Mennonite article on JW site

by undercover 15 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • undercover
    undercover

    The article about the Mennonite family becoming JWs is on the main page of the WTS website.

    http://watchtower.org/library/w/2005/9/1/article_01.htm

    In the course of the article they give a little history of the sect but the juicy parts that would interest most of us here in "apostate land" are in the second half of the article.

    Some snippets:

    Start of the arcticle: ONE morning in November 2000, some missionaries of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Bolivia glanced out the window of their small home and saw a group of plainly dressed men and women standing nervously at the gate. When the missionaries opened the gate, the visitors’ first words were, “We want to find the truth from the Bible.” The visitors were Mennonites. The men wore overalls, the women dark aprons, and they spoke among themselves in a German dialect. There was fear in their eyes. They kept looking to see if they had been followed. Nevertheless, even while climbing the steps to enter the house, one of the young men said, “I want to know the people who use God’s name.”

    ...

    Some Mennonite groups, determined to keep separate from the modern world, have moved their communities to places where local governments allow them to live without interference. In Bolivia, for instance, an estimated 38,000 Mennonites live in numerous remote colonies, each with different rules of conduct. Some colonies forbid motor vehicles, permitting only horses and buggies. Certain colonies forbid radio, TV, and music. Some even forbid learning the language of the country they live in. “So as to keep us under their control, the preachers don’t let us learn Spanish,” commented one colony resident. Many feel oppressed and live in dread of being expelled from the community—a terrible prospect for one who has never experienced life outside.

    It was under these circumstances that a Mennonite farmer named Johann saw a copy of the Watchtower magazine in his neighbor’s home... He asked to borrow the magazine.

    ...

    Some of Johann’s family began talking to their neighbors about the things they were learning from the Bible. ... Soon, ten of the family set out on a secret trip in search of Jehovah’s Witnesses and ended up at the home of the missionaries, as mentioned at the outset

    ...

    A few days later, the church elders came to the home of Johann’s family with an ultimatum for the interested ones: “We heard that Jehovah’s Witnesses visited you. You must forbid them to return, and unless you hand over their literature to be burned, you face expulsion.” They had had just one Bible study with the Witnesses, so this presented a formidable test.

    “We cannot do as you ask,” replied one of the family heads. “Those people came to teach us the Bible.” How did the elders react? They expelled them for studying the Bible! This was a cruel blow indeed. The cart belonging to the colony cheese factory passed by the home of one family without collecting their milk, denying them their only source of income. One family head was dismissed from his job. Another was turned away from buying supplies at the colony store, and his ten-year-old daughter was expelled from school. Neighbors surrounded one home to take away the wife of one of the young men, asserting that she could not live with her expelled husband. Despite all of this, the families who studied the Bible did not give up their search for the truth.

    ...

    Cut off from their community, the families began making their own cheese. The missionaries helped them...

    ...

    “It was difficult after we were expelled from the community. We would travel to the Kingdom Hall with sad faces,” recalls one family member, “but we returned joyful.” Indeed, local Witnesses rose to the occasion and offered support.

    Gee...people who dared think for themselves and buck the overbearing system they were a part of are expelled and shunned. Now, what if they decide to study with some Catholics or Protestants after becoming JWs? What happens then?

  • Gopher
    Gopher

    Wow. This is a classic case of leaving the frying pan to jump into the fire.

    Certain colonies forbid radio, TV, and music. Some even forbid learning the language of the country they live in.

    So probably these Mennonites didn't have access to the Internet. Such circumstances make them PERFECT targets for the Watchtower Society.

  • plmkrzy
    plmkrzy

    what a load of crap

  • BizzyBee
    BizzyBee
    Cut off from their community, the families began making their own cheese.

    And we thought disfellowshipping and shunning was bad! At least our cheese supply would remain constant.

    I used to read this stuff and think, "Why do these experiences always happen in some faraway place, with such simple folk who only want to learn the truth, and instinctively seem to know that they will learn it from the JWs?"

    Whereas in my reality, householders were either mildly annoyed at being intruded upon or downright hostile. None seemed to be thirsting for the truth I had in my bookbag. It must be my fault!

    Now, methinks that the Brooklyn writing department takes huge creative liberties. Any grain of truth in these fantasies is tiny indeed. IOW - what a load of crap!

  • BluesBrother
    BluesBrother
    Cut off from their community, the families began making their own cheese. The missionaries helped them...

    Ireverent, but I could not help but think of that line in "Life of Brian", where they misheard what Jesus said ;

    "Blessed are the cheesemakers"

  • parakeet
    parakeet

    If that story is true, I'll eat my hat. I live in Pennsylvania Mennonite country and know a little about the Mennonites. The day a group of them stands outside the local KH and asks to come in for bible study is the day I'll eat my other hat.

  • undercover
    undercover
    If that story is true, I'll eat my hat. I live in Pennsylvania Mennonite country and know a little about the Mennonites. The day a group of them stands outside the local KH and asks to come in for bible study is the day I'll eat my other hat.

    Well, them Bolivian Mennonites, they're a little different from our Pennslyvania brethren...

    Reminds of the Harrison Ford movie, "Witness" about a cop who tries to protect an Amish boy and ends up staying in the Amish community while recuperating from a gunshot wound. One day he goes into town with the other Amish and gets in a fight with some local bullies. Some of the local townfolk start murmuring about how they've never seen Amish act like that. The old man of the Amish group just says "He's from Ohio. My cousin."

  • fullofdoubtnow
    fullofdoubtnow
    Many feel oppressed and live in dread of being expelled from the community—a terrible prospect for one who has never experienced life outside.

    That sounds like a description of a lot of jws I know.

    If there is any truth in this "experience", which I doubt, I feel sorry for the people concerned. They've left one sick religion to join an even sicker one. They have my heartfelt sympathy.

  • undercover
    undercover

    In all the fairness, that I can muster, to the WTS...I don't know that going from the Mennonites to the JWs is worse.

    No music? No cars? No electricity? (cue up the closing theme to Gilligan's Island)

    Having to dress even worse than JWs? They have to remain apart from society even more than JWs? They live in much more tight knit communities than JWs do. Church elders have much more control over the community than elders do over JWs.

    While living in the JW community can be pretty fucked up, I would think coming from the Mennonite community to the JW community probably does feel like being freed from slavery...much the way we felt when we left the JWs and went in to the "regular" world.

    The dastardlyness (if that's a word) is the WTS trying to capitalize on the experience of those Mennonites whose church treated them so badlly for wanting to study with JWs when in fact, the WTS carrys on much the same way when their members try to do the same as these former Mennonites did. Hello Kettle? Pot here...

  • Stealth453
    Stealth453

    "Why do these experiences always happen in some faraway place, with such simple folk who only want to learn the truth, and instinctively seem to know that they will learn it from the JWs?"

    Makes it harder to refute.

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