Something that really ticked me off about seeing the video of New Head Quarters of J.W.s (Warwick)

by StoneWall 12 Replies latest jw friends

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  StoneWall

  When I was a JW it was always emphasized that we should trust in Jehovah completely. Jah will protect his people Do not trust in man, Throw your burdens upon Jehovah etc.
  Ok now if that's true wouldn't it mean that if Jehovah was going to protect anywhere it should be His world head quarters right?

  We were told to not trust in ourselves (such as guns,walls for defense and protection) but to leave it in Jehovah's hands and HE would provide a means for escape etc.
  So as I'm watching some pro-WT vid's about the facilities in Warwick I noticed something they didn't show on them or focus on and only reason I know about it was because of the W5 newscast as well as the vids the protesters shared.
  They conveniently leave out the parts of them putting walls/fences and gates as well as a "guard shack" at entrance instead of relying on Jehovah to protect them.The guard house even has a "No Trespassing" sign in the window.(Guess they don't like people showing up on them unannounced and uninvited like they do to others in the field)
  Where is their confidence and trust in Jehovah's protection like they told us to have?
  
  
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  Drearyweather

  We were told to not trust in ourselves (such as guns,walls for defense and protection)

  When and where in the JW world were you told that you or JW's should not have fences and boundary walls and gates for their houses/property?

  Cite some references please. Don't tell that an uber so-and-so elder from your congregation told that JW houses or bethels should not have boundary walls and gates.
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  waton

  jws armed the Gilead location in (really) upstate NY with shot guns during WW2.

  N. Knorr and M. Henschel are documented to have carried steel rods as guards during Rutherford's reign.

  Angels need visible backup.
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  sparrowdown

  
  
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  StoneWall

  Drearyweather,
  I'm not sure where you're from but I was born and raised in the southeast USA and none of the churches (including Kingdom Halls) around here in my area (rural) have walls,fences or gates. I haven't been to a K.H. in over 10 years so maybe they've since built some walls around them. But all three of the congregations I had attended in my lifetime even had windows in them. It was much more welcoming than being like a compound surrounded by walls and gates without windows.
  Today when I look at some of the videos posted about K.H. crashes it appears most of them are now without windows and have gates. Maybe that's just in the large urban areas but none of the three Halls I attended ever had a gate.
  And it was not just one Elder but many brothers would incorporate in their parts about trusting in Jehovah for protection and would reference bible stories such as Rahab and the walls of Jericho and how Jah caused even those strong walls to come tumbling down and that those walls couldn't protect the inhabitants from God.
  Then they would follow that up with something along the lines of "now brothers would we want to put our faith and trust in man made walls or in Jehovah."
  Anyways that was my experience in this area growing up a J.W. your experience may be different I guess depending on where you grew up and how old you are. I'm over 50 and had to deal also with the 1975 fiasco, whereas a lot of the newer/younger J.W.'s never even got to hear or understand what all was said from the platform at Kingdom Halls and conventions that never made it into any WT publication to be cited.
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  stillin

  I had a similar conversation with a CO. He said that we should do what we need to do in a practical way so that we can live to witness another day. I said that would mean that I would be fashioning myself after this system of things. He said that you have to be practical.

  Dazed and confused, I set forth trying to reconcile the two concepts.
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  Spiral

  Drearyweather, growing up in the 60s or 70s we were always told to "rely on Jehovah". Guns for personal protection, classes in self defense, or anything like that was considered not relying on Jehovah. When persecution came you'd be totally out there and vulnerable (no bunkers expected in those decades) but Jehovah would send an angel to protect you. Of course like all things JW, there exists what is in print and what the rules REALLY are (and everyone knows what the rules REALLY are).

  I agree with StoneWall that it seems a contradiction that the facilities in Warwick have so much security. (I saw this first in the A&E show about Cult Belief, when they went to the headquarters to try to speak with someone). Never having visited Warwick, I didn't know. It really looked like a secure corporation (or cult) campus.

  It makes practical sense to have security, but coming from a grown-up-in the bOrg perspective, it is not what you'd expect.
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  ToesUp

  Watchtower is famous for, "do as we say, not as we do." Hypocrisy 101!
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  cha ching

  I agree with ToesUp... Watchtower DOES say two things at once....on purpose! To confuse you and to also show it's power! (If you disagree, if you question us, it is off with your head! So believe both things! and get it right!)

  What is strange is, when we left (at the end of 2011) they were building a 2nd hall on the property, and they built a 10 (?) foot adobe/brick wall all around the 2 acre compound!
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  LongHairGal

  STONEWALL:

  I saw that on that A&E show when that gal went to give her DA letter. It looked like a very secure facility. Not that anybody should be surprised in this day and age. New halls all have video surveillance at the very least.

  The problem is the JW religion’s hypocritical advice to the rank & file JWs. They are told they should sacrifice, trust in Jehovah and the angels and march headfirst into unsafe territories etc. I doubt very much if the guys at the top do this.

  In my opinion, the rank & file are perceived as expendable and who cares about them...Meanwhile, if there were ever a terrible emergency the GB probably have bunkers and fallout shelters. Everybody else is out of luck and will have that resurrection “hope”.😒