What being cheap costs us.. Fatal accident involving bus full of JWs

by pubtruth 30 Replies latest jw friends

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  pubtruth

  This happened about last week here in Florida. A bus carrying 32 Jehovah's Witnesses driven by a hired bus driver got lost on the way to West Palm Beach and crashed at the entrance of Miami Int'l Airport. Dozens were injured and 2 passed away. It is very sad news, especially with everyone so tight on money and so brainwashed, that they look for whatever they can to make "Jehovah" happy. The bus company has had a few violations for overworking their drivers, and I'm aware the buses they tend to rent are usually old and in bad shape (I've riden in some) due to the congregations' financial status. They were probably heading for a circuit assembly or special day. Now JWs in South Florida have to travel twice as long and many more times a year to WPB for their assemblies after the Assembly Hall at Griffin Rd. was closed and sold.

  News story: 'I Tried to Help Others,' Survivor Says of Deadly Bus Crash at Miami International Airport

  What's sadder is that for some reason, the driver kept going after clearly visible signs and pleas from the passengers asked for him to stop.
• 

  ldrnomo

  one of the commenters on the article from the second link said:

  "So sad, Jehovah will help them all get through this".

  I'm just wondering if Jehovah can help them get through it, why couldn't he have helped avoid it?
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  NVR2L8

  Where were the angels that are supposed to protect those doing Jehovah's will?
• 

  blondie

  The WTS says that only the great crowd as a group are protected (GC = all jws on earth right now).

  No individual protection.

  *** w08 9/15 p. 9 Jehovah Is “the Provider of Escape” for Us ***What About Physical Protection?

  8 As individuals, we know that our immediate physical protection is not guaranteed. We take the position expressed by the three faithful Hebrews who refused to bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar’s image of gold. Those God-fearing young men did not presume that Jehovah would miraculously protect them from physical harm. (Read Daniel 3:17, 18.) As matters turned out, Jehovah did deliver them from the flames of the fiery furnace. (Dan. 3:21-27) Even in Bible times, however, miraculous deliverance was the exception rather than the rule. Many faithful servants of Jehovah died at the hands of opposers.—Heb. 11:35-37.

  9 What about today? As “the Provider of escape,” Jehovah certainly can deliver individuals from perilous situations. Can we definitively say whether Jehovah did or did not intervene in specific cases? No. Still, an individual who has escaped a dangerous situation may feel that Jehovah intervened. It would be presumptuous for others to take issue with his feeling. At the same time, we must realistically acknowledge that many faithful Christians have died as a result of persecution, as was the case during the Nazi era. Others have died under tragic circumstances. (Eccl. 9:11) We might ask, ‘Did Jehovah fail to be “the Provider of escape” for faithful ones whose lives were cut short?’ That could hardly be the case.
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  ziddina

  "...It is very sad news, especially with everyone so tight on money and so brainwashed, that they look for whatever they can to make "Jehovah" happy. ..." OP

  This could be viewed as another devastating result of the Watchtower Society's anti-education mentality...

  Had they not avoided college educations due to the Watchtower Society's false predictions of "Armageddon", they would probably have made enough money thru their lives so that they could have traveled in safer transportation - not to mention, they would probably have had their 'critical thinking skills' developed so they would have checked the company's safety record prior to hiring one of their buses.
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  exwhyzee

  To me they are sending mixed messages when they say the words shown in Blondies comment above but then print pictures like this that are meant to give you the opposite impression. The impression that mighty angels are standing at the ready to protect you against harm so long as you are holding a publication in front of someone.
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  Chaserious

  When people jump on a thread like this and blame the WTS for this tragedy, that is what makes ex-JWs look like bitter angry opposers with an axe to grind. Why not have a little more compassion for these victims and their families?

  Had they not avoided college educations due to the Watchtower Society's false predictions of "Armageddon", they would probably have made enough money thru their lives so that they could have traveled in safer transportation

  Come on, did you not see the video? Most of the people on the bus can't even speak english. It's highly unlikely that they would all be rich aerospace engineers if not for the WTS.

  It is very sad news, especially with everyone so tight on money and so brainwashed, that they look for whatever they can to make "Jehovah" happy

  People travel on cheap buses all the time - college kids, city dwellers with no car going home to visit family, immigrants, etc. I'm sure most of the people didn't get on the bus with some kind of resentful attitude.

  Where were the angels that are supposed to protect those doing Jehovah's will?

  You know they don't teach that and no JWs really think they are immune from auto accidents while travelling for "theocratic" purposes.
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  blondie

  The WTS excels in speaking out of both sides of their mouth....that way when something does not come true or has to be "adjusted" they can point to the other statement and say "see we were right."
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  ziddina

  Chaserious: "Come on, did you not see the video? Most of the people on the bus can't even speak english. It's highly unlikely that they would all be rich aerospace engineers if not for the WTS. ....

  [Quoting NVR2L8] "Where were the angels that are supposed to protect those doing Jehovah's will?"

  You know they don't teach that and no JWs really think they are immune from auto accidents while travelling for "theocratic" purposes. ..."

  What exwhyzee said...

  "To me they are sending mixed messages when they say the words shown in Blondies comment above but then print pictures like this that are meant to give you the opposite impression. ..."

  That is exactly the manipulation technique that they used leading up to the "1975" fiasco.
• 

  Chaserious

  "To me they are sending mixed messages when they say the words shown in Blondies comment above but then print pictures like this that are meant to give you the opposite impression. ..."

  That is exactly the manipulation technique that they used leading up to the "1975" fiasco.

  If anyone over the age of 6 interprets theology not from the words on the page but from a picture with fire breathing dragons and musclebound bearded dudes in the clouds, they are to blame and not the WTS. I'm not implying that the people on the bus are to blame - because I am questioning the implication that they felt invinicible. As Blondie pointed out, the literature clearly says otherwise. In 25 years growing up as a witness, I never heard anyone hint that they could not be killed in an accident while doing "Jehovah's will".

  Although I will say, they do exploit examples when they go the other way, which is not being honest, like "one brother related that had he gone on a business trip for his employer instead of attending the District Convention, he would have been on the plane that crashed, killing all on board."