Why Do I Speak Out Against The Watchtower Society's Teachings?

I have been asked by several jw's why it is that I am wasting my time speaking out against the teachings of the Watchtower. I tell them that while I am am quite against any high control group or cult that blasphemes Almighty God by spreading a different Gospel than the one Jesus came to share with humanity, I was part of the jw's for many decades and I know their teachings better than those of any other group.

I also feel that coming out of that cult I can better understand the mindset of any jw and am in a singular position to try to reach them and bring them the Light of Jesus Christ so they can also find their way out of that group. A song woke me up a while back and by the way it expresses how a man might show someone else what he has been through in his life to get back to Jesus. that perhaps he can make a difference and help someone to find the Lord God.

Why Do Jehovah's Witnesses Not Allow Deuteronomy 18:20-22 To Be Applied To Their Own Organization?

From their own New World Translation:

Deut. 18:20-22

20 “‘However, the prophet who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded him to speak or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. 21 And in case you should say in your heart: “How shall we know the word that Jehovah has not spoken?” 22 when the prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah and the word does not occur or come true, that is the word that Jehovah did not speak. With presumptuousness the prophet spoke it. You must not get frightened at him.’

I know they claim that they are only spirit guided and not inspired and that they never claimed to be prophets. Therefore they say that this hard hitting scripture cannot be applied to them. But what about this? Page 197 of the April 1, 1972 Watchtower Magazine says under the heading of: IDENTIFYING THE “PROPHET” These questions can be answered in the affirmative. Who is this prophet? The clergy of the so-called “Christian” nations hold themselves before the people as being the ones commissioned to speak for God. But, as pointed out in the previous issue of this magazine, they have failed God and failed as proclaimers of his kingdom by approving a man-made political organization, the League of Nations (now the United Nations), as “the political expression of the Kingdom of God on earth.” However, Jehovah did not let the people of Christendom, as led by the clergy, go without being warned that the League was a counterfeit substitute for the real kingdom of God. He had a “prophet” to warn them. This “prophet” was not one man, but was a body of men and women. It was the small group of footstep followers of Jesus Christ, known at that time as International Bible Students. Today they are known as Jehovah’s Christian witnesses. They are still proclaiming a warning, and have been joined and assisted in their commissioned work by hundreds of thousands of persons who have listened to their message with belief. --(Emphasis mine)

I think that it is clear that they are calling themselves prophets in this article. An article that was written during the height of their false claims that the great tribulation would be complete by the end of 1975 and that Christ's Millennial Reign would begin immediately after. How many times does a prophet have to be wrong I wonder to qualify as a false prophet? One false claim is all it should take. GOD's reputation will not be sullied by the false claims of evil men. So, whether the Watchtower Society's leadership thinks that no one should apply Deuteronomy 18:20-22 to them or not, I believe that we are correct to not be afraid of them and in fact should disregard everything the Watchtower Society prints as being of Satan. After all, GOD will apply Deuteronomy 18:20-22 to all false prophets...The Watchtower Society included.

Source material for 1975 claims:

Audio of their governing body member Brother Franz saying that it would all be over by the end of 1975:



Text of the audio: "...So you see, we don't have much left to this year nineteen hundred and seventy-five, It's gonna end at sundown on September the fifth, and that immediately after September the fifth why the Millennial Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ MUST begin in order to fulfill the final thousand years of God's great seventh creative day. And they're expecting the Great Tribulation to occur, and the destruction of Babylon the Great, and the annihilation of the political systems of this world, and then the binding of Satan and his demons, and their abyssing to occur before this year is ended, this year nineteen hundred and seventy-five. And immediately thereafter the thousand - year Reign of the Lord Jesus Christ to begin."

Jehovah's Witnesses & Former jw's, Are You Or Were You Ever...?

ASHAMED?

Ashamed to admit that you either are or were a jw?

I have been having a discussion with a fellow ex jw this evening over pecan pie and ice cold milk and the topic of pride and shame came up. I discovered that while my companion was well known to his classmates and neighbors as a jw and he took great pride in his role as a jw. He was hated at school but used that to puff himself up with pride he says.

This seemed foreign to me because as I was growing up in the 1960's and 1970's my being a jw caused me nothing but grief. From problems with teachers and students to neighbors making fun of me I felt a dread anytime I felt that someone new might learn of my parent's choice in religion.

Even now, when I speak to current and former coworkers I never, and I mean NEVER let them know anything about my ties to the Watchtower.

How about you? Anyone out there ever ashamed of your jw-ness?

Are The jw's Jehovah's Special People?

The apostrophe added to the name "Jehovah" does tend to infer ownership over the jw's. But not because they are HIS special people. They are HIS because HE owns EVERYTHING.

jw's believe that they are the one true religion and God's sole channel of communication with mankind. They speak of their organization as being "the truth". So, they believe that the only way one might survive armageddon is by joining their organization and following the man-made rules set forth by their elitist governing body.

The following is a list of criteria the Watchtower gives to determine the “one true religion.” This particular list is found on pages 26-27 of the 1996 Watchtower publication, What Does God Require of Us?:

* Avoid War and Politics
* Avoid Pagan Holidays
* Reject the Trinity Doctrine
* Reject the Immortality of the Soul and Hell
* Must Preach the Kingdom
* Must Proclaim the Name “Jehovah” for God

They claim that to be the "ONE TRUE" religion, an organization must adhere to this criteria and that theirs is the only one that does so. However, close examination shows that this criteria is not exclusive to the jw's, for the following religions also embrace these doctrines:

*Assemblies of Yahweh
*Assemblies of the Called out Ones of Ya
*House of Yahweh
*Assembly of YHWH Yeshua
*Christadelphians

Since the Watchtower Society (jw's leadership) claims that there is only one true Christian religion, how can its criteria to determine “the Truth” prove that it is the only true religion, when other religions also fulfill its criteria? It is evident by this fact that the Watchtower's religion is not unique in its beliefs and practices on what it calls “the Truth,” the criteria it gives cannot be used to determine that it is the “only true religion.”

So, if not jw's, Who is the Truth? Well, the Bible does not point us to any particular church or organization to find Truth. On the contrary, it points to a Person, rather than a religion as being “the Truth.” At John 14:6, Jesus proclaimed, “I am …the truth,” and in His prayer to the Father, He said, “Sanctify them by means of the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17) Who is the living “Word” who is “Truth”? John 1:14 tells us, “…the Word became flesh and resided among us, and we had a view of his glory, a glory such as belongs to an only-begotten son from a father.” (John 1:14) Not only do we see Jesus being identified in Scripture as “the Truth,” but He proclaims at John 5:39-40 that all of Scripture was written to “bear witness” about Him!

So, we can see that while the jw's set forth a criteria they claim to be exclusive to their organization and because they claim to be Jehovah's witnesses and that they are HIS special property that does not make their claims true nor does it prove they are the Truth.

How To Deal With Troubles And Lack Of Faith

This sort of thing happens to most of us a few times during the course of our lives. I have lost homes and jobs and felt like I was at my rope's end and all I could do was tie that rope's end into a noose and slip it over my head. But my faith kept me going. I was one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Then one day my faith was gone when I saw the Watchtower as it truly is. An unfeeling cult and an evil publishing corporation. I was devastated. All the years my folks had put into learning the so-called truth and raising me in the organization had been a complete and total waste of time and an utter loss to me.

I was ashamed of being so totally fooled and for having hurt members of my family who had been shunned by the organization because they simply questioned the teachings of this group of men. Besides that I didn't know where to go because I felt like there must be no God and I sank into an ever deepening depression.

Finally I decided to open up the Bible alone and not use any of the watchtower Society's Bible filtering literature and pray to God for the Holy Spirit to open my eyes so I could understand what HIS WORD was trying to do with me.

I abandoned the Watchtower's false Jesus who they claim is Archangel Michael and their false Gospel and I accepted the Jesus of the Bible into my heart and gave myself totally over to Him as His slave. My eyes have been opened and I am now saved by the Grace of God through the shed Blood of our Lord Jesus.

My ministry as a jw was always hit and miss and I never felt like I was ever doing enough due to the hounding of the elders. I also never felt like I could wholeheartedly teach anyone without holding back some of the truths about their truth that were never to be disclosed before the person was already in so deep that they had nowhere else to go.

Today after about 8 months as a Christian minister I am happy in my service to my Lord and my community. I help spread the Word of GOD and I also share anti-cult information and minister to Jehovah's Witnesses to expose the false teachings of the Watchtower Society so they might have their eyes opened by Christ Jesus and come to our Lord for sayings of everlasting life.

So, in a nutshell, when I feel like my faith is gone I reach way down and find a way to kneel and approach my loving Father in heaven and tell HIM that I NEED HIM. I NEED HIS help, His hand on my shoulder, and His Spirit to keep me strong and to be able to endure the ugly things and distractions of this old and dying world.

The Truth About 1975

When someone trumps the Bible with something men write they define their organization as a cult. When that organization makes false predictions for the end of times they become a false prophet. When an organization claims that God cleansed His house in 1918 and that house still reeks of hypocrisy,lies, and sexual abuses 91 years later, then that house was either not cleansed or was never God's house to begin with.

In the past their leadership has lied to the jw's. Sadly some things never
change. In 1975 they lied to them and now they are lying to them again at their district conventions this summer about the generation who saw 1914 and the 1975 Armageddon scare at their district conventions. Here is something the Watchtower Society does not want them to hear.

"...So you see, we don't have much left to this year nineteen hundred and seventy-five, It's gonna end at sundown on September the fifth, and that immediately after September the fifth why the Millennial Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ MUST begin in order to fulfill the final thousand years of God's great seventh creative day. And they're expecting the Great Tribulation to occur, and the destruction of Babylon the Great, and the annihilation of the political systems of this world, and then the binding of Satan and his demons, and their abyssing to occur before this year is ended, this year nineteen hundred and seventy-five. And immediately thereafter the thousand - year Reign of the Lord Jesus Christ to begin."

Don't believe me? That's ok, because I located an audio recording of these words taken from the public discourse February 10th, 1975 at a convention in Los Angeles, CA. Listen to it and decide for yourself....





Thanks and credit go to JW Media Films for this video!
http://www.youtube.com/user/JWMediaFilms

Jehovah's Witnesses Misquote Their Cited Sources

The latest example I have uncovered has to do with misquoting the historian Tacitus regarding the Crucifixion of Christians.

"The historian Tacitus reports: “They [Christians] died by methods of mockery; some were covered with the skins of wild beasts and then torn by dogs, some were [impaled]* " (Revelation Its Grand Climax at Hand Page 101).

* footnote
"Compare New World Translation Reference Bible, page 1577, appendix 5C, “Torture Stake.” "------

Here is what Tacitus actually wrote:
They died by methods of mockery; some were covered with the skins of wild beasts and then torn by dogs, some were CRUCIFIED, [Emphasis Mine] (Tacitus, Annals xv.44).

Why Do Jehovah's Witnesses Misquote From Cited Sources? Could it be in hopes that people won't actually look up the citation and just accept their false word on the matter and be more easily converted into a cult member?

More Watchtower Double Standards And Hypocrisy

Page 29 of the July 2009 Awake! Magazine has an article dealing with freedom to choose your own religion and asks if it’s wrong to change your religion. It even makes this strong statement:
"No one should be forced to worship in a way that he finds unacceptable or be made to choose between his beliefs and his family" This new article exposes a glaring double standard. They print up this sort of thing to make themselves seem like they are decent just like Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. The problem is that they do not allow their own members such freedoms.

They demand strict loyalty and anyone who chooses another path is excommunicated and shunned even by close family. They do not allow for anyone to leave the group in good standing. If you leave you are demonized as an apostate or immoral or some other unsavory label is attached to you.

"But the disfellowshipped relative should be made to appreciate that his status has changed, that he is no longer welcome in the home nor is he a preferred companion." (Watchtower 6/1/1970 Questions from the readers section on page 352)

Now you jw's are gonna say this is an old article. But it's on your 2008 CD ROM and if it served one of your purposes it would not be an old article.....---

"After hearing a talk at a circuit assembly, a brother and his fleshly sister realized that they needed to make adjustments in the way they treated their mother, who lived elsewhere and who had been disfellowshipped for six years. Immediately after the assembly, the man called his mother, and after assuring her of their love, he explained that they could no longer talk to her unless there were important family matters requiring contact. Shortly thereafter, his mother began attending meetings and was eventually reinstated. Also, her unbelieving husband began studying and in time was baptized." (Our Kingdom Ministry August 2002 Page 3)---

Notice how the mother was PRESSURED by the loss of her children to return? This is a form of abuse and is very evident in most cults.

As usual, the Watchtower Society printing sweetness and smiles while enforcing harsh rules and mind control techniques. How hypocritical! Do not be misled by the syrupy droolings coming of the Society's lips. They are like the Pharisees of Jesus Day. Whitewashed graves full of vile things and dead men's bones.....

NO! I Have To Touch It! (My memorial rant)

I think I posted on here that I went to the memorial last week. My wife's dad has been a jw for over 50 years and has never missed a memorial before. He has been getting sicker and sicker and his wife the star pioneer still does nothing for him. So, he asks me to take him to the memorial. I love him like my own dad and will do anything within reason for him, so I agreed. Well, my wife was too sick to go again this year and I told my son he didn't have to go.

My father in law needs a cane to walk and is in such pain that he can hardly even move. All of his cervical bones are fused together with only the atlas left as a free moving structure. He also has terrible bone spurs in his neck and cluster headaches to boot. So we go inside the rented hall and sit in the back. My FIL is so sick he can barely lift his hand to shake hands with folks. As the talk progresses he is doubled over in pain and trying to keep quiet instead of moaning as he typically does at home. It breaks my heart to see this once strong and good man reduced to this.

So they pass the bread and he takes it from his wife and passes it to me. His arm was shaking but he managed ok. Then he got a bad wave of pain and he almost fell out of the chair. I asked him if he needed anything or if he wanted to go and he said that he had to stay because Jehovah wants him to be there. I thought to myself that a God of mercy wouldn't mind him being more comfortable in his bed and just being there in spirit...He was gonna stay...period.

So, here comes the wine. He is still doubled over and his wife tries to pass it to him and he can't move. So she asks him if he wants to try and pass it. He can't answer her so she tries to pass it to me. He said in a pained and rather loud voice, "NO! Tengo que tocarlo!" In English that is, "NO! I have to touch it!" So he struggled until he got hold of it and passed the wine-glass to me. After he went through all that the glass just went on and on and on. No one really making an effort or even seeming to want to drink any of the wine. And it hit me. These people are truly controlled by the Watchtower. They fear missing a memorial of a covenant they are not even part of. They fear not getting to touch a plate or a glass. If this isn't idolatry I don't know what else is.

When I got home I almost cried because of how much pain my FIL is in and how much he exerted himself to touch a glass of wine. It was as if his very life emanated from touching that damned glass. And I remembered a scene in an old classic horror film where The Mummy was trying to get this elixir to keep on living. Well one of the protagonists of the film either dropped the vile or threw it on the ground shattering the container and letting the elixir drip into the cracks of the floor. There goes the Mummy, on his belly sucking the floor trying to get any drop of it. He didn't get any and he died. That is what my FIL reminded me of, a person desperate for a life giving elixir, or perhaps a man gasping for air. I have been wanting to talk to him about this because he is very proud of himself for having made it to yet another one of these ridiculous events. I happened to be recording the event for my wife's benefit as well as for my blog, and I captured his face and voice as he said how he had to touch it. When I played the video for my wife she cried. She saw her dad suffering and then felt like she is going to be punished by Jehovah for missing it when her dad went as sick as he was.

I am really at my wits end with this cult. I am sick of seeing how it chews up people, destroys their lives and then just craps them out. I am sorry. I just had to vent and share what's going on inside me.....

Armageddon Clean Up

The Watchtower used to teach that the animals would feast on the cadavers and the survivors would only bury bones. Then they say that the animals won't be able to do what the Bible says they will do. Apparently they have no idea what is going to happen.

Here is what their publications say:

"With such a glorious feast of victory concluded, only the bones, bones from one end of the earth to the other, will be left for burial. What a task that will be for the survivors, to cleanse the earth of every remaining evidence of Gog’s forces! Even with the work well organized it will take seven months, Jehovah says, just to bury the bones. Scouting corps will be sent out on a full-time basis to search the land thoroughly and, when bones are found, markers will be set up for those with the spades and shovels who follow." (Watchtower 8/1/1956 page 465 paragraph 17)---

"Soon the war of Armageddon will finish off the wicked old world. The surviving New World society will remove the debris of war and bury the bones of the wicked." (Watchtower 2/15/1957 page 112)---

"The air will not be polluted by the smell nor the water contaminated by these dead corpses. Those who survive, being unable to bury such great numbers, will not be in danger of decimation by disease epidemic. Jesus, when on earth, told his disciples: “Wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.” "
(Watchtower 7/1/1967 page 408)

Then, more recently they have taught with speculation and guesses that despite what the Bible says, the animals will not be up to the task of eating the dead bodies. So Jehovah may have to use antimatter to dissolve the bodies.

Antimatter
Who are they to dispute the Bible's description?

Also listen to the talk by Watchtower Representative Ciro Aulicino - You Will Be With Me in Paradise

Audio Link


This guy is a real kook that makes some far-fetched claims! (A snake may have a pretty face?) LOL

Why Do The JW'S Give The Governing Body So Much Authority?

"In every organization, there must be some who exercise authority or provide direction. Jehovah’s Witnesses are no exception, and they observe the authority structure outlined by the apostle Paul: “The head of every man is the Christ; in turn the head of a woman is the man; in turn the head of the Christ is God.” (1 Corinthians 11:3) In harmony with this, only qualified men serve as elders in the congregations. And although Jesus—“the head of every man”—is in heaven, there are still on earth “the remaining ones” of his anointed brothers, who have the hope of ruling with him in the heavens. (Revelation 12:17; 20:6) These make up the composite “faithful and discreet slave.” Christians show their submission to Jesus, and therefore to Jesus’ head, Jehovah, by accepting the oversight of that “slave.” " (Watchtower 9/1/1998 page 15 paragraph 7)[Emphasis mine]

Did you catch how they twisted the scripture at 1 Corinthians 11:3? Instead of leaving "the head of the man is Christ", they added in how, Christ's brothers are still here and are supposed to exercise Christ-like authority. It's disgusting to me how these brothers of Christ are not to rule until they get to heaven, but they are usurping Christ's headship over every man by assuming His role while they are still sinful humans.

By adding to the scriptures they manipulate their followers and condemn themselves to everlasting cutting off. While waiting until God's judgment is ideal, it does nothing to help those who are being misled in the here and now. We need to pray for these people and help them to search their Bibles for truth before it's too late.

Only 144,000 In The New Covenant?

You may or not be aware that the Watchtower teaches that Jesus is not the Mediator between God and men. They teach that Jesus Mediates between God and their remnant of the 144,000 anointed Christians. They have gone to great lengths to spread this doctrine and make sure that millions understand that they have no hope for eternity in heaven. But is this Biblical?

How can they teach this when Galatians 4:22-31 makes a strong case for Millions of people being in the New Covenant? Let's read what their own New World translation says.

Galatians 4:22-31
22 For example, it is written that Abraham acquired two sons, one by the servant girl and one by the free woman; 23 but the one by the servant girl was actually born in the manner of flesh, the other by the free woman through a promise. 24 These things stand as a symbolic drama; for these [women] mean two covenants, the one from Mount Si′nai, which brings forth children for slavery, and which is Ha′gar. 25 Now this Ha′gar means Si′nai, a mountain in Arabia, and she corresponds with the Jerusalem today, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
27 For it is written: “Be glad, you barren woman who does not give birth; break out and cry aloud, you woman who does not have childbirth pains; for the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than [those] of her who has the husband.” 28 Now we, brothers, are children belonging to the promise the same as Isaac was. 29 But just as then the one born in the manner of flesh began persecuting the one born in the manner of spirit, so also now. 30 Nevertheless, what does the Scripture say? “Drive out the servant girl and her son, for by no means shall the son of the servant girl be an heir with the son of the free woman.” 31 Wherefore, brothers, we are children, not of a servant girl, but of the free woman.

One Flock One Shepherd

The Watchtower Society teaches a two class Christianity because they misinterpret the Bible. They confuse the Little Flock of Jesus' disciples (Luke 12:32) with the 144,000 of Revelation chapters 7 and 14, while applying the term other sheep (John 10:16) Jesus referred to as the Great Crowd of Revelation.

If read in context from Luke 12:22-32 it becomes plain that Jesus was speaking of the little flock made up of his disciples. If we consider what John wrote about the other sheep, since Jesus came primarily to the Jews, the other sheep clearly applies to the Gentiles. It's also interesting that Jesus said there would be ONE flock one Shepherd, not two flocks or two classes of Christians like the Watchtower claims, but instead ONE Faith, ONE Hope, and ONE group of people following the ONE Shepherd.

The Book of Acts in Chapters 10 and 11 we see how Peter was to bring in the other sheep, the Gentiles into the flock. By allowing salvation to extend beyond Israel's borders, Jesus brought together sheep from two folds into one flock.

Basically the Watchtower reads WAAAAY too much into the Scriptures in order to manipulate the minds of people and to lead Jesus sheep away from His care and into the mouths of the wolves who run the Watchtower Society.

Racism In The Watchtower

Racism in the Jehovah Witness Watchtower
The Jehovah Witness Watchtower organization has a long history of denigrating the ethnicities of its members. Just as the slave master kept slaves in enforced ignorance, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society keeps its members in ignorance.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/79332/racism_in_the_jehovah_witness_watchtower.html

Are The JW's Modern Day Alexandrian Cultists?

I was doing some research on Bible manuscripts this evening and I found something very interesting. When the Bible was first being translated into English that scrolls and books were gathered together from all over the world and with only some spelling differences in some names of people and cities like Peter / Pedro, they were all the same. They were exact copies of one another.

The one exception was the Alexandrian Bible. It was written by some folks called the Alexandrians. The scholar mentioned that they were sort of like Jehovah's Witnesses because they called themselves Christians but they believed a lot of strange things. Apparently they didn't like some verses in the good copy of the Bible they had so they took them out and added in others to fit their beliefs and created a new version of the Bible.

This altered version it is claimed to be the basis for the Catholic Douay Bible, Westcott & Hort's Translation and the New World Translation which is used by the jw's.

I am going to be doing more research on this, because I feel it deserves my time. If I find anything out I will be sure to share it here with you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI0emSheXRY

Will I Make It Through Armageddon?

I think I can say that yes I will. Now that Jesus has brought me close to Him.

It is certainly a relief after being in the Jehovah's Witnesses all my life. Always worrying if I put in enough hours in field service to get myself through the door at Armageddon. Or wondering if missing the first song at the circuit assembly might be enough to have Jehovah throw me into everlasting cutting off. Or watching an R rated movie and enjoying it, then bumping into a brother from the hall in the bathroom and fretting over whether or not he saw me enter or leave the R rated movie....Would he tell on me? Should I go to the elders right away and beat him to the punch and CONFESS my sin of watching a movie? Or should I chance it that he didn't see me or have him tell them whatever he wants, get dragged into a judicial committee, not cry and whimper over seeing a movie and getting disfellowshipped for having the wrong "attitude". What if Armageddon comes while I'm disfellowshipped? Will my underaged kids perish with me because I was still disfellowshipped when I was killed at Armageddon?

Yea, having faith in Jesus, whose load is light is better than having faith in the Watchtower who burdens people with so much that they can't even think straight.

What If Jehovah's Witnesses Are Wrong?

If they are wrong they will all be lost. If I am wrong I am lost. What makes this so sad is that many of them will never have the chance to find out before it's too late if they could have it all wrong. They are not allowed to delve into the past of their organization. They are not allowed to share any unfavorable facts about the organization that they discover without facing severe repercussions. They are not even allowed to do any Bible reading or any research without the "Aids" provided with the Watchtower.

In fact, discussing Bible topics here in this or any other online forum is "Not Authorized" by their governing body (September 2007 Our Kingdom Ministry Question Box). When they make a statement like that, it is the same as making a law against discussing the Bible online. No one is allowed to question or go against any teaching of the governing body because in a jw's mind, the teaching is coming from Almighty Jehovah God.

They are in essence told that no research is necessary on their part because there are brothers at Bethel (HQ) that are assigned to do it for them (Watchtower 6/1/1967 page 338 paragraph 12). RED FLAG! Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! This is a dangerous thing, the idea of simply allowing the thoughts and ideas of others to be fed into your mind without the benefit of comparing the information against another source. These are strong indicators that a high control group or even a cult is at work, controlling the information its members/worshipers receive in order to better control their thoughts and actions.

The Watchtower Society is fond of referring to itself as the earthly Mother of God's children. They consider the organization to be the earthly representation of the Woman of Revelation 12:13-14. They also claim to be the faithful and discreet slave who is to feed Jehovah's people their spiritual food at its proper time.

As Christian people, each of us will render an account to the Lord before His throne on Judgment Day. He will demand to know what we were thinking when we did this or that or when we didn't do something. What are the jw's going to say? That they did all the research they could and to the best of their knowledge they were serving Christ Jesus? Or will they in one united voice respond as Adam did to Jehovah when it was found out that he had eaten of the forbidden fruit? “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me [fruit] from the tree and so I ate. (Genesis 3:12). That answer didn't fly then and it won't fly on Judgment Day either.

When I was attending the meetings as an active jw, one of my favorites of all the Kingdom Melodies was number 191, Make The Truth Your Own. It finally dawned on this fat old cowboy that in order to make the truth my own I had to really delve deeply into God's Word and do a lot of praying and research and compare what I was being fed by the Watchtower to what the Bible teaches. I found that the Watchtower diet was not spiritually nourishing at all. I found out they are wrong and made sure that I am right, so when I face Jesus on Judgment day I can answer with full confidence that my efforts were strong in digging for His truth. I left the Watchtower cult, and I recommend that any jw's that have doubts or questions should dig for the truth and make it their own.

The Kingdom Is Here?

How can the jw's insist that God's Kingdom is a literal government, that it has arrived, and can be pointed to as they say, 'Look here, it's physically represented by the Watchtower Organization!' (Watchtower 3/15/1995 page 30), especially in light of what Jesus said about the Kingdom?

"Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." " (Luke 17:20-21).

The 3/15/1995 Watctower page 30 says, "Evidently, the psalmist raised his eyes to the mountains of Jerusalem where Jehovah’s temple and the earthly seat of the theocratic government were situated. From this we can rightly conclude that help needed to praise God and declare the Kingdom message comes only from Jehovah and his organization.—Psalm 3:4; Daniel 6:10.Today, those who desire to praise Jehovah can expect loving assistance from his earthly organization."---

I researched the Kingdom Interlinear Translation and the Greek text says this, "neither will they say Look! here or There; look! for kingdom of the God inside of YOU . is."

A scan I have of Luke 17:20-21 in the KIT: http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq19/Watchtower_Facts/Luke_17_21_kit.jpg

So, how do they reconcile that they are pointing to God's Kingdom being here and represented by their Watchtower Society when Jesus said plainly that the Kingdom is inside us (and is borne out by the Greek text), and not something that you can point at and say, Look here it is...?

A Problem With The WT's Kingdom Interlinear Translation

In the 1969 KIT the society used a book by Bible scholar Justus Lipsius as source material for their upright stake "Stauros" doctrine of the death of Christ. They used an image of a man hung on an upright stake with no crossbeam attached to it. Then they placed a caption under it saying that the illustration came from Lipsius. This implies that Lipsius actually backed their teaching. The thing is that Lipsius had included in his book many, many illustrations of various methods and implements of crucifixion. They didn't show all of them, just that one. Also, if you read his writings, Lipsius taught that Jesus was actually crucified on a cross. So, they were using dishonest means to get people to believe that Justus Lipsius supported an anti-cross teaching.

Well, Christian groups fell on the society like a thousand of brick. They called them on their lie and so the society had to change things. But how do they make a change to keep from being sued while still maintaining a false teaching? Easy, they make an updated KIT in 1985 and remove ALL references to Lipsius' work. All they really use is that same image of a man impaled on an upright stake with no reference to its source. They also never made the information about their shenanigans available to the rank and file jw's. They never counted on people actually ignoring their command to not delve into their past I guess.

So, here I have to share with you all is some scans I have from BOTH KITs and several of Lipsius' illustrations. They are graphic so if you are squeamish I advise against looking at them.
Enjoy!

Lorenzo

http://s429.photobucket.com/albums/qq19/Watchtower_Facts/Justus%20Lipsius/

What Is An Apostate To A JW?

Here is their official description:

Apostasy.

Apostasy is a standing away from, a falling away, defection,rebellion, abandonment; it involves teaching falsedoctrines, supporting or promoting false religion and itsholidays or interfaith activities.

Apostasy includes action taken against true worship ofJehovah or his established order among his dedicatedpeople.

Persons who deliberately spread (stubbornly hold to andspeak about) teachings contrary to Bible truth as taughtby Jehovah's Witnesses are apostates.

If it is learned that a person has taken up association withanother religious organization, the matter should be investigated, and if verified, a committee should be formed.If it is clearly established that the person has joined another religion and intends to remain with it, the 94 "Pay Attention to Yourselves and to All the Flock" elders would make a brief announcement to the congregation that such- one has disassociated himself. (w86 10/15 p. 31 )

Working secularly for a false religious organization couldput one in a position similar to that of one preaching falsedoctrine.

Celebrating a false religious holiday would be similar toperforming any other act of false worship. (Jer. 7:16-19)

The Bible condemns the following:
Causing divisions and promoting sects. This would be deliberate action disrupting the unity of the congregation or undermining the confidence of the brothers in Jehovah's arrangement. It may involve or lead to apostasy.

The practice of spiritism.

Idolatry.

Idolatry includes the possession and use of images and pictures that are employed in false religion (Pay Attention to Yourselves and All The Flock). ---

The dictionary defines an apostate as one who has abandoned one's religious faith, a political party, one's principles, or a cause. To abandon ones faith in God is what I believe is the most common rendition of what the word means. Jehovah's Witnesses call an apostate anyone who disgrees with, questions, or speaks against their almighty governing body. I think a key statement they make is this one, "Persons who deliberately spread (stubbornly hold to and speak about) teachings contrary to Bible truth as taught by Jehovah's Witnesses are apostates."---

In their view a Bible truth is only a truth as they teach it. They keep on changing what they believe and teach so there is nothing you can pin them down with since their truth changes, unlike Jehovah, The Rock who never changes.

For instance, I never lost my faith in God YAHWEH, I AM, YHWH, JEHOVAH. I simply found out the truth about the lies that make up the Watchtower organization and left. Now I am an apostate to them.

Romans 10:9 Proves That Jesus IS Jehovah

In the jw's Kingdom Interlinear translation of the Greek Scriptures they went to great effort to show that the Tetragrammaton was SUPPOSED to be in the Greek texts. So, every time the Name Jehovah appears they show a footnote directing the reader to see how Ky'ri*os applies always to JEHOVAH in one or more of their J Documents.

While it is never acceptable to add or delete words from God's Word, it would be more understandable if they were at least consistent with this misuse of the Divine Name. However they don't. There is a double standard at work here.

If the jw's would check out Romans 10:9 in their Kingdom Interlinear Bible they will see how there is a footnote on LORD. The text reads, "For if you publicly declare that ‘word in your own mouth,’ that Jesus is Lord*,..." This shows how they use Ky'ri*os in Greek and Ha' a*dhohn in Hebrew to show how the Tetragrammaton should go there. But at the end of the footnote they just add in, "Not Jehovah" WHAT!! They use this formula to insert YHWH into the Greek text where it does not go, but when it shows us that Jesus IS Jehovah they say the formula should not be used?

How is anything they say supposed to mean anything?

Let's see how long it will be before the Watchtower Society yanks those Interlinears off the shelves!

Scans from the NWT Bible and the Kingdom Interlinear.
Ha Adon in the 1961 NWT pg 1453http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq19/Watchtower_Facts/haadon.jpg
Roman 10:9 in the KIThttp://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq19/Watchtower_Facts/romans109.jpg

Who Is In The New Covenant?

The Bible plainly states that the New Covenant applies to all men.
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a corresponding ransom for all" (Timothy 2:5,6)---

Not surprisingly the Watchtower Society has an opposite view from the Scriptures.Regarding those who are not of their 144,000 anointed "Class" of people they say: "Christ does not act as Mediator of the new covenant toward them..." (Watchtower of 2/15/1991 p.18).---
Their second president, Judge rutherford speaking for the Watchtower taught that only 144,000 people make up the New Covenant, and that Jesus is mediator for them and them alone. Of the billions and billions of people that have ever lived, the New Covenant is only open to that special class of 144,000 people, of which 50,000 lived in the first half on the 1900's.

By saying that the jw's can only have a relationship with their Savior if they are united with the Slave Class, Rutherford usurped tremendous power from Jesus onto himseelf and the following leaders of the Watchtower Organization, effectively creating the structure necessary for and indicative of a cult. If Jesus is the Intermediary between God and the 144,000, then the Watchtower Society is set up as the intermediary between Christ and Men (Watchtower 11/15/1981 Page 21 Paragraph 18).

Biblically speaking however, there is no intermediary between humanity and Christ; Jesus is both our Mediator and High Priest. "But I want YOU to know that the head of every man is the Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:3). So if they believe that the New Covenant is not applicable to all, then they are following a false teaching that betrays the truth of God's Word the Bible.

JW's Discussing Sex In Front Of Children. Is This Right?

Wow, I would have to say no. I feel that anything to do with sex should be left up to the parents to explain. I would imagine that if taken before a sympathetic school counselor that quite a bit of trouble could be made for the elders of any congregation who took it upon themselves to read what could be considered abusive language to a child or where a child could hear it.

I am referring to the Watchtower Article that was studied on February 15, 2009, paragraph 10 in particular. Here is an excerpt:

"We also need to be obedient when dealing with members of the opposite sex. We know that God's Word forbids fornication. However, it is easy to let an obedient spirit lapse into a permissive one. For instance, some youths have engaged in oral or anal sex or mutual masturbation, rationalizing that these acts are not so bad because they think they are technically not "having sex." Such youths forget-or may choose to ignore-that the Bible word for fornication includes all those practices, wrong conduct for which one might be disfellowshipped."

As far as the excerpt, I find fault with some of the material it covers. I feel the wbts has gone beyond what is written when discussing mutual masturbation . Nowhere in the Bible is masturbation condemned, mutual or otherwise. In fact applying it to fit the porneia definition is just plain silly. Porneia / fornication have a varying range of applications, but I could find no concordance outside of the wbts that mentions masturbation as linked with porneia. The society is dictating its own rules and laws here and has clearly gone beyond what is in the Bible with that application at least.

If I was still attending their meetings and had a young child I would consider running this by child services to see if they broke any decency laws by presenting this information in front of the kids.

References:

American Heritage Dictionary defines Fornication as Sexual intercourse between partners who are not married to each other.

Strong's G4202 - porneia:

1) Illicit sexual intercourse
a) Adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.
b) Sexual intercourse with close relatives; Lev. 18
c) Sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman; Mk. 10:11, 12
2) metaph. the worship of idols
a) Of the defilement of idolatry, as incurred by eating the sacrifices offered to idols

The New Testament Greek Lexicon Definition:

• Illicit sexual intercourse
• Adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.
• Sexual intercourse with close relatives; Lev. 18
• Sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman; Mk. 10:11,
• Metaph. the worship of idols
• Of the defilement of idolatry, as incurred by eating the sacrifices offered to idols

Is God Using The Watchtower Society?

One of the most highly promulgated of the Watchtower Society's teachings is that in order to be acceptable to God Jehovah you MUST be baptized into His organization.

Here are some quotes from their literature:

"PUT FAITH in a VICTORIOUS ORGANIZATION" - The Watchtower, March 1, 1979 p. 1


"Any person who wants to survive into God's righteous new order urgently needs to come into a right relationship with Jehovah and His earthly organization now." - The Watchtower, November 15, 1981 pp. 16, 17

"... come to Jehovah's organization for salvation ..." - The Watchtower, November 15, 1981 p. 21

"A third requirement is that we be associated with God's channel, his organization. God has always used an organization. ... To receive everlasting life in the earthly Paradise we must identify that organization and serve God as part of it." - The Watchtower, February 15, 1983 p. 12

"identifying themselves with Jehovah's organization is essential to their salvation." - Our kingdom Ministry, November. 1990 p. 1

They claim that Jehovah has ALWAYS used an organization and that they are the modern day incarnation of that organization. But is this claim true? Is the WBTS really God's Organization?

In short there is no evidence of any kind. Especially lacking is any Biblical evidence that the Watchtower is any sort of organization being used by God. The time-line of the Watchtower Society goes back to the mid 19th century and no further back.

While they claim apostolic succession dating back to the First Century, there are no names to be found of anyone who passed the proverbial torch to C.T. Russell, the WBTS founder and first president. In fact, if God Jehovah were actually using an age-old organization to direct His works here on Earth, C.T. Russell either abandoned it or completely disregarded it in favor of starting his own organization.

JW Defense Against Charges Of Being False Prophets

I was looking over the Yahoo! Answers page and found an interesting question and answer about how the jw's defend themselves when hit with charges of being a false prophet. I think you will enjoy Curious Jorge's response. (I copied/pasted it as is with no commentary or changes of any kind.)---
Q: Jehovah's Witnesses, what is your defense when the WTBTS is called a false prophet by many, according to scriptures?

A: From my experience, they have two primary defenses:-
1) They weren't really prophets; and
2) It's no big deal, because God's servants have been wrong before.

These two defenses are incredibly weak. Here's a brief rebuttal to each.

First, to the defense that the Watchtower/JW leadership weren't really prophets. While the Watchtower leaders have written articles describing themselves as "prophets" (see for example, chapter 4 of the book "The Nations Shall Know that I am Jehovah"), they claim that they are not "inspired."

Thus, the Watchtower Governing Body seems to have invented a new category for itself--that of the "uninspired true prophet."When it comes to the issue of the prophetic nature of the Governing Body, JWs parse words in such a way that would put former U.S. President Bill Clinton to shame (he's the one who said "it depends on what the definition of 'is' is").

I am of the opinion that talk is cheap, and a person or group of people is best judged by its actions. So, it makes more sense to look at the *actions* of the Governing Body and see if they *act* like they think they're modern day prophets.

For example, the Governing Body claims that God uses it as the sole channel of communication. In other words, God only speaks through them. Now, in the Bible, who did God speak through? Prophets.

Also, the Governing Body requires its followers (Jehovah's Witnesses) to believe and follow every religious pronouncement they make. For example, when the Governing Body decided in 2008 that the "generation" of Luke 21 no longer meant "wicked people" but now meant "anointed Christians," every single JW was *required* to change his/her belief on this matter. In other words, the Governing Body's pronouncement had the *exact same* effect as if it were part of Scripture.

So, it looks like the Governing Body is trying to "have its cake and eat it too." On one hand, the Governing Body expects its followers to believe and adhere to everything it says as if it were Scripture. But on the other hand, the Governing Body accepts no accountability when it's wrong...typical of a man-made organization.

The second defense incorrectly equates wrong expectations held by some early Christians with blatant false predictions such as "millions now living will never die" and proclamations that 1925 is "God's date and not ours." I guess some people can rationalize anything.

Also, to address the answer of "Line Dancer" regarding the example of Nathan and David. This has got to be the weakest JW defense I've seen in a while. How can you equate Nathan's general statement that David should do what's in his heart and that God was with him with the wild-eyed predictions of the Watchtower society? what a stretch!

And I love that paragraph from the Watchtower quoted in the answer of "Line Dancer." It contains an amazing number of logical fallacies--even for a Watchtower article!The fact is that the Bible is rife with warnings about false prophets. So, when a man or group of men make false predictions, of course they are going to try to rationalize their actions...like the kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Anyone looking at the matter objectively can see right through their excuses and cover stories.

Christian Witnesses Website

There is a great website for active and former JW's who are interested in joining or starting up a bible reading group.

Here is a link to an introductory video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AELs6dLljC0

Did Jesus Die On A Cross Or A Torture Stake?

Jehovah’s Witnesses go to great lengths to push the idea that Jesus did not die on a cross (Crux Duplex). Instead they insist that he died on a single upright stake (Crux Simplex). Now to me and I imagine most people, how the Lord Jesus died is not as important as the fact that He died and atoned for our sins. So, if He died on a stake, a cross, a gallows, was beheaded, or shot to death by a firing squad it makes no difference because the outcome would be the same. Jesus died for our sins.

Well, for whatever reason, the Watchtower Society stresses the idea of Jesus hanged on a stake instead of a cross and they have actually gone back to some very old writings to find support for their claim. One that is of great importance is the reference given in the Kingdom Interlinear Translation (KIT) to the book, De Cruce Liber Primus, which was written by the Catholic scholar Justus Lipsius of the 16th Century. As proof they offer a photograph of an illustration that depicts an upright stake with a man hanging on it in the 2nd column of page 647 of Lipsius’ book. They go on to say that this is the manner in which Jesus was impaled. This leads anyone reading this statement to believe that the Catholic scholar Justus Lipsius supported the Watchtower’s belief that Jesus died on an upright stake. If this is true, then all of the evidence should bear this out.

It’s important to ask if this one image is the only one in Lipsius’ book. If we look beyond the single image the Watchtower included in the KIT, we will see that according to his research there were many different types of torture employed by the Romans. He includes several different illustrations showing different methods of torturing people. We see a tree being used to hang up someone, an X cross with a man hung on it, a man impaled through his rectum with the stake protruding from his mouth, and a couple of versions of the crux duplex or the cross with a crossbeam such as used by Christendom to illustrate Jesus’ death. Now, to be fair, just because there are other illustrations in De Cruce Liber Primus, that is not proof that the Watchtower Society has lied or been deceptive in stating that the cross is not what Jesus died on. Even though it is troubling to me that they didn’t permit the other types of crosses to be shown in the KIT.

Where do we need to go to get proof that Jesus died on a cross and not on a torture stake?
Lipsius stated in a caption next to an illustration of a cross (Crux Duplex) in his book that, “In the Lord’s cross there were four pieces of wood, the upright beam, the crossbar, a tree trunk (a piece of wood) placed below, and the title (inscription) placed above.” So, instead of supporting the Watchtower’s false teaching that Jesus died on a torture stake, Lipsius actually supported the idea of a Christian cross with a crossbeam. Did the translating committee get away with this outright lie? No it did not. The Watchtower Society was confronted by Christian groups and was pressured to change it in the 1985 edition of the KIT. Now, they still quote Justus Lipsius and give their followers the impression that he supported the torture stake teaching held by the Watchtower which their adherents just blindly follow without question. I think it is funny that the book that they cite to support their teaching actually proves it to be a false teaching.

Something else to consider is what the Bible says about the wounds in Christ’s hands. If we read John 20:24-25 we see that it supports the teaching of the cross.

“But Thomas, one of the twelve, who was called The Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. Consequently the other disciples would say to him: “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them: “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails and stick my finger into the print of the nails and stick my hand into his side, I will certainly not believe.” ”

It clearly says the print of the NAILS, plural or more than one nail. If Jesus was hung like the Watchtower says, there would be a hole in each hand from ONE nail passing through them. But since it says NAILS it is obvious that Jesus hands must have been apart as they would be on a cross when he was nailed to it.

It is very important that we each do our own research and really study God’s Word. For one to blindly accept the doctrines of a group is lazy Christianity and it will get a person killed for following a false prophet.

A slideshow of the Lipsius illustrations is here:
http://s429.photobucket.com/albums/qq19/Watchtower_Facts/Justus%20Lipsius/?albumview=slideshow


Special thanks to MCO4Help for research and clarification.

JW's Settle More Molestation Cases!

Well, the fiend McLean is still on the run from justice, but the victims that he molested have received a settlement from the Watchtower as payment for its involvement in it I imagine. It's too bad the law has not yet caught up to this monster so he can pay what he owes too. I am wondering what the jw's that keep making excuses and denying anything is wrong with their organization will say to this. I bet they keep going on with their Watchtower Blinders on even tighter. What a shame.

Internet Dangers Internet Dangers Internet Dangers

The Watchtower cult leadership fears information more than anything. They would love nothing more than to keep all of their people shut inside and only allowed to read their books and magazines. They struggle every day with the huge amount of information that shows them for the child-molesting, misogynistic, money grubbing, blasphemous fiends they are.

If you go through their literature or even better, their Library CD-ROM, you will find how they repeat the words Internet and Dangers together so many times that the two words become joined at the hip so to speak. In fact I counted 143 times where Internet and Dangers appeared on a page together. It seems to me like they are really working overtime to make sure their followers get the message that the Internet is bad.

I wonder how worried they are about people going to the doors of people they do not know for face to face confrontations while selling their literature. I mean with all the dogs, apostates, and unfriendly, violent and evil “Worldly” people that are under Satan’s control you would think there would be a concern for their safety, right? Let’s see, I went to my handy-dandy WT-CD and searched for Door-To Door Dangers. Guess how many entries I found in their literature. ONE (1). Yes, just one. And it made some obscure reference to the dangers of preaching in Nazi Germany.

Speaking of Nazi Germany, their Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels made an extraordinary statement.

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”

Let’s see how it looks after my alteration for emphasis of my point…

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the Watchtower Society can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the Watchtower Society to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the Watchtower Society.”

Is Jesus The Mediator Between Men And God?

The Watchtower Society ignores what Paul wrote at 1 Timothy 2:5-6 about how Jesus is teh mediator between men and God. Instead they teach this, "Jesus Christ is not the Mediator between Jehovah God and all mankind. He is the Mediator between his heavenly Father, Jehovah God, and the nation of spiritual Israel, which is limited to only 144,000 members." (Worldwide Security "Under The Prince of Peace" Page 10.

How is it that these men can side-step a Scripture and teach such falsehoods and then get away with it?

It is all about mind control. Most cult groups use thought and information control at some level to gain the trust of their members and to manipulate them. They say it all day long how Jesus is the Mediator between men and God, but they hang onto many elitist and wrong teachings in order to elevate themselves above the rank and file members.

The Watchtower Society TWISTS scriptures and casts its own teachings into the pool of truth to pollute it in order to make their unquestioning devotees actually believe their blasphemous lies. It’s not surprising to me that they would cast Jesus in the role of an attorney. Their second president was an attorney with delusions of Judgeship. They are a legalistic bunch who enjoys making their adherents jump through all sorts of legal hoops for their enjoyment. They are the modern day legalistic Pharisees and are being exposed as such every day. I believe that the internet and access to information is going to be the undoing of their little cult. I pray for them every day so that Jesus will open their eyes and get out of this cult.

Consequently, 1 Timothy 2:5, 6 is not using “mediator” in the broad sense common in many languages. It is not saying that Jesus is a mediator between God and all mankind. Rather, it refers to Christ as legal Mediator (or, “attorney”) of the new covenant, this being the restricted way in which the Bible uses the term. Jesus is also a corresponding ransom for all in that covenant, both Jews and Gentiles, who will receive immortal life in heaven. The apostle John referred to these at 1 John 2:2. But he indicated that others too will receive the benefit of Christ’s sacrifice: “He is a propitiatory sacrifice for our sins, yet not for ours only but also for the whole world’s.” (Watchtower of 8/15/1989 Page 31, Questions From the Readers)

How Effective Are Jehovah's Witnesses In Thier Ministry?

I often hear on the various forums that the JW's are increasing by NINE congregations per day. Claims that over 800 people per day are coming into the cult sounded excessive to me, so I did some research and found out some interesting figures.

From September 2006 to September 2007 the jw's recorded 1,431,761,554 hours in Field Service to recruit new members, yet less than 300,000 were baptized. ! ALMOST A BILLION AND A HALF HOURS IN ONE YEAR! If you average that out, each baptism took 4,800 hours. If you figure that each publisher averages about 10 hours in field service per month it would take 40 years of door knocking to convert just one person.

Apparently there are about 550 New Publishers added every day, not the inflated figures that some jw's ahve been posting online. You would think this is a good growth, but on the back end the wt is hemorrhaging at a rate of 61%. Between 2003 & 2007 there have been 1,315,523 baptisms. But the number of publishers only grew by about 500,000 in the time between 2003 and 2007. What happened to the over 807,779 others? Where are these missing, new jw's?

Another thing about their growth, they claimed a 3.1% increase in their ranks, but they ignore Global Population Growth. Every day about 200,000 people are born but the ranks of the wt only increase by about 550. Every year that the jw's wait for Armageddon, it requires Jehovah to execute another 70,000,000 people. Think about that. When the wt posts figures they rally around false figures to try to make their adherents believe they are doing so well. The figures show anything but that.

Thanks to V for providing the statistics!
http://www.watchtowercomments.com/

My Letter To "The Factor"

I would like to encourage everyone that feels it is a good idea to write to media outlets and their Congressmen about the way the Watchtower uses its tax exempt status to its full advantage but does no charitable work. Below is a letter tthat I wrote to Bill O'Reilly of The Factor.

Dear Mr. O'Reilly,

I want to start off by saying how much I have enjoyed your program over the years and that I am glad that you are not afraid to seek the truth and share it with your audience. It is refreshing to see that integrity still has a place in this world.

I am writing to you to share a bit of interesting information. On ABC, the show called Extreme Makeover Home Edition http://abc.go.com/primetime/xtremehome/index?pn=index, is doing a great thing by building a Fresno family a new home so that the mother, who is severely disabled and is bound to a wheelchair can better care for her family. Here in Fresno, the local paper the Fresno Bee is doing a series of stories about the project and it made note that the woman attends a local Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1117887.html

Jehovah's Witnesses is the marketing arm of the publishing corporation known as The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society which in recent years has been wrapped up in wrongful death suits brought forward by the surviving family of Jehovah's Witnesses who have died because of the Watchtower ban on medical use of blood even in emergency situations. Another touchy area is the out of court settling of several cases where it was proved that the Watchtower Society (WTS) had knowledge of child molestation going on within their congregations and forced the victims to remain silent about the crimes and did not report the crimes to the proper authorities. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21917798/

http://www.silentlambs.org/NationalPresspacket.htm

After learning about this Extreme Makeover episode, it struck me that being part of the Jehovah's Witnesses individuals are discouraged from going on television and indeed having anything to do with what the Watchtower calls Satan's System of Things. The media being a major part of this system. Witnesses are also told to not engage in charitable works by donating either time or money to any worthy causes except to the Watchtower Society. The WTS holds other religions, government, and the media in contempt and feels that associating with any of these groups or engaging in any inter-faith or charitable works is contrary to what the Bible teaches.

As I have researched the WTS I have noted that it enjoys tax free status as a church and is a non profit organization that holds Billions of dollars in assets including huge real estate holdings but does nothing for the communities in which it operates. The WTS does not even have a single program to aid their needy adherents. I find it hypocritical for the WTS to enjoy tax exempt status while doing nothing for the community along the lines of feeding and clothing the poor, offering assistance with healthcare expenses, or even donating money to such causes.

I feel that there is something very wrong when a corporation that purports to be a Christian Church enjoys the privileges of that position and ignores the responsibilities that go along with that position. I would like to hear your opinion on these matters and wonder if you find that looking into them would be worthy of your time and effort.

Thanks for your kind consideration, Mr. O'Reilly.

Lorenzo Gonzales

Jehovah's Witnesses or Ty's Witnesses? Who Truly Helps JW's In Need?

Mary Ann Riojas, a disabled JW is in need of a more habitable home in Fresno. She is wheelchair bound and has no wheelchair access to her home. This amazing woman was born with no legs, one short arm and one normal arm. Of course when one of Jehovah's people is in need the congregation LEAPS into action to help them. Nope, not in this case.

Thank Jehovah for Extreme Home Makeover! Ty Pennington and his crew of volunteers are doing what the watchtower is either unable to do or is unwilling to do. Did I just say a family of Jehovah's Witnesses is going to be helped by a bunch of perverted, homosexual, murdering, sex-loving, worldly people. Not in my words, but I can hear the jw's saying these exact words.

How could the WT allow this to happen? Why is the WT so freaking cheap when it comes to helping people? Do you think this will make a good witness and glorify Jehovah's name, or will it drive another nail into the WT's coffin?

Maybe they should be called Ty Pennington's Witnesses since this humanitarian is doing Jehovah's Work.

Fresno bee Article: http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1117887.html

What It Means To BE A JW...Clarified

An elder in SoCal named Olin made a funny and to the point response to a question at Yahoo Answers. Apparently some JW listed off the Christian things that make a JW. Olin tells it like it actually is.

With his permission

______________________________________________________________

Angelmusic1914 made some statements and I will shine some light onto them.

Love Jehovah God = Obey The Watchtower Society

Love your neighbor = Unless they are not a JW

Love his Son - his representative = Obey the Watchtower Society His Representative

Obey his commandments = Obey the Watchtower Societies Commands

Don't steal = Don't Steal

Don't lie = Use Theocratic Warfare Strategy to mislead and deceive by lying if the person is not worthy of hearing the truth.

Give thanks for what you have = Thank the Watchtower Society by giving them money and free services.

Don't bog yourself down with the inconsequential = Inconsequential is anything not of the Watchtower

Avoid bad associations - drugs, etc = Bad Associations are anyone not a JW.

Don't condone killing - even in wars = Unless the Watchtower says it's ok.

Have respect for life - no abortions = No abortions unless an unwanted pregnancy threatens to dirty the image of the Watchtower

Don't mix the good with the bad - avoid pagan practices = Unless the Watchtower says to. ie wedding rings, Masonic and Egyptian pagan symbols

Find out why Jehovah has you here = Give every waking moment to the Watchtower Society. Mostly money and time preaching.

Find out the future he has planned for the beautiful earth = The wholesale slaughter of nearly 7 Billion ignorant people that are not JWs

Take care of the earth he has provided as your home = Unless the Watchtower farm needs to dig a mine and pollute drinking water

Stay faithful to your mate = Stay faithful to your mate, even if he beats you and molests your kids.

Raise your kids responsibly = No friends who are not JWs, No public School, force them to every meeting and to preach.

Take care of your elderly parents = Unless it interferes with selling magazines

Treat your neighbors fairly and justly = Unless they are not JWs

Pay your taxes and obey the laws = Unless the Watchtower says it violates your conscience

Have a good work ethic - listen to your teachers and bosses = Unless the Watchtower says they are persecuting you.

Be kind to animals = Unless they are chasing you and biting you for knocking on a door that says no soliciting

Support God's kingdom = give everything to the Watchtower society

And that is a CULT in action. Seems pretty logical and evil to me.

Olin Moyle is a Christian. One of Jehovah's Witnesses. An elder no less.

Is The JW New Order All It's Cracked Up To Be?

If we ask what the health situation will be in the JW new world order, many jw's will no doubt chime in and say that there will be no sickness or mistakes made in paradise. This may sound reasonable, but is it really? Honestly, NO MISTAKES? What about injuries? What about accidents? Many of the jw's I have known in my more than forty years in the watchtower believe that we will be immortal, will have super powers of the mind, and have superhuman strength and healing abilities.

I believe that if there is such a new order on its way we will still have need of doctors and firemen and even policemen. Perfection is a relative term. We will have perfection as far as mortal humans go. To nearly-quote the society, we are always subject to death being mortals. If a person chooses to breathe water instead of air, that person WILL drown.

People will have to live within the parameters of human existence. If I’m playing ball and trip and roll down a hill and break my leg, am I to expect Jehovah of Armies, the Great King of the Universe to heal me on the spot? I don't think so. Why? Because He gave us each the ability to heal at a human rate so we could be trusted to be relatively self sufficient and self maintaining and not bog down His day with childishness and redundancies.

What if when I fell I was out of the reach from my friends' ability to rescue me? Why should an angel be sent down to help me when there are human professionals who have it in their ability to save me? Angels are soldiers, messengers, worshipers, and sons of God who have more important issues to attend to than to be perched upon the shoulders of clumsy and dim-witted humans. Sure they love us, but come on, who wants to be tagging along after their kid brother for all eternity?

Sin and peril are always going to be an option if we are to have free will and remain mortals. Jesus came here to die to remove Adamic Death from us. He did not die so we could do as we please and not have consequences to face. Suppose a new child is born 10,000 years into the new order. That child has no idea what our time here was like for the past several thousands of years. He could decide, like Satan, to rebel. Let's say he runs into me as he walks out of a corn crib where he stole a few ears of corn. He panics and decides I need to be silenced. Bang! I am beaned with a shovel and I die.

Do I get resurrected? If so, on what basis? Life will be very cheap if we can go and get resurrected every time something bad happens to one of us. Eventually there will be a "Don't give a shit attitude" about everything and lo and behold Jehovah or Jesus or some anointed heavenly king is working overtime resurrecting dumbasses because they are careless, stupid, or just clumsy.

I believe Jesus when He said there will be no more sickness, or crying or death because things like these that are due to Adamic sin will indeed have passed away. But if I fall and scrape my knees I might still cry tears. If I go to the bathroom and don't wash my hands before I make dinner, someone will get sick and puke. We will be relatively perfect. We will be better than we are now I think, but still subject to the laws of physics, hygiene, and to the health codes.

We all advance, retreat, or stand our ground with the gifts that God gives us. Our personality is made from everything and everyone we encounter in life. How we deal with these things is us or who we are, Human Beings. Whether or not there is a New Order like the one the Watchtower is selling to its adherents or not is not so important as how we treat one another now and how we do all that we can to reach Almighty God in prayer and try to do His Will and live His Truth. In Jesus’ Name.

An Eye Opening Disassociation Letter

I read the following letter and immediately remembered how imposing and judgemental the Watchtower Society and those who follow their teachings really are. It is really amazing to me how the Bible instructs us to approach our brothers in the spirit of love and concern first to try to first ascertain if they are making a mis-step and then if they are to help them to correct their step before contacting another brother or finally the elders with a problem and the people who worship the Watchtower Society go running like paranoid fools to report any hint of an idea of perceived wrongdoing to the body of elders. Below is a letter of disassociation that resulted from such wrong-minded behavior.

________________________________________________________________________________


Thursday 12/25/2008


To the Body of Elders of the M******l W***s congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses,

I wish to state, first of all, that I take no pleasure in writing you this letter. The difficulty I find in stating that which I have felt for many years, is enormous. The only satisfaction I do intend to gain, however, from this episode of my life, is the fact that this deplorable chapter is rapidly coming to an end, and I will finally have peace knowing that I have done the right thing.

In October of this year, while at my place of work, an employee of mine, M*** B****, overheard an inadvertent comment by my director stating that I had “Passed out while giving blood”. This comment did not state the particulars of this supposed giving of blood. It did not differentiate whether or not this was simply an incident of having my blood drawn for testing, or an actual donation of whole blood. Nonetheless, this statement was overheard on a Thursday afternoon at approximately 2:20pm, and had generated a response from your Body by 8:30am of the next morning. This response manifested itself in the form of W***** D**** and H***** M****** waking my wife from a sound sleep, and grilling her for half an hour on my habits. My wife was asked in an accusatory manner whether or not she knew about my donating of blood, and whether or not she was aware that I was intending to give my blood directly to her during an upcoming transplant surgery that she was to undergo. This last question is ludicrous in light of the fact that I had never even allowed this thought to cross my mind due to the fact that our blood types are completely incompatible. I personally, was never approached, either in person or by telephone, and asked about any of these things. Apparently, these things can only be asked of a sick 5’4” housewife, and not her large somewhat ill-tempered husband. The absurd way this situation was handled substantiates my belief that this Body of Elders is more interested in finding fault with me than with helping me.
This incident is the catalyst that has convinced me that I need to make my feelings known once and for all.

(A) The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, through its’ Governing Body, has repeatedly made predictions that have time and again proved to be untrue, while berating Rank and File Jehovah’s Witnesses who have been disappointed when these predictions failed to happen.

(B) This same group has displayed a startling amount of duplicity in it’s dealings with its’ so-called brothers, as displayed in its’ handling of the case of the Mexican military cartilla as opposed to the Malawian political card.

(C) This group forbids the medical use of whole blood while allowing the use of a majority of blood fractions.

(D) This group states that the only good and true hearted people on earth are Jehovah’s Witnesses or those who are about to become Jehovah’s Witnesses.

My feelings towards (A) and (B) are this. A religious group that purports to be the soul channel to God should be fair in its’ dealing. It should readily admit its’ mistakes and beg forgiveness of the people that it is supposed to serve.

As far as (C) is concerned, we have a term for this where I come from…Douchebaggery.

I struggle to find anything that can properly convey my utter disdain for the idiocy that is (D).

And so, I’m left with this. I do not, nor will I ever believe that the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society or any of its’ subsidiary components is the sole channel to any divine being. I do not believe that the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses is a safe one. On the contrary, I believe it to be extremely dangerous. I believe that the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses is a high control cult that damage its’ members severely.
Because of these reasons I wish to no longer be known as a Jehovah’s Witness. I tell you this now, I will worship God, but I refuse to worship an organization.

M*** S******

A link to the original post is here:
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/169611/1.ashx