March 15, 2010 Watchtower, p. 27, par. 16 ("One Flock, One Shepherd"):
"Paul also helps us to understand that those with an earthly hope do not partake of the Memorial emblems. [Wow, putting words in Paul's mouth...] He said to anointed Christians [although he just thought of them as plain old Christians]: "For as often as you eat this loaf and drink this cup, you keep proclaiming the death of the Lord, until he arrives." (1 Cor. 11:26) When does the Lord 'arrive'? When he comes to take the last of his anointed bride class to their heavenly home. (John 14:2, 3) Clearly, the annual observance of the Lord's Evening Meal is not to continue endlessly...If, though, those who will live forever on earth were entitled to partake of the emblems, then this Memorial meal would need to continue forever."
Uh, excuse me?! Did they not just quote the Bible as clearly saying the Lord's Evening Meal would be done "until the Lord arrives"? So what possible basis would there be for saying that under ANY circumstances, the Memorial would have to continue forever? We won't need to proclaim the death of the Lord once he has arrived! What would be the logic on this, exactly? Even in my cult identity, I can't figure it out. Maybe it's just a lame excuse for continuing to withhold the bread and wine from the 'other sheep' after having already established in this same article that they symbolically represent "the twelve tribes of Israel". I guess it was the only possible way to dodge the clear implication that if the 'other sheep' deserve that designation, there is no logical reason that they're not part of the "Israel of God" and thus worthy of partaking. What part of "one flock, one shepherd" did they not understand? Worse yet, are they therefore suggesting that Jesus never really 'arrives' for the 'other sheep', but only for THEM? That's an even bolder implication than any of the others. That's just disturbing.
I don't know if I can even put into words the absurdity of this statement. Who sat down, wrote this, read it and decided it was a good idea to hit 'Print' and allow this to be read to 7,000,000 people? (sigh) It's driving me crazy. I mean, we know the answer to that question, but...geez, people, at least give the other sheep SOMETHING other than the carrot of paradise earth to hold onto. I mean, it's reached a point where they really need to let the 'other sheep' partake. The saddest thing that comes of all this? If or when they finally allow that, the 'other sheep' will be crying tears of joy and be eternally grateful to the SLAVE CLASS for permitting them to have what JESUS, the MASTER, freely offered them from the beginning.
SD-7