Watchtower Theocratic War doctrine, which teaches that it is appropriate to withhold the truth from “people who are not entitled to it” if it will further the Watchtower’s interests (Reed, 1992; Reed, 1997, p. 129; see also Franz, 1971, pp. 1060-1061, and Raines, 1996c). In the Watchtower’s words, Witnesses are required to “use Theocratic War Strategy” against any and all persons who have a “wolf-like disposition,” defined as anyone who does not accept the Watchtower as God’s organization and the head of God’s people. All other religions are defined as evil and of Satan (Franz 1991;Watchtower May 1,1957, pp. 285-286 and p. 288 — this latter article was censored in new Watchtower reprints).
Reed defines Theocratic War Strategy as “hiding truth from persons not entitled to it—i.e., lying to outsiders when deemed necessary” (Reed, 1995, p. 40). He adds the Watchtower defines lying as “...deceiving outsiders to advance the organization’s interests. Falsehoods presented to God’s enemies are not considered lies, due to the state of war existing between God’s forces (the JWs) and Satan’s (the rest of the world).” In the words of Kotwall (1997, pp. 1-2) the Watchtower’s teaching “to lie and deceive in the interest of their religion is Scripturally approved. They call such lying theocratic war strategy.”
Wilson says:
"Although a basic belief of Jehovah’s Witnesses is that liars will receive eternal death with no hope of a resurrection, exception is made when it comes to lying or pretending to be someone one is not if the purpose is for the good of the organization. An example of this sort of deception that I had personally experienced was the time a Witness friend invited me and several other Witnesses to her house when a Witness missionary was visiting her, as he was to give a slide presentation about his work in Israel … To protect the facility and the other Witnesses who were to live there, the Society instructed this missionary to pose as an eccentric millionaire who has a fetish about being clean, and to inform any inquirers that this was his own house that was being built. This story was fabricated to cover up the real purpose of the building—that of being a Watchtower factory having bedrooms with sinks in them to house the factory workers. This incident was another example of theocratic war strategy." (Wilson, 2002, p. 249)
I finally said it...I don't like jw's
by kzjw 105 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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sacolton
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Slappy
But I want you to be without ? 2 ?care. ? c ?He who is unmarried ? 3 ?cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. ?33? But he who is married cares about the things of the world—how he may please his wife. ?34? There is a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman ? d ?cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. ?35? And this I say for your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction. 2 concern c 1 Tim. 5:5 3 is concerned about d Luke 10:40 The New King James Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1982, S. 1 Co 7:32-35
Really can't add much to that. I think it's quite clear where our focus is (and should be) if we are married.
And as for this "theocratic war doctrine" mumbo jumbo...
Jesus Condemns the Pharisees ?13? “But ? j ? woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. ?14? ? 7 ? Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ? k ? For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. ?15? “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of ? 8 ? hell as yourselves. ?16? “Woe to you, ? l ? blind guides, who say, ? m ? ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it. ’ ?17? Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold ? n ? or the temple that ? 9 ? sanctifies the gold? ?18? And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it. ’ ?19? Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift ? o ? or the altar that sanctifies the gift? ?20? Therefore he who ? 1 ? swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. ?21? He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by ? p ? Him who ? 2 ? dwells in it. ?22? And he who swears by heaven, swears by ? q ? the throne of God and by Him who sits on it. ?23? “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ? r ? For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and ? s ? have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. ?24? Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! ?25? “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ? t ? For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and ? 3 ? self-indulgence. ?26? Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. ?27? “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ? u ? For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. ?28? Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. ?29? ? v ? “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and ? 4 ? adorn the monuments of the righteous, ?30? and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ ?31? “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves... j Luke 11:52 7 NU omits v. 14 . k Mark 12:40 ; Luke 20:47 ; [ 2 Tim. 3:6 ; Titus 1:10 , 11 ] 8 Gr. Gehenna l Matt. 15:14 ; 23:24 m [ Matt. 5:33 , 34 ] n Ex. 30:29 9 NU sanctified o Ex. 29:37 1 Swears an oath p 1 Kin. 8:13 ; 2 Chr. 6:2 ; Ps. 26:8 ; 132:14 2 M dwelt q Ps. 11:4 ; Is. 66:1 ; Matt. 5:34 ; Acts 7:49 r Matt. 23:13 ; Luke 11:42 ; 18:12 s [ 1 Sam. 15:22 ; Hos. 6:6 ; Mic. 6:8 ]; Matt. 9:13 ; 12:7 t Mark 7:4 ; Luke 11:39 3 M unrighteousness u Luke 11:44 ; Acts 23:3 v Luke 11:47 , 48 4 decorate The New King James Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1982, S. Mt 23:13-31
Such discussion is all good and well, but any answer can be found in the Bible. Talk about a user's manual for life!
slappy
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DaCheech
my mom can testify to this type of lying:
when in 1980 the elder and his wife was studying with her she posed this question: "This stuff is all fine, but I cannot go to all meeting and much field service.... i'm bordering a nervous breakdown".
they replied: "no no, you will just do what you can".... baptism and years later, she would get calls monthly to see "how" they can "help" to make her attend ALL meetings and such.
she is now very very old, and they still call her for her field service report.
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mouthy
..Don`t expect much from Reniaa..She ignores anything that makes the WBT$ look bad....................
...OUTLAWNow Outlaw your are WRONG!!!! Reniaa DID respond on an e-mail to me and apologized for not believing the quote...Now you behave yourself else I will have to send you to your room .Can you remember how mixed up YOU were when your found out we had been believing the lie? I can. So be a good boy & let your LOVE shine through
Mouthy
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sacolton
HA! HA! Outlaw got a spankin' from granny!
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kzjw
reniaa said of my comment;
Of course not, but I do have the right to tell my wife to examine the scriptures without "bible-based" books. To use outside sources and as a black woman to stand up with strength and understand that no one can tell her what she can & cannot read.
you don't think he just contradicted himself in the same sentence there? surely if he thinks she has the right to stand up and have no one tell what she can and cannot read that also includes wts publications or is he making them the exception?
What is wrong with you? First, the rags that my wife reads are an abomination as well as an addition to the bible. I think the closing verses in Revelation have a huge problem with that. Since these publications twist everything to the whims of the boys in Brooklyn, they are as you said earlier man-made which = wordly which is something that JW are told to avoid. 2nd problem is she won't read anything else, therefore, when we have a crisis we are stuck with the sick interpretation of how things should be handled by people who don't live in the real world. They don't allow kids at Bethel, therefore it is safe to say that the don't know shit about how to raise kids. So why is the information they provide either practical or helpful. It does not apply to real world application!
scalton said;
The only problem is that the WTBTS takes God out of the marriage by telling the active JW to have NO SPIRITUAL DISCUSSIONS with his/her spouse. My wife is an active JW and we can no longer discuss anything religious, so the organization has stripped God from my marriage
Now this concept is new to me but after thinking about it is profoundly true. See the WTBS tells the wife to fall under teh headship of the husband, but if he's a UBM, they use the no spiritual discussion rule to undermine any authority the male might have. In my case I never had a desire to "lord" over my wife, but if I did, the fds rendered that move powerless by use of the rule.
Finally reniaa, did you forget about the rule of not seeking the help of mental health professionals? We tried that, but since jw's have the Trooof, they deep down consider themselves without flaw, therefore she pulled out, though deep down she's admitted something is wrong and she needs to find out what that is. I guess something in one of those publications will pull her through with some nu light - quickly -- since we're so very very VERY close to the end...though the time's been extended, but there's still a sense of urgency...really...
Now go to your meeting...
kzjw
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Mary
mouthy said: Now Outlaw your are WRONG!!!! Reniaa DID respond on an e-mail to me and apologized for not believing the quote...Now you behave yourself else I will have to send you to your room .Can you remember how mixed up YOU were when your found out we had been believing the lie? I can. So be a good boy & let your LOVE shine through
Normally I'd agree with you Grace, but Reniaa has been caught in outright lies on this board. That's more than just being "mixed up"----She's an active Witness who's trying to give the appearance that she's really just a 'lapsed Witness' and it only "thinking" of returning to
the vomitthe Borg. I've seen other active Witnesses pull the same stunt: They think that by claiming they're not active JWs but still believe what the religion teaches, that it somehow gives the religion a greater credibility.Reniaa talks in circles, she ignores questions put to her, then claims she answered them, and tries to confuse the issue by veering off-subject when she has no answer that won't make the Borg look bad.
Save your sympathy Grace.....Reniaa knows exactly what she's doing.
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AWAKE&WATCHING
LOL - Do it GG, send him to his room! GG only spanks the ones she loves and I feel honored to have gotten a spanking or two myself.
to Granny Grace.
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kzjw
Reniaa said:
You twist my words a little so I will reword my question, Would you change your religion if your husband said he knew best and felt that religion was unacceptable to him? its a retorical question I do not know your hubby this is more of should any hubby/spouse have a right to change there spouse's religion type question.
You miss the point -- I never told my wife to change her religion, to what? It's like you jw's say, "If you can show me something better(meaning religion), I'll leave today! Well fact is, all religions, including yours is a "Snare and a racket!" Sound familiar? It shuold that is also what jw's used to say in Rutherford's day. I lost my religion -- I kept my faith! That is what is better, care to join me? My faith beats all religions because it is deeply rooted in my personal saviour, Jesus who died for my sins on Calvary (whether by cross or stake is irrelevant). and according to John 14:6 he is my only path to our Heavenly Father (God, Jehovah, Yaweh). It doesn't matter what you call Him as long as you call Him!
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insearchoftruth
My faith beats all religions because it is deeply rooted in my personal saviour, Jesus who died for my sins on Calvary (whether by cross or stake is irrelevant). and according to John 14:6 he is my only path to our Heavenly Father (God, Jehovah, Yaweh). It doesn't matter what you call Him as long as you call Him!
So well stated.....it is not about the organization, the building, the books, the ceremonies, the liturgy, it is faith that matters.....
...OUTLAW