The GB's Obsession with the Catholics

by TTATTelder 23 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  TTATTelder

  The GB for some reason is completely fixated on the Roman Catholic Church (RCC). They should just say that the RCC is Babylon the Great and get it over with.

  The "World Empire of False Religion" ?? Really?

  How often do they talk about Muslims? (over 1.5 billion people) How often to they talk about Hindus? (over 1 billion people) Uhh... like never.

  It's strange... I just wonder where all the venom toward Catholics is coming from. If JW's are supposed to be the one true religion on earth, then why not have the same vitriol toward these other faiths? Are they not also leading people astray from the "faithful and discreet slave"?

  Like with this whole overreaction to the UN making some statements about the RCC and child abuse. (I was just at a Witness gathering and the subject came up - the whole room was engrossed in a discussion about how "here it is" "this could be how it all starts" blah blah)

  If that story was about Muslims, the witnesses wouldn't have even noticed.

  So here's my question: Why the RCC fixation?

  Do you think it is a competition thing? Are they bashing their biggest Christian competitor? Like one car dealer bashing the other?

  Or is it jealousy over their power and wealth? We do know that the GB love them some power and wealth...
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  scary21

  They hate them so much, they try to copy them...lol They put them down for having property and money. For having ATMs . For confession to a priest. For baptizing to young. They want to be THEM !

  Sherry
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  Laika

  Catholics are their biggest source of conversions?
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  designs

  Funny that they rarely if ever mention the Eastern Orthodox denominations.
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  sir82

  They've really backed off the Catholics, compared to things 30 or 40 years ago. The "Revelation Climax" book was the last one to really pillory them.

  Maybe some of the current GBers have Catholic family members? That would be my best guess.
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  Bella15

  I think Rutherford was molested by a RCC priest, really!
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  LongHairGal

  TTTATElder:

  I believe it is a competition thing since I noticed this fixation as well with all the remarks they made about them.

  I felt the JWs were simply jealous of the Catholic religion. I think they wish they had the power and the unlimited money the church has.
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  blondie

  The WTS did label the RC (papacy) as Babylon the Great in the beginning.

  It was a Catholic judge that presided over the trial of the WT bureau of directors, and Rutherford took an even stronger negative view of the RC.

  The RC also responded to the WT attacks, especially in the realm of radio.

  At one time they also identified the RC as the anti-Christ and the man of lawlessness.

  *** w55 5/1 p. 265 Part 9—Postwar Revival of the Witnesses ***

  This is Judge Manton, eminent Roman Catholic, who on July 1, 1918, for no assigned reason, refused bail to Rutherford and his associates, thus forcing nine months of unjust incarceration upon them while their appeal was pending. This, too, is Manton whom Vatican City’s pope, Pius XI, later rewarded by creating him a “Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great.”
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  Apognophos

  Catholic-bashing is a traditional part of the uber-Protestant trend that the Bible Students were a part of, I can show you pamphlets from unrelated preachers in the 1800s who called Babylon the "great harlot". It's simply because they are The Church, the authority over Christianity in the Western world, that antiestablishment types hate them.

  As to why they are so bad, an elder explained to me that they are most bloodguilty out of all false religion because they are the ones who handle the Bible wrongly. The Hindus don't claim to represent the Bible, nor the Muslims, etc. So the Catholics are the worst because they mislead people from understanding what the Bible really says (and used to try to keep it from being translated for the common people). Incidentally, the elder was an ex-Catholic. A lot of the Catholic bashing comments tend to come from ex-Catholic JWs.
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  Band on the Run

  My father was completely out of his mind with pure rage towards the RC Church. I am certain it was from his time at Bethel. He would preach to co-workers rather than work. Their wives would call my mom and beg her to restrain my father. His co-workers were getting stress ailments. My sister is now RC and I find poetic justice in it. They rarely attacked religion in general. I understand about right wing Catholic reactionaries stirring up hatred towards the Witnesses. My father fought with a cane when the incident at Madison Square Garden happened.

  I've thought about the uncalled for hatred of Roman Catholics. Protestants are not any warmer to the Witnesses. My father was originally Russian Orthodox.

  Some religious groups are also Roman Catholic haters. When I go inside this country, the hatred shocks me. I wonder if these groups even know what the modern Church teaches. Anglicans joke about papist relatives. Jehovah's Witnesses remind me a lot of pre-Vatican II Catholicism. When you are a Witness, you should not throw stones.

  With experience and discussions with Catholic friends, most of what I thought were RC teachings never were.