A Bible Account that Trips Over Itself.

See if you can find the hidden meaning in this Bible Story. It’s from The American Standard Version, 1 Kings, Chapter 17 and 18. It’s some what long, but if you believe in the Bible, you need to read this.

17:8 And the word of Jehovah came unto him, saying, 17:9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Sidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain thee. The widow lives at the base of the great cliff of Zarephath. 17:10 So he arose and went to Zarephath; and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. 17:11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand. 17:12 And she said, As Jehovah thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in the jar, and a little oil in the cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, Elihud, that we may eat it, and die.

17:13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said; but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it forth unto me, and afterward make for thee and for thy son. 17:14 For thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, The jar of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that Jehovah sendeth rain upon the earth. 17:15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 17:16 The jar of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of Jehovah, which he spake by Elijah.

17:17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. 17:18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? thou art come unto me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son! 17:19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into the chamber, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. 17:20 And he cried unto Jehovah, and said, O Jehovah my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? 17:21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto Jehovah, and said, O Jehovah my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again. 17:22 And Jehovah hearkened unto the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.  

17:23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother; and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. 17:24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of Jehovah in thy mouth is truth.
18:1 And it came to pass after many days, that the word of Jehovah came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth. 18:2 So, Elijah rose up, early in the morning and summoned Elihud, the son of the woman, the mistress of the house. “Fetch for me thine ass for I have a long journey.”

18:3 And Elihud said unto Elijah “If it please my Lord, my mother is a widow, my father having been smote at the hand of Nimshi, a wicked and vengeful man. 18:4 Numshi indeed proceeded to pillage the house of my father, taking all that seemed good in his eyes. Our livestock he did take as his own and also pressed into servitude my two sisters, daughters of my mother as maid servants. 18:5 The ass is our only possession. Nimshi resideth on the very top of the mountain of Zarephath, and from his mountain stronghold, mocks all who would oppose him.

18:6 But Elijah said “Fear not; go and do as I have said, for truly I say unto thee that I will multiply the blessings thy mother will receive.” 18:7 For just as the jar of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of Jehovah, I will cause food, vegetables and fruits to grow in abundance, so much so that they will not only sustain thee and thy mother, but they will prove to be a source of profit for thine household. 18:8 So Elihud did as Elijah commanded.

18:9 In the later part of the day, the woman of the house came looking for her son. 18:10 “Fetch for me, please the ass, so I may ride to the city and sell it in order to get money to sustain us a while longer.” 18:11 It was then that Elihud told her what had indeed happened to the ass, and how he had given it to The Prophet and in return what promise the Prophet had made.
18:12 “And look, the Prophets promise is coming to pass!” for the branches of a fruit tree, here to fore barren because of the drought in the land, were indeed beginning to put forth fruit. 18:13 And the woman cried out in her anger “What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? You have by trickery, taken my only possession and we shall surely expire in poverty! See, you have left us with this small fruit and we are surely to die!” 18:14 With that she took the few pieces of fruit from the tree and in her anger, hurled them against the cliff of Zarephath

18:15 Elihud, as was his custom arose at first light the next morning and proceed to fetch water. And look! From where his mother had hurled the fruit against the crag of Zarephath, had grown a great vine that went all the way up the face of the great mountain to the very top. 18:16 Elihud hurriedly awoke his mother. “Come quickly and see the great sign of the Prophet!! 18:17 And she too was amazed at what had transpired during the night. 18:18 And Elihud said “This is indeed a sign from Jehovah, for me to taketh vengeance on behalf of my father and his household. I will be able to climb up to the house of Numshi in secret and get back what is rightfully ours!

18:19 So Elihud, girded his loins and taking his fathers sword and an old wineskin with him, began to climb the great vine. After a time Elihud came to the top of the Mountain of Zarephath and to the house of Nimshi. Now Nimshi was indeed a wicked and vengeful man and was secure in his great house that he had built with the plunder of others. 18:20 He would say “Who can challenge the great Numshi? Who, among the mighty can breach the fortress of the mountain?” Elihud drew his father’s sword and approached the great house, that he might strike Nimshi down and regain his rightful inheritance.

18:21 Elihud entered the great house, intending to smote him. Presently, he came upon some gold and silver pieces, enough not only to sustain his mother’s household but to restore what was rightfully hers. 18:22 While he was filling the wineskin with the gold and silver pieces, Numshi, asleep in an interior room, was roused from sleep and presently came upon the boy, in his house.

18:23 “Who is this that dares to steal from the house of Numshi’? 18:24 Numshi proceed to fetch his sword, whilst Elihud, now weighed down by the bag of gold, began in haste to return to to climb down. He being weighed down, Numshi, proceeded to catch him at the very edge of the precipice and set upon him, in order to kill him. 18:25 Elihud at once tripped and fell to the ground and Numshi being upon him, fell on his sword and was run through. All at once Numshi proceed to lurch forward and fall headlong down the side of the mountain, to his death.

18:26 Elihud, proceeded to climb down the mountain and presented the gold and silver pieces to his mother. 18:27 “Praise be to God and to the Prophet for our house hold has truly been blessed!” The next morning, the great vine had indeed vanished.

18:28 Elihud and his mother and their household lived out their days, their wealth restored. And until the day that Elihud himself did indeed pass away in death and expire, having lived a full life to a ripe old age, the jar of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of Jehovah. Also, the land continued to put forth fruit in abundance, just as the Prophet had promised, both in drought and rainy seasons.”

When did you figure out that this was the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, somewhat revised? If you are at all familiar with the Bible, you figured it out probably around 18 verse 6 or so. In fact from 18:1 is a complete fabrication and not at all in the Bible.

If you didn’t figure it out, than you are not very knowledgeable about the Bible. The point of this whole exercise is two fold. Most Christians would read this, not realize what it was, thinking it was a genuine Bible account. Secondly, if indeed the Bible said this, most of you would believe it.

I mean, you believe the first part when the oil and flour supply never ran out. You believed it when Elijah laid on top of the dead kid and resurrected him. This, by the way would get him 2 to 5 today and a nice 3 x 5 color mug shot on the sex offender website.

You believe a lot of fantastic improvable stuff the Bible says, so what makes the Jack and the Beanstalk adaptation so unbelievable? David kills the giant Goliath, angels come to earth to have sex with hot women, Elijah and many others resurrect the dead and on and on. You believe that.

Incidentally large, climbable vines grow up the sides of mountains, trees and such everyday. Not overnight. I made that part up, but you get my point.

In fact, you can see the Biblical influence in a lot of fairy tales.

You should especially be concerned if you claim to be Christian and didn’t catch on. Maybe I didn’t word certain passages in perfect Bible prose and that tipped you off. But if the story didn’t tip you off early, you need to consider just what it is that you believe in. I took a Bible account and weaved fairy tale into it and if you didn’t pick up on that point early, you need to do some deep self examination.

One who claims to be Christian typically starts by simply assuming the Bible is true. It’s usually never questioned. It’s taken for granted.

Give this to your Christian friends, have them read it and see what happens. I don’t mean for this to embarrass anyone. My intent is to show that many people profess to believe in a Book they haven’t read, that contains accounts and stories they do not and cannot possibly know or prove to be correct. There is no factual proof that the Bible was written by God. None.

Incidentally, I can’t really prove the Jack and the Beanstalk thing either.

Jehovah’s Witnesses Continue to Flip Flop

The year 1914 is pivotal year in the theology of Jehovah’s Witnesses. According to Witness math, it was the year God’s Kingdom was established in the heavens, with Jesus enthroned as King. 

To them the year 1914 relates to Jesus words, such as these at Matthew 24:33-35 “Likewise also YOU, when YOU see all these things, know that he is near at the doors. ³⁴ Truly I say to YOU that this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.”  In this passage and others Jesus refers to “this generation”.

The Witnesses, since Charles Taze  Russell the founder of this maniacal fringe group, have contended that “this generation” mentioned by Jesus has great significance:  

The Watchtower, 7/1/69 page 395

“Do you not recall that Jesus, in prophesying of this period of the last days which commenced in 1914, also said: “Truly I say to you, This generation will by no means pass away until all things occur”? (Luke 21:32) People who were only just old enough to understand what was happening to the world in 1914 are now approaching seventy years of age. Yes, the numbers of that generation are dwindling fast”

For as long as I can remember, growing up as a Witness, “this generation” Jesus referred to were “people who were only just old enough to understand what was happening to the world in 1914”  

Interestingly, for the Witnesses, rabid predictors of the end of the world, benders of dates and definitions of time periods to fit their theology, the 1914 date presented them with a serious conundrum. As time wore on and nothing happened, it looked like another Witness prediction was about to blow up in their faces.

If you were “old enough to understand what was happening to the world in 1914”, you would have to be at least 10 years old. That would make you 103 in 2007. They were in danger of running out of those “old enough to understand what was happening to the world in 1914”. This generation had the audacity of dying off, sending yet another Witness date crashing in flames.

Holy smoke!! If that generation passes away and nothing happens, we’re in deep shit!

But those rascally Bethelites played their trump card, “New Light”. In other words, “Hey, we’ve been wrong about this 1914 thing all along! God, that mischievous trickster, was pulling our leg! Now he has given us new information. This time, we’re right. Yea, we’re sure”

The Watchtower 11/1/95:“Therefore, in the final fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy today, “this generation” apparently refers to the peoples of earth who see the sign of Christ’s presence but fail to mend their ways. “ 

So NOW “this generation” is “the peoples of earth who see the sign of Christ’s presence but fail to mend their ways.”Man that was close!! Notice, there is no more time frame, no end game. The sad part about this is that millions of intelligent, earnest people suck up every word from them without question. What was the truth is no longer the truth. Did God know? If so, he let his organization, for 100 years preach a patently false doctrine. The original belief actually put the “end of the world” or the “battle of Armageddon” within a finite time frame, the passing of that generation “old enough to understand what was happening to the world in 1914”. Logically, that time would be virtually upon us.

Well, it isn’t. So now we can let the 1914 generation die off in peace and Jehovah’s Witnesses can confidentially go on with there lives preaching the truth from the Watchtower Society.  

That is, until the next time the “Truth” changes.  

Debunking “Scientific Proof” that the Bible was Inspired by God

Jehovah’s Witnesses and other Bible advocates are constantly referring to the “Scientific Proof” that the Bible was inspired by God. They refer to allegedly “scientific” facts that they maintain ancient man could not possibly have known, as “proof” that God inspired the Bible.

For example look at Isaiah 40:22:“There is One who is dwelling above the circle of the earth, the dwellers in which are as grasshoppers, the One who is stretching out the heavens just as a fine gauze, who spreads them out like a tent in which to dwell.”

The implication is that the Bible says the world was round at a time when it was not possible for man to know this.  The only conclusion they draw is that God had to have told them. The Witnesses elaborate, from the Watchtower 7/15/05, page 5:

“Another reason why you can put your trust in the Bible is that when it comes to scientific matters, what this ancient book states is accurate. For example, at a time when most people believed that the earth was flat, the Bible spoke of “the circle [or, sphere] of the earth.” (Isaiah 40:22)  

They literally insert the word “sphere” where it does not occur. Also, note that they say when “most people” thought the earth was flat, indicating that some civilizations did not think the world was flat.

Interestingly, Isaiah 22:18 says the following:“Without fail he will wrap you up tightly, like a ball for a wide land. There you will die, and there the chariots of your glory will be the dishonor of the house of your master. ¹⁹ And I will push you away from your position; and from your official standing one will tear you down.”

So there is a word for “circle” and a word for “sphere” or “ball.

Further, The Institute for Biblical and Scientific Studies has this to say on their website;

http://www.bibleandscience.com/bible/books/genesis/genesis1_circleearth.htm:

“The phrase of Isaiah 40:22, “the circle of the earth” is very controversial. There are five main views of this phrase. The first interpretation says that the word “circle” means “sphere” indicating that the earth is a sphere. This view seems most unlikely since we have all ready seen that the Hebrew word gh means “circle,” and it seems very remote that it means “sphere” because of the context, and there is a better Hebrew word for “sphere,” rwd. In Isaiah 22:18 the word rwdis translated “ball.” If the LXX translators understood gh as “sphere,” they would have used the Greek word sfairoeides. Plugging the meaning of “sphere” into every passage that gh occurs will result in awkward interpretations.”

So with a word for “circle” and a word for “sphere” or “ball”, and Isaiah 40:22 using the word “circle” to describe the earth, it is at the very least a distortion of the facts to suggest that the Bible is true because it says the world is “spherical”. It actually says the earth is, in effect, shaped like a dinner plate or a Frisbee.

It is also recognized that historians generally credit the Greeks with being the first to suggest a spherical earth. In the sixth century B.C., Pythagoras suggested a spherical earth and Eratosthenes of Alexandria (circa 276 to 194 or 192 B.C.) calculated the circumference of the earth “within 50 miles of the present estimate.” [Encyclopedia Britannica]

There are several obvious conclusions that can be drawn from this information. First, it is simply unlikely that God would describe the earth as a circle or a disk when the Hebrews had a word for sphere or ball.Also, if the Hebrews had figured out that the earth was round, even spherical, so what? Wouldn’t it be possible for some real smart Jew to come to that conclusion? The Greeks also figured it out and without “God’s” help. As mentioned, Eratosthenes of Alexandria even calculated the circumference of the earth “within 50 miles of the present estimate.” [Encyclopedia Britannica].

But even more ridicules are the Bible supporters contention that if God was looking at the earth, it would look like a circle.  In fact the Jehovah’s Witness publication “Insight on the Scriptures” in Volume 1, page 668 says: “From the viewpoint of Jehovah, the earth’s face, or the surface of the waters, would, of course, have a circular form, just as the edge of the moon presents a circular appearance to us.”

Is God a complete idiot? The Earth is a sphere. A basketball looks like a circle from a distance. God surely knows that. The Greeks figured it out and there is no indication that the Hebrews hadn’t either. But Bible advocates insist that because God said that the Earth was a “circle” it proves the Bible scientifically accurate, as it states a scientific fact that the ancient Hebrews could not know, so it had to be God that told them.

The Witnesses continue this hopeless line of idiocy with this from the Watchtower of 6/15/93, pg 4:“Unlike myths of ancient peoples, the Bible does not contain the mistaken view that the earth is flat. Instead, it states the scientific truth that the earth is a circular object resting on nothing.”

Not all ancient peoples thought the earth was flat. We know the ancient Greeks didn’t. The improvable supposition that the Bible quotes predate the Greeks conclusion is moot. The point is ancient civilizations, other than the Jews, and before modern science had pictures from space, knew the earth was spherical and God didn’t tell them, unless the Bible leaves out the part where God told Pythagoras and Eratosthenes.  

They figured it out from observation.It‘s interesting how Eratosthenes discerned the earth was spherical.

From the Encyclopedia Britannica:“At Syene (now Aswan), some 800 km (500 miles) southeast of Alexandria in Egypt, the Sun’s rays fall vertically at noon at the summer solstice. Eratosthenes noted that at Alexandria, at the same date and time, sunlight fell at an angle of about 7° from the vertical. He correctly assumed the Sun’s distance to be very great; its rays therefore are practically parallel when they reach the Earth. Given estimates of the distance between the two cities, he was able to calculate the circumference of the Earth. The exact length of the units (stadia) he used is doubtful, and the accuracy of his result is therefore uncertain; it may have varied by 0.5 to 17 percent from the value accepted by modern astronomers. He also measured the degree of obliquity of the ecliptic (in effect, the tilt of the Earth’s axis) with great accuracy and compiled a star catalog. His mathematical work is known principally from the writings of Pappus of Alexandria. “

So IF the Bibles said the Earth was spherical (it doesn’t) so what? Eratosthenes figured it out through observation. So the Witnesses contention that “Only God, the Creator, could have provided this detail ” (Watchtower 4/15/94, pg 5) is patently false.

Let me pause here and reiterate that this blog is not a diatribe against Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Witnesses have been my experience, so I refer to their literature most often. Virtually every other Christian religion takes the same position. They are not alone in their idiocy.

The Bible makes other assertions about the earth that are contradictory. For example, in Job 26:7 it says: “God is stretching out the north over the empty place‚ hanging the earth upon nothing.” That’s scientifically accurate.

However it also says the earth has a foundation:Isaiah 48:13:

“Moreover, my own hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my own right hand extended out the heavens. I am calling to them, that they may keep standing together.” NWT

“Yea, my hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spread out the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. ASV

Isaiah 51:13: “And that you should forget Jehovah your Maker, the One stretching out the heavens and laying the foundation of the earth, so that you were in dread constantly the whole day long on account of the rage of the one hemming [you] in, as though he was all set to bring [you] to ruin? And where is the rage of the one hemming [you] in? NWT

“and hast forgotten Jehovah thy Maker, that stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and fearest continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he maketh ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?” ASV

Many ancient civilizations believed the earth rested on an Elephants back, on Atlas’s shoulders or other such myths. The Bible says the Earth hangs on nothing but then it has a “foundation”, implying it rests on something.

The Bible also mentions  “the extremity of the earth” (Ps 46:9), “the ends of the earth” (Ps 22:27), “the four extremities of the earth” (Isa 11:12), “the four corners of the earth,” and “the four winds of the earth” (Re 7:1). Of course, to Bible advocates these quotes are not to be taken “literally”, as they are “symbolic”. It’s amazing that it’s “literal” when it supports you view and “symbolic” when it doesn’t.The Bible, in fact describes the earth in several different, unscientific and contradictory ways.

In summary, the fact that the earth was spherical was no big secret to the ancient Greeks, without the aid of pictures from space, so why should it be beyond belief that the Hebrews could have figured it out. The only problem is, the writings in the Old Testament, including one in Job refer to the earth as “Frisbee” shaped, not spherical.  Bible thumpers, Jehovah’s Witnesses in particular, unapologetically distort the facts in an attempt to prove their point.

There is no definitive proof that the Bible was inspired by God or  that Jesus was a historical figure. Christianity is based on things that its adherents could not possibly know or prove. 

Jehovah’s Witnesses Hypocrisy in High Gear.

Jehovah’s Witness’s view of the United Nations has always been quite clear. From the literally thousands of quotes in their literature where they rail against the UN we have this example from The Watchtower 3/15/2000, pg 13:

“For example, C. T. Russell could not have correctly understood the meaning of the symbolic scarlet-colored wild beast mentioned at Revelation 17:9-11, since the organizations that the beast represents, namely, the League of Nations and the United Nations, did not even exist until after his death.”

They contend that the scarlet colored wild beast, as an amalgam of all the nations of the earth will, ultimately destroy all religion:

The Watchtower 10/1/95, pg 6:

“A prophecy in the Bible book of Revelation provides the answer. It speaks of a symbolic “great harlot” that sits as “a queen” and has “a kingdom over the kings of the earth.” This harlot lives “in shameless luxury” and has relations with the world’s governments. These governments are depicted as “a scarlet-colored wild beast,” upon which the harlot rides in comfort. (Revelation 17:1-5, 18; 18:7) Known as “Babylon the Great,” this powerful and immoral woman is named after ancient Babylon, the cradle of idolatrous religion. Appropriately, today the harlot represents all the world’s religions, which have mingled in with the affairs of governments.”

“The account goes on to say that, in time, God will put it into the hearts of militaristic components of the wild beast to take action. These “will hate the harlot and will make her devastated and naked, and will eat up her fleshy parts and will completely burn her with fire.” (Revelation 17:16).”

They also expect this Beast, the United Nations, when it is done with “Babylon the Great”, (which would be all the false Religions in the world, excluding Jehovah’s Witnesses, of course) to turn on them.

From the book “Kingdom Come”, 1981, page 167, par 13:

“After disposing of “Babylon the Great,” those beastly “horns” can be expected to make their final attack on the Christian witnesses of Jehovah, the apparently defenseless followers of the Lamb here on earth. (Ezekiel 38:14-16; Jeremiah 1:19)”

Jehovah’s Witnesses expect the UN to turn on them and to destroy them.

That makes this article in The Guardian, from the UK even more intriguing:

“Jehovah’s Witnesses link to UN queried”

Sect accused of hypocrisy over association with organisation it has demonised.

Stephen Bates, religious affairs correspondentMonday October 8, 2001The Guardian

“The United Nations is being asked to investigate why it has granted associate status to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the fundamentalist US-based Christian sect, which regards it as the scarlet beast predicted in the Book of Revelation.”

“Disaffected members of the 6m-strong group, which has 130,000 followers in the UK, have accused the Witnesses’ elderly governing body of hypocrisy in secretly accepting links with an organisation that they continue to denounce in apocalyptic terms.”

The remainder of the article can be seen at this link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,565005,00.html

This is also confirmed in a letter from Paul Hoeffel, Chief, NGO Section, Department of Public Information, Room S-1070L, United Nations, New York, N.Y. 10017. This letter can be found at

http://www.4jehovah.org/downloads/jehovahs_witness/history/unfax.pdf

For about tem years from 1991 until 2001, Jehovah’s Witnesses were a member of the United Nations, Non Governmental Organization Section. By their very member ship, as outlined in the letter from the Section Chief, Mr. Paul Hoeffel, they had to agree to the following:

“By accepting association with DPI, the organization agreed to meet criteria for association, including support and respect of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations”

So, The Witnesses agreed to support and respect the Charter of the UN, an organization they say is represented by the scarlet colored wild beast of Revelation and one that The Witnesses expect to eventually turn on them in an effort to destroy them.

I was a Witness during most of this time period and I can tell you that I never heard of this. If I had, I would have, as most Witnesses would, been shocked, to put it mildly. After hearing the Witnesses denounce the United Nations with words as these:

The Watchtower, 11/15/2001, pg 19: “Whether our hope is heavenly or earthly, we are no part of the world, and we are not infected by such spiritually deadly plagues as its immorality, materialism, false religion, and worship of “the wild beast” and its “image,” the United Nations”

No, but we joined up.

The United Nations Non Governmental Organization Section is, in fact fairly benign.

“The rights and privileges enumerated in detail in ECOSOC resolution 1996/31, enable qualifying organizations to make a contribution to the work programmes and goals of the United Nations by serving as technical experts, advisers and consultants to governments and Secretariat. Sometimes, as advocacy groups, they espouse UN themes, implementing plans of action, programmes and declarations adopted by the United Nations. In concrete terms this entails their participation in ECOSOC and its various subsidiary bodies through attendance at these meetings, and also through oral interventions and written statements on agenda items of those bodies.”

No real problem, except that Jehovah’s Witnesses have historically and with fire breathing rhetoric denounced the UN as part of Satan’s Organization:

The Watchtower, 2/1/04 page 21: “The coming destruction will be fear-inspiring for faithful Christians watching from the sidelines. First, the kings of the earth (the political part of Satan’s organization) will turn on the supporters of Babylon the Great (the religious part) and will destroy them.”

The Watchtower 9/15/70 page 567: “Here is pictured the development of Satan’s visible organization, seen in the Anglo-American dual world power, also the creation of an “image” by this great world power, seen first in the League of Nations and today revived in the form of the United Nations.”

So why join any part of it?

The Witnesses hammer that point ceaselessly:

The Watchtower 5/1/83, page 26:

“Secondly, Satan’s visible organization is our foe. Without question, his religious world empire is spiritually unclean. So is the rest of the world lying in his power. (1 John 5:19; Revelation 16:13; 17:4; 18:2) For our worship to be acceptable to God, therefore, we must ‘keep ourselves without spot from the world.”’

The curious thing is that the Witness membership was never notified of this 10 year relationship that the Watchtower Society had with the UN. If it was benign and had some use full purpose, than why hide it? I can find no reference to this matter in any Witness Literature and I have an extensive library and numerous CD’s. Each year the Witnesses put out a CD with most of not all their literature on it. As a side point, they edit out a lot of embarrassing quotes and predictions from later versions. I am preparing an article on those little secrets.

But the real point here is the hypocrisy of Religion, in this case Jehovah’s Witnesses. They are not alone and I do tend to target them more than other religions as they are my experience.
During my association with Jehovah’s Witnesses, had this information become known, it would have sent me reeling.

Now, with the multitude of proof that the Witnesses flip flop, omit, edit and outright lie, it’s just one more thing.

Super Christian Agonizes Over His Own Doubts

November 13, 1995 issue of Christianity Today, page 31, in an article about Bill Graham says:

“Questions about the authority of Scripture had been troubling the young preacher (Billy Graham) for weeks. Knowing that the matter must be settled in his mind if he ever hoped to preach with authority and power, he wrestled with his doubts until he was able to pray; ‘Oh God, I cannot prove certain things. I cannot answer some of the questions my friends are asking. [Yet, here and now I am ready to accept the Bible] by faith as the Word of God.

Mr. Graham was wrestling with fact that he couldn’t “prove certain things” and he could not “answer some of the questions” his friends were asking. And “[Yet, here and now I am ready to accept the Bible] by faith as the Word of God”

No facts, just faith. The lack of tangible proof obviously bothered Mr. Graham, but he choose the improvable over reason. Again, my mantra, Religion needs faith, because it has no facts.

What does this say about Billy Graham? Well, he is man of conscience and plain honesty. What other Religious leader would say that he had “Questions about the authority of Scripture” and he found these questions “troubling”? Do you see the Pope or the Ayatollah Khomeini saying such things and allowing them to be published in a magazine? Does the Pope doubt the Church? Does the Ayatollah doubt the Quran? Not in print.

As a Deist and a non believer in any Religion, I must admire Billy Braham’s candor and character.

But I find his actions puzzling, because he decided “[Yet, here and now I am ready to accept the Bible] by faith as the Word of God”. What specifics about the Bible caused him question the “authority of Scripture”, he does not elaborate on. What does it mean to question the “authority of Scripture”? It’ seems clear that Mr. Graham doubted the Bible as the source of information from God.

The word “authority” means “the right and power to enforce laws, exact obedience, command, determine or judge”. “The American Heritage Dictionary”. Who does Christianity maintain has the right to do all these thing? Would it not be God and more specifically the God of the Bible? If the Bible was Gods word, would not it be, to Christians, authoritative?

He is reasonable up to the point he says “[Yet, here and now I am ready to accept the Bible] by faith as the Word of God”. I’ll push aside my doubts, the things I cannot prove, the inconsistencies and go with the Faith thing. So all these years, Mr. Graham has had doubts about some of the things he preaches.

Yogi Berra, the legendary catcher for the 1960’s New York Yankees, famous for his humorous euphemisms, once said “When you come to a fork in the road, take it”. Mr. Graham did just that. He took the “Faith” fork over the “Road to Reason”.

This is why Religion exists and exerts such great powers over people. They choose the unreasonable over the factual, the provable over the improvable.

Personally, I admire Mr. Graham for allowing his inner thoughts to be published in a Christian magazine. It’s important to mention also that there has been little, if any scandal or controversy concerning Bill Graham, save for the tireless theological screeching of his Religious detractors. To be fair, Mr. Graham has does his share of screeching back, but he seems sincere.

But my point here is not entirely about Billy Graham. It is about people unreasonably believing in something they can’t prove. He admits it but his “faith” took over, he brushed aside reason and he “believed”.

Wow! The question is, do you do that? I ask because I did the same thing. In the face of irrefutable facts, that I lived and observed, I brushed them aside and continued on as a faithful Christian, a card carrying Jehovah’s Witness. But equally interesting was that I had the same wrestling as Mr. Graham and came to an entirely different conclusion. I concluded the Bible was not the authority and the Witnesses and all other Religions were false.

Interesting, I recently had a conversation with a Witness who was having doubts about the Witnesses. Now, as a background, I am disfellowshipped or excommunicated, and the Witnesses consider me an “apostate” or someone who once agreed with them and now does not. In fact I openly and vocally disagree.

This individual and I were exchanging emails. This person said:

“I am a Jehovah’s Witness and up until 4 or 5 months ago when I started doing in depth research about my religion, I was totally oblivious to half the things people said about us.”

“I can tell you from experience that most Jehovah’s Witnesses have very little knowledge of the history of our religion, except for the very “small” bits and pieces we receive from our literature.”

“It took me years to overcome my fear of so-called “apostate” literature but once I did what I found was that the stuff I read was NOT apostate at all, but was really a compilation of old articles and books.”

“I have been very SHOCKED at some of the things I have read that we used to believe and teach as the “truth”.

“I can say this—the organization is right about one thing—If you read “outside” information your faith WILL indeed be weakened, not because it is false information, but because it is real and you can read it right from the books they published and see how VERY hard it is to believe that this organization has ever had God’s backing.”

As with Billy Graham and myself, this person is having trouble reconciling what they believe, or are taught to believe with provable facts. In the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses, they have “flip-flopped” on numerous issues. What they presented as the “truth” in the past, in many cases is opposite or different to what they present as the “truth” today. The insidious thing is they attempt to hide this from the membership, often editing out embarrassing things out of later additions of their publications. When they’re caught, they twist the mistake into an example of virtue.

“Look how we admit when we’re wrong! We must be right!”

To reiterate, I am not bashing just Jehovah’s Witnesses, it’s just been my lifes experinece. In fact, the primary example I used here was Billy Graham. The point is people will follow a certain Religion, even though they know it has flaws and contradictions, because of faith. How can you have faith in something you know is flawed?

Faith, like a snowball rolling down a hill, gains momentum and grows, as time progresses. You whole life gradually comes under the influence of your faith, your family, friends, business relationships. In Billy Graham’s case, imagine the life changes he would have to make if he had simply said, “I cannot preach what I can’t prove”. First, he would have lost his livelihood. He’s done pretty good and made a lot of money. You can bend your conscience around a lot of ideas if the right amount of money is involved.

Second, his family and circle of friends all were involved in his faith. No doubt, he had professed it to many people and preached to many audiences. Now, he would have to recant.

These and other thoughts no doubt weighed heavily on his mind. They did on mine. My family doesn’t speak to me, parents, sibling and their kids. I literally had hundreds, if not a thousand friends and acquaintances that now shun me. If they see me in public, they act as if I don’t exist.

I am considered an “apostate” or in the definition of Jehovah’s Witnesses, one who once agreed with them and now doesn’t. I am, in Witness eyes, the vilest of the vile. I have to laugh as I am probably the most harmless guy you’ll ever meet. I’m 56, a professional, I am a real estate investor and a business consultant. I have eight grandchildren, some of whom I have little contact with, becasue of the Witnesses.

But to the Witnesses, I am as close to the Devil Himself as you can get.

But, I knew the drill. It was a choice between what I knew was true and what I knew was bullshit. In my case, like Billy Graham’s I couldn’t reconcile the contradictions in the Watchtower Society’s literature. I took the “Road to Reason” fork. It took me years to get up the courage, but finally, I have an inner peace. Hypocrisy is hard work and I was a hypocrite for years.

All Religion is a stain on the human experience. By presenting improvable ideas and demanding our complete submission and faith, it diminishes us as human beings. We must be in “lock step” with the self appointed authority figure and not argue or disagree, less the powers that be deem us unfit to associate with and then of course the loving God they worship will then kill and/or punish us in a most violent and horrible way.

In the meantime, I’m on the Road to Reason, in my yellow Corvette at peace with the world. How about you?

How Being a Jehovah’s Witness Could be Hazardous to Your Health

Being born and raised a Jehovah’s Witness, I had always been taught that it was wrong to take part in political elections. Was I surprised whent he following was printed in the Watchtower, Nov 1. 1999 questions from readers.

The Question was: How do Jehovah’s Witnesses view voting?

For simplicity sake I have only quoted exerpts from this article as it is rather long. If you think I am taking it out of contex, I will email you the full article or if you have the Watchtower Society’s CD, look it up. Here was there answer in part:

· What, though, of voting in political elections? Of course, in some democratic lands, as many as 50 percent of the population do not turn out to vote on election day. As for Jehovah’s Witnesses, they do not interfere with the right of others to vote; neither do they in any way campaign against political elections. They respect and cooperate with the authorities who are duly elected in such elections. (Romans 13:1-7) As to whether they will personally vote for someone running in an election, each one of Jehovah’s Witnesses makes a decision based on his Bible-trained conscience and an understanding of his responsibility to God and to the State. (Matthew 22:21; 1 Peter 3:16) In making this personal decision, the Witnesses consider a number of factors.

…”In view of the Scriptural principles outlined above, in many lands Jehovah’s Witnesses make a personal decision not to vote in political elections, and their freedom to make that decision is supported by the law of the land. What, though, if the law requires citizens to vote? In such a case, each Witness is responsible to make a conscientious, Bible-based decision about how to handle the situation. If someone decides to go to the polling booth, that is his decision. What he does in the polling booth is between him and his Creator.

The November 15, 1950, issue of The Watchtower, on pages 445 and 446, said: “Where Caesar makes it compulsory for citizens to vote . . . [Witnesses] can go to the polls and enter the voting booths. It is here that they are called upon to mark the ballot or write in what they stand for. The voters do what they will with their ballots. So here in the presence of God is where his witnesses must act in harmony with his commandments and in accordance with their faith. It is not our responsibility to instruct them what to do with the ballot.”

What if a Christian woman’s unbelieving husband insists that she present herself to vote? Well, she is subject to her husband, just as Christians are subject to the superior authorities. (Ephesians 5:22; 1 Peter 2:13-17) If she obeys her husband and goes to the polling booth, that is her personal decision. No one should criticize her.—Compare Romans 14:4.

What of a country where voting is not mandated by law but feelings run high against those who do not go to the voting booth—perhaps they are exposed to physical danger? Or what if individuals, while not legally obliged to vote, are severely penalized in some way if they do not go to the polling booth? In these and similar situations, a Christian has to make his own decision. “Each one will carry his own load.”—Galatians 6:5.

There may be people who are stumbled when they observe that during an election in their country, some Witnesses of Jehovah go to the polling booth and others do not. They may say, ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses are not consistent.’ People should recognize, though, that in matters of individual conscience such as this, each Christian has to make his own decision before Jehovah God.—Romans 14:12.

Whatever personal decisions Jehovah’s Witnesses make in the face of different situations, they take care to preserve their Christian neutrality and freeness of speech. In all things, they rely on Jehovah God to strengthen them, give them wisdom, and help them avoid compromising their faith in any way. Thus they show confidence in the words of the psalmist: “You are my crag and my stronghold; and for the sake of your name you will lead me and conduct me.”—Psalm 31:3.

So, “People should recognize, though, that in matters of individual conscience such as this, each Christian has to make his own decision before Jehovah God.” Romans 14:12

Voting then, is a matter of conscience, with each Christian making their own decision.

Interesting.

Lets look at the Watchtower of 2/15/74 pg 107, entitled “A NONPOLITICAL WORK TODAY”

As such ambassadors they do not go to the political nations, trying to bring about the reconciliation of a whole nation at once, neither do they meddle in political affairs. Rather, they go directly to the people—to individuals. But they do not try to turn individuals toward any earthly ruler, or seek to win them over to any political ideology. They confess: “Our citizenship exists in the heavens, from which place also we are eagerly waiting for a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Phil. 3:20) They appeal to people to look to the kingdom of God for relief. Accordingly, if they should get involved in the affairs of this world, taking part in political activities, holding office or voting, they would lose their status as ambassadors and brothers of Christ, and would never attain to heavenly rulership with him.

We then have this from the Watchtower of 3/1/03, pg 5:

“In March 1933 the German government called a general election. Dr. Detlef Garbe, head of the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial near Hamburg, explains: “The National Socialists wanted to force a large majority for their chancellor and führer, Adolf Hitler.” Jehovah’s Witnesses followed Jesus’ admonition to stay politically neutral and to be “no part of the world,” so they did not vote. The result? The Witnesses were banned.—John 17:16.”

History shows that as a result, Jehovah’s Witnesses were viciously persecuted in Nazi Germany. In all fairness, voting wasn’t the only issue but the Watchtower says “Jehovah’s Witnesses followed Jesus’ admonition to stay politically neutral and to be “no part of the world,” so they did not vote.

But the Watchtower above says that “it’s a matter of conscience”. Which is it?

In the case of the Nazi’s and the Witnesses, voting was a small issue. They refused military service and all other sorts of things, that if you thought about it for a while seemed designed and gauranteed to piss off the Nazis. Not good for your health as thousands were imprisoned and killed for following the teachings of the Watchtower Society.

Keep in mind the voting issue as you read the next quote. Remember, in Nazi times it was a not allowed, but in 1999 it was “a matter of conscience”

From the Watchtower, 4/1/70, page 218, par 5

As recently as October 1967, the refusal to join a particular political party and the failure to carry a party card identifying one with the party, resulted in a barbaric wave of torture heaped upon Jehovah’s witnesses in the Central African country of Malawi. An unknown number of women witnesses of Jehovah were raped. Forty of these were pregnant. Due to the way they were abused, each one suffered a miscarriage. Because they refused to buy a political card, they were beaten severely, sexually assaulted and their property was destroyed. Yet President Banda of Malawi could not get them to break integrity and renounce their God Jehovah. These Witnesses were motivated from the heart. They had true Christian qualities built in them.”

Its a point of semantics but joining a political party and/or voting is pretty much the same primcipal. Either way, you are no longer politically neutral, so the Witnesses “neutrality” arguement, the basis for not voting, is out the window. How could you be allowed to vote, if your conscience allowed, and still maintain “Christian Neutrality”?

The huge inconsistancy here is that in some of their publications it is wrong, definitly. In the 1999 Watchtower, it’s a matter of your “Christian conscience”or, in other words wrong for you if you think it’s wrong and OK for you if you think it’s OK.

Gee, it’s a little late for those poor slobs in Malawi.

“Hey, guys..yea we did flip on that one. Sorry, our bad! Oh, and how’s the wife?”

The Clash of Islam, Judiasm and Christianity and the Resultant Human Misery

An exposure of the hypocrisy of Organized Religion cannot be discussed without mention of the Israeli/Palestinian issue. This is a very politically sensitive hot button and one of the central issues the Muslims are always angry about and blame for much of the ire felt toward the West by Islam. Basically, after World War Two, other nations, mostly western and chief among them the United States, backed by the U.N. decided the Jews should have a homeland and they picked Palestine. The problem was there were people already living there, who had done so for centuries, i.e. The Palestinians.

When the Jews moved in, what happened? The Palestinians were forced out. It’s far more complex than that, but that was the net result. Frequently, the news will mention this or that about the region and use the phrase “Palestinian Refugee Camp”. How did they become refugees and why do they have to live in camps? Because they were displaced when the Jews took over their land. To be fair the Jews acquired their territory in several ways, at times even buying it from the Palestinian owners. But for the most part, they simply took it, by force if necessary.

Consider this from the website http://www.ifamericansknew.org/:

“Between the time of partition and the declaration of Israel on 78% of historic Palestine in 1948, the newly formed Jewish state had depopulated (through massacres, expulsion orders, and fear tactics) over 400 villages and made refugees of at least 726,000 Palestinians”

“As Moshe Dayan put it, “Jewish villages were built in the place of Arab villages. You do not even know the names of these Arab villages, and I do not blame you because geography books no longer exist, not only do the books not exist, the Arab villages are not there either.”

The website mentions the “time of partition”.

“In 1947, the United Nations partitioned Historic Palestine, giving 55% to the Jewish population and 45% to the Palestinian population. The indigenous Palestinians rejected the division of the land on which they had lived and farmed for centuries.”

Apparently the “Partition” was not enough for the Israelis. When Israel decides to expand, often they simply bulldoze Palestinian homes and villages, displacing more Palestinians. In this context is it hard to understand the Palestinians? The Palestinians see this as international terrorism, with backing from the United States and the UN. The Arab leaders and the Religious Leaders of Islam have added this unfortunate set of circumstances to their long list of complaints against the West and use it as still another reason for a Holy War, a Jihad, a war against Islam, with the only solution being the complete annihilation of anyone not Muslim.

On the subject of Palestine, they have a point. The popular Western view of the Israeli’s is as persecuted and harassed people, heroically standing their ground against Palestinian terrorists, when in fact they stole the Palestinians land with the help of the UN, the United States and other Western powers.

The fact still remains that there is a powerful Zionist movement that has existed in the United States and Western Europe since the 19th Century. Their stated goal was to establish a Jewish homeland. They used their economic and political clout with Western powers to accomplish that and now they use the same influence to get continued support and defense of Israel. They care little for the fate of the Palestinians.

Consider this from the website Euro Topics, in an article by Sabine Seifert dated 4/18/07

“Nine EU member states have already criminalized Holocaust denial: Austria, Germany, France, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Lithuania. Austria has the toughest laws. As early as 1945 it introduced a “ban law” which made Holocaust denial punishable by law on the grounds that it “reactivated National Socialism”. In Germany it wasn’t until 1994 that the Federal High Court exempted denial of the Holocaust from the basic right of freedom of expression”

In these countries, for the most part, you can stand on the street corner and criticize the Government, The Catholic Church or any other religion, you could preach atheism and deny Gods existence, you could promote Communism, or the “ism” of your choice…. but don’t deny the Holocaust, or they will lock you up. I think it’s absurd to deny the Holocaust happened, but it’s equally absurd to jail someone for saying so. The real question is how did denial of the Holocaust become a crime?

This same Zionist/Jewish influence that caused the Governments of the West, including the United States to support a Jewish State at the expense of the Palestinians, influenced and pressured the above mentioned governments to enact such laws. I’m sure they threw in a little guilt, as a lot of the Nazi concentration camps were in some of these countries and some were Nazi Allies during the war.

As regards Palestine, the Zionists claim on that specific territory came directly from the Bible, a fact commonly known and they make no excuse or apologies for it. God had promised them the land in the Bible and they wanted it back. In effect the Western Governments and the UN supported a group, who inflicted untold misery on an innocent people based on an ancient Bible text.

In the 1960 movie, “Exodus”, which Chronicles this post-WWII partition of Palestine into a homeland for Jews, one of the lines in the title song is “This land is mine; God gave this land to me”. Using a line from a movie theme in this argument may seem somewhat questionable as a source of fact but it succinctly sums up what is the reality and the mood of the time. Organized Religion, in this case Judaism, used the Bible as its basis for simply taking a whole country, with the help of the U.S. and the U.N. and displacing and murdering thousands of people.

Corroborating this fact is this quote from a press release on May 4, 2001, from the “American Jewish Community” website, quoting Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres:

“Israeli Foreign Minister Affirms Commitment to Peace”May 4, 2001

At a time when Israel is coming under increasing diplomatic isolation, Mr. Peres expressed deep appreciation for the continuing firm support of the United States.

“American support is really one of the greatest miracles that happened to Jewish life and Israel,” he said. “Since the formation of Israel, it wasn’t just the Administration, just the Congress or the Jewish community, but also the churches, the unions, the press. There was a sort of biblical identification, underneath connection, that really colored and typified our relations.”

Israel has a “biblical connection” to our country? Doesn’t that smack of something unconstitutional? Well, we did help them take Palestine from the Palestinians, based on a Bible Story. Note also that he mentions support from the Churches, because Western Christian churches supported and continue to support, whole heartedly this land grab, based on the Bible.

In an article entitled “Evangelical Christians plead for Israel” by Richard Allen Greene, from BBC news we have these comments:

“More than 3,400 evangelical Christians have arrived in Washington to lobby lawmakers as part of the first annual summit of Christians United for Israel.”

“John Hagee is the pastor of the 18,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, and a long-time fervent supporter of Israel.”

“In common with many American evangelicals, he believes that God gave the land to the Jewish people and that Christians have a Biblical duty to support it and the Jews.”

“His latest book, “Jerusalem Countdown: A Warning to the World”, interprets the Bible to predict that Russian and Arab armies will invade Israel and be destroyed by God.”

Note Mr. Hagee “believes that God gave the land to the Jewish people and that Christians have a Biblical duty to support it and the Jews.” And apparently the United States Government and the U.N. agree.

The formation of Israel and the forced displacement of the Palestinians resulting in untold suffering, death and the outright murder of thousands based on a Bible story was sanctioned by our Government, at the urging of Organized Religion.

There is no love lost between Jews and Muslims and since the Jews justified their taking of Palestine as their Religious right and the Christian nations backed them with the full support of the Christian churches, the Muslims see this as an assault on Islam. So Religion plays a huge role on both sides of this very volatile situation.

Or so it would seem. The irony here is that many middle eastern observers and even Palestinians in general know that the most Arab State and Muslim leaders, like Osama Bin Laden, while they screech about Palestine, The terrorism of the Jews, in league with the United States and the plight of the poor Palestinians, using it over and over again to justify their Jihad, really could not care less about the Palestinians. A prime example of Religious hypocrisy, exploiting another’s suffering to bolster your cause.

Consider this excerpt from an article by Lisa Beyer, on http://www.time.com/, dated Sunday, December 10, 2006 entitled “The Big Lie about the Middle East”

“It is a falsehood perpetuated not just by the likes of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, who came late to the slogan after their actual beefs–Saddam with his neighbors; bin Laden with the Saudi royals–gained insufficient traction in the Arab world. The mantra is also repeated like an axiom in the U.S.–in parts of the State Department, in various think tanks, by editorial writers and Sunday talk-show hosts.”

“Yes, it was a great disturbance in the Arab world in the 1940s when a Jewish state was born through a U.N. vote and a war that made refugees of many Palestinians. Then the 1967 war left Israel in control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and thus the Palestinians who lived there. But the pan-Arabism that once made the Palestinian cause the region’s cause is long dead, and the Arab countries have their own worries aplenty. In a decade of reporting in the region, I found it rarely took more than the arching of an eyebrow to get the most candid of Arab thinkers to acknowledge that the tears shed for the Palestinians today outside the West Bank and Gaza are of the crocodile variety. Palestinians know this best of all.”

Further in the article Ms Beyer goes on to say:

“One might argue that if the Arab dictators were deprived of the Great Excuse, they might begin to rule with greater concern for their constituents’ needs. But why should they be allowed to wait–in the meantime cynically selling their people the Israel Myth–especially since the wait is apt to be long?”

Lisa Beyer is the assistant managing editor for “TIME” magazine, served for nine years as “TIME’s” Jerusalem bureau chief and considered an authority on the Israeli / Palestinian issue.

Beyer’s point about Saddam’s real beef being with his neighbors and Osama’s opposition to the Saudi Royal Family not real “gaining any traction in the Arab world” is compelling. With their real objectives and complaints not really going anywhere, they used the universal one size fits all Arab fallback position for justification of their actions. The old, reliable, “everyone buys into it” Palestinian situation. It’s a good card to have up your sleeve when your real hand stinks.
The reality is that virtually no one in the Arab world, Muslim or otherwise cares much for the Palestinians and the Palestinians are very aware of this. There are refugee camps in several Arab countries, including Lebanon where the Palestinians are not allowed the same rights as the average citizen of that country. A sort of Middle Eastern apartheid. In fact, many observers say that the Palestinians are treated worse by the Arabs than by the Israelis.

The world as a whole remains strangely blind to their plight. But all this doesn’t stop Islam for using the issue to further their goals.

We seem to have a series of conundrums related to this issue. The Palestinians were displaced by the Jews because of the Jewish/Zionist belief that their God had given them the land. The United States, the UN and the Western powers along with many Christian Churches supported and continue to support this religious based atrocity. The Muslim’s on the other hand who really aren’t that upset or in reality care little about the Palestinians continue to harp on it as a center piece in their Jihad. So they exploit what Ms. Beyer calls “the Great Excuse” to further their religious aims. There seems to be a lot of hypocritical, cross exploitation here where the three major religions movements converge, Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Thus we have the tyranny of Organized Religion, where fact is distorted to support and advance your agenda. And as always, innocents suffer.

I am not an apologist for anyone’s actions. I’m not anti Semitic or “pro” Palestinian. I do think that the Palestinians were pawns in a Political/Religious chess game and they lost. And like the American displacement and slaughter of the Native Americans, it was simply murder and a land grab, made noble by some ancient story book.

The United States finds itself mired in the Middle East, a staunch ally of Israel, giving the Muslim world a hammer to hit us with even though in reality the Palestinians mean little them. To make matters worse, the world economy depends on oil from this region. Without it, all of us would be seriously impacted. So because of Religious based conflicts, the Middle East has become the most volatile area on the planet, with the most capacity to alter civilization as we know it, either through international terrorism or disruption of the oil supply. The sad thing is that the United States and other Western powers, with the backing and encouragement of Organized Religion, have indeed contributed to this mess.

The main threats to world peace today are Religious based and the flames of Religious hatred are fanned red hot by incidents such as the religiously motivated pillage of Palestine.

Think of a world where Judaism, Islam, Christianity or any other powerful organized religion did not exist. Think of the problems we would not have.

Are Jehovah’s Witnesses False Prophets Because They Said the World Would End in 1975?

I maintain that this is not a “bash the Witnesses” Blog. I despise all Religions equally. Each has its own “specialties”. The Witnesses, however, are famous for prophesying and these prophesies simply not coming true. Lets examine some of their notable blunders.

Foremost among the date gaffs, is the Witnesses prediction that Armageddon was going to come in 1975. Witnesses will argue that the Watchtower Society never explicitly said that anything was going to happen in 1975. They argue that they simply said 1975 was the end of 6,000 years of man’s existence on earth. Please read the following excerpts from Witness publications and make your own judgment.

From “The Watchtower”, October 15, 1969 pages 622 and 623

“More recently earnest researchers of the Holy Bible have made a recheck of its chronology. According to their calculations the six millenniums of mankind’s life on earth would end in the mid-seventies. …… ……Would not, then, the end of six millenniums of mankind’s laborious enslavement under Satan the Devil be THE fitting time for Jehovah God to usher in a Sabbath millennium for all his human creatures? Yes, indeed! And his King Jesus Christ will be Lord of that Sabbath.”

“The” is the definite article. “The” time not “a” time, but “the time”. They ask the question “Would not this be “the” time”, they answer it with “Yes, indeed!” and further they say Jesus “will be Lord of that Sabbath”. “The” time, yes indeed and Jesus “Will be”.

In John 1:1, Witnesses use the argument that Jesus was “a” God, not “the” God. Meaning Jesus was Godlike or Divine, not “the” God as the one and only Supreme Being, Jehovah.

Using their own logic concerning the definite article, in the above Watchtower quote they were referring to “the” time, excluding all other times. Also, Jesus “will be”. Not could be, not might be, but “will be”.

Well Armageddon didn’t come in 1975. Apparantly, it wasn’t “the” time, “Yes, Indeed!” and Jesus was not installed as Lord of that Sabbath. Again, they said Jesus “will be“, not could be or might be, “will be”.

I was 24 at the time and quite disappointed that God didn’t destroy all you non Witnesses, in glorious planetary carnage. By Jan of 1976, I was pretty perplexed. 1975 had caused a big buzz in the Witness Community. People went into debt, figuring that they wouldn’t have to repay. Many Witnesses planned their lives accordingly and made decisions as if the world was going to end in 1975. When it didn’t, it shook a lot of peoples faith.

Surprisingly, the Witnesses didn’t leave in droves, myself included. However, it was a turning point for me and after that let down, my faith slowly eroded. It was a huge letdown in the face of what we had been told, leading up to 1975.

Look at this from The Awake, Oct 8, 1968, pg 23:

“True, there have been those in times past who predicted an ‘end’ to the world, even announcing a specific date. Yet nothing happened. The ‘end’ did not come. They were guilty of false prophesying. Why? What was missing? Missing from such people were God’s truths and the evidence that He was using and guiding them. .. But what about today? Today we have the evidence required, all of it. And it is overwhelming! All the many, many parts of the great sign of the last days are here, together with verifying Bible chronology.”

I might point out that the Witnesses had already made at least two prophesies predicting an end of the world. First, they predicted the World would end in 1914. Second, they predicted that in 1925, the prophets of old, David, Abraham, etc would return to lead the Witnesses, to what end is not exactly clear, but it was again linked to the “end of the world”. In fact they actually purchased two houses in Southern California to house them upon their return. Look up “Beth Sarim” on the internet.

The 1914 blunder was saved by them saying, “Oh yea, God revealed to us that Jesus Second Coming was invisible and only happened in Heaven, not here on earth. Sorry, our bad.”

The 1925 thing they let just fade away. I was a JW for 50 years and I didn’t know anything about the 1925, Beth Sarim bullshit until I began researching the JW’s on the web once I had left the organization. I would guess that most JW’s don’t know about it, as the Witnesses have edited their literature and do not mention it.

But the 1975 thing is a very sore point with me as I lived it. What were you to think, nine years later, when you were reading things like the following from The Watchtower, December 1, 1984, page 1618:

“True, some expectations that appeared to be backed up by Bible chronology did not materialize at the anticipated time. But is it not far preferable to make some mistakes because of over eagerness to see God’s purposes accomplished than to be spiritually asleep as to the fulfillment of Bible prophecy?”

What??!! They are saying “Hey, we prophesied falsely, but at least we tried. Isn’t that better than not trying?” Actually, no it isn’t. What would have been much better is if they had kept their big mouth(s) shut and not spun up the membership unnecessarily .

But, my all time favorite Witness bullshit quote, is this from The Watchtower of November 1, 1972, pg 644, written even before 1975:

“Does this admission of making mistakes stamp them [Watchtower] as false prophets? Not at all, for false prophets do not admit to making mistakes.”

Remember the above quote from The Awake, Oct 8, 1968, pg 23: “True, there have been those in times past who predicted an ‘end’ to the world, even announcing a specific date. Yet nothing happened. The ‘end’ did not come. They were guilty of false prophesying.”

But the Witnesses weren’t because “they admit they were wrong”? Wouldn’t it be kind of pointless to insist that Armageddon had come in 1975, when it obviously hadn’t? They painted themselves into a corner. They already used up the “invisible” excuse when it didn’t come in 1914. I bet they were burning the midnight oil, trying to come up with some excuse or plausible deniability.

Finally the Watchtower Society was forced to admit this, in The Watchtower of March, 15, 1980, (note, 5 years later) in the article “ Choosing the Best Way of Life”:

“In modern times such eagerness, commendable in itself, has led to attempts at setting dates for the desired liberation from the suffering and troubles that are the lot of persons throughout the earth. With the appearance of the book Life Everlasting—in Freedom of the Sons of God, and its comments as to how appropriate it would be for the millennial reign of Christ to parallel the seventh millennium of man’s existence, considerable expectation was aroused regarding the year 1975. There were statements made then, and thereafter, stressing that this was only a possibility. Unfortunately, however, along with such cautionary information, there were other statements published that implied that such realization of hopes by that year was more of a probability than a mere possibility. It is to be regretted that these latter statements apparently overshadowed the cautionary ones and contributed to a buildup of the expectation already initiated.”

This is one of those “twisty-turny” explanations,that you have to really dissect to understand. First they say “there were other statements published that implied that such realization of hopes by that year was more of a probability than a mere possibility”. So a possibility became a probability and than in the “The Watchtower”, October 15, 1969 pages 622 and 623, quoted above it became a “definite”, “the” time.

Than we have sort of an apology. “It is to be regretted that these latter statements apparently overshadowed the cautionary ones”. Where were any statements “overshadowed”? In the Witness publications.

The whole point is, God knows when and if he is going to “end the world”. He evidently didn’t tell the Witnesses. They were wrong. Are the Witnesses “God’s Mouthpiece, directed and instructed directly by God, as they claim?

I’ll let them answer in their own words, again from The Awake, Oct 8, 1968, pg 23:

“True, there have been those in times past who predicted an ‘end’ to the world, even announcing a specific date. Yet nothing happened. The ‘end’ did not come. They were guilty of false prophesying. Why? What was missing? Missing from such people were God’s truths and the evidence that He was using and guiding them.”

Jehovah’s Witness “Support Groups”, Haven for the Weak Minded

Recently I was doing some research for this blog and a book I’m writing on religion. I was surprised to learn that I had made an assumption that turned out to be completely wrong. I had assumed that a person who left Jehovah’s Witnesses either shortly returned or, like myself, realized they had been manipulated and self delusional and rejected the Witnesses, out of hand. I knew a few would go to other religions, but that is unusual.

I had always been aware of “Ex Jehovah’s Witness” presence on the web that the Witness hierarchy so adamantly condemns and warns its members about (no opposing views allowed). In fact, in the past, when I was still a Witness, I had looked at a few of these sites and it seemed to me that they were forums for “proving the Witnesses wrong” by some equally demented theological argument. I wasn’t and still am not interested in opposing “theological” points which are simply some other mislead zealot with his absurd interpretation of an ancient story book clashing with the Witnesses equally absurd interpretation.

But interestingly, I stumbled upon several “Ex Jehovah’s Witness Support Groups”, as well as ex-Mormon, ex-Baptist, ex-Catholic, etc “support groups”. I was puzzled. As the Witnesses were my experience, I wondered why an Ex JW would need “support”. Is it like AA, where you’re afraid to start drinking again, so you call you support team and they talk you through it? Do some Ex JW’s call their support team when they get the urge to join up again, so the team can “talk them down”?

I had to look into this further. Before this question came up, I had coincidentally done a little research several months ago, on ex-Witnesses, or more specifically excommunicated or in Witness speak, “disfellowshipped” Witnesses, like myself. This research is relevant to the question of “support groups”.

My research has showed that a majority of disfellowshipped actually go back to the Witnesses. I had casually observed this to be the case over my many years of association. I compiled a list of 108 people I’ve known personally, that were excommunicated and I managed to talk to 80 of them. Over half, 49, are back in the organization, reinstated Witnesses. Some were out for 10 or more years and some were excommunicated multiple times. Most who are still excommunicated and have not gone to another religion, incredibly, still believe that the Witnesses have the true religion and they were justly disciplined for doing one or more bad things. When pressed as to why they didn’t make the effort to be “reinstated”, most had no real answer. It may be just laziness. Being a Witness is work and takes up a lot of your time.

Only five of those contacted believed as I did, that the Witnesses are just another self serving Religion and God doesn’t back any Religion. Most of those who are presently excommunicated still do not celebrate holidays, birthdays etc, regardless of their view. Of the ones who did not go back to the JW’s, 7 go to a different church and think the Witnesses theology is wrong. 3 or 4 are just seriously deranged, most of these with drug and alcohol problems. One thinks, she is the Virgin Mary. She has three kids and I knew her husband. Go figure.

80 is a small sample group but I’m fairly sure that statistically, based on my casual observation over the years, most excommunicated go back. That is a profound statistic that the Witnesses are proud of. “Well, it’s the power of the Truth!!”

After reading many posts on three of these “support” blogs, I would liken it to a woman who feels compelled to return to her abusive husband. How many women do you know that do that? You wonder why? Her husband may have seriously abused her and her life may be in danger. They have support groups for these types of abused woman to help them “break free” of the abusive relationship. But still, like a moth to a flame they go back, most often with tragic results.

In the Muskegon Chronicle an article by Susan Harrison Wolffis, dated October 9, 2007 stated that one in three women in the United States will be battered, beaten or abused in her lifetime. Also, according to other statistics, the average abused woman leaves her abuser seven to eight times before she leaves permanently. To make a successful and permanent separation from an abuser, a woman needs support and easy access to organizations dedicated to aiding victims of abuse.
Sometimes they are motivated because of financial circumstances but often it is fear that the spouse will do some type of harm that causes them to return. With support and the understanding that the abuse will continue if they return, many abused women are able to leave abusive relationships permanently.

What does this have to do with ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses support groups? From my experience, and observation over nearly 50 years as a Jehovah’s Witness, I cannot, for the life of me, see why a person would need a “support group” after leaving Jehovah’s Witnesses. Comparing the needs of abused women to those who are ex Jehovah’s Witnesses is absurd. Are they afraid of “going back to the abuse”?

There is one huge exception. Those who were indeed sexually, physically and severely emotionally abused need help, support, understanding and counseling. Not surprising, sexual abuse is rampant in the Witnesses. Go to http://www.silentlambs.com/ . This site is dedicated to the protection of children, specifically Jehovah’s Witnesses and to expose the indifference and the conspiracy by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the legal corporation of the Witnesses to cover up such abuse. The Watchtower’s sinister policy on dealing with abusers in the various congregations is also laid bare. It seems they are more concerned with their own self preservation, than protecting children. I have relatives, little girls that were sexually abused by a “Brother” who was tried, convicted, did time and is on the national sex offender registry and he was never removed or excommunicate from the congregation. In fact, he was supported by the local elders.

Domestic abuse, as well as physical and emotional abuse are also problems in the Witness organization. These problems are not unique to the Witnesses, as shown by the problems in the Catholic and other religions.

Of course, an ex-Witness or any other person who experienced these traumas is indeed in need of support.

But I found the average poster on these forums was claiming trauma from simply being in the Witnesses or raised a Witness. One actually equated being raised a Witness with a soldier being in combat, calling both situations equally traumatizing. I don’t know about you, but I would much rather be knocking on doors than be shot at. Neither would be my choice, but door knocking is certainly less hazardous. What a totally ridicules and asinine comment to make. It flies in the face of everyone who ever served in the armed forces. But it does give you insight into the skewed and flawed thinking of these particular type of whiners who cry “victim” and try to validate their own comparatively minuscule problems that they, with the support of other wienies, actually compare to combat.

I was raised a witness and again, with the exception of genuine trauma, I never saw anyone traumatized by the “normal” witness activities. One poster on one blog said he was permanently scarred by “always being different”. I went through being the only kid in the class who didn’t celebrate holidays or birthdays, didn’t salute the flag, had to leave the room when Santa came in, couldn’t draw a jack-o-lantern, etc. A lot of my relatives were not witnesses, so they got Christmas gifts, went trick or treating, all the “fun” stuff. I took lots of flack from the other kids.

Was it tough being different? Of course. But, as a result of my witness upbringing, I have no fear of talking to people, I have no fear of confrontation and I handle it well and I am a trained public speaker. I am not defending the Witnesses core beliefs, but these were very real benefits and they continue to pay dividends in my life.

I’m glad I was exposed to these things. It mad me stronger. Some whiners on these blogs claim they were “traumatized” by being made, by their parents to do these things. I do not know anyone who was made to do these things as a Witness kid who was “traumatized” in adulthood and needed to boo hoo to someone and I personally know hundreds of ex and still active Witnesses.

I never saw anyone curled up in the fetal position, sucking their thumb or needing therapy for being forced to get up in front of the congregation and speak, as most Witness are required to do from an early age. I was reading Bible passages in front of 200 people at age seven. Some of these posters bemoaned the fact that “they were forced to participate”. Did you get nervous? Hell yes. You were on the schedule and sat in the audience with your prepared notes and with your Bible, waiting for your turn. The worst part for me was when they called my name and I walked from my seat to the platform. Seconds seemed like hours. When I got to the podium and turned to face the audience, my nervousness, began to dissipate. Trauma? Hardly. Was I “forced to”? My parents made me do it. I guess I was forced. Was I “forced” to go to school, the doctor, the dentist, to wash my hands and brush my teeth? That’s what parents do. They “force” you to do things they think are right for you. I too, made my children publicly speak. I didn’t notice any trauma.

The same can be said for going from door to door. I was made to do that. I would have preferred to be doing something else, but I suffered through it. Many of these posters whine about being “isolated” from other kids and it effected their ability to function in society. If you were door knocking as a kid, you got a hard lesson in social interaction. If you were “normal”, and by that I mean not a whimpering, spineless nut job, afraid of your own shadow, it was good training. Traumatized? Again, hardly.

As far a public speaking “trauma”, didn’t we all have to give oral book reports in front of the class in school? As far as being different, we all know what it’s like. We all have experienced rejection. Kids can be cruel. Think about your own life, Witness or non Witness. You’ll likely remember times when you were an outsider that were not related to any religious belief.

Maybe you were the “geek” or “nerd” at school. Maybe you had horrible acne. Were you the fat kid? Did you not get a date for the prom? Did your high school sweet heart dump you for someone else? All kids are subjected to this type of stuff. Most don’t need “support groups” as adults. Granted there is that rare case where a child is continually and viciously humiliated or picked on, and it does have a lasting effect. Again, severe emotional abuse can traumatize. Normal kid stuff is….well, normal.

Another example of a laughable post (there were many more, but I don’t have enough time) was one where one guy claimed trauma as a result of being scared out of his wits by his parents telling him about “the Demons”. These are Satan’s helpers, angels who turned wicked, according to the Bible. Witness parents do use “the Demons” as a scare tactic, like non Witnesses use the bogey-man or whatever.

As a small child I was scared of the demons too. You can only imagine what the thoughts and nightmares “the Demons” conjured up in my head. But as a kid, by far my biggest fears were an Atomic War (We didn’t say nuclear then) and the Russians. I woke up in a cold sweat more times than I can count and snuck into my parent’s bed, terrified that, at any moment I could be incinerated at 10,000 degrees. The teachers would always say how lucky we were to have been born in the United States and my worst nightmares were about waking up in Russia. I would actually dream that I was a Russian kid. All the kids talked about it. We actually had air raid drills. The sirens were terrifying.

How many people raised in the 50’s and 60’s have to have a support group because they were “traumatized” by the fear of nuclear war?

When I brought some of these points up on one blog, I was piled on by posters calling me insensitive and unsympathetic. Why? Because as one poster put it “We come here to have our feelings validated”. In other words, we’re traumatized by things that normal people laugh at, but the posters on this board feel our pain because they’re all wienies too. How dare you rock our delusional comfort zone!!

I had to laugh. My sister was afraid of clowns and firemen as a child. She was younger than me, so I did my sibling duty and tormented her unmercifully with her own fears. Bart Simpson has nothing on me. Surprisingly, today she is not a poster on a “Clown Trauma” forum, looking for other weak minded victims of the insidious “Barnum and Bailey Syndrome”, so her unreasonable mental state can be validated.

Jehovah’s Witnesses do indeed thrust some pretty heavy stuff on their kids and there are those, who are emotionally traumatized, but they are few. I would say no more than the average non witness kid. There are also rare situations where those “in charge”, the Elders cause emotional trauma for individuals. Some feel they are treated unfairly and many are. The basic structure of the typical Witness Congregation puts auto mechanics, welders, carpet layers, bus drivers and other men imminently unqualified in a position to handle the complex psychological situations that do develop. This brilliant strategy virtually guarantees that situations will routinely be mishandled. If the situation involves real abuse and trauma, it’s more than likely going to get screwed up.

The Witnesses theory is that since God is guiding the Elders, they will make the right decision. Oh, that’s working real well, as evidenced by the consistent mishandling of the rampant sexual abuse of children, to mention one category of Witness Elder incompetence.

But these situations are not the norm. The truly traumatized need help beyond the JW’s. If an elder told you your skirt was to short or your hair was too long, well boo-frickety-hoo. Were you traumatized? You might think so, but I seriously doubt it.

The Witnesses are not unlike most social groups, where cliques develop and some are excluded form parties and other functions. Can the kids and even adults be mean and unkind? Absolutely. I have personally witnessed this, no pun intended. I never saw much evidence of trauma. Hurt feelings, yes. But again, I am sure there are a few extreme examples of this.

I do know of a case where a woman did commit suicide and you can pin that one directly on the local Elders. Again, this is really rare and this woman, a lifelong friend by the way, needed serious psychological help and got none. She was truly traumatized. It can happen. From my experience, it’s unusual.

A serious point about the “Support” forums, blogs, whatever is that, aside from the genuinely traumatized, who should be seeking competent professional help, not soliciting comments from a bunch of whining ex-Witnesses on a Blog, most who feel they were “victimized” by the Witnesses ALLOWED IT! You can always walk. They or any other Religion can only hurt you if you let them. People allow Religion to run their lives because humans in general, under the right circumstances are easily manipulated. Granted, there are family ties, peer pressure and a whole host of other circumstances that bind a person to any group, particularly a religious one. “Walking away” is not always that simple. But at some point, the rational person walks, whatever the consequences.

My entire family no longer speaks to me. Honestly, is does not really bother me, in fact it really never did. But I thought it would and it actually caused me to stay a Witness longer than necessary. But, think about that. The Witnesses cleverly created that situation, to preserve their membership. If one is excommunicated, you are shunned by everyone, including family. They would lose a lot of members a lot quicker if not for that rule. Is it insidious and sinister, to split up families like that? Absolutely! Is it traumatic? Not usually. It could be in extreme cases. If you’re an adult and you still “need” your mommy, you have other problems. My motto is “To thine own self be true”. Hypocrisy is hard work.

I also found it amazing that some of the “support group” participants had been posting on this one forum for many years and a lot actually met at one posters house. They went through all the trouble of meeting each other personally and the only thing they had in common is that they were ex JW’s. There is a group bond there that is not unlike the Witness group bond or for that matter other Religious bonds. Should an authority figure emerge, these people would likely follow it and form their own Religion.

In this case, the emergence of an “Authority Figure” is unlikely as they are widely dispersed geographically, so many are content to “park” at the blog, while in fact vulnerable to the next, Witness, Jim Jones, etc. The thing that brought them to the Witnesses was their need to belong. Now they “belong” to another group. I intentionally poked them and challenged their logic and as expected, they blocked me from the forum. Again to be fair, I did push the envelope.

I was jumped on for being insensitive, when there was no real challenge to my logic. They just didn’t like to be pushed out of their comfort zone. Still sheep, only in a different pasture.

One poster chastised me with “This is a “support group” and being critical is not what we’re about!” Obviously. Reinforcing each others “faux trauma” was the whole point. There were a lot of “Hugs” etc. It is pathetic.

In all fairness, some of these people seemed very genuine. In fact, there was some really funny stuff posted and it was quite entertaining. I classified the posters into three groups, 1) the truly traumatized, 2) the pissed off ones who love to joke about and ridicule the witnesses (these were the real cool, funny ones, my personal favorites) and 3) what I labeled the “Boo-Hoo’ers”. The Boo-Hoo’ers are the “faux traumatized”, those who realize that their claim of “trauma” is lame, but the other Boo-Hoo’ers “validate” their feelings. If the person gravitates to such a forum and you are a boo-hoo’er, or one with counterfeit “trauma”, you are vulnerable to the Witness thing all over again. Over half of those excommunicated go back, like the abused wife. Or maybe they’ll get sucked in by another Witness type psycho mind prison.

The overall point is this. Religion dies without weak minded, brain malleable “sheep” that are drawn to the Witnesses, religion in general and those counterfeit “boo hoo” trauma victims who “need” these types of “support” forums. This is exactly the type of person they prey on and exploit. The common bond, the supportive group, us against them, the same “need” that the weak and exploitable have which draws them like gravity to Religion is their flaw. The “need” to be understood, the “need” to have your feelings validated, the “need” to lean on other people because you’re to weak an individual to “make it” on your own. Pathetic. The same “needs” that stuck them to the Witnesses, like a nail to a magnet.

The posters think themselves quite superior, because they “escaped”, but they only are parked temporarily, in another herd, unwarily waiting to have their “need” exploited again. Statistically, most will go back to the Witnesses.

Do you feel the tug? The Witnesses are “praying for you”. I’m sure they’ll be glad to give you a hug.

Faith and Mickey Mouse

From Reuters, December 19, 1996:

“Hundreds flock to Virgin apparition on office tower”

CLEARWATER, Florida (Reuter) — Hundreds of people converged on Clearwater Wednesday to see what they believe is a vision of the Virgin Mary on an office building.

“God is giving us a sign,” said Sister Martin, a nun of the Order of Saint Anne in Bangalore, India.

“The image, two floors high, first emerged last Thursday on the tinted windows of a finance company office. It glows and shimmers, turning from green to blue, to red, and there is a distinct outline of a head, a hooded robe and most of a torso.”

“Skeptics say it is caused by the sun reflecting off water left by sprinklers. But others believe it is a true miracle.”

“God is telling us it is time to change our ways,” said Sister Christian of the same order. “(It) looks exactly like all the paintings of the Blessed Mother

And we also have this from CBS News, April 20, 2005:

“Faithful See Image Of Virgin Mary “

“Stain On Wall Of Chicago Underpass Believed To Be Image Of Mary”

CHICAGO, April 20, 2005

“A steady stream of the faithful and the curious, many carrying flowers and candles, have flocked to an expressway underpass for a view of a yellow and white stain on a concrete wall that some believe is an image of the Virgin Mary”.

“Police have patrolled the emergency turnoff area under the Kennedy Expressway since Monday as hundreds of people have walked down to see the image and the growing memorial of flowers and candles that surround it. Beside the image is an artist’s rendering of the Virgin Mary embracing Pope John Paul II in a pose some see echoed in the stain.”

“We believe it’s a miracle,” said Elbia Tello, 42. “We have faith, and we can see her face.”

So are we to believe that God is communicating with us via stains on a window and a concrete wall? The belief in the Virgin Mary is basically a Catholic belief, so is this validating Catholicism? If so, than is this saying all other Religions are false? After all, Pope Benedict XVI reasserted the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document that says Orthodox churches were defective and that other Christian denominations were not true churches. I guess all you Baptist, Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses and other Christians got your collective faiths trumped by a stain. Somehow, I find that fitting.

This whole fiasco reminds me of when you were a kid and you laid down on the lawn and stared at the cloud. After a while they would take on the form of a ship, a dog, whatever you could imagine. Aside from the fact that there is no proof that Mary even existed, there is no doubt that the images in question look like renderings of the Virgin Mary. Since we have no photos of Mary, we only have artist’s conceptions of what she might have looked like, so the best we can say is that they resemble an artist conception. It’s a safe bet that if you looked at stains on windows and concrete all day you could find numerous images of people and things.

Random coincidental images that appear to look like an artist conception is really thin. But the really sad part is the reaction from thousands of people. These incidents illustrates several pertinent facts.

First, people will believe really unreasonable stuff, particularly if it supports their already existing faith. In the Bible, God spoke directly to many people. He supposedly perfomed or caused to be performed many miracles, witnessed by thousands. So now he has reduced his communication to stains on walls and windows?

When were we notified that he changed his methods? Oh yea, in the Bible, when it says that the real cool, very convincing miracles would cease. That’s real convenient.The Bible writers relate these fabulous, supernatural events, witnessed by thousands and we get stains. Why? Because there is not a shread of evidence that the events in the Bible actually happened. Perhaps there was a stain on a rock that looked like the Red Sea parting and someone ran with it. I can’t prove that happened and you can’t prove it didn’t.

Also, people will seize on these incidents as proof of their faith because it is the only thing resembling a fact and they are thirsting for any tangible proof of their faith, any “miracle”.

Religion is so short on facts, the faithful have to resort to “divine” random occurring stains to bolster their beliefs.

It’s sad when grown, intelligent normally reasonable people will seize on and venerate a stain. It’s past sad. It’s pathetic.

But the most apparent and perhaps the most significant fact of all is that people would be highly receptive to an appearance by God himself. The window and concrete stains were obvious random occurring phenomena, not a sign from God. The significant point is people’s reaction. The faithful have never seen substantial, factual proof of their faith and to many, here it was.

Where is God? Does this not prove that should God appear to the human race and speak a few words, he could stop a lot of suffering and answer a lot of burning questions that would put the question of his existence to rest? If he appeared every generation or so, life here on earth would be vastly different. We humans have short attention spans, so say every thirty years or so, God could put in an appearance. He could give us the basic rules to live by in one or two pages, not cryptically woven into a book that by its very nature invites thousands of interpretations. Certainly life would be much better. It would clear up a lot of questions.

“Sure I believe in God! I saw him in 1958 and than in 1988. Everyone believes in God”

I believe an awe inspiring appearance by the Creator would a good thing.

Still haven’t seen Him. It doesn’t prove or disprove his existence. I’m a Deist. I believe in intelligent design, call it God or whatever. It’s a conclusion I’ve come to from observing nature. Not everyone shares my view. I don’t have the answers, just questions. Apparently, the entity that has all the answers and who could easily settle all this controversy, prefers not to.

Those professing faith will seize on proof of their faith, no matter how thin, no matter how unreasonable, no matter how just plain silly. It’s really sad. Not because these people believe that a water stain on a window is a sign from God. It’s sad because it isn’t a sign from God. These people are desperate for divine guidance and they get none.

Instead, their urge to believe gets manipulated and exploited by Organized Religion.

If naturally occurring images are God’s way of communicating with us than we might want to look into the religious significance of Mickey Mouse.

Disney collects and catalogs unusual natural occurrences of Mickey that appear on everything from a cow to a potato. In fact, there are far more documented instances of Mickey images than of The Virgin Mary. Maybe we ought to look into this Mickey thing.

Maybe we’re missing God’s real message.