By now I’ve written a number of articles about Watchtower, but it’s been a while since I’ve written anything addressing the organization directly.
A recent development, however, has moved me to write my former religious leaders a sincere open letter of gratitude, as follows…
Dear Watchtower,
As you may know, I am a passionate advocate against the damage you are inflicting on countless current and former Witnesses with your profoundly harmful policies on child abuse, shunning, higher education, domestic violence and blood transfusions.
I certainly don’t expect you to help me with my work of raising awareness of your dangerous, cult-like attributes – so whenever you do assist me in this respect I feel duty-bound to express my gratitude.
As you know, you recently lodged a copyright takedown request with YouTube for one of my “Getting To Know” videos featuring Tony Morris’ first rant about tight pants during his branch visit in Rome.
Oh, you know! The one where he scolded his audience saying “you chuckle, I don’t think it’s funny, I think it’s DISGUSTING!”
The video against which you so vehemently protested was a shortened version of the video below, minus the hilarious skit at the end with Will Ferrell and Jimmy Fallon…
It goes without saying that by issuing a copyright takedown request for this video, you are both (1) claiming ownership of its outrageous content (I assume on Tony’s behalf), and (2) showing the world that, like any good cult, you will move mountains to censor any information that makes you look bad – even if it originates from you.
I honestly couldn’t be more profoundly appreciative, and hence I will not be challenging your copyright claim – even though my video quite clearly falls under the “fair use” laws.
Besides, I set up the separate “JW Survey” channel precisely to shelter my John Cedars channel from this sort of petty, retaliatory action from you (which I have already experienced two years ago for uploading a song about Sparlock).
So, despite getting a strike against my back-up YouTube account, I can honestly say there is no real harm done.
On the contrary, you have done me a huge favor by showing the world how litigious, surreptitious, banal, cowardly, and ashamed of your own paranoid rantings you are despite being “God’s one true organization.” Readers of this website who would be otherwise ready to leap to your defense will have a hard time imagining Jesus filing a copyright complaint against someone for repeating his own words.
Far from it, Jesus (who you claim to be head of your organization), was apparently only too happy to take responsibility for his own words and own up to them because, as he put it, “I have not spoken of my own initiative, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak.” (John 12:49, New World Translation)
If you were truly “God’s organization” issuing life-saving proclamations through the holy spirit’s guidance and direction, you would be delighted that I am assisting you by spreading the words of one of the few members of your revered “faithful slave,” no matter how controversial these words might be.
Instead, your clearly-demonstrated desperation to conceal your own words (because you know full well they expose how backwards and deluded one of your leaders is) speaks volumes.
You are doing my work for me, and I can’t thank you enough!
I would also like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude that you have not sacked or disfellowshipped Tony Morris, as I once feared you might.
If the Governing Body had done this, it would have sent a clear message to all Witnesses globally that it takes its responsibility to be “faithful and discreet” very seriously, and will not tolerate one of its members laying down arbitrary rules without basing anything on the scriptures – behavior it is happy to denounce as “Pharisaical” when observed in other religions.
The fact that you have kept Tony Morris in his position despite his embarrassingly inappropriate rant against clothing (at such a prestigious event as a branch visit in front of more than 1 million Witnesses) again shows thinking Witnesses the true nature of your organization.
Your leaders are deluded and arrogant, drunk with their own power, and you are powerless to prevent them from “making an ass” of themselves (to quote Rutherford) – especially as their lust for prominence seems boundless. All you can do is mop up the damage afterwards and try to keep things hushed up.
And don’t think the fact Tony’s talk didn’t make the cut on JW Broadcasting’s “Programs and Events” page hasn’t gone unnoticed either.
So, thank you Watchtower. I really mean it!
Without your bumbling incompetence you would be a worthy adversary. Instead you’re proving something of a pushover. Every time you shoot yourself in the foot like this, you make my activism work far more easy and enjoyable.
Your grateful opponent,
Another INJUSTICE.!!Billions will DIE at ARMAGEDDON!! Except JWs and Billions will be r
RESURRECTED and that includes any who Die ONE MINUTE or ONE SECOND before Great Tribulation starts but if you are Alive ONE SECOND after the Great Tribulation starts and not one of the 8 Million Baptised JWs then 7 Billion yes 7 Billion Men,women & children massacred. There is NO LOGIC to this teaching or JUSTICE or LOVE! Unless Rutherford who first introduced this New Light because Russell never taught this ,Maybe we will get NEW LIGHT on this Doctrine?????
The Faithful Slave in 1919 was stated as being Russell in Watchtowers& books I.e Finished Mysterybook.But then it was 144000 from 1927 to 2013 then HEY PRESTO!! Bunny out of Hat!! Faithful Slave now 7 men in New York aka Governing Body!! This is the Rantings of IMBECILES how can JESUS or Even the Faithful Slave get it wrong so many times IF They are providing Food at PROPER TIME!!
@Pickled brain and if you are fortunate enough to make it through Armageddon, you will have to make it another thousand years with no doctors to take care of you even though you don’t reach perfection till the end of the thousand years without sinning and then maybe, just maybe, you might get to pass the last test when Satan will be let loose out of the abyss to mislead the nations all over again and then maybe, just maybe you might pass that final test and then you will get to live forever. But if we were one of the annointed, we don’t have to go through all that to get everlasting life. All we have to do is die now before Armageddon. Boy, it’s so simple.
Oh, my gosh!!! I forgot that, what’s really going to happen because Stephen Lett said what’s going to happen at the annual meeting, is that there’s only one Armageddon, with just a different name. So, then is Satan in the abyss right now??? But then, that can’t be true because he’s been thrown down from heaven in 1914 to mislead the nations and we are living in the “last days” and I don’t remember the Society saying that Satan has been in the abyss yet and I don’t remember them saying that the Great Tribulation has started yet either.
I am just so confused. I guess I am just too stupid to get it. I must let the Faithful and Discreet slave explain it to me. Oh, my gosh, I forgot, the July 2013 Watchtower said that the Faithful and Discreet hasn’t been appointed yet and won’t be until the Great Tribulation. Just what is the Great Tribulation anyway???? Is it Armageddon???? When is the United Nations going to turn on religion???? That’s what’s going to happen because the Governing Body said that is what is going to happen, right? and they get all that info directly from God, right and they are anointed. Oh wait, they said they aren’t inspired, just God spirit directed. What does that mean anyway???? Does that mean that they hear directly from God??? But wait if they hear directly from God, then why would God ever have to change his mind and give us new light??? I think my head is going to explode. I will have to disengage and let the Society do my thinking for me. It’s so much easier than having to think!!!
Bravo and amen.
@Ted
As a human and christian I do share same sentiments about the scriptures you listed.And have a hard time to understand them.Every christian religion JW include has some explanation for this bible passages.I’m not to shy admit that this is one of the grey areas where my understanding and comprehension is limited and I’m afraid I can’t offer answer which can satisfy you or others.I see it as a zone where I can only use only my faith in God’s judgment and his reasoning. If humans governments or their fragments feel authorized & justify to wage many of their wars as wars against atrocities as wars for the sake of democracy,human rights,war again terrorism etc….And they perceive this wars as just wars.
I do not see reasonable grounds exclude or to take away this right “to wage divine or just war” from the supreme being of all universe.
I’m not God and can’t see to his mind I’m do read same book as rest of the Christians.So if I want to escape this premise than I have to abandon my faith that Bible cannon as I know is truthful or which parts I will accept and which I will refuse.Or will I give up on whole Bible or thus on my faith or….Etc.
So as much I struggle which this or such passages of old testament I relay on my faith.I wish I could give you the answer which can satisfy your intellectual-spiritual needs but I’m aware that I can’t.This is just example that I’m just human nothing else just human with limited perception ,understanding I don’t see the whole picture Ted sorry.
peace & love
I was having a conversation with a psychopath a number of years ago. He was seriously aggressive and had spent many years in prison.
He said to me, “I don’t believe in God”, I said to him, ” No, but, you believe in the Devil don’t you?”
He nodded, smiled and bought me a pint, and I thought phew that was close. I kid you not.
@Anonymous. Everything you say in your last two comments is so true.In OTHER WORDS IF A JW HAS A BRAIN & USES IT HE or SHE will not remain a JW otherwise they will live a LIE maybe staying a JW because of FEAR of LOSING FRIENDS & a FAMILY.
When this man walked into the bar, all the so called “tough people” moved. I didn’t.
He’d recently been released from prison and was caring for his mother, who had dementia, and he was determined to release steam.
Ended up, me and this guy in the pub, no homosexual tendencies included, dancing and having a laugh.
Rather than, does God exist, does the Devil?
He happened to a really decent guy.
Could you imagine, the guy from the last jw video, finger wagging in his face? Gulp.
@Anonymous. I think JEHOVAH is NOT IMPARTIAL!!! Even within ISRAEL because if you were NOT A KING or Not in the MESSIANIC Genealogical Line leading to Christ and you committed ADULTERY or MURDER you would be Stoned to Death but if your Name is David or Solomon not just Ordinary Joe Bloggs(English terminology) then FINE!!! No STONING to Death Even though David was a practiser of Sin by committing Adultery even though He Had SIX WIVES Yes SIX when Bathsheba came on the scene & then he tried to hide the SIN by MURDER of her Husband Uriah!!! Jehovah tolerated Polygamy for MEN but Women couldn’t have 6 husbands.Jehovah is SEXIST.Men could divorce women but women couldn’t divorce men!!
When I observe the world, and the suffering in it, the religious corruption and the killing of innocents, it’s hard to deny that the Devil exists.
Don’t Get Me Started on King SOLOMON!!!! 300 WIVES & 700 Concubines!! Poor Bloke must have been worn out!! But HYPROCISY again if you were an ordinary Jew you would have been STONED to DEATH for IDOLATRY!But not Precious King Solomon who was in the Messianic Line(PARTIALITY by Jehovah) .Solomon bowed down to False Gods at the end of his life because his foreign wives he loved more & they influenced Solomon!!One Law for the Rich & Powerful Kings ,Another for the ordinary man in the street in Israel!!!
Maybe, pickled brain, if Solomon prefigured Christ, it could relate to Christ having 144000 wives. Maybe David was punished, maybe no one threw a stone. Not for me to say.
@Anonymous. when you Analyse the Bible there are different Types of JUSTICE on Behalf of JEHOVAH.as you can see from my above comments.Anyone remember the Aid to Bible Understanding large light blue book before Insight Volumes. In it OLD LIGHT of each Creative Day of 7000 years .Now that has been ADJUSTED to could be tens of thousands or maybe Aeons in one newer Society publication.Aeons means millions of years.But why did it CHANGE because 6000 years from Adams birth(4026 b.c) comes to 1975!!!! then 1000 year Kingdom rule = 7000 years = the last CREATIVE Day. Once 1976 came that teaching was changed to Creative days NEW LIGHT. compare the two books (Aid book & Insight books) The Governing body change their interpretations when time runs out for example The GENERATION which was 70 or 80 years but changed in 1994 to contemporary general of wicked people then in 2010 to OVERLAPPING Generation!! Please oh Please Save our CHILDREN from Being Baptised & wasting their Lives & Futures from Sacrificing to this Organisation!!
All I’m concentrating on are the abuses of the Watchtower Society.
@Gary. I like your comments.Quite entertaining at times.Lucky Christ -144000 wives??? On Second thoughts Maybe Not. !!
The sentence in the Creative Days comment should have read ‘Contemporary Generation of Wicked People ‘
@gary on, You Say “When I observe the world, and the suffering in it, the religious corruption and the killing of innocents, it’s hard to deny that the Devil exists.”
It seems You are lazy… Ask yourself why a lion Will not hesitate to kill leopard’s or hyena’s cubs without hésitation… Dors the Devil oparates from animals, too?
in your opinion, do JWs commit fornication because of the Devils or HORMONES like Testosterones and estrogènes… Remove those hormones from them they Will sin anymore…
Surely arguing against the existence of God and or questioning his/her morals closes the minds of those that this website seeks to open, having this sort of debate gives the Watchtower Society the ammunition it requires,
I believe, as I am “lazy”, that animals do not have a conscience.
As for Jw committing fornication, I can not answer for another person’s actions/morals.
NOW at the AGM 2014 NEW LIGHT on Gog & Magog !! Was Satan for the last 100 years!! Now no longer Satan. Also New Light on Wise & Foolish Virgins Parable & the Talent Parsble With all this New Light ,Where are My Sunglasses I am going to be BLINDED!! We had a circuit overseer recently give a talk on this New Light !He said from the Outline that THESE ARE ADJUSTMENTS not CHANGES. he spent half an hour explaining the meaning of Adjustments!!! Please read 1984 by George Orwell !!!this IS MIND MANIPULATION & Quite FRIGHTENING that any HUMAN can sit there and Accept all this & give so much time ,energy & money to this Claptrap!But I was fortunate not LUCKY (devilish word) to have had a very good education before I got the truth in my 20s & I studied modern history & Dictators such as Stalin,Hitler & Mao in China.People died in their millions & worshipped these men & believed every word they uttered.Shows you HOW GULLIBLE the human mind can be without proper Education & Analysis.Thats why Governing Body doesn’t want their YOUNG ONES to go on to higher education.Get them baptised at 11,12,13,14 then TRAPPED into Organisation because of Family & friends.Jesus wasn’t Baptised until 30.Jesus is meant to BE OUR MODEL & EXEMPLAR ad Apostle Peter said .So GOVERNING BODY! WHATS THE HURRY!!
@Pickled brain.
Yesterday, I had a one hour and fifteen minute visit from 2 of the brothers from my hall. I know they love me. I worked in service with them for years and I know they love God with all their heart, soul and strength. They came to “help” me but they let me talk and talk and talk and there was not one thing that I either told them or showed them out of the Bible that phased them.
I could tell them that God kills babies wholesale and it wouldn’t phase them. I call that demonic mind control.
When the one brother was saying how he has examined our religion and came to the conclusion that it’s God’s organization, I said, “no I don’t believe that”. Then he got upset and accused me that I couldn’t possibly know what he has done and it was arrogant to say something like that because he insisted he has examined his religion.
Now I understand from Steve Hassan’s book about combatting mind control, why it costs about $30,000 to kidnap a cult control victim to “deprogram” them.
The Bible is correct when it says that the devil has blinded the minds of the unbelievers. I didn’t expect them to “convert” to my way of thinking in that short of time, and I went into it realizing that that would be the case.
I sure wished I knew the “magic” bullet that could catch their attention that they are being manipulated by a higher power and it isn’t God.
@Man from the lions pit,
from what I Read from You, You better consult a psychiatrist… You are completely confused… As a human as You Say You have limite in resoning… So, why a living god would write things You cannot understand and appoint crooks in Crooklyn to help You understand..
@gary on, humans as dogs, horses, sheep, … Are animale (mammals)… Testostérones and estrogènes govern their sexual activities, the same in humans like JWs… No “Devil” influences their morale.
The god You believes regrets having created humans not the “Devil” (Genesis 6:6)!!
First of all the scripture you quote is out of context. If your saying that it’s a matter of testosterone and not morals, explain it to your partner. And, dead straight, don’t presume to tell what, and, if what God I serve. Had enough of that with the Watchtower.
I don’t think it’s right to personally attack anyone for what they believe or don’t believe.
I consider that as religious intolerance.
If this site has become religiously intolerant I can no longer post comments as it would be no better than Watchtower Society.
No offence is offered and no apologies made. Chow.
@Gary It always amuses me when people profess their belief in the existence of Satan but not god. They are both intertwined in the same religious dogma. Can’t have Satan w/o god. Always humorous to see the look on their face as they struggle for a logical retort. Personally, I don’t care what they choose to believe in as long as they don’t try to convert me.
@anonymous I wish I could talk to you one on one to share my experiences. Please understand you are not dealing w/ rational people when having conversations w/ jw’s. I do believe there are good people in the org (we were all there once, as well as Cedars!), however, they are very much brainwashed. I like to call them “pod people”. Their bodies look like people you know, but their brains don’t belong to them! There is no rationalization in the world that will get thru to them. Don’t think you should trust them or think of them as your friends. At this point they couldn’t be your friends if they wanted to. As pod people they are just programmed to take over more brains.
Thanks to all for the wonderfully kind comments.
@ Man from lions pit, Thanks for your honest and straightforward
answer. It’s not wrong to have doubts, or ask questions, if the
motive is good. I wish you well in your search for truth.
@Gary, If one or more people have offended you, Please don’t
deprive the rest of us of your comments. It would be a big loss
to us, P.S, hope I’m not one of the offenders.
@Pickled Brain, thanks for your encouragement to everyone
it’s welcome, we all need it.
@Anonymous. I know what you mean about your visit from the brothers .They mean well& are really nice people.I have loved& grown close to many over the years BUT as soon as you QUESTION Anything The HOSTILITY begins & Shunning if you dare to QUESTION The POPES of Brooklyn even though they can FLIP FLOP their way through scriptures LIKE A BAT OUT OF HELL!! I feel a NEW SONG coming on. ! the SONG of 144,000 BATS!! The Ancient Boreans searched the Scriptures daily when faced with the Apostle Paul ! john at 1John4v1,2 says TEST every INSPIRED EXPRESSION!!’ The Governing Body don’t even claim to be INSPIRED but Oh yes ! SPIRIT DIRECTED!!’ So even more so we should Test What They say !’If we don’t but submissively be too scared to Test them we are Going against The Scriptures !
@Shanti, I love the description “pod people”. That explains them perfectly. They all look like people and even talk like people, but there’s a thinking person missing inside that shell. I didn’t see it before I “woke” up, but I sure can see it now. It’s called cognitive dissonance.
I looked that up in wikipedia and they come under the category where their brains can only handle so much and then their brains close up. If I ever get a chance to talk to them again, I will try and explain how that works when it comes to us. They understand that Catholics have cognitive dissonance when it comes to Mary in that they believe she was a virgin her whole life, even though in their own Bibles, it says Jesus had brothers and sisters.
When Catholics see that in their Bibles, their brains can’t comprehend that. Their brains skip over that because they can’t handle the dissonance so they see only what they want to see, the same as Witnesses don’t see in the bible when Thomas wanted to see the holes in Jesus hands where the “nails” were.
JW’s see only what they want to see because their brains can’t handle the obvious discrepancies from what the Bible really says and what they have been led to believe the Bible says, their entire lives.
That is their way of handling those discrepancies without going mad. If they did allow their brains to comprehend what they actually see what is really in the Bible, they’d have to come to the realization that they as well as their entire support system have wasted their lives on a false religion so they dismiss the obvious.
That is where we are all at who comment on the web site but we survived it and so can they but it takes a great deal of time for it to “sink” in.
@ anonymous ,@Ted,Shanti & others
I think I will stop commenting or replaying for now for simple reason the reply button,link doesn’t work and all the comments which we meant as personal replay are placed at the end of discussion so this conversation can be tract properly because of this technical glitch ,sorry if I missed some replays hope somebody can fixed asap,thanks!
peace&love
Did any of you notice the blatant use of misinformation in the recent article on Christmas in the December 2014 Watchtower? “When we give or receive Christmas gifts, and hang green wreaths in our homes and churches, how many of us know that we are probably observing pagan customs?”—The Externals of the Catholic Church.
The article continues (on page 208) “…We do not wish to assert that they are not good customs; but they undoubtedly prevailed long before Christian times.”
It concludes with these words, “The ‘Joy to all the people’ which was announced to the Shepherds on the night of Christ’s Birth pours over into our social and civil life. Although many of our domestic Christian customs are pagan in origin, they have been christianized at least in so far as they promote a spirit of Christlike love of neighbor and bespeak ‘peace to men of good will.’” What lengths will the Society go to to distort the true meaning of Christmas?
@Anonymous.Excuse my ramblings in my last comment.You ask for a ‘MAGIC BULLET that will wake JWs up.The ANSWER lies in each person is an individual & what ISSUE wakes one person up will be different to each person! Ask Viewpoint Questions then Leading Questions just like Jesus did & what I was taught at Pioneer School!! A JW mother might be concerned with CHILD ABUSE Cover up .All Organisations have it but the Lengths the Governing Body have gone to by Paying Millions in compensation to shut Victims up or worse to NOT ALERT Parents that there is a Criminal in their midst!! A well Educated Jw might be concerned with The History of the Organisation & a Failure of Prophecy e.g. The Lies & Drivel& Stupidity of The Finished Mysterybook by Russell .This was the only book along with the 6 other Studies in the Scripture series which were available in 1919 .If these are read & Analysed .No way could Jesus say this was Food at the Proper Time!! So listen carefully to the person you are trying to help,ask questions,show warmth & genuine concern.There will be something each JW will have doubts about!
@James Broughton, this is What Does the Bible Really Teach on page 159 paragraph 15:
Maybe you feel that the origins of holidays have little to do with how they are celebrated today. Do origins really matter: Yes! To illustrate: Suppose you saw a piece of candy lying in the gutter. Would you pick up that candy and eat it? Of course not! That candy is unclean. Like that candy, holidays may seem sweet, but they have been picked up from unclean places. To take a stand for true worship, we need to have a viewpoint like that of the prophet Isaiah, who told true worshippers: “Touch, nothing unclean.” Isaiah 52:11″
This is what the Awake Sept. 22, 2003 article said about Pinatas on page 23:
“We found that for many people in Mexico, the pinata has lost its religious significance and is considered by most to be just harmless fun….A main concern is, not what the practice meant hundreds of years ago, but how it is viewed today in your area. Understandably, opinions may vary from one place to another. Hence, it is wise to avoid turning such matters into big issues. The Bible says: “Let each one keep seeking not his own advantage, but that of the other person.” 1 Corinthians 10:24.”
@Pickled brain. One of the elders has a daughter who is about 6 years old and it is his only child and he loves her so much so I tried appealing to him by telling him that when she grows up and if she should lose faith in God or the Bible, he is supposed to “hate” her. I told him that over and over again and how he reasoned on it was that if that should happen and she gets disfellowshipped for it, that it’s “loving of Jehovah to discipline her by doing that”. I am not kidding. You would think if any kind of reasoning ability would come to a father like that, he would have to think about it like this: When she grows up, she will not be allowed to lose faith in God or I will hater her???? She will not be allowed to tell me anything that I don’t want to hear or else I will hate her?????
I am 100% positive that that thought does not occur to him to question that!!!
@Shanti. You are right JW are pod people trained to take over more brains.It is a bit like a PYRAMID SCHEME. & is ADDICTIVE.The more Bible Studies you get The MORE PRAISE you GET .The more people you get Baptised the more you are used on the Platform at Kingdom Hall,Assemblies Conventions,etc. Then More Praise you get.It is like A DRUG ADDICT who is looking for the NEXT HIGH. But like addicts there is Burnout & Exhaustion from THE Never Ending Treadmill.I know at least 11 Pioneers who are no longer in the TRUTH. Gone from doing 90 hours(it was in my day) a month to One Big Zero.!!! There are a LOT of Emotionally DAMAGED people who become Pioneers who crave the attention & yes respect & even Adulation. !!
Pod People – Invasion of the Body Snatchers, movies 1956, 1978, based on the novel.
Look it up. Have a good laugh. But I do think the author must have delt w/ jw’s!!