Would love to hear comments on what is being said on the paragraph which states that if the WT demands you drink the kool aid, you should do it - even if you don't understand why!
Look forward to any replies.
Super Tasty Kool Aid Flavored WT Study this Weekend!
by LostGeneration 42 Replies latest watchtower bible
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Island Man
A good TTATTy comment for an older Awake JW to make might be:
"Back in the 70's when the organization suggested or strongly hinted that the end can or will come in 1975, some brothers were willing to quit their jobs and sell their property to spend the remaining time pioneering. Are we willing to follow their wise and faithful example of obeying what the organization says even if it does not seem sound from a human standpoint? We know that whatever the organization teaches us will always be for our benefit."
Or
"Back before the 1980s the organization taught that organ transplants were wrong. It may have seemed like an unsound thing to do to refuse an organ transplant if your life depended on it. But doubtless there were brothers who faithfully died obeying what may have seemed like an unsound teaching. Are we willing to follow their example of faithfulness? We know that whatever the organization teaches us will always be for our benefit."
That same paragraph also has a contradiction in it. It tells Witnesses to be ready to obey what the org says even if it doesn't appear sound but then later down it says now is not the time to put our trust in human institutions (but the org is a human institution). This irony can be pointed out.
"The paragraph tells us now is not the time to be putting our trust in human institutions. Psalm 146:3 tells us not to put our trust in the son of earthling man to whom no salvation belongs. Therefore we should always trust what the governing body is telling us in print because we know our relationship with Jehovah - our salvation - depends on it. But we should never put our trust in human institutions."
That ought to give some a fit of cognitive dissonance.
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Witness My Fury
Which paragraph is it? I'm gonna grab my mothers study WT and write "don't drink the kool aid!!" next to it.
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LostGeneration
WMF - Para 17
Elders who are reading this article can draw some useful conclusions from the account we have just considered: (1) The most practical step that we can take to prepare for the coming attack of “the Assyrian” is that of strengthening our faith in God and helping our brothers to do the same. (2) When “the Assyrian” attacks, the elders must be absolutely convinced that Jehovah will deliver us. (3) At that time, the life-saving direction that we receive from Jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint. All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not. (4) Now is the time for any who may be putting their trust in secular education, material things, or human institutions to adjust their thinking. The elders must stand ready to help any who may now be wavering in their faith.
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Oubliette
Paragraph 17. Here's the same point from the Stupefied edition:
- "At that time, the direction that you receive from Jehovah’s organization may seem strange or unusual. But all of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether we agree with them or not, because obeying these instructions will save our lives."
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Oubliette
The line forms on the left ...
Jonestown - November 18, 1978, 918 people died in the settlement, at the nearby airstrip in Port Kaituma , and in Georgetown, Guyana's capital city.
Note that the WT's new "Kool Aid Injunction" was published only 3 days before the 35th anniversary of the Jonestown Massacre.
Coincidence?
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breakfast of champions
Yeah, this one's a doozie. . . turn off, tune out, and OBEY.
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problemaddict
I don't like the Jonestown refferences. I think it kills the discussion. In Jonestown there was a woman int he capital that once it was time for "divine suicide", stabbed her small children with knives, then had her 16 year old kill her, and then the 16 year old slit her wrists.
It is always dangerous to turn over your serious thoughts to others. But I am thoroughly convinced that if the GB told everyone to kill themselves, the entire organization would fail to do so, and have a WTF moment.
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Oubliette
Oh, and in case this week's message from the GB/FDS is too subtle for you, stay tuned for next week's follow up lesson: "Obey Jehovah's Shepherds"
The word "obey" in it's various forms appears 8 times in this article. That's pretty much every other paragraph on average.
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LostGeneration
Well to be clear, I do not believe in any way that the GB is anywhere close to trying to exterminate the Witness population. The logistics if it alone are literally impossible.
But this kind of rhetoric can be used against a JW. A simple "Do whatever the GB says??? That sounds a lot like Jonestown" to an active JW can make them think things through where they normally wouldn't even give it a second thought.
Their goal is to get the JW to stop thinking at every turn, and accept whatever they present. So if they come right out and ban higher education, the JW won't think twice about it. If they institute at tithe in the next decade, the JW simply says "That's the way it is" and opens up their wallet.
