Chapter 12

NOTE: TO READ THE FULL CONTEXT OF QUOTES CITED CLICK HERE

(John 8:37-39)

He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God." The Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.

You may be wondering why I started with a Bible verse and how this relates to this chapter, or any other chapter for that matter. One word. Red herring, ok that was two. In this chapter, "3W" does his best to sway his readers by setting up a smear campaign. He attacks the character of the people he's trying to refute, over the research and facts they present. This is what the Jews did against Jesus when they couldn't refute his words, they attacked his character hoping that this "demonization" would make his words not relevant. "3W" says Nowadays, most of those former brothers and sisters cannot lower themselves to attend meetings at the Kingdom Hall, because there might be something “spiritually unclean” there — as they are far too oh-so holy to take part. Yet, amongst these supposedly spiritually pure “Christians”, is pure spiritual filth. To cite just one example, the sect's own webmaster and King's closest associate openly promotes the Trinity-based teaching that Jesus' name is Jehovah, and also talks about praying to Jesus. I'm curious if he's aware that generalizations (of people groups) are instruments of propaganda techniques. Even by the standards of the Watchtower. In the 2000 Awake June 22nd pages 4-8 it explains in detail some of the propaganda techniques that people use to get their message across. Under the "generalizations" section it says:

Another very successful tactic of propaganda is generalization. Generalizations tend to obscure important facts about the real issues in question, and they are frequently used to demean entire groups of people. “Gypsies [or immigrants] are thieves” is, for instance, a phrase frequently heard in some European countries. But is that true?

He makes big assertions about former members, but has he personally talked to these people (every one) to know what their true motives for not going to the kingdom hall is? He then goes on to say Also, the sect members have been repeatedly known to lie (like theocratic warfare strategy?) and use abusive and foul language— especially to those who leave the sect. Interesting that he would bring that up. Has he used any abusive language against his opposition? Has he not called people "crackpot" individuals and "apostates" to belittle their cause? Is this not loaded language? Are these not labels to "poison the well" or "throw poop in the punch"? Now back to that Awake article. Another propaganda technique it mentions is "name calling". It says in part:

Some people insult those who disagree with them by questioning character or motives instead of focusing on the facts. Name-calling slaps a negative, easy-to-remember label onto a person, a group, or an idea. The name-caller hopes that the label will stick. If people reject the person or the idea on the basis of the negative label instead of weighing the evidence for themselves, the name-caller’s strategy has worked.

Isn't this what both "3W" and the WBTS have done to people that disagree with them, by calling them names? The WBTS has a history of name calling in order to succor their cause. The most famous word they love to use is "apostate". I can't tell you how many Jehovah's Witnesses I've talked that bring out this red herring "apostate" label when I share information with them from former members. In particular, former "Bethelites". I get the typical "oh he's an apostate, he lies etc" response. I've even had some say that about my own research without them knowing it was mine. They didn't realize that the "he" was me and the quotes were their own literature! For the record I never was a JW so how can I be an apostate? The WBTS has a clever tool to get its members to disregard revealing information that can be very damning. Demonize the person then the message is disregarded. Excellent for damage control I must say.

We are then told Interestingly, when the evidence presented in this work was first published on the Internet, Robert King banned all outside links on his discussion board. He claimed this was to “protect the flock” from links to possible harmful websites. In reality, this was a lie. Isn't this just what the WBTS does with its members too? Under the guise of "child protection" (which is a valid argument to an extent) the WBTS tells its members to use the internet sparingly. They highly control the information its members are to read so they won't be "stumbled". In reality, it's damage control to keep its members from finding out their checkered past. The Governing Body doesn't endorse websites that are not their own. Read below...

Could it be because:

Error always seeks the dark, while truth is always enhanced by light. Error never desires to be investigated. Light always courts a thorough and complete investigation (1920 Millions Now Living Will Never Die pg. 13)

Lastly, if we truly are to bring out character flaws as reasons to disregard a message, then lets examine "thirdwitness" and his debate tactics for a moment. When he was defending his site on "JWN", someone pointed out that his IP address was the same as his ONLY supporter "Oh Happy Day" on the discussion. His response was:

(To view the discussion CLICK HERE)

Sorry to disappoint everyone but I am not ohhappydays nor do I know ohhappyday nor has he or anyone used my computer today except me. I have PMed him and ask him why the ip address is the same. Look at his other posts and you will see how his ip address keeps on changing. This is obviously someone who has the ability to freak the system. Perhaps the administration knows. Or maybe this is a scheme to finally get rid of thirdwitness for his exposing the apostates.

Desperation indeed.