The Jehovah's Witnesses Going Crazy?
The grim discovery of 39 bodies in a San Diego mansion highlights sharp similarities between the Heaven's Gate cult and another sect widely regarded as a mainstream religion. Not far from this death scene stands a similar tile-roofed mansion named Beth-Shan built by the Watchtower organization, better known as Jehovah's Witnesses. Could the Jehovah's Witnesses do anything that desperate? They could - no doubt about it!
Kent Steinhaug
Today this was posted on a message board:
This morning I arrived at my secular work and when I opened my mailbox I had an email (see underneath) from an unidentified person.
First of all what I read in the message I do not like at all. Second of all it was only send to me and I really have no idea who the person is; where he is from and where he got my e-mail address??
Did anyone else received a message like this or what do I have to do with it??
The message send by the unidentified person (I only have his/her e-mail address ( [email protected])):
Dear Brother or Sister:
I haven't been in very close touch for several years now, and have been curious as to what the thinking currently is on where we are in the stream of time, and especially if it's beginning to be believed that Jehovah's people will ultimately have to take an active role in bringing about the fulfillment of Jehovah's purposes. It's great to find that what I want to know is easily accessible here on-line.
I recall hearing various discussions on just about every detail of every subject imaginable. Most of what was believed gave me something to look forward to. But what eventually caused me to drift away were those who claimed that God's true people might have to engage in some violence to help Him carry out His purposes, just as his Chosen People the Jews had had to. I just couldn't believe that it could be necessary.
But with all that has gone on in the world in the past several years, it seems that they may have been right. So it makes sense that the Governing Body was completely replaced a little over a year and a half ago. Perhaps the new leaders will vote in such a way that the direction will be given to help put it all in motion. Many may balk--but the years of blind obedience to whatever the Faithful and Discreet Slave has decreed will prove to be advantageous. Believe one thing today, and its opposite next week--perfect training for Jehovah's people to be able to do what otherwise might be difficult.
It won't be easy to take a knife and go out and kill several of your favorite family or acquaintances. But of all the various possibilities that I heard entertained by various Elders and Overseers those years ago, that one seems most in line with Bible prophecy. No goats--that is, those who are not sheep, but who are against The Truth--will survive Armageddon. They will be destroyed forever, with no chance for a resurrection. But if they are already dead when Armageddon comes, then they will have a chance.
The other prophecy which such action will help to fulfill is that of preaching the good news of the Kingdom to everyone before the end comes. Most people in the U.S. have heard of Jehovah's people--but sadly, all that the vast majority know is that they go door to door pushing their religion. Most people know very little about that True Religion--instead, they are filled with the lies they have been told. But when the Faithful begin to slaughter the unclean peoples, it will be widely reported in the newspapers and on TV, and will give Jehovah's people the opportunity at last to declare the Good News about the Kingdom. The goats will then have their last chance to join the Great Crowd. Sadly, however, most will attempt instead to destroy God's people, which will then bring destruction upon them.
This idea that Jehovah's people should begin Armageddon has no doubt been prevalent in other countries for years, where such slaughter of their enemies has been going on forever. But, sadly, in the U.S. people have become a bit squeamish when it comes to the reality of what must transpire. Apparently the Faithful and True servant has felt it necessary to keep such ideas from the ministers who are working so hard to spread the good news. And, no doubt, they have been wise to do so, wanting to wait until the time is right. Maybe until the one-millionth Witness is dedicated and baptized?
But it needs to happen soon, as various elements within the Organization have taken on many very worldly characteristics. The lust for power and money has consumed many. Sadly that has been an outgrowth of teaming with Jimmy Swaggert in the fight against the IRS in the early 1990s. But something had to be done. It would have been much easier to let each individual publisher be responsible for his or her own taxes--but then some control would have been relinquished, and that cannot be allowed to happen until after Armageddon. The end really does justify the means.
Another reason that it needs to happen soon is that rumblings are being heard about possible class-action lawsuits being filed against various groups of Elders. The recent and current crop of lawsuits concerning harboring of pedophiles is but the tip of the iceberg. Enough money has been set aside to settle those claims. But if ten thousand disfellowshipped and/or disassociated ones come forward as a class and demand justice and restitution for invasion of their privacies and for lewd questions being asked concerning their immoral acts, it could bankrupt the Society. "Loose lips sink ships", and there may be enough people who have overheard various comments about various Elders enjoying "listening to the girls" or "hearing the stories of the boys" to begin to realize what they mean. And, obviously, many have gone beyond merely listening or looking. The warning to those young people that if they tell they will be destroyed has worked so far--but their numbers are seemingly about to reach a critical mass.
And it is the Society's obsession with record-keeping which could be their undoing, just as it was for the Nazis after World War Two. Records have been kept of all those who were disfellowshipped and disassociated, the reasons why (mostly for immorality, no doubt), and the elders involved. In any class-action lawsuit, company records are subpoenaed so that potential members of the class may be contacted and given the opportunity to join the class. Perhaps someone needs to begin thinking about destroying some of those records.
The repression of the natural sexual urges of adolescents is a very dangerous business. The energy thus harnessed can, if channeled properly, be put to many very productive uses. But, unfortunately, those repressed adolescents grow up to be repressed adults (adults, at least, in body) who then take advantage of their positions of trust so that their own sexual fantasies may be fulfilled. The energy thus produced is very difficult to control. So it is that no doubt the Governing Body is planning to direct the final channeling of that energy.
How will it happen? I imagine a simple announcement in The Watchtower stating: "Look for an extremely important announcement in the Watchtower six weeks hence. New understandings give no doubt that the end of the wicked system of things is very near indeed." Then the announcement, eagerly awaited, will be made--but the magazines will not be mailed out. Instead, they will be hand-delivered by trusted servants only to every Kingdom Hall for study on that Sunday. And the exciting news will be given: "You will personally help to bring about the fulfillment of Jehovah's purposes". Events will happen very quickly. Even if only half of the million Witnesses fulfill their obligation to kill two or three unbelievers, over a million dead will certainly get the attention of Satan's governments and His handmaiden Christendom. They will attempt to destroy you, but Jehovah will save you.
Or so you believe. Will you have the courage to act when action is decreed necessary, or will you ultimately be shown not to believe that which you have been preaching for over 100 years?