I went to the meeting today to hear the Public Talk given by the visiting CO. The talk dealt with Jehovah's secret dwelling place and how we can all be taking advantage of "fleeing to safety" as it were, especially as the days are getting wicked as he mentioned. He brought out the dangers of listening to apostates (there were 2 people in the congregation who disassociated themselves recently, which automatically meant that they were apostates according to the CO's comments). Then he further elaborated on the fact that there were about 14,000 witnesses disfellowshipped in the USA each year and in Canada 1400, about the size of a circuit assembly - also he said how terribly dishonorable it would be to be df'd and be as a dead person as it were (I felt so embarrassed as I am df'd) - During the talk he brought out two points which were extremely misleading if not outright lies: He said that just after the disaster of Sept 11th, thousands of people "wanted to flee to security to the Watchtower building and that they felt that they needed this security". This is complete nonsense; first of all, people were running north and east from the collapsing WTC and the only alternative was when going east to run to the Brooklyn Bridge and voila, what stands at the end of that bridge? Of course the WT headquarters; many people passed that building and undoubtedly, the doors may have been open to invite some of the people who were on the run, where perhaps many received shelter of some sort. But to say that people were literally looking only to the WT for security is simply not true. Then he said something else: he mentioned that the Society is not misleading their people and the proof is that the organization allows witnesses to check their bibles, otherwise they would not be encouraged to do so. So in other words, the very fact that you can always check the bible is the absolute proof that the Society is not misrepresenting their followers. They forgot to mention of course that the only times you can check the sciptures would be when the Watchtower or other publications quote and refer you to the bible, yet to be checking God's word on your own and using independant sources is strictly forbidden. By doing so, you would certainly be branded as an apostate using the WT reasoning. Yes, as the CO reiterated many times during his talk: showing allegiance to the organization is paramount to serving Jehovah since God is behind this visible slave class. How easy it is to continue to brainwash and manipulate their people into total submission without any free will of any sort, yet never doing enough for Jehovah, always doing more and more, constantly feeling inadequate as one never does enough to please the Society. It's a never ending cycle - everybody is afraid to be kicked out and be df'd or even to be left out by not being accepted as a spiritually strong person - it's extremely tiring and debilitating to the stability of someone's mind and emotion - no wonder why there are so many mental illnesses including suicides among Jehovah's people...
he mentioned that the Society is not misleading their people and the proof is that the organization allows witnesses to check their bibles, otherwise they would not be encouraged to do so. So in other words, the very fact that you can always check the bible is the absolute proof that the Society is not misrepresenting their followers.
That's not proof, lol. Almost all christian religions *allow* their followers to go to the Bible if they wish. And the WTBTS condemns all those other religions.
I'm not surprised that you felt dishonourable being there as a df'd individual and hearing that.
There must be a pattern why the CO is addressing a theme relating to fleeing to a safe place etc. It could well be that more and more are leaving....more are becoming dissatisfied and are yearning freedom from the oppressive dub lifestyle. Maybe more are learning the truth about the truth :o)
He said that just after the disaster of Sept 11th, thousands of people "wanted to flee to security to the Watchtower building and that they felt that they needed this security". This is complete nonsense;
You are so correct as to this being nonsense. I call it pure Bovine Scatology (BS to those who don't know). People were running anywhere they could to get away and I don't blame them. I applaud the dubs for opening their doors and helping those who fled and at least offering water for their eyes and throats. But, to make a ludicrous statement as the CO did, shows how they will twist anything to make themselves look good. Whatever happened to HUMILITY?
How many others opened their doors and helped we will never know. But, we don't see them trying to make out that people were fleeing specifically to them.
Thank you Richie for once again, showing the depths of depravity they will stoop to in order to sell their version of illogic.
If God's Spirit is filling a Kingdom Hall, how is it that Satan can manuever the ones within that Kingdom Hall at the same time?
Another comment by the CO today: he said that we should bestow special honor to the members of the Governing Body, as they work extremely hard to give us the spiritual food. Little does he know that half of the members are now so old, they can hardly stay awake during "important" meetings among themselves. Ray Franz quoted how many of them do not even have time or the energy to search out the scriptures as they should and also they are ill-equipped with solid bible knowledge, in fact most were not reading their bible! How many witnesses know this? They would be dumbfounded if they found out and would not believe that the members of the Governing Body have very little time to handle cases and just delegate most of the important matters to others at headquarters...
How about the holy spirit?? Where the hell is the holy spirit in the equation?? If it wasn't for the holy spirit the GB would be in deep sh!t.... hahahahaha.
And to think I used to swallow this crap! I remember a brother telling me once that he would never leave Bethel as there is no where else on the planet he would want to be when Arma-gonna-get-you comes! How pathetic! As if it is holy ground... that no one there would get killed!
Dakota Red - Yes sir, there is apparently no moral swamp too low for the governing body to sink to in their efforts to paint themselves to be as they WISH they were.
Those tottering senile octagenarians on the GB would call purchasing a Japanese camera a "trans-oceanic international monetary negotiation and exchange."
Beck from Oz - I captured your picture and enlarged it in Photoshop. Wow! You're a hottie. (Sorry to be a such a dirty old man. Um, on second thought...) I suppose you're safely married with 8 children?
Returning to the topic, the CO you're chained to sounds like he's one of the medium terrible ones. Am I right?
Francois
NOTE TO GOVERNING BODY: You've been challenged to a debate, boys. Dont you have ANY balls?
And yet, the interesting thing is that you went to the kingdom hall. Unless you were just sneaking in to spy on your former brothers, which may or may not be the case, or perhaps in your case there is some remnant of spirituality that remains. At any rate, Jehovah has the perfect solution to the problem confronting the faith. The problem as it exists presently is the larger than life place the organization has carved out for itself at Jehovah's expense. The truth of the matter is, though, that the hand of Jehovah is not too short to deal with the organizational problem. Every student of Bible history knows that Jehovah brought Israel to heel on numerous occasions. And he has the means at his disposal, and the will, to humble the Watchtower as well. It is exactly what is needed. And, I say that not as a vengeful apostate who is grinding his teeth and laying awake at night plotting the Watchtower's demise, but as one who really loves Jehovah's Witnesses.
Of course, no one is expecting that God would ever turn the Watchtower on its head---least of all Jehovah's Witnesses. Many have come to view the Watchtower as some sort of inviolable holy place, much like the Jews viewed the temple in Jerusalem. It is unthinkable to the brothers, and to apostates as well, that Jehovah would ever intervene to humiliate and discipline the organization. That's why it is the perfect judicial decision on Jehovah's part, because the only ones who will survive the ordeal with their faith intact will be those who actually have genuine faith and are not mere followers of men. / You Know
