from within. That was my downfall. I just couldn't handle all the back-biting, vicious rumours and horribly unloving people. And it was not just one congregation. I went to about 10 during my tenure as a witless.

  OMG, they were so horrible... excellent post, again.

  Also, your post, blondie, about how they have not talked to ppl in they're own cong forever, how true. Just sickening how they are.

  Thank god I am out of there.
• 

  blondie

  Isn't it sad, Shamus.

  I just couldn't handle all the back-biting, vicious rumours and horribly unloving people. And it was not just one congregation. I went to about 10 during my tenure as a witless.

  "witless"

  That is what made me see the need to leave. In my case it was about 15 congregations in various parts of the US. When you go to a new congregation there is a honeymoon period and then the backbiters, rumourmongers and unloving people surface. You find out that the "nice" people know about it but let it happen. It is that abusive family triangle, the abuser, the abused, and the one that stands by and lets it happen.

  Blondie
• 

  jgnat

  OOH! OOH! Mr. Kotter! Hand Up! Is it too late to put in my two cents?

  I see, Blondie, that you picked up on the fragment of Matthew 5:10.

  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10 KJV

  I commented to my honey that it is too bad that he cannot participate in this promise. Very sad, isn't it, that today's generation are expected to embrace persecution with no hope of reward? If I am ever persecuted, it better be for a worthy cause. I want to know what my sacrifice meant.

  Stephen is one of my favorite martyrs. I see his door-to-door work is emphasized in the article, yet they fail to mention his principal work, which was serving widows and orphans. Food. He served food. Not literature. Would Stephen fill a needed role in today's Watchtower Society, or would he be shunted aside as "spiritually weak"?

  I see the article also fails to mention that one of the principal persecutors ended up becoming one of the early church's greatest supporters. God intervened on behalf of the persecuted church. So suffering is over-emphasized in this article, without the tempering message of God's deliverance.

  I also noticed the WTS corrupts the definition of a witness. para 3 ...that in Bible times meant "witness", a person who gives testimony, perhaps at a court hearing, to the truth of what he believes. The longer I have been a Christian, the more fully convinced I am that to be an effective witness, I must stick to what I have personally seen and heard. Such testimony cannot be effectively refuted. Here, the WTS changes the meaning to speaking about what one believes, not about what one knows. Here are some secular meanings of witness and testimony:

  Testimony :
  Testimony is the statement made by a witness in court, usually under oath, that is offered as evidence for the truth of what is has been stated. a written statement made by a witness is called an affidavit. (See Witness.)

  Be a Good Witness

  Stick to the facts. The only thing you will be permitted to testify to is what you personally know. Information given to you by someone else is almost never admissible in the case. What you KNOW is important; what you THINK is unimportant. If you do not know or cannot remember the answer to a question, don't be afraid to say so.

  Great research, Blondie, that there are many heroes of the faith today in many churches, and that the WTS is not exclusively persecuted. One of my favorite links, with personal testimonies is:

  The Righteous among the Nations
  During the long night of the Holocaust, among the few points of light were the actions of the Righteous Among the Nations. These men and women risked their lives to save the lives of Jews. Their actions show us that compassion, courage and morality were not totally extinguished in those dark years.
• 

  SM62

  Blondie,

  I took a print-out of your review with me this morning. I didn't want to go to the KH, but sometimes the emotional blackmail can tug at my heartstrings so much, plus I have the elders on my back threatening to call to see how I am as I am missing so many meetings, so I thought I would put in an apprearance to keep them at bay.

  All I can say is I am now totally convinced this is NOT the truth. I felt horrible. Some people in my congregation give me the creeps. I totally agree with the previous comments that say there is more unloving behaviour in the organisation that outside it. What gets me is nobody else seems to see this - they keep on harping on about how wonderful the truth is and how great it is to be in a spiritual paradise. This makes me sick. I just can't see it Some of the things I have seen and heard over the years have been very cruel and downright evil, and I have been to 7 different congregations in my time - all pretty much the same.

  Thank you Blondie for keeping me sane on a particularly cold, wet and depressing day.

  Terri
• 

  blondie

  Great research, Blondie, that there are many heroes of the faith today in many churches, and that the WTS is not exclusively persecuted

  Yes, jgnat, the thing the WTS is best at is leaving out information---which is the same as lying. They are always talking about the Catholic Pope making deals with Hitler but never a word about the nuns and priests that risked and many lost their lives protecting Jews and others. And what about the White Rose?

  http://www.jlrweb.com/whiterose/

  Could you post the URL from that site, jgnat? I know it would be good reading, nothing you will find in the WTS publications.

  Blondie