when did we see you a stranger and receive you hospitably, or naked, and clothe you?
he was talking about food, clothing, shelter and supplication to the least of the brothers.
he could not be talking about anything else and here is why: could any human offer jesus spiritual food?
An excellent post. I've often thought about this text and
how they twisted charity into cult support and lost the
whole point of Jesus' words. Things like this make Witnesses
as self-centered as they are - and add to the lack of love
found within the organization.
metatron
like so many of you, i wonder at the utter lack of moral backbone.
by so many at bethel, as well as c.o.s and d.o.s.
they could quit.
Like so many of you, I wonder at the utter lack of moral backbone
by so many at Bethel, as well as C.O.s and D.O.s. At the very least,
they could quit. I fully understand that open protest is probably
impossible in a dictatorial organization like this. A mental image
from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" comes to mind, where howls
and pointing fingers identify the one who's 'different'.
And it is this repression of moderate response that may spell doom
for the Watchtower, ultimately. Consider:
You are an 'insider' with a position of power within the walls
of the Society. You become disgusted with the expediency and
lack of collective conscience. Yet, what can you do? Open your
mouth and risk being forced to appear before a 'kangaroo court'
judicial committee? Not likely! The Society repressed any moderate
response when they treated Ray Franz and Ed Dunlap as cruelly as
they did.
So, the only course left open is to quit - or lob an occasional
hand grenade in the form of damaging information sent to the
'opposition'. This is not an orderly process of reform - it's more
likely to wreck the organization eventually. Yet, if that's all
that can be done - because the GB suppresses men of conscience-
then that's what will happen.
And don't think it's only high level insiders who can cause
disaster for the Watchtower - even low level Bethelites come
across sensitive information (ever been a night watchman?)
The stiff-necked old men of the Watchtower have therefore
chosen a course that actually imitates their popular concept
of Satan's behavior:
Rule or Ruin
metatron
it's getting more and more enjoyable listening to.
witnesses defend the ever feared and worshiped.
organization because they now have to adopt the same.
It's getting more and more enjoyable listening to
Witnesses defend the ever feared and worshiped
ORGANIZATION because they now have to adopt the same
arguments that Christendom's been using for centuries.
"The brothers in charge are imperfect, but it's still
Jehovah's organization!".
Just like: "Sure, Popes had illegitimate kids, started
wars, and lied but it's still the Holy Catholic Church!"
Maybe the Catholics can file a 'friend of the court'
brief to help the Watchtower with their molestation
woes - wouldn't that be nice? I can remember Jimmy Swaggart
crying about how sorry he was - but he made clear in his
published literature that he was still appointed by God and
still in charge (and still needed your $)!
Oh, it's gonna be fun - and the amazing, fantastic thing is that
the general deception of Witnesses is so strong, so complete,
that not a single one of them will ever catch on that the
QUALIFICATION for BEING a "faithful and discreet" slave is that
you have to be faithful AND discreet!
metatron (Priests -and elders- brothers together, covering up
molested kids, kinda brings a tear to your eye, doesn't
it?)
i have a really difficult problem on my hands and i would very much appreciate some input.. some years ago, my wife and i offered accomodation to a female relative - lets call her auntie molly - who was experiencing some marriage problems.
it was a disaster.
she was irrascible, moody and incredibly badly behaved.
First, avoid entanglement with this person.
After that, if she really was on her deathbed, I would
visit her anyway. Life is a nasty struggle, empathy
makes you a better, kinder person.
metatron
hi guys, an elder who just moved into my local (slack) cong just called to find out how i was going spiritually!
i haven't been to meetings for a year and no one else has ever cared, even though i was aux pio'ing at the time i stopped.
he is coming over with his wife one day, he said.
Tell 'em you're depressed. Avoid all doctrinal controversies.
Better yet, don't be home
metatron
the organization cannot be reformed from outside; that can only come from individuals who have the guts and will to do so inside, and the determination to get rid of hardline thinking that is so strangling.
my personal desire is to see immediate change regarding the child abuse policy, and that will come.
to see a clear, quick change in the horribly inconsistent blood policy rather than drag it out over years; kids are dying in the process.enforced shunning is also an evil that they will have to deal with eventually; it's ripping them apart.. .
Perhaps Jehovah will inspire his organization to stop lying
about the future or stop covering up child molesters.
Of course, that would be "new light" - we shouldn't 'run ahead'
metatron
i was just wondering you know whether in bethel workers get credited with whats called in britian national insurance.. in britian you carnt miss six years of payment and expect a full goverment pension which isn't much anyway.also you cant claim full income support , sickness benifit or job seekers allowence if you have missed or underpaid you ni.. this came to mind as my wife worked for a company that didn't pay contributions for her .. when latter on she lost her job the goverment wouldn't pay her any job seekers allowance as no ni contributions were credited for that year.. so does bethel pay ni contributions for bethelites and circuit overseers and the like.
Retirement in Bethel used to mean they stick you on the
tour route in "Sleepy Hollow" (the dept that sticks
renewal notices by hand in the magazines)
These poor guys ended up as the lowest of the low.
Lotsa Luck
Metatron
the october 1 watchtower 2001 features articles on training children "properly" and dealing with a "prodigal child.
the latest inside u.s. figures reveal that 86% of jw children leave the fold, with some 29% who eventually come back for reasons of family ties, most never "reaching out.
" that means over half leave permanently.
If you could subtract the hispanics in the US, you'd see a
remarkable decrease. Compare figures for Alaska or Canada.
There's a huge bunch of inactive/barely active Witnesses in the
US. A couple years back when they got EVERYBODY to be a publisher
for one month (scored over a million) - the following month
the number of pubs dropped by over a hundred thousand.
metatron
this present system is definitely finished.
the present system being the anglo-american dollar dominated system.
it is in the final stages of collapse as is becoming more obvious by the day.
You are spouting a great pile of nonsense. You need to get a solid
education before you go on repeating such garbage - about history,
politics or anything else.
The US has been off the gold standard for many years. I suppose the
wealth created since then is purely imaginary - likewise that of
the rest of the Western world. Gold is inefficient because it
just lays there in storage, requiring armed guards - unlike modern
banking practices which allow fractional reserves. Currencies
are NOT purely "fiat" - they are backed by the very real wealth
of the nation - and the ability of the government to tax that wealth.
You raise an issue that becomes more and more irrelevant everyday
- currencies will 'harden' internationally and stabilize over time
because international trade WILL DEMAND IT! Take a college course
on Money and Banking! (I have)
As for LaRouche's hatred of the British and your repitition of
his claims about it - more nonsense. A few honest historians have
pointed out that British colonial authority existed because the
NATIVES supported and APPROVED of it!. The numbers of colonial
rulers in India were utterly tiny compared to the populace - who
could have thrown them out, if they collectively wished it.
And as for your Brooklyn Masters, they WILL COMPROMISE,
they WILL mainstream and they WILL leave you behind.
How do I know? Because this move is already in progress!
metatron (try Mormonism, you'll enjoy the speculation)
i guess i've just been naive.. i was surprized to find that some 'super loyal'.
witnesses i know have been practising witchcraft.. of course, they'd never call it that - it seems that.
when various illnesses arise you get out an assortment.
Yes, Mulan, I am well aware that the body contains electric
fields - for your information, I've carefully studied the
books by Becker and Eeman on the subject.
These fields are incredibly weak - you need extremely
sensitive equipment to measure them. Causing a pill to
'hop' in a bottle would require a huge field comparable
to a small lightning discharge.
I know, I used to have my very own Van De Graff generator
as a kid.
metatron
