What will happen when 8 million JW's look on the witness stand before the Royal Commission this Friday? Will they see Superman. . . or only Clark Kent?
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In the comic books, when Superman shows up, readers of the comic already know Clark Kent has made an excuse to disappear. Neither Jimmy Olson, Lois Lane, Perry White or anybody else is able to see through the ridiculous "disguise" of black, horn-rim glasses.
Have you ever thought about what state of mind is necessary for this subterfuge to work?
Whatever that is, Jehovah's Witnesses have it when they look at their Governing Body as though it is Superman but fail to see they are only ordinary men (Clark Kent) who are bumbling nerds.
SUPERMAN'S GLASSES = a special blindness to the obvious, and without it the comic book premise simply doesn't work.
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The Faithful and Discreet Slave is a comic book fiction.
The Governing Body is a kind of alternate identity.
If anybody took even a moment to think rationally they would have to become entirely skeptical, wouldn't they? But, they don't.
How can reasonably intelligent people (8 million) all over the world be so easily fooled?
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Let me tell you a little story which is true, from my life, which best illustrates this blindness. . .
In 1972, I worked for an employment agency as an Employment Counselor who, for a fee, assisted clients in finding a better job with a good company which offered benefits.
One of the other employees at this agency, (ABC Employment Agency) was named John Day. He was one of the most professional people I had ever met. He dressed well, spoke softly with authority, worked well with clients and exuded a charisma most people found irresistible.
He was a total phony! (I didn't know this yet.)
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Long story short, everything I liked and admired about John later turned out to be a pretense, a lie, a swindle and a counterfeit. He was a consummate liar.
I saw him as a fine, dedicated family man. He was a serial cheater.
I saw him as a man of wealth and success. He was "white trash."
I saw him as a great father. He abandoned his wife and two kids and left them in poverty.
I saw him as a professional magician hobbyist who was friends with the great magicians out in Hollywood, and who had a membership to the Magic Castle. None of this was true.
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I won't go into all the details. Suffice it to say, I was completely and totally taken in by John Day whose real name turned out to be John Faris and not Day.
When he was finally revealed to be Clark Kent and not the Superman I had taken him for, I was dumbstruck!
How, I asked myself, could I have been so completely fooled?
The answer to this, as it turns out, is rather simplistic: I took him at face-value. He acted the part. He spoke the part. He dressed the part---and that, my friends--was enough to pull off the charade successfully.
Why SHOULD I have been skeptical?
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What is my point in referencing this failure of perception on my part?
I think the principle of SUPERMAN'S GLASSES is not a mysterious one to understand.
When people look and act the part, we grant them the benefit of the doubt and we sustain our first impression of them.
The Faithful and Discreet Slave present a facade of "faithfulness" which is seen as a rare virtue in this world.
They present a fiction of humility, meekness, and lowliness of mind. This is quite admirable as well.
The Governing Body quite recently have emerged out of the shadows of anonymity. This was after 70 years of constant preparation by text in Watchtower publication. The drumbeat of their connection to Jesus and Jehovah had been steady.
The responsibility of all true Christians in listening to and obeying this fictitious concoction had been building and building into a dynamic crescendo of mythic proportions.
JW-TV flashes their images all over our planet in a constant bombardment of firm determination and resolve.
WHY SHOULD ANYBODY DOUBT THEY ARE SUPERMEN?
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This celebrity status is certainly a myth, but why would any JW see beyond the flat image into the deception?
Hint: it is dangerous to contemplate doing so!
A divine equivalency has been portrayed: Jehovah's Authority = the Governing Body
Kings and Priests who rule with Jesus = the Faithful and Discreet Slave
Loyalty, obedience to the GB = everlasting blessings and reward.
Opposition and skepticism of the GB authority = death at Armageddon and everlasting cutting off.
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Believing in SUPERMAN'S GLASSES brings a potential reward of fellowship with larger-than-life fellowship.
Seeing behind the disguise destroys the fantasy world and all its counterfeit promises leading to disfellowshipment.
Disfellowship brings LOSS of family and friends and hope and paradise. This is a huge gamble and disincentive to skeptical inqurity!
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I don't know if you've ever been dead wrong about a person like I was with John Faris (aka John Day), but it causes such self-doubt and denial, a loss of self-confidence can result which is hard to shake off.
I think 100% of you out there reading my words have experienced this stunning misperception at least once. Perhaps it has only been when you began to "wake up" to the 'truth about The Truth'.
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The thing is, in Superman comics nobody jumps up and points at Clark Kent shouting his secret identity for a very good
reason. The entire fictional world would be destroyed and the premise of Clark Kent would instantly crumble.
Let us hope this Friday, if and when a Governing Body member takes the "witness" stand before the Royal Commission, by the time questioning is over, 8 million people who are looking at Superman will suddenly begin to see how much similarity there is to a mere Clark Kent.