False memorial partakers deserve to die???

by Jofi_Wofo 20 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Jofi_Wofo

  Every memorial, much emphasis is placed on making sure that only the (self-proclaimed) anointed partake in the emblems. This year, however, the speaker at my wife's congregation presented it as an even more serious matter. He likened it to individuals in ancient Israel who sought position of the priesthood despite never been appointed by Jehovah. Such people were executed for their disrespect in flouting Jehovah's arrangement, and the speaker claimed that that demonstrates just how seriously Jehovah feels about false emblem partakers.

  To my recollection, I have never heard any speaker threatening (at least by way of analogy) false partakers with death. I'm wondering if anyone here might have caught the memorial talk and heard something similar. I know that Watchtower tightly controls what is said at memorials with their outlines and I also wonder if there was a change in the outline or a letter that the elders might have been given to the effect that this point needed to be brought out.

  If so, it doesn't bode well for Watchtower. It's blatant poisoning the well + gaslighting + damage control over all the controversy about the increase in memorial partakers, despite for many years claiming that a decrease in partakers was (somehow...) evidence that they actually interpreted a Bible doctrine correctly for once.

  Are they now trying to scare people into not partaking, or was this just one speaker adding his own spin?
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  Bobcat

  Hi JW,

  I heard the talk this year with my wife. It is sickening as ever regarding the effort they put into trying to convince you to not partake. But the speaker did not use an illustration as drastic as the one you described. I reckon the speaker you heard must have thought up his illustration on his own.

  The way the outlines are written it does leave a little room for speakers to improvise. For example, the last time I gave the Memorial talk was also the first time I partook. I was in the midst of waking up. Here is my experience. I subtly modified the outline based on what I had learned and there were some interesting results.
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  john.prestor

  i heard the memorial talk in Upstate New York. I don't remember hearing anything about people dying if they partook when they shouldn't. He made a point, over and over again ad nauseam, to say that only anointed people should eat the bread and drink the wine. That was made very clear. Very clear. But no threats of death and I think I would remember that.
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  Jofi_Wofo

  Thank you both. I guess this is more of an example of one speaker getting carried away.

  Now I'm wondering if it was a point he made up all on his own, or if there was some publication on WOL that might have laid out the same argument.

  It took me a while to figure out just why this particular point was so jarring to listen to, given how frequently WT uses biblical executions as a warning for why we should do X and never do Y. I'm now certain that what rattled me a little bit was the context. The memorial talk is usually relatively tame compared to other meetings- it seems to serve as a meet and greet and open house for non-JWs to take a peek at what goes on inside a Kingdom Hall. The least palatable parts of the religion, and religion in general, are usually either hidden or severely watered down. In this case, the speaker went full on talking as if it was the midweek meeting without thinking twice about how crazy some of this stuff sounds to people who aren't already all in. 'Don't take a bite of the cracker because god killed scores of people for doing something similar' is a pretty hot take for a guy who's trying to introduce the religion to unbelievers.
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  asp59

  No can say if you going to heaven, earth ir die in paradise. Only God knows. Sure theres person's with mental problems taking part of bread and wine. So what. You gonna convince someone with serious mental problems what to do? The same subject every year. Numbers of partakers increase every year. It's not the job of GB to judge that.
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  pistolpete

  Bobcat

  As a side note, the elders have never said anything to me about it in the half-decade since. Not a word. (And I've been partaking ever since.) But they didn't allow me to remain an elder. By the next Memorial I had been deleted.

  That is hilarious, they removed you as an elder for PARTAKING!
  
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  neat blue dog

  Methinks he's a little rogue. My talk said the exact opposite, that we shouldn't judge any who choose to "partake".
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  WTWizard

  I have some bad news for them. Regardless of whether or not the washtowel wants anyone partaking, joke-hova does not care either way. Whether you partake in this waste of time or not, you are still giving joke-hova your spiritual energy for the purpose of making us all as miserable as possible. And that's what this monster really wants. Partaking when you "should not", or not partaking when you "should", is not going to throttle joke-hova from imposing global communism and destroying what's left of humanity.
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  BluesBrother

  I heard the Memorial talk here in the U K . The Society tells them strictly to stick to the outline . This speaker was definitely going off the book and over the top.

  Perhaps we can see why they are putting so much on video ,where they have control.
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  dozy

  One of the elders in my ( former ) congregation had very strong opinions about "fake anointed" ( as he termed them. ). Goodness knows what he is like now they have more than tripled in the last few years! It sounds like this guy was similar & allowed that to flavour his talk. As others have said , normally with a Memorial talk , speakers tend to follow the Society outline really closely.