Watchtower
Society
Embraces
the Internet
B J Kotwall
(Investigator 54, 1997 May)
After
downplaying the
usefulness of computers
and condemning the Internet and electronic Bulletin Boards as a place
for
pornography, and a "moral minefield", the Watchtower Society (WTS) came
on the Internet this year with their own web site!
The following
from the
WTS's publications
indicates what they think of the Internet and Electronic Bulletin
Boards:
Modern
computers have
opened other avenues
to bad association. Some commercial firms enable subscribers using a
computer
and a telephone to send a message to electronic bulletin boards; a person
can thus post on the bulletin board a message that is open to all
subscribers.
This has led to so-called electronic debates on religious matters. A
Christian
might be drawn into such debates and may spend many hours with an apostate
thinker who may have been disfellowshipped from the congregation.
(The
Watchtower 1993
August 1, p. 17)
Maintaining a
Balanced
View of Computer Technology:
Technology has been hailed as a great saver of time. For example, at
the
click of a computer button, a user can instantly access huge amounts of
information. Computers can often do in seconds what would have taken
hours
or weeks to do by other means. When properly used they are a helpful
tool.
Will It Really
Save Time?:
On the other hand,
such technology does not come to the user without substantial costs –
both
in money and in time. Hours may be required to learn how to make the computer
do some tasks. Moreover, a person who becomes intrigued with the
technology
itself may consume time that could be better spent...
Other Serious
Pitfalls: As
outlined on page
17 of the August 1, 1993, issue of The Watchtower
connecting a
computer
to an electronic bulletin board can open the way to serious spiritual
dangers.
Just as an unscrupulous individual can place on a bulletin board a
virus
– a program designed to corrupt and destroy computer files – apostates,
clergymen, and persons seeking to corrupt others morally or otherwise
can
freely place their poisonous ideas on bulletin boards. Unless a
bulletin
board, even one labeled "JW Only," is properly supervised, with its use
being limited to those who are mature, faithful servants of Jehovah, it
could expose Christian users to "bad associations." (1 Cor. 15:33)
The Society has
received
reports that such
so-called private networks have been used not only to speculate
regarding
spiritual matters but also to give bad advice, spread gossip and false
information, plant negative ideas, raise questions and doubts that
subvert
the faith of some, and disseminate private interpretations of
Scripture.
On the surface, some information may appear to be interesting and
informative,
and yet it may be laced with poisonous elements... Computer networks
extend
worldwide and can bring unlimited valuable information into the home or
workplace. They offer much- needed services to businesses and
organizations
as well as to individuals who need to keep pace with personal or
business
interests in the fast-moving society in which we live. At the same
time,
computer networks are plagued with problems such as pornography,
divisive
hate propaganda, and detailed information on how to perform vile and
wicked
deeds.
(Kingdom
Ministry 1995
September pp. 5-6)
As Australian
schools
connect up to the Internet
global information network, they are also linking up to what amounts to
a moral minefield. According to The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper,
they can access "X-rated photos of nude children, orgies, video clips
from
on-line brothels, a 'bill of rights' for people wishing to have sex
with
animals and information on how to join a masturbation
'chat-line.'"
The article adds: "Passwords or proof of age were not required – just
an
ordinary dial-up connection." (Awake! 1995 November 8 p. 29)
The reason the WTS
has
decided to jump on the
Internet bandwagon is that there is tremendous activity on the Internet
by religious groups and the WTS realized they were being left out. Time
Magazine did a
cover story on
religion on the Internet last December in which it stated that:
The signs of
online
religious activity
are everywhere...everyone from Lutherans to Tibetan Buddhists now has a
home page... The Internet is exploding and the church has got to be
there...
It's a message other churches ignore at their peril. (pp. 74-75)
Obviously
WTS saw
"their peril" and embraced
the Internet!
The site of the
WTS is
presently somewhat
plain and almost simplistic as compared to other religion sites that
are
"crammed with technological bells and whistles" as Time
magazine
puts it. No e-mail address has been provided by the WTS as they would
invariably
receive a barrage of criticisms. They have taken the coward's way out.
The web site of
the WTS
has its URL as: http://www.watchtower.org.
This site remained blank for quite some time. Recently the WTS placed
some
material on it. Following are some examples:
Falsification
of WTS's
History
Awake!
magazine of
August 22, 1995
carried a cover page article titled The Holocaust Who Spoke Out?,
which is now reproduced on the WTS's web site.
After the
appearance of
the article in Awake!
Historian James Penton wrote an Open Letter to the president of WTS,
which
was reproduced on one of the sites on the Internet. The letter accused
WTS of a "cover up of the most dishonest sort" for claiming that WTS,
in
Germany, were not guilty of compromising with the Third Reich and
Nazism.
Prof. Penton provided proof of the compromise of the American leaders
of
the WTS, particularly their second president J F Rutherford, who were
directly
responsible of outright anti-Semitism and the WTS willingness to
compromise
their so-called "Christian neutrality", so that the WTS could continue
to operate in Germany. Written proof was provided by Prof. Penton by
sending
to the WTS a copy of the original Declaration in German written to the
Nazis by the WTS.
This Declaration
was
published by the WTS
in their Yearbook of 1934 in both English and German. Prof.
Penton
said in his Open Letter:
...the
leadership of
Jehovah's Witnesses
of that time attempted to commit what amounted to spiritual whoredom
with
the Third Reich in the fashion of the two sisters, Oholah and Oholibah
of Ezekiel 23...
Despite this
expose of
falsification
of history the WTS has reproduced the dishonest Awake! article
on
their web site.
Blood
Transfusions
An article
titled Medical
Care and Blood
is on the WTS site. The article is a re-hash of arguments about why
Jehovah's
Witnesses should refuse blood transfusions. The WTS's arguments are of
the sort exposed in Investigator Nos. 8, 10, 12, and 22.
The article on
the site
does not inform about
the inconsistent stand by the WTS in allowing some components of blood
and disallowing others. The WTS allows "a small amount of blood
derivatives".
(The Watchtower 1978 June 15 pp. 30-31; 1990 June 1 p. 30) They have
also
not told JWs what constitutes a small amount or component. Moreover, as
shown in Investigator No. 22 the fraction size criteria has no
meaning
when enormous use of blood is required to keep, for example, a
hemophiliac
alive.
Permitted blood
products
and procedures allowed
by the WTS are:
albumin,
immunoglobulins, hemophiliac preparations,
and the use of uninterrupted blood diversion and treatment of blood by
dialysis machines.
Those not
permitted are:
whole blood, white
blood cells (leukocytes), red blood cells (erythrocytes), plasma,
platelets
(thrombocytes) and pre-storage of own blood for subsequent transfusion.
In using blood
derivatives
JWs use a country's
precious supply of blood but refuse to donate any.
The WTS has
woven a
tangled web. Their stance
on blood is in shambles. But innocent lives continue to be lost.
WTS's Trinity
Booklet
The web site has
the WTSs
infamous booklet
titled Should You Believe In The Trinity? This booklet has only
31 pages but perhaps contains more shoddy research per page then any
other
WTS publication!
Authors and
publications
quoted in the booklet
are misrepresented by partial quotes and misquotes. The complete source
of their quotations i.e. page number, edition etc. is not provided so
that
readers find difficulty in verifying the quotations.
Angel Arellano
who has
written a 300-page
refutation of the WTS's booklet titled Exposing "Should You Believe
In The Trinity?" has made a very pertinent statement. He asks "Why
would an organization deliberately misrepresent information in
order
to disprove a teaching that they consider false?"
It is amazing
that the WTS
states in the
above extract from the Kingdom Ministry that private networks
"speculate
regarding spiritual matters", "give bad advice", "spread false
information",
"plant negative ideas", "raise questions and doubts that subvert the
faith",
"disseminate private interpretations of Scriptures" and use "divisive
hate
propaganda".
The WTS itself
is guilty
of all of these
shameful acts!
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