The process of emphasising human authority and the intensifying of human control by means of centralised authority which Rutherford had so ably developed over three decades, was carried along with even greater ability by his successes. Their language progressed beyond the blunt, even openly dictatorial, expressions typical of his presidency. It employed far more sophisticated, complex argumentation and smoother, more appealing speech. Yet it achieved the same degree of intellectual into negation and sought to impose the same sort of guilt complex on any who did not promptly line up with whatever teaching proceeded from the central headquarters in Brooklyn. (In Search of Christian Freedom, 100)
Franz compares this with an analysis of Paul Johnson’s account of the view of the church held by Cyprian in the third century. According to Johnson Cyprian view was that the only unambiguous instruction the Bible contained was to remain faithful to the visible church and debate its rules. Now, sectarian movements such as Jehovah’s Witnesses (and to a certain extent all Protestant denominations) are very fond of decrying the institutional church’s “fall” in the third and fourth centuries, since this for them represented a decline both in terms of individual freedom of interpretation and in terms of moral compromise as the church courted and then married the state, forsaking Christ, her true spouse. In the case of the Watchtower, this decline and fall took only a few decades, rather than the few centuries it took the church.
Although the Watchtower acknowledges that the real ‘mother’ of Christians, to use Cyprian’s terminology, is not an earthly organisation but a heavenly one, the spiritual mother is said to have a "visible channel of communication" or congregation members and that Channel is the earthly organisation. Which, in plain words, means that when "mother" talks it is through the "visible Theocratic organisation" and so if one wishes to listen to the "heavenly mother" he or she must do so by listening to the visible organisation of the Watch Tower Society. In effect then whatever is left of the invisible spiritual heavenly mother becomes applicable to have supposed earthly channel without whose direction members cannot understand the Bible. (101)
The language from the article he quotes at length (Watchtower, May 1, 1957) could have come out of a conservative Catholic polemic against Protestants in the 16th century!
“Some who call themselves Christians and to claim God as their father boasted that they walk with God alone, that he directs their steps personally. Such persons not only forsake the teaching or law of the mother, but they literally throw blogs woman out into the streets. The light of God’s truth is not for them… Today, also, God requires and exacts from his children obedience, honour and respect. These must be rendered not only to the living God himself, but to his wifely organisation as well.” (quoted by Franz on 101-2)
[By the way, doesn’t “his wifely” seem like a slip that implies that God himself is the husband of the church – which orthodox Christianity, contra the Arian JWs, insists is true since the church is the bride of God the Son, second person of the Trinity! Whoops, Watchtower… ; – ) ]
There is more of this in JW publications from 1967, 1976 and 1981… Dissent is of course not tolerateed, either in print or in person - there is no intellectual space for freedom of interpretation or discussion, and in practice extreme sacntions are applied by the organisation to any who demur.
Showing posts with label cults. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cults. Show all posts
Thursday, 13 September 2007
Saturday, 8 September 2007
JWs' unfortunate (lying) prophecies
1799, 1874, 1878, 1881, 1914...
Charles Taze Russell, who had referred to himself as "God's mouthpiece", died in 1916. He left behind a legacy of time prophecies not one of which had brought the results foretold. He also left behind thousands of confused followers (Franz, Crisis of Conscience, p.204).
1918, 1925, early 1940s...
And the Watch Tower continued to make false prophecies about the ending of the current world system, couched in such terms as to brook no disagreement from its adherents, all of which proved false (or, like the book of Mormon, unverifiable, since they referred to the 'invisible' reign of Christ beginning in X year...) In writings subsequent to each of the failed prophecies the organization glossed over its failures, covered them up or toyed with its readers along the lines of 'we weren't trying to say we were sure about that date, just zealous, and anyway look at how it made you all behave so much better thinking the end was nigh' (see Franz, Crisis, 205).
In the years leading up to 1974, 1975 was proclaimed as the big one. Occasionally in speeches a cautionary note would be sounded, but the tone was full of excitement and pregnant with expectation so that the implication of certainty ended up more powerful than bald assertion of certainty would have been - especially for those fed on a diet of Watch Tower and used to doing what they were told. This paragraph is typical - just as it is typical of JW writing style (use of 'Bible' as an adjective, putting a passage to the opposite use from its actual meaning and import, random proof-texting without argumentation, etc.) Conveying its message without properly supporting it, but in a skillful fashion that leaves the desired effect in the mind of the uncritical reader.
One thing is absolutely certain, Bible chronology reinforced with fulfilled Bible prophecy shows that six thousand years of man's existence will soon be up, yes, within this generation! (Matt. 24.34) This is, therefore, no time to be indifferent and complacent. This is not the time to be toying with the words of Jesus that "concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father." (Matt. 24.36) To the contrary, it is a time when one should be keenly aware that the end of this system of things is rapidly coming to its violent end. Make no mistake, it is sufficient that the Father himself knows both the "day and hour". (WT, August 15th, 1968; in Franz, Crisis, 246.)
If only the Watch Tower heeded its own advice and ceased toying with the words of Jesus. The effect on the uncritical JW readers was to make many give up thoughts of marrying, give up their jobs, and generally uproot themselves in preparation for the end. Should we laugh or cry? That's a serious question.
Just in case you were wondering whether the Watch Tower speaks with hand-waving only (or, more charitably, with merely a commendable excess of zeal and enthusiasm), here's a moment of certainty from 1922 frozen in print:
There exist, however, well-established relationships among the dates of present-truth [coining clunky noun-adjectives as usual...] chronology. These internal connections of the dates impart a much greater strength than can be found in other chronologies. Some of them are of so remarkable a character as clearly to indicate that this chronology is not of man, but of God. Being of divine origin and divinely corroborated, present-truth chronology stands in a class by itself, absolutely and unqualifiedly correct. (see Franz, 266)
There are so many examples over the last 100 years of the mocking of those who doubt, of the disfellowshipping of those who demur, of the hearts and minds messed around by these predictions - every one of them false. It's only because the organisation covers its tracks so well (e.g. Russell's works are all conveniently out of print, past mistakes are glossed over, organisational history is rewritten or suppressed) that we don't see more people leaving the Watch Tower. May God grant that more people read Franz's works and go further, to realise what real Christian faith is.
Charles Taze Russell, who had referred to himself as "God's mouthpiece", died in 1916. He left behind a legacy of time prophecies not one of which had brought the results foretold. He also left behind thousands of confused followers (Franz, Crisis of Conscience, p.204).
1918, 1925, early 1940s...
And the Watch Tower continued to make false prophecies about the ending of the current world system, couched in such terms as to brook no disagreement from its adherents, all of which proved false (or, like the book of Mormon, unverifiable, since they referred to the 'invisible' reign of Christ beginning in X year...) In writings subsequent to each of the failed prophecies the organization glossed over its failures, covered them up or toyed with its readers along the lines of 'we weren't trying to say we were sure about that date, just zealous, and anyway look at how it made you all behave so much better thinking the end was nigh' (see Franz, Crisis, 205).
In the years leading up to 1974, 1975 was proclaimed as the big one. Occasionally in speeches a cautionary note would be sounded, but the tone was full of excitement and pregnant with expectation so that the implication of certainty ended up more powerful than bald assertion of certainty would have been - especially for those fed on a diet of Watch Tower and used to doing what they were told. This paragraph is typical - just as it is typical of JW writing style (use of 'Bible' as an adjective, putting a passage to the opposite use from its actual meaning and import, random proof-texting without argumentation, etc.) Conveying its message without properly supporting it, but in a skillful fashion that leaves the desired effect in the mind of the uncritical reader.
One thing is absolutely certain, Bible chronology reinforced with fulfilled Bible prophecy shows that six thousand years of man's existence will soon be up, yes, within this generation! (Matt. 24.34) This is, therefore, no time to be indifferent and complacent. This is not the time to be toying with the words of Jesus that "concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father." (Matt. 24.36) To the contrary, it is a time when one should be keenly aware that the end of this system of things is rapidly coming to its violent end. Make no mistake, it is sufficient that the Father himself knows both the "day and hour". (WT, August 15th, 1968; in Franz, Crisis, 246.)
If only the Watch Tower heeded its own advice and ceased toying with the words of Jesus. The effect on the uncritical JW readers was to make many give up thoughts of marrying, give up their jobs, and generally uproot themselves in preparation for the end. Should we laugh or cry? That's a serious question.
Just in case you were wondering whether the Watch Tower speaks with hand-waving only (or, more charitably, with merely a commendable excess of zeal and enthusiasm), here's a moment of certainty from 1922 frozen in print:
There exist, however, well-established relationships among the dates of present-truth [coining clunky noun-adjectives as usual...] chronology. These internal connections of the dates impart a much greater strength than can be found in other chronologies. Some of them are of so remarkable a character as clearly to indicate that this chronology is not of man, but of God. Being of divine origin and divinely corroborated, present-truth chronology stands in a class by itself, absolutely and unqualifiedly correct. (see Franz, 266)
There are so many examples over the last 100 years of the mocking of those who doubt, of the disfellowshipping of those who demur, of the hearts and minds messed around by these predictions - every one of them false. It's only because the organisation covers its tracks so well (e.g. Russell's works are all conveniently out of print, past mistakes are glossed over, organisational history is rewritten or suppressed) that we don't see more people leaving the Watch Tower. May God grant that more people read Franz's works and go further, to realise what real Christian faith is.
Monday, 3 September 2007
Crisis of Conscience
Crisis of Conscience: The struggle between loyalty to God and loyalty to one's religion (Atlanta: Commentary Press, 1983).
At long last I have got round to reading that book which is advertised on the pages of EN (in that small advert announcing that EN itself has copies available... who bought too many a decade ago, I wonder?!), and mentioned by those in the know about [The] Jehovah's Witnesses.
As it happens, my copy came off Amazon - it's a 4th edition from 2002 (2007 printing, so it looks and feels very good indeed considered as a reading object) in a sober paperback design that reflects the tone of the work but belies its explosive import.
Raymond Franz, formerly of the Governing Body, charts various organizational changes and doctrinal shifts in the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, exposing the remarkable dangers of a top-down controlling sect in compelling understatement and relentless detail. I cannot recommend this book more strongly to anyone who, as I do, feels great pity for those whose consciences, vitality and lives are manipulated, blanketed and extinguished by the Jehovah's Witnesses. Every time they come to our door I regret my failure to persuade them of the falsity of their beliefs and the duplicity of their organisation - even though I know it's not my job to 'save' them, as if I could, and even though I am as irenic as I can be in conversation.
Chapters 5 and 6 are particularly telling. Franz exposes the whitewashing and distortion of organisational history and culture indulged in by the Watchtower Magazine and associated publications, and he also reveals the astounding double standards at work in policy.
Through the 1960s and 70s in Mexico, Witnesses were advised that bribery of government officials was permitted in order to gain de facto exemption of regular military service (even though this technically made the Witness a member of the reserves of the armed forces) while in Malawi [Nyasaland] Witnesses were told that they could not purchase a membership card of the one-party government - which led directly to mob violence, theft, vandalism, rape and murder of thousands of Witnesses. [One thing I have learned that has made a big impression is the incredible hardship that many JWs have undergone for the sake of their beliefs; they have been brutalised by governments and neighbours across the world and have accepted such treatment meekly with remarkable tenacity.] The explicit instructions of the Society are there for all to see. On the one hand moral compromise, on the other callous intransigence: above it all, a tiny group of men in New York dictating the consciences of millions, almost without accountability and certainly without justification even in their distorted translation of the Bible.
The sequel, A Call to Christian Freedom, awaits me in even sturdier hardback in a bookcase upstairs. It was bought from EN at a wonderfully reduced price!
At long last I have got round to reading that book which is advertised on the pages of EN (in that small advert announcing that EN itself has copies available... who bought too many a decade ago, I wonder?!), and mentioned by those in the know about [The] Jehovah's Witnesses.
As it happens, my copy came off Amazon - it's a 4th edition from 2002 (2007 printing, so it looks and feels very good indeed considered as a reading object) in a sober paperback design that reflects the tone of the work but belies its explosive import.
Raymond Franz, formerly of the Governing Body, charts various organizational changes and doctrinal shifts in the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, exposing the remarkable dangers of a top-down controlling sect in compelling understatement and relentless detail. I cannot recommend this book more strongly to anyone who, as I do, feels great pity for those whose consciences, vitality and lives are manipulated, blanketed and extinguished by the Jehovah's Witnesses. Every time they come to our door I regret my failure to persuade them of the falsity of their beliefs and the duplicity of their organisation - even though I know it's not my job to 'save' them, as if I could, and even though I am as irenic as I can be in conversation.
Chapters 5 and 6 are particularly telling. Franz exposes the whitewashing and distortion of organisational history and culture indulged in by the Watchtower Magazine and associated publications, and he also reveals the astounding double standards at work in policy.
Through the 1960s and 70s in Mexico, Witnesses were advised that bribery of government officials was permitted in order to gain de facto exemption of regular military service (even though this technically made the Witness a member of the reserves of the armed forces) while in Malawi [Nyasaland] Witnesses were told that they could not purchase a membership card of the one-party government - which led directly to mob violence, theft, vandalism, rape and murder of thousands of Witnesses. [One thing I have learned that has made a big impression is the incredible hardship that many JWs have undergone for the sake of their beliefs; they have been brutalised by governments and neighbours across the world and have accepted such treatment meekly with remarkable tenacity.] The explicit instructions of the Society are there for all to see. On the one hand moral compromise, on the other callous intransigence: above it all, a tiny group of men in New York dictating the consciences of millions, almost without accountability and certainly without justification even in their distorted translation of the Bible.
The sequel, A Call to Christian Freedom, awaits me in even sturdier hardback in a bookcase upstairs. It was bought from EN at a wonderfully reduced price!
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