From enemies to friends: Did it really happen?

by StephaneLaliberte 16 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  StephaneLaliberte

  Yesterday, they showed the story “From enemies to friends” at the kingdom hall. My mother in law told me about it as she was touched by the story. So then, later in the evening, I searched for the video and found it in the January 1st 2017 Broadcast.

  This story about a criminal and a police man “taking the truth” and becoming friends is somewhat believable. However, it appears to be stretched for dramatic purposes. Also, it omitted many significant details: In which country and city did this happened. Which prison did the criminal served time in? We know nothing of the families, and their friends.

  Curious as I am, I searched for their respective names online; Vladimir Olkhov (criminal) and Valery Zaporozhsky (Police man). I could not find a thing. Nothing. I searched on the online library, nothing. I than searched on the Watchtower Library: Nothing. As they might have changed the names of the two, I searched for vague terms, such as “criminal”, “police”, “baptized 1996”. Still nothing.

  Considering that this story has happened 20 years ago, I find it doubtful that the watchtower would not have printed anything on it for all this time. It is after all, a story that strikes the imagination! This alone makes me doubt the validity of the story.

  Still, such story is indeed possible. And many other religion can claim similar stories as well. It just that something isn’t adding up here. And I feel somewhat frustrated to see that they are playing with my mother in-law’s feelings and emotions.

  
  
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  LisaRose

  I don't think the organization ever let facts get in the way of a good story. I believe most convention "experiences" we're either greatly exaggerated or just plain urban legends, borrowed from other religions and tweaked to fit the JW perspective.
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  scratchme1010

  I've heard so many versions of that kind of story. Could that happen, I think so. Has that happened as many times as people claim? I don't think so. Has that happened the way it's told by the WT? Fuck no.
  
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  neat blue dog

  Reminds me of El General, the South American pop star who returned to JWs and was shown at another meeting earlier this year. While the video implied he stopped his career cold 'for Jehovah', further research shows that "In 2004 he announced his retirement from the music industry following an incident with the Panama government because he canceled his diplomatic passport."

  They also failed to mention that he runs a charity called Poor Children Without Borders which wouldn't be good for them seeing as they only want you to donate to one charity, Watchtower.
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  Drearyweather

  What do you think about the Sabina Hernandez video?

  https://tv.jw.org/#en/mediaitems/pub-jwbls_201512_1_VIDEO
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  jws

  While I don't doubt it's embellished, there could be some truth to it.

  First of all, they could have "changed the names to protect the innocent". Or in this case, not publicize the criminal.

  Even so, not all records are online. I could imagine a LOT of small towns, especially, what? 20 years ago? The internet in terms of the "world-wide-web" was barely around. And how much of this stuff is going to be put online? Is some small-town police station going to spend the funds to buy a computer, develop software, hire an export, and put their records online and searchable by Google?

  In today's world, many, I think, tend to think that if we can't find it online, it never happened. There is no commitment of the people of the world TO the internet that states that they must put a record of everything out there. Much as people who post every moment of their lives on Facebook would like to think.
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  steve2

  It was either embarrassing or heart-warming - depending on your "heart condition" - when the same "experiences" of new ones were told and retold at the kingdom hall and later dished up for conventions over the years:

  The storyline became more dramatic, the obstacles to serving bigger, the sacrifices to worship and serve more challenging. It was like a trek through mud to get to the nearest kingdom hall was at first 10 kilometres then 100 and so on. And the audience lapped up each exaggeration.

  I suspect, though, JWs are no alone in these spiritual tall tales: I hear some of the stories of conversions to Pentecostalism - and they have the same overblown "I was lost/but now am saved" purple prose with the obligatory earth-moving gravitas.
  
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  carla

  They use a 20 yr old story?

  Heck, they could get tons of current and probably daily stories if they changed it to 'friends to enemies- the real life effects of shunning'.
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  wozza

  I'm sure they distort ,misrepresent etc their stories as I experienced it a few times here in Australia at assemblies.

  Many times I saw people give experiences ,and having pioneered with some of the people who gave them, I knew the particular stories they told were either crap or hugely embellished because I was there with them !

  Sadly I succumbed to this way of encouraging the "brothers" once when asked to feature myself and my family . I was approached by a congregation elder firstly ,then passed on to the circuit overseer for a briefing and outline. We were happy to bend a little of the story at first to please the CO who requested this ,thinking it would increase the drama for the audience (though we felt uncomfortable.)

  The assembly day came around at the Ridgehaven assembly hall in Adelaide South Australia ,and during the morning we were requested by the district overseer ,Franz Hoobler , to meet him quickly to discuss our "experience" . Well he proceeded to go over the original outline and change it slightly, but then he asked how we were going to express ourselves on certain points .Then from him came the way it was really going to be related . My wife and children looked to me with confused faces as to what is this all about ,I'll never forget that . And because of the short time we had now to "re-learn " the story I relented ,felt bad about this as if I'd cheated my children of my honesty to meet the needs of Hoobler.

  So yes it goes on and I hope he is pushing up daisies now for that would be the best honest thing he could ever do.
  
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  lastmanstanding

  The story is bogus.

  The picture is painted of two men hating on each other. Bologna.

  First, the one man was a wanton crimer. The other was a law enforcement officer. It was not a matter of men hating on each other, it was a case of a crimer being punished for his crimes, the result of the hard work of the law officer.

  It is said that the officer hated the crimer so much, that he was going to make his life hell in the slammer by means of his friends, and that the crimer would die in prison.

  This never happened.

  If the law officer hated the crimer, that’s ormal. Law officers don’t typically like crimers, ya think...

  And the crimer hated on the law man, because that’s what crimers do for gods sake. Do crimers WANT to go to jail. Of course the crimer is going to threaten the law man.

  But the picture is painted quite otherwise.

  The crimer got religion in the slammer. Big deal. Old story. How many movies have you seen...

  And an old retired law man happens to join the tower. Big deal. Both these men are living in Butslap Crackvaria where there’s no internet and they are poor and backwards.