When "The Persecution" Comes - What a Let Down that turned out to be!

by cofty 37 Replies latest watchtower scandals

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  cofty

  When I was young there was endless speculation about "The Persecution". I have very clear memories as a child sitting in the old Kingdom Hall in Coatbridge hearing it talked about from the platform. It was a frequent topic at home.

  Sometimes there was lurid detail about what sort of torture "they" might use against us to make us betray others. The experiences of the JWs in Malawi in the 70s became the model of what we should all expect one day. We all worried about what particular torture we could not cope with and were told not to talk about our personal fears because the demons could hear and use it against us in "The Persecution".

  When home computers began to appear we were warned not to store contact details because these could be retrieved when "The Persecution" comes.

  Close friends of mine chose not to have a family because of fear of what could happen in "The Persecution".

  Who would have thought that opposition would actually come because of years of secret cover-ups of child abuse?

  Nobody is going to knock down KH doors are drag everybody off to interrogation rooms after all. Instead the lawsuits are just going to keep coming. The financial burden on the R&F will continue to increase and bad publicity in the media will go on. Governments will continue to impose proper child protection procedures on them and punish them for non-compliance.

  People won't hate JWs because they refuse to go along into "the same low sink of debauchery" as we loved to tell ourselves, but because the names Jehovah's Witness and Watchtower will become increasingly synonymous with child abuse and secrecy.

  There will be no heroics, no brave resistance.

  Just an increasing exposure of their failure to protect the most vulnerable members of their so-called family.

  How ignominious.
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  TotallyADD

  cofty I remember those same talks when I was a child back in the 60's. I think that is why to this day I fight off paranoia thinking. The Cult has really messed up alot of minds. Totally ADD
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  cantleave

  Not only that, the UN was going to spearhead the opposition - the very organisation the WTS suckles up to for protection.
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  Newly Enlightened

  Good post & topic!

  I remember those talks also. Who would have thought back then, that our 'Test' of faith and loyalty would have come from that very organization itself. We came to the point that it boiled down to loyalty to God & Christ or a man-made organization that claims to be God's organization but is really a bunch of power-hungry liars.
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  EdenOne

  Very true, Cofty.

  I've heard countless formal and informal talks about the topic. It still is lying around, now and then. less present, true, but still out there. However, I doubt that the outcome of the child abuse cases will be any more damaging for the WTS that it has been to the Catholic Church.

  Eden
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  Xanthippe

  I remember a watchtower study about the Great Tribulation in the eighties just before I left. I answered on this point about the persecution where we would suffer quite badly for a short time before Jehovah would come to our rescue because anyone harming us would be like touching his eyeball. The 'brother' started arguing with me from the platform that it wouldn't be like that at all and we shouldn't worry about it - but that was what the watchtower said I pointed out. I think I was beginning to notice a difference between what the society taught and what the congregations believed.

  I remember those same talks when I was a child back in the 60's. I think that is why to this day I fight off paranoia thinking. The Cult has really messed up alot of minds. Totally ADD

  You are so right Totally ADD sometimes I feel an irrational fear of I know not what and I have come to the conclusion it is having this terrible thing taught to me as a child that I was going to be dragged off and tortured in the Great Tribulation. The feeling passes very quickly now but what a wicked thing to tell children.
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  Sapphy

  Cofty "S ometimes there was lurid detail about what sort of torture "they" might use against us to make us betray others. The experiences of the JWs in Malawi in the 70s became the model of what we should all expect one day. We all worried about what particular torture we could not cope with and were told not to talk about our personal fears because the demons could hear and use it against us in "The Persecution"."

  Oh my, I remember being taught the exact same thing! Must have been very early 80's.
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  Oubliette

  Sometimes there was lurid detail about what sort of torture "they" might use against us to make us betray others.

  The WT threatens us with shunning if we are disobedient to WT directives and get us to betray our friends and family members out of misplaced loyalty to the organization.

  Orwell or Kafka couldn't have created a better nightmare world.
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  THE GLADIATOR
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  THE GLADIATOR

  From my memoirs:

  Now brother Game was on the platform demonstrating how to use a reversible jacket. This was one of several things we could use to disguise ourselves and escape our pursuers when ‘under persecution.’ Apparently we were on the brink of the great tribulation, which would lead to the battle of Armageddon. Satan and his demons, knowing they were about to be taken prisoner by our God Jehovah, would cause terrible things to happen on earth. They would cause jealous people on earth to persecute us - the chosen ones.

  Now brother Game had produced a pair of glasses and a false beard. The audience was laughing, bemused by the entertainment, which was an improvement on the normal repetitious lectures. Despite the humour, I was concerned about the coming tribulation and needed to know more about what was going to happen. I decided to question father about it when we got home.

  As I drank tea, I asked. ‘At the Hall this evening, brother Game said we were soon going to be persecuted for our religion. What will Satan’s people do to us?’

  Father looked at me gravely and went on to explain. ‘You must be prepared for the worst. Many of us will be tortured and some killed. If you are captured and break down under torture, you might be tempted to give away the whereabouts of our brothers and sisters. You must be prepared to endure pain. Getting cold and tired going from door-to-door will help you to develop endurance, which will put you in good stead for the great tribulation . Holding out under torture will please Jehovah. If you pray hard enough and do as we tell you, he will protect you.’

  Scary stuff! It was all a bit like The French Resistance but we were to be fighting invisible forces.

  ‘But what if I do break down under torture?’ I asked fearfully.

  Father opened his Bible and read to me from two different passages. ‘You will not be tested beyond what you can bear.’ and ‘He that endures to the end is the one that will be saved.’ He showed me other verses confirming that the great tribulation was definitely on its way. It was all in the Bible so it must be true. I felt disturbed and fearful about what lay ahead. I was worried about my brothers and sister and my parents. The idea of them being tortured upset me and I was frightened myself. We had been waiting for some time for the great tribulation and Armageddon, when we were to be saved, but it was always a day away and we were beginning to wonder how long we would have to wait.