Awake 1963 8/8 and 1964 2/8
When Milton Henschel was tortured and beaten in Africa
by Hecce 30 Replies latest social current
-
-
Hecce
After the problems with Rutherford and the other incarcerated friends, Henschel is the highest JW involved in an incident like this. At that time he was a member of the Board of Directors, very similar to the GB.
To me it is surprising to know that this happened in Liberia since this is mostly a US controlled country, started with a good deal of ex slaves from the US. Maybe that was the reason for the fast reversal that took less than a year to materialize.
-
Richard Voss
this is yet one more example of steadfastness in the face of brutality...something that is a mystery to many.
How...? Why...? in the annals of psychology there must be reams of thought and discussion on what is going on in the mind of a person that allows them to uphold a belief when everyone around them is trying to tear it down.
Peaceful protest..Ghandi is revered for it, others too, thru out history. One example is a South American man who resisted the forces of exploitation in his native country, Brazil. Chico Mendes stood for the protection of the Amazon Rain Forest and died for his beliefs.
What allows...grants, men and women the strength to stand in the face of brutal hatred? We stand in awe, as though a miracle of nature, and yet, thru out history, people have acted in this principled way.
And, truth be told, we wonder if such a feat could be performed by us...but it is not a performance. It is the result of one's heart and mind focused on a principle that is more important than mere living, surviving. To live, bowed and broken, is not to live at all. Better to have never been born.
This concept, by itself is not what is to be lauded. The japanese soldier of WWII was imbued with the sense of the Samurai warrior, Bushido, loyalty and self-sacrifice above all else. It was responsible for the vast percentage of Japanese soldiers willingness to die rather than surrender, and ultimately was used by the U. S. to justify the use of the atomic bomb to avoid the horrors of invading mainland Japan.
It is not blind adherence to someone or something that triumphs. It is steadfastness to a universal principle.
It is the principle that survives, and anyone willing to die or suffer torture and abuse for it is to be recognized.
it is the one thing i still count as unique in the history of Mankind.
-
Bungi Bill
It could have been Asia, Australia, Europe, North/South America.
Evil people are on every continent.
While evil people are to be found everywhere, Africa takes the word "atrocity" to a whole new level.
An informative read on this subject is David Van Reybrouck's Congo: The Epic History of a People (2010). This work catalogues the whole sorry story of the so-called Democratic Republic of Congo; one of unrelenting warfare together with unimaginable brutality.
This is in addition to the other ongoing and long running wars on the African continent - South Sudan, Darfur, Somalia, Nigeria, the Boko Haram insurgency to name just some - all of which are accompanied by numerous acts of extreme brutality.(Little of this, of course, ever gets mentioned in the news media)
Then in the 1980s, there was the campaign by the ANC in South Africa, in which the "Necklace" was used on suspected police informers. This device of torture was improvised out of an old car tyre, which was filled with petrol (gasoline), hung around the victim's neck, and then set on fire. It typically took about 20 minutes for the victim to die. A bloody humane way in which to dispose of someone!
Violence is never very far away in this district (e.g. last January, myself and several other workmates had to do a merry dance while dodging some shotgun pellets that were flying around during a gang altercation).
However, I haven't ever heard of anyone around here being "Necklaced"!
-
sir82
Those YB accounts are persecution porn.
-
snowbird
@Hecce
The president of Liberia at that time was William V. S. Tubman - yes, a connection to Harriet, who is soon to replace Old Hickory on the 20$ bill.
Mr. Tubman's family family emigrated to Africa at the behest and under the auspices of the very rich Tubman family of Georgia by way of Maryland, Harriet's home state.
I LOVE HISTORY.
@ Bungi
Alabama is my home, Wilcox County born and bred. The Alabama River runs the entire length of the county. When I was a child, a Black man was forced into a tub, the tub was filled with cement, man and tub were thrown into the river. His crime? He got too uppity with a White man. Based on experiences like this, and others, I have to respectfully disagree with you.
Sylvia
-
snowbird
That should be $20.
Getting old.
Sylvia
-
Hecce
Sylvia
No worries, I comprende.
-
Hecce
Current news regarding voting registration:
- NEWS
- 1 month ago
Jehovah Witnesses Refutes Claim of Registration Condemnation
Paynesville - The Jehovah Witnesses Congregation in Liberia has denied reports in the public that they have condemned the voters registration exercise.
In an interview with FrontPage Africa on Wednesday, March 1, 2017, Thomas Nyain, communications officer, of the Jehovah Witnesses Congregation in Liberia said at no time did the organization condemn the exercise since it began.
“We teach the Bible and we encourage people to apply Bible principles to better their lives,” he said.
“We don’t get involved in political activities so anybody that who say that witnesses in Liberia condemned the voters registration exercise, then I don’t know where do they get their information from, because I speak for Jehovah witnesses in Liberia and since I don’t utter these words, it means that I am not aware of such information. The witnesses in Liberia have a central media outlet, and I am the one that speak for them.
According to Thomas Nyain the information is misleading and far from the truth, something he described as fabrication to mark the image of his noble institution.
He said one of the major challenges being faced by the organization is reaching the gospel out to Liberians in the remotest part of the country.
“One of our major challenges is to get to the deeper part of Liberia, where people haven’t heard anything about the Bible, not sitting and worrying about fabrication from people who are not aware of activities. We will be happy if everyone in Liberia accepts the truth about the Bible through our teaching.
He called on every Liberian to take interest in reading their biblical materials that have been translated in the various dialects.
-
snowbird
Uh oh.
Ominous ...
Sylvia
