I was browsing through the December 2010 Awake, and noticed an article on the earthquake that happened in Haiti earlier this year. It didn't take long for the article to disturb me. The third paragraph initiated the sanctimonious tone that is present througout the article. I typed it below.
In the city of Jacmel, Ralphendy, 11 year of age, lay trapped under a partially collapsed building. For hours, a city rescue team worked feverishly to release him. Repeated aftershcoks forced them to abandon their efforts because of fear that the fractured upper floors would crash down on them. Philippe, a missionary of Jehovah's Witnesses, refused to give up, explaining, "I could not bear to leave Ralphendy there to die." Philippe and three others squeezed through a narrow space under the broekn building and inched their way forward to where Ralphendy lay, his feet held fast by fallen debris. From midnight on, theycautiously chipped away. With every tremor, they heard the concrete overhead shift and crack. At5:00am, more than 12 hours after the quake, they pulled Ralphendy out to safety.
Here's another paragraph that I found to be irritating on page 15.
It had been 150 years since Haiti's last great quake. Haiti had therefore largely left off constructing buildings that resisted earthquakes in favor of those that protected the population from hurricanes and floods. Hence most of the block walls and heavy concrete roofs were no match for the magnitude 7.0 tremor. However the Haiti office of Jehovah's Witnesses, completed in 1987, was designed in accord with accepted seismic construction standards. Although located near the eastern edge of Port-au-Prince, it suffered virtually no damage.
Here's another beauty from the following page.
When the quake struck, seven year old Islande looked out of her home and saw power lines snapping and showers of sparks. Inside, the walls buckled and blocks cascaded down, breaking her leg and seriously injuring her. After she was lifted from the debris, her father, Johnny, drove Islande just across the Dominican border to a hospital. She was airlifted to a hospital in the country's capital, Santo Domingo. But when Johnny later called the hospital, Islande was not there.
For two days Johnny searched everywhere for Islande, without result. She had been taken to a different hsopital, where a hospital volunteer heard her praying to Jehovah. "Do you love Jehovah?" the volunteer asked. "Yes," Islande replied through her tears. "Then don't worry," the volunteer assured her. "Jehovah will help you." Johnny asked the Dominiccan Republic office of Jehovah's Witnesses for help in finding Islande. A Witness named Melanie offered to search for her. As Melanie inquired at one hospital, the volunteer who had heard Islande praying overheard the conversation and pointed the little girl out. Soon, Islande was reunited with her family.
One last paragraph I wanted to mention.
One Haitian customs official, while approving the importation of the construction materials, commented: "Jehovah's Witnesses were among the first ones who came across the border to get help for people. They don't just talk aboiut helping, they really do it." In the first few months following the quake, 1500 homes had already been built by the Witnesses for those who had lost theirs.
Articles like this have always irritated me. Throughout the article there's a sanctimonious tone that neglects the efforts that people throughout the entire globe contributed assistance when this tragedy occured. There's a couple brief mentions of other relief efforts, but this article's MO was to highlight how wonderful the Witnesses are. What I'm wondering is, was the article a reaction to people thinking JWs isolate themselves from the rest of mankind? Was this article an oppurtunistic attempt by the WT to make itself lappear better than all the other individuals and organizations that helped with relief efforts in Haiti?
When I do the right thing by people, I don't do it because I want it advertised. I do it because its the right thing to do. I'm not looking to "provide a witness" when I return a lost sum of money. How many articles have we had like that where the JW returns the lost money, and then states their reason for returning the money as, "Well I'm one of Jehovah's Witnesses." I have to ask the question, when someone who's not a JW does the same thing, what do they say? "I'm an atheist!" "I'm a Catholic!" "I'm a member of NAMBLA!" It irritates me that the WT prints this tripe for the public. An article such as this should have been reserved for the JW only WT, not for the public Awake. When this tragedy happened, a brother at my hall made the announcement that JWs were the first on the scene. He stated, "We did it again! We beat everyone else!" I felt so disgusted hearing him make that comment. At the same time though, it put things in perspective for me. This religion is too much about appearances to the point that it overshadows what genuine love is left in the organization.
Let me ask you, do articles such as this irritate you? Am I not being fair to the WT regarding this article? If I'm being overly critical, please by all means call me out on it. I'm not looking to argue, but I want to make sure I'm being fair.