Rational,
Keep in mind when I speak I am not nor ever have been a JW. I have a lot of friends that are in the BOrg. I am here to try and help where I can and learn as much as I can to inform people in the city where I live in Canada. So if I sound a little angry with the whole WW II mess I hope you understand.
I don't mind the leadership "NOT FORGETTING" the big "H". But I guess where I go in all of this, is that the leaders of the WTS should be very careful how they play it the table. Remember, the Watch Tower was trying to get in bed with Hitler and even attacked the Jews back in 1934. That gets very little "air" play. Then the leader(s) at the time allowed the witnesses to be arrested and some were killed. Yet witnesses could have left at any time or Rutherford in the 1930s could have said something to get them out of it - it wasn't a big deal unless Rutherford as a leader of a religious group wanted to show the flock in other parts of the world how Satin was persecuting the witnesses (ie. just like Malawi). And to show persecution does not justify the death of 1 never mind 838 witnesses in Germany just like all those deaths in Malawi. So just who was persectuing who here? Rutherford or did Rutherford prevoke Hitler? I will let you think about that after what you have read in Ray's book (C of C - chapter 6 on Malawi).
And then after you read Ray's book and if you start feeling sorry for the poor WTS again instead of the witnesses who needlessly lost their lives in this mess, just remember the guy who built that wonderful mansion in San Deigo (for those dudes who didn't show up in 1925) and then decided he would live in it, was the same guy in the late 30s who told the witnesses to not support Hitler in Germany. With that in mind I already know who should be responsible for all of the witness death in Germany in order to show the rest of the flock how they were being persecuted. That really ticks me off.
Lets face it, a lot of protestants and catholics and a bunch more other religious groups were also persecuted and killed too. You just could not single yourself out in this war like the WTS has done unless you were a Jew in the "final solution" (who I bet, wished or dreamed they had the option of the JWs in renouncing their faith to escape the death camps) or a Russian on the Eastern Front.
It is important to remember the tradegies of war so we don't repeat the same mistakes.
What is important to realize is that all sorts of groups were nailed by the Nazis. And it took a combined effort to eliminate them (and unfortuately the German people paid a heavy price for those Nazis when the Russian went into Berlin).
If it wasn't for the Americans, British, Canadians, Russians and many more millions who I have forgotton etc. there would be no Watch Tower and I guess, as a non-JW, that is what I take offence most too when I read these stories of misrepresenting the numbers at DCs.
Hitler did teach us something. Dictatorships like the the nazis and the WTS hurt and kill people, lots of people.
hawkaw
