The origin of the name and masthead illustration of The Watchtower

by Gorbatchov 34 Replies latest jw friends

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  apostrate

  never a jw,

  You know, I actually agree with you. Most anything can be viewed as a phallic symbol to somebody. Just like, you can find pagan origins in most anything if you choose to waste your time looking.

  To me, it's just the WT having their own reasoning thrown back at them. They want to make a big stink about Christendom's phallic symbols when they have their own phallic symbols plastered all over their own magazines.

  And, I could be wrong about this, but I believe the whole "steeple is a phallic symbol" thing was brought to their attention in a book called "The Two Babylons". A book that, while not published by the WT, was heavily endorsed and read by the WT back when my mother came into the "Truth" in the 60's.
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  Gorbatchov

  steve2, according the Watchtower History blog, CTR's mother died when he was 9 years old. Several relatives died the same decade.

  Watch the interesting blog: http://truthhistory.blogspot.nl
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  St George of England

  It would be interesting to see some pictures of their head stones.

  I think there is a book available on Ebay that contains many WT related photographs including these. They were discovered only a few years ago as they are simple flat markers and had been overgrown.

  George

  Ed - I think this is the book:-

  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Watchtower-ORIGINAL-1st-Edition-WatchTower-Of-Allegheny-Historical-Tour-/200708038533?hash=item2ebb219f85
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  FayeDunaway

  Apostrate, I get what you're saying now. Yes, the witnesses like to call everything pagan, and if the same standards apply to themselves, their tower is also a phallic symbol. I disliked your comment (sorry), because I didn't understand that you were trying to make that comment. I hate when people call practical things phallic symbols. A church's steeple is to distinguish it as being a church, and it is reaching towards the heavens. An early american school was painted red and had a steep roof to distinguish it as a school. A skyscraper holds a lot of rooms in a short supply of acreage. A watchtower is tall so that people could stand in it and see far distances. To some men's dismay, it doesn't have to be about a penis all the time ;).
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  Vidiot

  FayeDunaway - "To some men's dismay, it doesn't have to be about a penis all the time ."

  
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  Wasanelder Once

  I am told that a peni s is actually a symbol for a skyscraper! Makes as much sense.
  
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  sparrowdown

  Sausage fest aside, there is quite a resemblance. But, don't all watchtowers have a similar design.

  I think CTR cobbled together many ideas to start a religion, none of which were holy spririt just images and ideas from everyday life at that time.
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  steve2

  I start on the premise that everything represents a penis - and work back from there.
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  sparrowdown

  Seems like a few people have dicks on the brain - nobody tell ToMo he will think it's another gay conspiracy, this time by architects.
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  apostrate

  FayeDunaway,

  steve2,

  Hey! It's all cool. And I don't take dislikes personally. Sometimes I fall short of expressing myself fully, but even if I don't and some people may dislike what I post, it's certainly more refreshing than the frozen smiles that you get surrounding yourself with a bunch of "yes" men at the Kingdom Hall!

  Seems to me that I remember somewhere in the book of Genesis a story about a bunch of men who gathered together to build a great and mighty TOWER (a WATCHTOWER perhaps?) And didn't Almighty God thwart their efforts and send them away packing with a bunch of different goofy religious viewpoints?

  Wow! Sounds kinda like the WatchTower that we all have come to know, doesn't it?

  And they actually have the nerve to use an image of this Tower (of Babel) as their logo!