Society leaves elders wide open...

dmouse

An elder came to visit last night, I had hoped that he came to wish me a happy birthday (I’m 41 today!) but no such luck.

He actually came to invite me to the memorial, the first official visit by an elder I have had for many, many years.

We talked about general issues at first, how I felt very angry at the way the Society lied and continues to lie to protect it’s butt.

Then happened one of those wonderful moments when you see someone do a double take, the issue of deception and hypocrisy came up and of course I had to mention the UN. At this point I assumed that the elder had heard all about the UN debacle.

Me: So, tell me honestly, how did you feel when you first found out that the Society were a registered supporter on the United Nations?

Elder: Excuse me? (this was when he did one of those double-takes with his head, almost exactly like you see in cartoons – very funny)

Me: I repeat the question, as I do so I realise that this elder has absolutely no idea what I’m talking about.

Elder: I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Me: Yes, for the past ten years the Society has been a registered NGO (non governmental organisation) of the United Nations. Their tasks include promoting the aims and policy of the UN.

Elder: (shaking his head) No, the Society wouldn’t do that. The UN is the wild beast, they would have nothing to do with it.

Me: I assure you it’s completely true, I can show you…

Elder: I won’t believe it, where did you hear this?

Me: Well, if you want I can show you the official UN website…

That was it, the magic word – website. You could see the mental shutters come down, almost literally his eyes glazed over and WBTS conditioning took over.

Elder: Ah, the Internet, you can’t trust it you know...full of spiritual filth, lies, pornography.

Me: Yes, maybe, but this is the official UN website, I can show you…

Elder: No, I won’t believe it. If it’s not in the Watchtower I won’t believe it.

Me: And also there are official UN books, documents…

Elder: No, it’s not in the Watchtower.

Me: But surely you can look at and evaluate for yourself…

Elder: NO! I only believe what is in the Watchtower.
By now he is repeating ‘I only believe what is in the Watchtower’ as if it is a powerful mantra for warding off evil spirits. I felt sorry for him, politely declined his invitation to the memorial and he left, visibly shaken.

Now, I can understand this happening at the time the UN story first broke, but it has been how long now? 6 months or more? Why on Earth has the Society seen fit to leave its elders wide open to this issue? Surely by now they should have produced an info pack to help elders deal with this important issue in their own territories?
Perhaps they are just hoping it will go away.

Satanus

I bet they think they can bury this issue, and the more time that elapses, the less chance of it being noticed by the average busy dubby.

SS

Gopher

SS is right -- this UN/NGO issue seems to be fading away into oblivion.

Interesting reaction to "the official U.N. site"...I wonder if JW's are that paranoid about ANYTHING from the outside... What about newspapers, what about TV news? Is there anything useful that can be gained from a non-Watchtower source?

Or are the blinders that tightly attached? I guess it varies from person to person.

-J.R., member, UADNA-MN
(Unseen Apostate Directorate of North America - Minnesota division)

This post was not evaluated by any mental health professionals.
Any opinions expressed are those of a fuzzy, cuddly rodent.

Frenchy

The WTBS has done a marvelous (for them) job of managing to throw suspicion on everthing that is not sacntioned by them. This thread illustrates this very well.

Witnesses are generally not very well read people. As exemplified by this particular elder, they simply do not trust anything that is not in one of the Society's publications. Even if they were to see an official document of the UN, they would assume that it's some sort of trick. They only way for them to accept would be admission by the Society itself, through one of its representatives or publications.

Guest 77

Wait until the peodophilia issue comes up at the door. If you think you shook him up, what reaction will he give an hostile householder?

Guest 77

MrMoe

Next thing you know, the Watchtower will be more reliable than the bible, although that has already been done in a way. They say how they interpret the bible is END OF STORY. I find it quite saddening.

Unseen Apostate Directorate of North America - Florida Division

Pierced Angel

You could have also pointed out that if the internet is so full of filth and lies, why does the organization have it's own website then?

I would have loved to see that doubletake. Good job.

Happy Freaking Birthday! Celebrate and go crazy today!

Anne

Richie

Good point Pierced Angel! - I just wanted to use that same argument - In response to that elder's assertion that the internet is Satan's tool..., why then believe the official website from the Watchtower itself? You see, the elders and others in the Society are so conditioned to look only in one direction (and they call this loyalty?...) without showing an open mind to information in order to seek an intelligent opinion. This elder was caught in a web of intellectual blackmail and conditioned to only believe what the Watchtower dictates, so that he can be "protected" from the evil onslaught of Satanic apostates. Little do they realize that they themselves are like a pawn being used and blinded by the Society's propaganda machine, which now goes way beyond the boundaries of sound thinking and not according to the principles and sound teaching of God's word the bible.

Richie :*)

Will Power

Too bad you didn't have the society's responses on paper to show him. The guardian article for example where the PR guy admits their affiliation.

First the elder guy says "they would never" then once he sees that they did, he'd be then forced to compromise his previous belief and forced to accept their ridiculous & conflicting reasons, i.e. research only, unaware of "changed" policy etc.

The deception and hypocrisy is blatently obvious and if he only believes what the WT says then he needs to see exactly what they say!

DakotaRed

Too bad you didn't have the society's responses on paper to show him. The guardian article for example where the PR guy admits their affiliation.

That doesn't help either. Since it was copied off the internet, it is assumed to be fabricated, even with the Official Watchtower logo. Ones, such as my wife, are so deeply brainwashed that they can't see the forest for the trees.

To a dedicated dub, unless it appears within the pages of the Watchtower, it is a lie.

There is just no getting through to many of them, I am afraid.

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?

Society leaves elders wide open...

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