There was this old dude at Bethel who once privately
commented on how much persecution was self inflicted
in Watchtower history. "What did they think was going
to happen carrying signs that said "Religion is a Snare
and a Racket?".
Ah, those rare moments of honesty!
At present, the Watchtower is suffering defeats in Europe
that are equally self inflicted because:
they won't stop trying to force Witnesses to comply
with two fraudulent teachings -on blood - and the cruel
practises of disfellowshipping.
Remarkably, the Bible teaches that both things are
NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS. How so?
The command to abstain from blood was associated with
"abstaining from things sacrificed to idols" (Acts 15:29).
Eating meat from idol sacrifices was UTTERLY a matter
of individual conscience (1 Cor. 8:7-13). Eating blood
was NOT listed as a serious sin that required shunning
(1 Cor. 5:11). The "fornication" mentioned in Acts 15:
29 was largely a matter of individual conscience too.
This was because James was quoting and summarizing
Leviticus 17 and 18 (marginal ref. vs. 20). That latter
chapter, 18 deals with not marrying relatives - a matter
of conscience even by the Society's admission. And fraud?
They are currently trying to weasel out of the blood issue,
without wrecking their mythic authority! (oops, no blood cards
this year!)
Translation: blood = none of the GB's business.
And disfellowshipping? The Bible says nothing about judicial
committees or the rest of the Theocratic Talmud the Society
has written. Individuals were not "disfellowshipped" for failing
to shun. (2 Cor. 2:5,6). Consider that the phrase "not even
eating with such a man" IMPLIES A WORST CASE SCENARIO - you can talk
to him! 2 John 10 refers to a greeting - it doesn't say "you can
never speak a word to him".
Current treatment of the disfellowshipped is another fraud
because during the 80's , the organization realized how unreasonable
the whole thing was - and tried to change to a more scriptural
standard (you can help the df'd change a flat tire!). They STOPPED
this change and WENT BACK TO HARSH SHUNNING because they
grew afraid they were LOSING POWER OVER PEOPLE. (The Bible be
damned!)
Again, who you want to talk to is your business, not the
Society's
So, their troubles are their OWN. The 39 million bucks,
the loss of European publishers, the bad press and so on.
Self inflicted persecution because they don't mind their
own business! Just like 1 Peter warns (1 Pet.4:14,15)
"if you are being reproached for the name of Christ,
you are happy...however let none of you suffer as a
...busybody in other people's matters."
exactly so
metatron
