My feeling is that at some point "Caesar" is going to get involved in this form of servitude or slavery for the younger ones.
Posts by Hecce
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14Baptised younger
by Sabin inso why do you think the borg is encouraging youngsters to get dunked sooner?
i reckon it's cause they are easy to victimise.
i mean, some-one could say, keep our secret, nobody will believe you & god wont love you, but think of the power they would have if they say "you will be disfellowshipped," on top.
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143
Fidel Castro and the WT
by Hecce ini am going to engage on a trip to the past and share with you some of the matters that marked the beginning of the jws persecution in cuba.
you will be surprised that the pattern that was followed is very similar to what happened in other dictatorial countries.. in the cuban case, i am going to surprise you and tell you that like what happened with hitler; the wt was partially responsible for their clash and confrontation with the cuban government.
during the early 60s the revolution was fighting for survival and they were willing and ready to demolish any perceived enemy to their cause.. a prime example was their war against the catholic church that was the most influential religious entity in the country; it took the supreme leader only a few public discourses to send the vast majority of clergy packing and back to their country, in this case spain.. the jehovah’s witnesses were an insignificant minority but they over estimated their importance and displayed a belligerent attitude, it was known that this was a us based religion and an easy target to connect them with the cia.
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Hecce
Now that President Obama will be visiting Cuba it seems like a good time to go back to the early days of the Revolution and the WT.
Before the Castro takeover the WT Branch in Cuba was very well organized, the Branch Overseer was Cecil Goff a very able administrator. There was a core of missionaries with a lot of experience; names that come to mind are Harry Duffield, Salvino Ferrari, William Simpkins and a few more. Some local brothers were also very well trained and did an excellent job in taking care of the spiritual needs. It seems proper to name them, like Humberto Hernandez, Orestes Ibanez, the Fayad brothers and many native Cos.
The first impact of the change in government was the loss of the American Brothers, some of them were assigned out of the country and the remaining group was eventually expelled. After that initial event no major change was felt, Humberto Hernandez a native brother who was a Gilead Graduate took over as Branch Overseer and together with the fine core of local brothers did a very fine job in keeping the continuity of the work.
As the political climate was changing a lot of the better qualified brothers started leaving the country, this included many of the COs and Congregation Servants with lots of experience; so every day the bench was becoming thinner and thinner. Eventually the Branch Overseer Brother Hernandez departed due to medical reasons and another local Gilead Graduated Brother Juan del Rio took over as Branch Overseer.
By that time about five of six years into the Revolution, very dark times were in the future of the JWs internally and externally; they were going to face harsh persecution from the outside and a lot of chaos and confusion from the inside.
Good for now, will follow up in the near future.
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143
Fidel Castro and the WT
by Hecce ini am going to engage on a trip to the past and share with you some of the matters that marked the beginning of the jws persecution in cuba.
you will be surprised that the pattern that was followed is very similar to what happened in other dictatorial countries.. in the cuban case, i am going to surprise you and tell you that like what happened with hitler; the wt was partially responsible for their clash and confrontation with the cuban government.
during the early 60s the revolution was fighting for survival and they were willing and ready to demolish any perceived enemy to their cause.. a prime example was their war against the catholic church that was the most influential religious entity in the country; it took the supreme leader only a few public discourses to send the vast majority of clergy packing and back to their country, in this case spain.. the jehovah’s witnesses were an insignificant minority but they over estimated their importance and displayed a belligerent attitude, it was known that this was a us based religion and an easy target to connect them with the cia.
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Hecce
There was a question regarding the legal status of the WT, here is some information on that:
3. (C) The religious leaders explained that the Jehovah Witnesses have rapidly expanded since 1994. They stated that in 1996 there were 70,000 practitioners in Cuba, and that since then the number has grown to 90,000. The number is far greater than is cited in several studies of religion in Cuba. There has been a steady increase despite the fact that the community has lost many members through emigration. Jehovah Witnesses are frequently approved to travel to the US as refugees. The organization has not petitioned the government to be officially recognized as a religion. They are not a member of the state sanctioned Council of Churches. Because of doctrinal differences the organization does not get involved in ecumenical efforts. The leaders presented that they have a minimum amount of friction with the government. The members steer clear of any involvement in politics. They are not allowed to establish individual "Kingdom Halls" as places of worship. They said that their members hold regular meetings and bible study classes without difficulty in private homes throughout the island. Some of these residences can accommodate several hundred people. The leaders said that even without having official status as a legal gathering, the local authorities have given verbal permission to hold the meetings. The leaders indicated that they are very respectful of their neighbors and the meetings have not been the subject of complaints.
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143
Fidel Castro and the WT
by Hecce ini am going to engage on a trip to the past and share with you some of the matters that marked the beginning of the jws persecution in cuba.
you will be surprised that the pattern that was followed is very similar to what happened in other dictatorial countries.. in the cuban case, i am going to surprise you and tell you that like what happened with hitler; the wt was partially responsible for their clash and confrontation with the cuban government.
during the early 60s the revolution was fighting for survival and they were willing and ready to demolish any perceived enemy to their cause.. a prime example was their war against the catholic church that was the most influential religious entity in the country; it took the supreme leader only a few public discourses to send the vast majority of clergy packing and back to their country, in this case spain.. the jehovah’s witnesses were an insignificant minority but they over estimated their importance and displayed a belligerent attitude, it was known that this was a us based religion and an easy target to connect them with the cia.
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Hecce
There are good reasons not to put your trust in the WT. The decisions that they make, especially during difficult times are hard to understand. I give you an example:
Sometime during the 70s a directive came from Brooklyn to open up on a certain day all the Kingdom Halls. This was a clear violation of the Government prohibition, and it was an act of civil disobedience in a country where those things are not tolerated. Don’t trust me on this but I think that D-Day was on “human rights day”.
The brothers faithfully and bravely proceeded to open up the KHs and whole congregations of families went to the meetings. As expected the response from the authorities was swift, patrol cars came to the different KHs, interrupted the meeting and arrested the leaders. Some of them went to prison as a result of this and a lot of the younger brothers were taken from the meeting to concentration camps.
Before and after the meeting the families attending were subjected to all sort of abuses from governments mobs, including stoning, egg throwing, spitting and a lot of insults hurdled at them.
A complete an unnecessary mess that accomplished nothing and made the situation worse for the flock.
Good for now, another day I will tell why the WT did this.
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36
Good news to report: Congregations merged because lack of attendance, publishers & field service
by Khaleesi inso it's official, i am happy to report that we merged with another congregation having the same problem.
why is it good news???
because people are either waking up, fading or just not buying into this organization any longer or walking away.... i think many young ones are just not buying into it as much, i see many in the congregation i go to very depressed and some i know personally going thru major depression especially the young "sisters" in their early 20s.... .
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Hecce
Everything said is factual, the Spanish growth was sustaining the increases. Their is a marked decrease in attendance and baptisms. Before the norm was 50 or more at the Circuit Convention, now maybe from 10-20. The majority of the new ones are relatives of the publishers or their children. -
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Fidel Castro and the WT
by Hecce ini am going to engage on a trip to the past and share with you some of the matters that marked the beginning of the jws persecution in cuba.
you will be surprised that the pattern that was followed is very similar to what happened in other dictatorial countries.. in the cuban case, i am going to surprise you and tell you that like what happened with hitler; the wt was partially responsible for their clash and confrontation with the cuban government.
during the early 60s the revolution was fighting for survival and they were willing and ready to demolish any perceived enemy to their cause.. a prime example was their war against the catholic church that was the most influential religious entity in the country; it took the supreme leader only a few public discourses to send the vast majority of clergy packing and back to their country, in this case spain.. the jehovah’s witnesses were an insignificant minority but they over estimated their importance and displayed a belligerent attitude, it was known that this was a us based religion and an easy target to connect them with the cia.
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Hecce
To all contributors:
The sad part about this, is that the brothers had complete trust in the Society, they had the confidence that Brooklyn had plans and contingencies for a situation like this. We were instructed to just follow instructions and be confident that everything will work out, that was hardly the case.
One example, the Malawi experience was in a minor scale repeated with the military service; after the initial wave of abuse and beatings, the Government offered an alternative military service under civilian control. This was an accommodation for the religious objectors, the vast majority of religions agreed but not the JWs. Once again they received the harshest punishment and went to jail for three years for something that was permitted in Mexico and that today is standard practice all over the world.
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If the trolleydolly carts are a failure, what's next?
by fulltimestudent inthey could try this:.
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Hecce
To the WT it may no difference whether they are successful or not, they got good money out of the sales to the poor dubs.
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143
Fidel Castro and the WT
by Hecce ini am going to engage on a trip to the past and share with you some of the matters that marked the beginning of the jws persecution in cuba.
you will be surprised that the pattern that was followed is very similar to what happened in other dictatorial countries.. in the cuban case, i am going to surprise you and tell you that like what happened with hitler; the wt was partially responsible for their clash and confrontation with the cuban government.
during the early 60s the revolution was fighting for survival and they were willing and ready to demolish any perceived enemy to their cause.. a prime example was their war against the catholic church that was the most influential religious entity in the country; it took the supreme leader only a few public discourses to send the vast majority of clergy packing and back to their country, in this case spain.. the jehovah’s witnesses were an insignificant minority but they over estimated their importance and displayed a belligerent attitude, it was known that this was a us based religion and an easy target to connect them with the cia.
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Hecce
Reading about Malawi it came to my mind that not much has been published about the persecution in Cuba. At one time it was very harsh, the Government set up some concentration camps with the disguise of Military Units and the brothers that were sent there suffered all kind of abuses.
Life in general was very rough for the JWs, as far as I know only two witnesses died; one was killed during the war by Batista's paramilitary and the other died in prison after plenty of torture from a heart attack.
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143
Fidel Castro and the WT
by Hecce ini am going to engage on a trip to the past and share with you some of the matters that marked the beginning of the jws persecution in cuba.
you will be surprised that the pattern that was followed is very similar to what happened in other dictatorial countries.. in the cuban case, i am going to surprise you and tell you that like what happened with hitler; the wt was partially responsible for their clash and confrontation with the cuban government.
during the early 60s the revolution was fighting for survival and they were willing and ready to demolish any perceived enemy to their cause.. a prime example was their war against the catholic church that was the most influential religious entity in the country; it took the supreme leader only a few public discourses to send the vast majority of clergy packing and back to their country, in this case spain.. the jehovah’s witnesses were an insignificant minority but they over estimated their importance and displayed a belligerent attitude, it was known that this was a us based religion and an easy target to connect them with the cia.
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Hecce
As to the matter of illegal activities, this was mostly related to financial items. The Cuban economy was basically a cash economy, very few of the common people had a bank account; cash was king. Castro surprised everyone when the currency was changed with very little warning, if I remember it was like 48 hours advising the chance and instructing to take your money to stations for an exchange.
You were allowed to keep $250.00 and the rest was going to be deposited into a bank account, the WT was operating as a commercial institution with their bank account and they were not affected that much by this. For the friends it was a different story, the main difficulty for the Society was their monthly income from the congregation remittances; by them the pesos were worthless and the people were exchanging in the black market pesos for dollars. The WT participated in this practice in order to send whatever funds were collected to Mother.
It was illegal to send money out of the country, the Society was using friendly diplomats and brothers that had connections at the Guantanamo base to do these transactions; they were more interested in getting the money to Brooklyn than the welfare of the local brothers.
There are many examples of illegalities committed as theocratic warfare, for instance the Government had full control of supplies, paper was needed for the publishing of the study materials; brothers will buy these supplies in the black market knowing that the majority of the materials were stolen from the Government factories.
I remember the case of a very fine brother that was caught doing this, spent three years in jail; came out mentally affected, his wife died shortly thereafter and he got in trouble and was eventually DF.
Enough for today
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143
Fidel Castro and the WT
by Hecce ini am going to engage on a trip to the past and share with you some of the matters that marked the beginning of the jws persecution in cuba.
you will be surprised that the pattern that was followed is very similar to what happened in other dictatorial countries.. in the cuban case, i am going to surprise you and tell you that like what happened with hitler; the wt was partially responsible for their clash and confrontation with the cuban government.
during the early 60s the revolution was fighting for survival and they were willing and ready to demolish any perceived enemy to their cause.. a prime example was their war against the catholic church that was the most influential religious entity in the country; it took the supreme leader only a few public discourses to send the vast majority of clergy packing and back to their country, in this case spain.. the jehovah’s witnesses were an insignificant minority but they over estimated their importance and displayed a belligerent attitude, it was known that this was a us based religion and an easy target to connect them with the cia.
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Hecce
A little bit more of "cold war history".
When started to get hot and it was evident that there was going to be a serious clash with the Government, the first thing that the WT did was to protect their assets; they converted as much of their property into solid cash and got the money out of the country mostly by illegal means.