The UN business just a side issue.
If the Watchtower was really selected by Jesus in 1919, to be Jehovah's channel then anything they do, including dishonesty and deception, is OK, including having different standards for the hierarchy and the drones.
So, ask yourself, was it selected? when? how kosher is the evidence? and be honest with yourself.
Cheers
Chris
I don't know that different standards apply to the administrative position of Jehovah's Witnesses and the overall membership.
As for evidence of a representative that has God's backing, you can reflect on Biblical examples of spokesmen, representatives and the demonstrable evidence they displayed as an indication they had God's backing. Moses asks for credentials to show that God actually appeared to him. So God empowers him to perform three miracles. The first of these is that of causing his staff to become a serpent and then revert to a staff, and the second is that of causing his hand to become leprous and then to be healed. These two miracles, together with that of changing water into blood, God commands Moses to perform in front of the elders of his people.
According to the Bible, miracles also served to identify Jesus as the Messiah, as evidence that he had God’s backing. He turned water into wine, healed a dying boy, cured Peter’s sick mother-in-law, made a leprous man clean, enabled a paralyzed man to walk, restored the health of a man who had been sick for 38 years, returned a man’s withered hand to normal, healed the slave of an army officer, brought a widow’s son back from the dead, and cured a blind and speechless man.
According to the Bible, there were religious leaders that denied Jesus' miracles:
Then they brought him a demon-possessed man, blind and dumb; and he cured him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw. Well, all the crowds were simply carried away and began to say: “May this not perhaps be the Son of David?” At hearing this, the Pharisees said: “This fellow does not expel the demons except by means of Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. Matthew 12:22-24
In contemporary society, there's no credible evidence of some of the miracles described in the Bible. I'm not a devout adherent of Objectivism, but I conform to their perception of metaphysical reality.
http://www.atlassociety.org/religion_objectivism
Most major religions have believed in the existence of a supernatural realm, a realm beyond the natural world of physical objects and bodies governed by causal laws, the world we perceive with our senses and can study by rational methods. Some religions posit a personal god (or gods); others believe in impersonal supernatural forces. (See George Walsh, The Role of Religion in History, chapter 1.) Objectivism rejects any notion of the supernatural as incompatible with the objectivity and regularity of nature as identified by reason. There is no credible evidence of miracles, magic, or other supernatural phenomena in nature.
Objectivism regards reason as an absolute. It holds that all knowledge is based on the evidence of the senses. It holds that all beliefs, conclusions, and convictions must be established by logical methods of inquiry and tested by logical methods of verification. In short, it holds that the scientific approach applies to all areas of knowledge. Blind faith, by contrast, consists in belief not based on evidence, or based on such spurious forms of "evidence" as revelation and authority. Faith is essentially an arbitrary exercise of the mind, a willful credulity based on subjective emotions rather than objective evidence, a desire for certainty without the scrupulous cognitive effort required to achieve rational certainty. Faith cannot substitute for reason as a means of knowledge, nor can it supplement reason. Reason is incompatible with arbitrary procedures of any kind.
Jehovah's Witnesses claim that holy spirit (a miraculous active force, a power imparted by God) can have a notable, definite and positive effect on human consciousness.
...power beyond what is normal may be God’s and not that out of ourselves. 2 Corinthians 4:7
Watchtower 10/01/1997
“The Bible recommends taking a handful of rest rather than toiling excessively—especially if the secular work is unnecessary. (Ecclesiastes 4:6) Although rest helps our bodies to regain strength, the source of spiritual energy is God’s active force. (Isaiah 40:29-31) We receive this holy spirit in connection with our Christian activities.”
A logical method of inquiry, tested by a logical method of verification would be participating in these Christian activities in pursuit of a notable perception of a supernatural force. I stated that “I'd have to be an active member of the congregation, free from vices that can compromise a person's spirituality” to achieve certainty of the truth. This is what I was referring to. If I come back empty handed I'll share my experience on this forum.
