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(Cont. from Page
16/10/94F).
They began to
de-emphasize the glories of heaven and to focus on those "people of goodwill"
who would ally themselves with the "heavenly class" and to whom, as a result,
God's Kingdom blessings would come on earth. (The new emphasis proceeded in
part, perhaps, from their failure to be gathered to heaven in 1925, and also
from having to justify amassing property and accelerating their proselytizing in
the face of the imminent destruction of the world.)... There are 144,000 places
reserved in heaven, and most of these, it is assumed, have been taken up by
first
Yet in the heart of every Witness is the felt knowledge that should he leave his spiritual home, he will die a social death at the hands of his brothers now, a spiritual death at the hands of his God later. (Pg.139). Faithful anointed sons of God, and those taking hold of their righteous "garments", are bearing reproach on account of the sins of JW apostates. (Zeph 3:18. Zech 8:23).
The Witnesses' translation of the Old and
New Testaments (which they prefer to call the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures) both
diminishes emotions and One way to control the world is to formalize one's behaviour in it. The Witnesses have the illusion of total control; they are instructed on what to do and on how to feel on everything from grief to body odour... (Pg.155) and is part of the "active delusion". (2 Thess 2:11 Moffatt). In 1904, Russell wrote that: The interests of the New Creation will, we believe, be generally conserved by the preservation of a measure of separation in the flesh, because the ideals, tastes, appetites, dispositions, etc., of one race necessarily are more or less in conflict with the ideals etc., of another; hence the several races of humanity will probably find their spiritual interests as New Creatures best conserved by a measure of separateness. (Studies in the Scriptures Vol. 6]. (Pg.159). So Russell advocated apartheid, drawing social distinctions between the races. The apostle Paul, however, did not. As Christ's apostle to the nations, he preached to both Jew and Gentile. (Rom 11:13). The spirit of communal tenderness... is noticeably missing, however, at weekly congregation meetings, which tend, in my experience, to be repetitive, dull, infantilizing, leaden, and oppressive. (Pg.163). In other words, they are totally without love among them.
The Witnesses are also told that
"concentration comes more easily if we have been careful to avoid eating a heavy
meal just prior to meeting time, for this is sleep inducing..." Actually, it's
the meetings that are sleep (Cont. on Page 16/10/94H).
16/10/94G. |
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