RACISM IN WT (page 3)

jwfacts

here is a more recent quote i just noticed on another thread.
The article starts by saying that "Superiority of race is nowhere taught or implied in the Bible." However the following quote shows there still exists strange reasonings.
*** w73 12/1 p. 736 Questions from Readers ***• What is the view of Jehovah’s witnesses toward interracial marriage?
The Christian is under obligation to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom to others. (Matt. 24:14; 28:19, 20) As a factor, then, he may consider whether or not interracial marriage is likely to create a seriously adverse effect on the attitude of the people in his community toward this Kingdom-announcement work. The examples of Christ Jesus and his apostles show that they were willing to forgo things to which they had a right rather than severely hinder persons from being receptive to the truth of God’s Word.

LDH

Having said that the WTS had never shown "genuine malice" to certain races, one must remember that they DiD make some politically incorrect statements. A reflection of the thinking of that era. I of course refer to statements made of people with darker skin.

Certainly not the thinking of the only twelve men on the face of the earth whom Jehoober spoke to directly?

MsMcDucket and JW facts are exactly correct.

Honesty

On the other hand, the anti-Jewish stereotyping as done by Rutherford was not unusual among Christian Fundamentalists and Catholics in the US in the first decades of the 20th Century. In that respect, the WTS did not divert significantly from the religious fundamentalist subculture.

So, what made them any different than the groups they defamed with their literature?

I'm just so glad to be out of the crazy cult with its demonised doctrines.

Confession

These are my experiences--and I don't presume to represent anyone else's...

It's wrong to think that there would be a complete absence of racism (or classism) within any group of society, but I believe I grew up in as ideal an environment possible for someone to be raised without racial prejudice. We had black, white, Hispanic, Middle Eastern and newly immigrated Europeans in our congregation, and we all associated together regularly.

As a white boy in the early 70s, I was only aware of one form of racism: the kind in which some white people didn't like black people. And I only knew this after having heard the "n" word on television and asking my mother about it. In addition to having all different races into our home, my parents calmly explained to me that there was no difference between people of different races. Just different ways of speaking and different skin colors. I had no clue that there were so many varieties of racism out there. When I was about 8 years old my family moved out of this multicultural environment and into a very red-neck, all-white area. My mother had told me only "the bad people" ever used the "n" word. I thought 'the bad people" were those evil men in dark hats with their collars flapped up over their necks. I soon discovered that many people in this new town used the word. When I was fifteen a schoolmate's father asked a group of children (most younger than I) the following question...

Kids, do ya know why blacks don't want their children marrying Mexicans?

None of the youngsters (including me) had any clue what he was talking about. We just stared at him until he gave us the answer...

Because they're afraid their kids will be too LAZY to STEAL! (Ha ha ha! Ho ho ho!)

I had absolutely no idea which group was supposed to be lazy and which thieves. I still have to try and figure it out as I relate this story.

I am certain that others' experiences may have been different than mine, but from my perspective the racial harmony within the organization is something I look back on and appreciate deeply. My entire family may have been hijacked by a controlling, authoritarian cult, but I can at least be glad I was brought up without the burden of mindless racial stereotyping.

Carmel

I was never consious of any institutional racism while a JW but I do know my family was very racist and many of the members of the congregation held similar views toward both blacks and American Indians. I remember many years ago when my wife and I adopted a mixed race infant girl, I was made aware of my family's dissapproval at my mother's passing. My brothers with whom I had an extended conversation let it be known that my "behaviror" which included the adoption, was proof that I was lost for good.

carmel

Inquisitor

Dear AuldSoul

I'm well aware of what the WTS has said. I have actually read the post, the link, and the publications mentioning this incident. I'm asking why you take the expression "commercial Jews" as an anti-Jew slur. Shall we take the "oppressive Anglo-American empire" as an insult to all Brits and Americans? If I said "Muslim religious leaders are not doing enough to counter acts of terrorism by Muslim fundamentalists", should I be accused of bigotry against Muslims?

You described the statement as part of a letter to the Nazi party. Funny that. I read that it was a DC declaration, not a placating mail. Care to clarify?

I haven't questioned your capabilities, AuldSoul. Have some decency to accord me some respect too.

INQ

Nellie

My experiences in the org is that the congregations as a whole speak with forked tongue. While there may not be any overt racial writings coming out in the publications - the people IN the congregations act in an entirely different manner.. .

My husband and I walked into a congregation once (we were moving into the area) and the room was divided by an aisle down the center. My immediate first reaction was that the blacks were sitting on one side and the whites were sitting on the other. Without hesitation, I immediately walked to the white side and sat down - my husband was following behind me. After we got home, I asked him if he had noticed anything weird about the hall - he said "yeah, the way it was divided - blacks and whites" Now the funny thing about this congregation is that the PO was BLACK.

Here in Florida, there is a big thing between those who speak spanish and those who don't. While skin color is not the issue on my side of town, the overall community feeling (even outside the org) is a we vs. them attitude. During the meetings most are friendly, but outside the meetings there is separation. Of course, money is also a great divider! Now on the other side of town, the skin color issue prevails.

Bryan

Come on guys, anyone who knows the witnesses know they aren't racist...at least give them that.

I have a cousin in Oklahoma who married a black man. She said, that for a while, they attended the Midwest City congo 20 miles away,when her congo was only about 3 miles away.

Why? Because "they were more accepting of mixed marriages", she told me.

There were several mixed married couples who attended there rather than the congo closer to home.

I have a second cousin who she and her husband (ELDER) sent their daughter out for a long day of field service with her Grandmother.

While she was gone preaching the "good news" her parent's packed up the house and prepared to move from Oklahoma to Oregon. Why all the secrecy? Their daughter was being courted by a young BLACK brother.

The facts speak for themselves!

Bryan

Have You Seen My Mother

RACISM IN WT

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