Malawi CRAP in April 15 2015 Watchtower

by Marvin Shilmer 15 Replies latest jw friends

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  Marvin Shilmer

  Near the top of page 15 in the April 15, 2015 Watchtower shows a photo of the Malawi Congress Party card made the center of JWs being severely persecuted in Malawi in the 60s, 70s and 80s. The lie is furthered in this Watchtower article is that the whole issue was over JWs refusing to involve themselves in politics.

  Readers who want to know the whole story of what caused this persecution are invited to consider evidence in the following article presentations:

  Malawi — Savage Betrayal by Watchtower?

  Malawi and MCP card distribution

  By the way, this April 15, 2015 Watchtower article is the second time the organization has shared an image of the MCP card. In each of the two instances Watchtower shared only the cover of the MCP and has never shown the inside. There is good reason for Watchtower not to show the inside of this document, and how is it was to be completed. To do so would undermine the whole myth Watchtower has constructed around this document (the MCP card). The thing had nothing whatsoever to do with involving oneself with politics. The inside of this document had blanks for the recipient to complete on their own time and in their own way, if they ever filled in the blanks at all. The second of the two articles linked above explains this. The author is Malawian, has no axe to grind with Watchtower, has never been a JW and could not care less about the Watchtower organization.
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  breakfast of champions

  Great couple of articles. Very interesting.
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  Listener

  Well done Marvin, great blog. Do you get the feeling that you are being monitored by Bethel given the responses posted?

  One comment was this

  Anonymous said...

  a very very sad situation . what is our saving grace is that each of us alone stand before the almighty god each of us have answer for misleading one another . at the end of the day whatever our religion we are all indivdually judged . are any of us truly free of anything ? we live in a blame culture . while we look and judge others thats how we ourselves will be judged . i heard a quote by jonathan swift we have enough knowledge to hate but not enough to love . how true . those men you talk about s.tand before god and so do i so on that basis i wont be making a comment . im going now to spread a bit of love .hee i hope you know where im going with this . i need all the mercy i can get

  It's a thoughtful post, other than he is suggesting that you (Marvin) shouldn/t be judging others but he's missing a few issues here. Firstly, it's not just men (JW leaders) that are the problem, it is the position and power that they hold. They imposed their conscience and ideas on hundreds of followers, by their power they were enforcing them to be obedient to them. This was done under the guise of religion and under the JW banner. It's not about pointing fingers at a bunch of individuals but at a religion If a person is to be under subjection to a religion it is important that they are aware as to how that religion operates. This brings me to the second issue.

  We will be judged individually and that also means that if we choose to join a religion we are blindly supporting all the values and ideas that the religion professes. This is particularly so if we are aware of their wrongdoing and continue to support them. To date the WTBTS has not apologized for their actions or admitted that they were wrong. Personally I would not like to be in the position of knowing about the Malawi situation and continuing in service with them.
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  rip van winkle

  Marking
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  zeb

  In the posting called "the Apostasy Trial" No 2 at apx 1646 the brother speaks of Malawi. he says;

  .." they had to refuse the cards"

  elder: "They didn't want too" (carry the cards)

  Bro: (they were) "told by the branch"

  Elder: " These individuals didn't want to by themselves" .

  This is in Beliefs Doctrines and Practices 26-4-15.

  The jw in Zambia need to thinks hard because if the rumoured ban on jw comes into effect the wt org gb will dump the jw there to their own fate as they did the jw in Malawi.

  It would be worthwhile to hear from some jw who were in Malawi on the ground as to what they were actually told during that time.

  For the country of Malawi I wish you all good health and prosperity.
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  _Morpheus

  Very imteresting read marvin. I appreciate the article from the malwain author as well. In Crisis of Conscience Ray Franz does an excellent job explaining that the us branch would have advised them buying the cards was fine, however the local brothers forbade it initially and the Brooklyn didnt want to overturn it. Awefull story of unessary loss and torture because of blindly following following fools who are following fools.
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  menrov

  I feel very sorry for all those poor people that suffered so much because of the JW policy. The doctrine is that a christian should not get involved in politics. What does that mean? And I do not mean the JW explanation. It there is a fight between 2 people in the street, I will try not to get "involved". This does not mean I reject the people involved or the rules of the game but it is simply not my fight and will not become part of it.I will not actively participate in the fight.

  By refusing to buy a card the person actually takes a political stance: he rejects/disobeys the ruling government. The same government that demands you to pay taxes and to obey their laws. You carry a passport (or identity card or this MCP card) which is issued (and owned) by the government of that country, which is used to identify oneself as a citizen of a country. To buy that card is in my view not a means to express your political preference but a sign of obedience to the law of the government. It is not an act of worship (involvement).

  It is very very sad that the organisation has abused the situation to promote their doctrines whilst endangering the lives of their members.
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  Marvin Shilmer

  The doctrine is that a christian should not get involved in politics. What does that mean?

  I realize that question is not asked to know Watchtower's explanation. But explanation and understanding are different. Watchtower's explanation of this issue is so convoluted that it leaves a person's head spinning. But understanding Watchtower's position is as simple as a careful review of history.

  The whole thing is rooted in a doctrinal position Watchtower formed in the very early 1940s and termed "neutrality" doctrine.

  There are thousands of experiences of JWs refusing military induction based on this neutrality doctrine. JWs could register for induction. That was no offense under the neutrality doctrine. JWs could show up for induction into the military if they were called up. That was no offense under the neutrality doctrine. JWs could undergo the physical prior to induction. That was no offense under the neutrality doctrine. But when it got to taking the oath of allegiance to the government, that was the point at which JWs had been taught it would be a violation of the neutrality doctrine and it was at this point that JWs refused. (See United States v Smith 1942) What Watchtower's upper leadership was not telling the rank-and-file JW is that every one of the organization's top leadership had already been pledging the national oath of allegiance to the United States' government, and continued to do so afterward for decades.

  Then Malawi comes along, and the poor JWs over there were being told by leaders in Watchtower that it's wrong to pledge allegiance to any county and that accepting and giving 25-cents for a blank (BLANK!!!) MCP card would be an act of allegiance to the county of Malawi, so the Malawian JWs refused and suffered horribly as a result. During the whole decades long episode top Watchtower leadership were pledging the national oath of allegiance to the United States government. The Malawian JWs had no idea of this gross hypocrisy.

  In Malawi it was most certainly not a political act to had over 25-cents for a blank (BLANK!!!) MCP card. The very idea is ludicrous. It's no wonder that to this day Watchtower has never, ever published the inside of the MCP card for JWs to see what this card is all about. Instead it wants JWs to judge "the book" by its cover alone. That's why we find Watchtower has published the front view of this card on two occasions but never the inside. Then JWs would learn the whole story is a religiously motivated hoax.
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  Clambake

  Yeah

  That’s all the people of Africa need. Symbolic stands against dictatorships with orders given from one of the most free and wealthy nations on earth.

  No need for hospitals, orphanages, feeding programs . Whatever makes a good headline.

  Morally bankrupt parasites.
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  Marvin Shilmer

  That’s all the people of Africa need. Symbolic stands against dictatorships with orders given from one of the most free and wealthy nations on earth.

  I think it helps people to have a cause compelling them toward a productive end. But in this case there was no productive end for the Malawian JWs and Watchtower knew that perfectly well. Certainly it was a cruel hoax for Watchtower to make those Malawian JWs think it wrong to pledge allegiance to the Malawian national government when that is precisely what Watchtower leadership was doing the whole time (toward the United States government). Watchtower saw it as another opportunity to sell the "Look! We are persecuted!!!" card. The whole thing is sickening to think about.