The Watchtower's Shameless Nazi-Milking

by metatron 36 Replies latest jw friends

  • metatron
    metatron

    If you've read the latest yearbook and magazines, you'll see
    that the Watchtower is at it again - Nazis, Nazis, Nazis!

    If you awoke from a half century coma and read this self serving
    propaganda, you might think Nazis were a major problem in the
    world currently. It might take you a while to realize that all
    that's going on is that the Watchtower organization is trying to
    re-live the past while suffering an internal malaise - especially
    in the very countries that were under Nazi domination!

    My point here is not to denigrate the bravery of those Witnesses
    who resisted - but rather place their often wasted sacrifice
    in context.

    First, the destruction of the Nazis was gained by countless
    brave men and women who took up arms to end it - not, in particular
    by a few protestors who wouldn't work building munitions. Such
    individuals could support the Nazi war economy just as well by
    any other regular employment - and , indeed, some persecution
    declined once the Nazis realized this. Himmler himself hoped to
    use Witnesses to pacify conquered areas.
    By contrast, one well-aimed bomb load directed by brave Allied
    men , who had little chance of returning home alive, accomplished
    more in a practical way than all the Witness martyrs put together.

    Secondly, what Witnesses generally did was collectively SELFISH
    and CLANNISH. Mercy was directly internally rather benefitting
    other people of OTHER RELIGIONS - who, of course, are merely
    'bird food' for Armageddon. Contrast the self directed resistance
    of Jehovah's Witnesses with heroes like:

    The Ten Boom family in Holland, who sought to save Jewish
    neighbors

    or Raoul Wallenberg

    or Oskar Schindler

    or Father Arseny, in Stalinist times.

    Herr Schindler was a drunk, a womanizer, and a business failure

    ... but I'd still place his compassionate efforts to help those
    who 'weren't members of his tribe' WELL AHEAD of what Witnesses
    did - for themselves.

    Doesn't the Watchtower's current unimaginative obsession with
    Nazis scream out to you ---- "DO YOU SEE WHAT'S WRONG HERE?"

    Like the Pharisees of old, "they account the rest as nothing",
    avoiding charity whenever they can substitute the peddling of
    magazines instead. Other people are simply non-entities, unworthy
    of unconditional love, having value only as potential converts.
    Isn't it ironic that despite ALL OF THE EMPHASIS THEY PLACE ON
    their confrontation with Nazis, THEY SHARE THE SAME NIHILISTIC
    VIEW ABOUT HUMAN LIFE? --- after all, everyone that ain't a Witness
    will die at Armageddon, right? (99.9% of the human race)

    Not only that, but they clearly share the Nazi viewpoints about
    human rights within the organization, namely YOU DON'T HAVE ANY!

    Prisoners often learn from their captors
    and if the Israelis can learn 'blitzkreig' tactics
    from their Nazi persecutors, I see no reason why the same
    learning process of imitation can't be said to apply to Watchtower
    organization----

    because if they didn't learn the value of mercy
    charity, and compassion for others from their Nazi encounter,

    wasn't it all in vain?

    metatron

  • Kenneson
    Kenneson

    Thanks Metatron. Perhaps it's unfair to ask of the JW's what they did to help the Jews, since they themselves were in no position to offer help. They were trying to survive just like the Jews were. So I wouldn't expect to find any Schindlers, Ten Boons,etc. in the ranks of the Witnesses. They were trying to save themselves.

    I also found a very impartial treatment on the topic of persecution and resistance of Jehovah's Witnesses during the Nazi-regime that some of you might like to peruse at

    http://watchtowerinformationservice.org/hesse.htm

  • Nathan Natas
    Nathan Natas

    Hat NAZI Milch erhalten?

    According to freetranslation.com, that would be German for "GOT NAZI MILK?"

    Thanks for another brilliant post, Metatron. I'm copying that and sharing it with some folks.

    Edited by - Nathan Natas on 8 January 2003 20:7:8

  • DanTheMan
    DanTheMan
    Secondly, what Witnesses generally did was collectively SELFISH
    and CLANNISH. Mercy was directly internally rather benefitting
    other people of OTHER RELIGIONS - who, of course, are merely
    'bird food' for Armageddon.
    despite ALL OF THE EMPHASIS THEY PLACE ON
    their confrontation with Nazis, THEY SHARE THE SAME NIHILISTIC
    VIEW ABOUT HUMAN LIFE?

    Good points.

    I was pretty sold on the whole Purple Triangles thing. But really what the JW's did wasn't all that spectacular.

  • TheOldHippie
    TheOldHippie

    All who have posted so far, are from the USA. While sitting comfortably in your continent, to us Europeans the Nazi years were a watershed in history which has left scars in us taht will not die. That is why we get very upset when seeing Neo-Nazism's ugly head in Germany and other parts at demonstrations, and why we react so quickly when we spot the same in US/Bush policy, racial dicsrimination etc. We suffered many dark years, and the first-line victims such as the Witnesses, Gypsies and Jews should not be critizised for what they encountered or how they reacted to it. Thousands of Witnesses' lives were brutally either cut short or destroyed for decades, and it serves the ones who mock them no credit.

  • Fe2O3Girl
    Fe2O3Girl

    First post in quite a while. Hope I don't get the Donkey treatment for this one............

    First of all, there is no denying the horror of the Nazi era. Maybe the biggest tragedy is how easy it still is for parallel situations to develop - and that is why it should never be forgotten. Also, there is no denying that the Bible Students who were persecuted and executed faced their trials with deep sincerity and courage. They truly believed that they were demonstrating their loyalty to Jehovah. (I read with interest in a thread recently that not all of those were of the group that became JWs, some were of the group which still identify themselves as Bible Students.)

    However - these events drew to a close nearly 60 years ago. I dare say that the beliefs of JWs have changed in the intervening years such that the Bible Students who died then would not recognise the JWs of today as the same religion. And yet, I notice that as soon as JWs are criticised for any of the recent scandals - child abuse, UN - one of the first things a loyal dub will come out with is "JWs were persecuted by the Nazis", as if this is a badge of honour which grants immunity from critcism of any kind. I have never heard a homosexual, black person, or any of the many other groups treated in the same way as JWs use this reasoning. Really, is this the best defense they can muster??

  • blondie
    blondie

    Hi,

    The WTS reasoning behind this is that homosexuals, blacks, Jews, etc., could not renounce their faith or race or sexual identity and be released.

    "They could have been immediately freed if they had renounced their faith. But, on the contrary, they did not cease resistance, even succeeding in introducing books and tracts into the camp, which writings caused several among them to be hanged." Genevieve de Gaulle, niece of General de Gaulle, in a letter to the Watch Tower Society. (w68 3/15 173-4 True Worship Under Challenge)

    The point that has always bothered me about JWs in Germany, is that they did nothing that I can find to help anyone other than other JWs to escape the Nazis.

    Blondie (who knows that the real truth about any historical event regarding the WTS is buried or distorted and access to that material is controlled by the WTS)

  • Room 215
    Room 215

    Once again the leaders of the WTBTS have used the fabric of the indisputable courage and intergrity of individual JWs during the horrific Nazi era (which, by the eay, stands in stark contrast to the shameful pandering to Hitler by Rutherford in his 1993 ``Declaration" ) into a mantel they readily drape over themselves.

    So doing, they in effect seek to appropriate the credit due for those valorous acts of individual German/European Witnesses an srepad it over the contemporary JW organization as a whole, including and especially its leaders, many of whom as young men rode out the Holocaust snugly sequestered behind the walls of Bethel, Beth Sarim and the U.S. Constitution or wherever.

    The extent to which they must rely on events long events long past to enrich their current image speaks volumes about how little they've had to crow about in their undistingushed and unremarkable record over the subsequent half century since.

  • Nathan Natas
    Nathan Natas

    Old Hippie said,

    All who have posted so far, are from the USA. While sitting comfortably in your continent...

    Don't get your old hippie bloomers all in a twist, dude. The criticism here is addressed to the LEADERSHIP of the WATCHTOWER, not the victims of WTS policies.

    I hear Steven Spielberg is at work on his latest modern serial, "Joe Rutherford Battles the Nazis."

    In 1934 Rutherford tried to "make nice' with Hitler, a fact demonstrated by the contents of the 1934 yearbook:

    1934 YEARBOOK OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, page 134

    "The greatest and the most oppressive empire on earth is the Anglo-American empire. By that is meant the British Empire, of which the United States of America forms a part. It has been the commercial Jews of the British-American empire that have built up and carried on Big Business as a means of exploiting and oppressing the peoples of many nations. This fact particularly applies to the cities of London and New York, the stronghold of Big Business. This fact is so manifest in America that there is a proverb concerning the city of New York which says: The Jews own it, the Irish Catholics rule it, and the Americans pay the bills."

    1934 YEARBOOK OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, page 135

    "The present government of Germany has declared emphatically against Big Business oppressors and in opposition to the wrongful religious influence in the political affairs of the nations. Such is exactly our position."

    1934 YEARBOOK OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, page 136

    "Instead of being against the principles advocated by the government of Germany, we stand squarely for such principles, and point out that Jehovah God through Christ Jesus will bring about the full realization of these principles and will give to the people peace and prosperity and the greatest desire of every honest heart."

    1934 YEARBOOK OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, page 137

    "A careful examination of our books and literature will disclose the fact that the very high ideals held and promulgated by the present national government are set forth in and endorsed and strongly emphasized in our publications and show that Jehovah God will see to it that these high ideals in due time will be attained by all persons who love righteousness..."

    1934 YEARBOOK OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, page 138

    "Let us remind the government and the people of Germany, that it was the League of Nations compact that laid upon the shoulders of the German people the great unjust and unbearable burdens. That the League of Nations compact was not brought forth by the friends of Germany."

    Joe Rutherford sat on his fat ass and poured himself another bourbon while German JWs were dying in concentration camps, just as Nathan Knorr sat on his fat ass and poured himself another glass of milk while JWs in Malawi were beaten and murdered. Jehovah's Witnesses can thank the enlisted forces of the free world for resisting and ultimately defeating Hitler, an outcome that would not have occurred had the world sat on it's collective fat ass and "left the matter in Jehovah's hands."

    The Watchtower leadership likes to play the "boo hoo hoo, poor us" sympathy card. They print copies of Awake! emblazoned with the faces of dead children on the cover and don't take responsiility for the fact that these kids are dead for one reason: THE WATCHTOWER told them they HAD to die to please god. How many members of the governing body can you name who died because they refused a blood transfusion? I have not ever heard of one.

    I expect that soon the Watchtower will fashion itself the leader of the Solidarity movement in Poland. Will you sit still for that too?

    Edited by - Nathan Natas on 9 January 2003 9:38:58

  • TheOldHippie
    TheOldHippie

    "I expect that soon the Watchtower will fashion itself the leader of the Solidarity movement in Poland." ? Considering the Solidarity movement in collaboration with the church planned to send the Witnesses to prison and have the leaders executed, and that it was the Communist Party who carried out the liberalization towards the Witnesses, that was a rather strange remark. But as said, the US is far away from Europe, both in distance and in mentality.

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