The Society are at it again. Witnesses at a local congregation are getting rid of old literature that predates the early 90's. You can imagine why. Just saying guys, if you have the opportunity to grab some old literature then do it before their history and our proof is completely gone :)
Old Literature being destroyed again!
by KW13 19 Replies latest jw friends
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Daniel1555
How do you know that they destroy it.
In our library we have some okd books like the harp of god. They are not destroyed.
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KW13
There are books that are kept and some really old relics yes but between that there have been cases in the past (and again at the moment) where dubs are encouraged to dispose of old literature. Generally speaking its the magazines that are most incriminating. It may just be my old kingdom hall but that was not the impression i was given.
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quellycatface
Hope it's not like burning the Koran. They could be in some serious s**t!!!!
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LongHairGal
This is nothing new. They have destroyed literature systematically for some time. Years ago, I remember donating old, old books to the KH library - where they very nicely disappeared sometime later.
Maybe some old relic books may be kept under glass for display purposes, with a lock and key like a museum, but nobody will be able to read them. Anything else old that can get into people's hands is going to disappear.
This is why the religion likes their new online site. It is easier to tweak or change the teachings without having to worry about having incriminating paper copies left with the public!
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Doubting Bro
I've never seen that happen. Our KH library has WTs dating back to 1900 (or there abouts). Plus all the Studies in Scriptures and tons of other very old books. The only thing I've seen done is the request to not remove them from the KH but that makes sense to me since they don't want them lost.
Is it a space issue in your hall? Just trying to understand because I've never seen directions to destroy old publications from the WTS.
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LongHairGal
Doubting Bro:
You specifically might not necessarily "hear" about directions to destroy old literature. The fewer people who know about this the better. This would be done on the down-low and discreetly when nobody is around because, after all, it would raise questions.
I don't believe it is about a space issue because the books I donated were not all that big and there was every other crap in creation there, so why remove those? At the time, I was not suspicious about the motives being about "covering up", I just thought some inconsiderate person took them to read and never returned them. Now, I know differently because of what I have heard about other places and what I read in recent years.
I happen to think those old books are rather difficult for modern readers (with our short attention span) to read. You really need to concentrate. So, I think they are not likely to be taken by the average younger JW and would not arouse the interest of many JWs. But, somebody older OR more inquisitive and searching would be most likely to want to read them. When the religion was more secure in itself and didn't have too much to fear with people defecting left and right, it would never have entered their minds to destroy literature. Now, it is a different story.
You mention your library has these old books and they aren't being touched. Well, just let there be a bit of curiosity and people start all of a sudden asking to borrow them then you will see things change.
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blondie
I can imagine why, no space. Around here they offer it to new jws or young jws that don't have a personal library.
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The Searcher
I seem to remember the Org in recent years 'advising' us to use the latest publications for research etc., that way, we'd be up to date with the "current thinking".
I don't think it will be too long before we will be compelled to use the latest stuff - otherwise you could be disfellowshipped for teaching info which was now false - apostate. Such as pre-July 15th 2013 WT.
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BluesBrother
Already if one stubbornly insisted on teaching an old doctrine and saying that the new one was wrong......I guess that would be "brazen conduct"
But to delete all reference to the past would seem to against this from last year's Wt
WT 2012 1/15 p31
The Governing Body is keenly interested in our theocratic history. In commenting on the need to preserve, document, and pass on our spiritual heritage, one member of the Governing Body said, “To know where we are going, we have to know where we have come from.” To that end, Writing Archives was recently set up at world headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, and is under the direction of the Writing Committee..........
..........Our early publications, thrilling first-person accounts, and priceless memorabilia are also among the gems held in the Archives. Such items are “heirlooms”................................................
.....Cataloging: The Writing Archives collection is made up of thousands of items, some more than a century old.Unless of course one says that they just want control of it???