BaruQ
Food for Thinking Jehovah's Witnesses
“‘But you are seeking great things for yourself. Stop seeking such things. For I am about to bring a calamity on all flesh,’ declares Jehovah, ‘and wherever you may go, I will grant you your life as a spoil.’”
Disclaimer: this site does not claim to hold the truth. The reader should be able to exercise good judgment, carefully examining the Scriptures as to whether these things are so. (Acts 17:11)
Robert King (e-watchman)
Watchtower’s PR Dept Brushes Over Child Abuse by Jehovah’s Witnesses
crystal-victim-sexual-abuse-Watchtower-site
The Watchtower has produced a brief melodramatic video of a child abuse victim telling her story. It is a slickly produced public relations movie. It even has some drone footage shot over the beach as happy families frolic.
At first glance one might assume that the Society is trying to help the many victims of sexual abuse who have suffered at the hands of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Not so. This sister, Crystal, was abused before she became acquainted with Jehovah’s Witnesses. And obviously her abuser was not one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The intent of the video is to present the kingdom hall as a safe haven and a place of healing. And no doubt the Christian hope Crystal has embraced and the love of the friends has been a healing for her personally. We are all happy for her. But Crystal is merely being exploited by the Watchtower for its own agenda. The irony is, had Crystal been raised among Jehovah’s Witnesses she may well have been abused by someone in her local congregation. Literally thousands have been. More and more of the ugliness the Watchtower has long-fought to suppress is coming to light. That being undeniably true, why doesn’t the Watchtower put a few of the real victims in front of a camera and let them tell their story? Instead of acknowledging their part in covering over the crimes committed against children in the congregations and offering true healing words to the victims, many of whom have been completely crushed spiritually and want nothing to do with Jehovah, the Watchtower presents itself as the great healer of the abused, without actually addressing any of the grievances brought against the organization and her appointed elders. The message from Bethel to the abused is: Get over it, like Crystal did!
THE IMAGE OF THE WATCHTOWER IS PARAMOUNT
The reason the Watchtower sank so deeply into this morass in the first place is because they wanted to protect the public image of the organization. So, abuse victims were brushed off. They were told to ‘wait on Jehovah.’ They were told not to report the crimes committed against them because it would bring reproach on Jehovah. In other words, the Watchtower was not the least bit concerned about the children. It was all about the image of the organization. And as this callous video presentation demonstrates – nothing has changed. The Governing Body has no interest in setting matters straight, or even trying. They are still airbrushing the Society’s image as the city of holiness and peace. Long ago Jehovah foresaw this development. Speaking to his earthly organization immediately prior to his acting against it, Jehovah said through Zephaniah: “Woe to the rebellious, the polluted, the oppressive city!  She has obeyed no voice; she has accepted no discipline. In Jehovah she has not trusted; she has not drawn near to her God.  Her princes within her are roaring lions. Her judges are wolves in the night; they do not leave even a bone to gnaw until morning. Her prophets are insolent, treacherous men. Her priests defile what is holy; they do violence to the law.  Jehovah is righteous in her midst; he does no wrong. Morning by morning he makes known his judgments, as unfailing as the daylight. But the unrighteous one knows no shame.” As a demonstration of the treacherous nature of her prophets, or those who claim to be the interpreters of prophecy, here is what the Watchtower published in commentary on the passage above:
How well those words fit the situation of Christendom’s prophets and priests today! Insolently, they have removed the divine name from their Bible translations and have taught doctrines that misrepresent the One they claim to worship. 2-15, 2001 WT, para 16
If that is true, if Jehovah’s denunciation in Zephaniah is directed to Christendom, then that means Jehovah’s Witnesses are in the wrong religion. The reason being, the passage clearly states that the offenders are God’s people and that Jehovah is in their midst trying to steer them aright. But they would not listen. No, Zephaniah applies to the leadership of Jehovah’s Witnesses at this moment in time. Besides, which is worse, removing God’s name from the Bible or bringing reproach upon it because of bearing it before the world? It is the Society’s judges who have crushed the downtrodden. It is her Governing Body who have not listened. It is they who boast of abhorring child abuse, but who despise the victims of their child abuse policies. Her anointed priests have violated their holy trust and done violence to the law, the law that stipulates that judges must support oppressed children above all else.  The Watchtower has refused to accept discipline. They have not sought Jehovah nor feared to offend him. What else can Jehovah do? What can we do? Verse eight supplies the answer:
“So keep yourselves in expectation of me,’ declares Jehovah, ‘Until the day when I rise up to take plunder, for my judicial decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out on them my indignation, all my burning anger; for by the fire of my zeal the whole earth will be consumed.”
Zephaniah relates the aftermath of the expression of Jehovah’s rage: “On that day you will not be put to shame because of all your deeds with which you rebelled against me, for then I will remove the haughty boasters from among you; and you will never again be haughty in my holy mountain. I will allow a humble and lowly people to remain in your midst, and they will take refuge in the name of Jehovah. Those remaining of Israel will practice no unrighteousness; they will not speak a lie, nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths; they will feed and lie down, and no one will make them afraid.”
Registration
Sign up to be notified when new articles are posted. If you do not want to give your e-mail address, you can use a temporary e-mail address service, as Yopmail, or create a Gmail address reserved for incoming mail from Baruq.

Featured Posts
Let us examine our beliefs:

the existence of God

If a Christian, and especially a Jehovah's Witness, is asked to provide proof of the existence of God, it is very likely that he will quote verse four of the third chapter of the letter to the Hebrews, "every house is constructed by someone, but the one who constructed all things is God".

The reasoning may be right, nothing came from nothing but everything on earth is due to the will of a designer, it is still good to note that Paul was not trying to argue about the existence of a Creator. He spoke to his Hebrew Christian companions who certainly did not question the fact that the universe was ruled by a powerful being who is behind everything. Moreover, in antiquity the problem was certainly not the non-belief in God but rather the opposite: people tended to believe in a multitude of gods. Furthermore, Paul, on one occasion, noticed that an altar dedicated to an unknown god had been made, certainly for fear of forgetting to revere a deity.

(Continue)
Acalia & Marta
Parables for Our Days (Part 1)
Carl-Bloch-Sermon-on-the-Mount
What do the parables of Jesus have to say to us? Are they related to our days? First, we must identify and understand which of them have a prophetic application. For example, the parable of the prodigal son contains an excellent teaching for us, but is not prophetic, it announces no event! How then to distinguish the types of parabolas? As usual, it is very simple: we will stick to what Jesus Christ Himself said, without adding or taking away. We will limit the interpretations to the only elements that can be derived directly from narratives or other particular and relevant texts. For the rest, we will gladly content ourselves with the Lord's reply: "It does not belong to you to know the times or seasons that the Father has placed in his own jurisdiction" – Acts 1:7
(Continue)

Read the Bible Daily!
Bible Study - by courtesy of pixabay.com
bible.daily.baruq.uk
top of the page
How to comment with Disqus?
The first way to comment is to register in Disqus. If you have no account, click on the Disqus logo and follow the instructions.
You can comment as a guest: check “I’d rather post as a guest” and follow the instructions.
You can sign with your Google, Twitter or Facebook account.
At the moment, comments are not moderate, however, please respect common sense rules and current laws. (Note that moderation may come a posteriori)
This website may use cookies to give you the very best experience. If you continue to visit it, you consent to this - but if you want, you can change your settings in the preferences of your web browser at any time. Please check this page to read our privacy policy and our use of cookies
top of the page