The Persecuted Has Become The Persecutor!

by ozziepost 11 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  ozziepost

  I was thinking about one of Jesus' parables today; the one about "The Unmerciful Servant" in which Jesus tells of a servant who implored his master, the King, for patience in settling a debt. The master took pity and forgave the debt, whereupon the servant went to a fellow servant who owed him money. As with the first servant, the other servant pleaded for time to pay, but instead of being merciful, as the King had been to him, he exacted the full penalty for a bad debt, having him thrown into prison. (See Matthew 18:23-33)

  This comes to mind as we think of the conduct of Jehovah's Witnesses. Being forgiven much, so they believe, they turn around and exact the full penalty of a harsh law. Or to put it another way, they endure persecution, sometimes unjustly, yet when the opportunity affords, they will persecute others and sometimes harsher than they ever had meted out to them.

  Yes, the Persecuted has become the Persecutor!
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  West70

  Since the 1930s, the Watchtower Society has repeatedly used its Legal Department to extract every sliver of civil rights and liberties afforded it under the laws of the United States.
  
  The Watchtower then boasts how their legal battles have resulted in greater freedom and liberty for all Americans.
  
  Yet, behind the scenes, many of those same rights and liberties are intentionally and blatantly denied to its own members of the "new world society".
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  greendawn

  We all know how they persecute day and night without let up those that left the org and particularly the dissenters (apotates), ironically they are a totalitarian org that loves to exploit democratic constitutions around the world to acquire for themselves the freedom of speech and thought that they deny to their own members.
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  fullofdoubtnow

  Yes indeed! The wt want freedom to pursue THEIR goals, such as the door to door work etc, but deny individual members of their organisation the freedom to even think for themselves. They are totally ruthless when it comes to dealing with anyone who dares to question their teachings, as Raymond Franz, to name but one, would certainly confirm.
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  Inquisitor

  To have an opinion that strongly contradicts a group and to be disfellowshipped as a result is understandable. Effectively that means if you don't want to play by their rules, you are not wanted in that circle. This principle, at its most basic level, can be seen in bunch of kids at play.

  What is truly sinister is the practice of transforming that disfellowshipped person into a PARIAH not only to fellow witnesses but ALSO to his/her own family members! If I did not kill anyone, molest any kid, seduce anyone's spouse, if one merely disassociated/ got disfellowshipped for believing that the Witnesses do NOT have the truth, by what right do the WTS command my folks not to ask how my day was nor to have a meal with me?

  It simply doesn't make sense. That to leave an organisation on the basis of belief alone, one must forfeit believing family and friends. Is public stoning any less painful? At least it would put one out of one's misery. For those who've had to endure such an experience, I truly sympathise with you...

  INQ
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  greendawn

  A fundamental principle of the leadership of this religion (for which read business) is to absolutely prohibit all disagreement to its dogma and policies it is presented to the world as a religion but run as a private business aiming at maximising profits. The R&F will be thrown out if they try to interfere with its profitability.
  
  To have 6 million workers albeit mostly part timers selling your products for free without demanding any wages, that is some asset and some smart manipulation! Even if they do just 8 hours per month that's 48 million hours of labour at zero cost for the business. Who would want that lucrative set up disturbed by dissenters?
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  metatron

  There's a scripture about being wrongly disfellowshipped for being a Christian:

  "Happy are you whenever men hate you and whenever they exclude you and reproach you

  and cast out your name as wicked for the sake of the Son of man" Luke 6:22

  metatron
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  Inquisitor

  Dear metatron

  Not that I choose to disagree with scripture, but how does one "rejoice" when a disfellowshipped christian has lost family (never mind friends) over something as trivial as a difference in beliefs? Where is the cheer in seeing a believing family member think ill of you all the time? Give you the cold shoulder treatment? Talk to you only when they really really have to? All this for choosing to think that the WTS does not have the truth?

  INQ
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  Frogleg

  The WTS has never been "persecuted", at least, in the strict definition of the word. Persecuted connotes being continually castigated or harrassed for false, unjust, or unearned reasons. The history of the WTS reveals a very vociferous and antagonistic group of people in active and unceasing aggression against other groups and individual people, with a natural reaction to the WTS activities being forthcomming. Now, when the natural reaction is returned from those they attacked, the WTS claim that they are being persecuted. This is a very basic tactic of the guerrilla warrior, in that the self-defensive reactions of the big against the small is labeled as "persecution, unjust, evil", which (by theory) results in the big's strength being turned against itself. The more he defends, the more he loses. However, as the small becomes bigger (as with every guerrilla group ever), it begins to fear itself, as it sees itself becomming what it originally clammored against, and, at that point, it begins to eat its own children. The "genius" of V.I. Lenin was said to lie in his deep grasp of this principle.

  The paranoia of the WTS is a classic case of the successful entrepenuer struggling with the paranoia of trying to understand and survive in a mainstream, corporate world. It has begun to see dragons under the bed.
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  metatron

  That's a fair point, Inquisitor. I can only say that the original context involved joining a

  Christian group that filled in for family and ex-friends. Some Ex-Witnesses choose this path

  and I wish them happiness in it.

  metatron