I should have known better than to click on the latest JW.org video, entitled “Philippines Typhoon—Faith Conquers Adversity.”
My intuition told me it would be a shameless piece of propaganda – an attempt at taking a deadly natural disaster and turning it into a tool for recruitment and self-praise. But click I did, and I am still struggling to find the words for what I have just seen.
The film starts with footage of a reported 41 Filipino Witnesses getting baptized a month after Typhoon Haiyan savaged their country. Straight away you suspect that the onus of the film will be less on the personal tragedies, and more about how God’s organization has triumphed despite calamity.
Smiling convention attendees wave at the camera brandishing their newly released publications, as though these have somehow made them forget all their woes.
The narrator then explains that “more than 185,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses live in the Philippines” before revealing that many of these were in the direct path of Typhoon Haiyan when it struck on November 8, 2013.
Advance warning
A phone rings, and is answered by Hubertus Hoefnagels of the Philippines Branch. We are reassured that “before the storm hit, the Philippines Branch Office began coordinating the evacuation and relief effort.”
Hubertus is shown with a Filippino brother staring attentively at a map of the islands, plotting the storm’s trajectory. The words “Fri 4:40am Nov 8” are scribbled on the map in red marker ink to denote the moment the super-typhoon made landfall.
“They are preparing for the typhoon because the news say that we need to prepare,” says Rodnie Barcenas, a Circuit Overseer, in his broken English. “So I text everybody every elder in congregation, I text that they need to evacuate to a separate place.”
Just what “separate place” Rodnie is referring to is left a mystery, but one assumes it is somewhere as far as possible from the path of destruction.
“We knew it was going to do tremendous damage,” adds Hubertus.
Hence, the reassuing impression is very deliberately given at the outset of this film that the Philippines Branch Office (1) had prior warning of the typhoon and (2) were in control of matters before it hit. It is even suggested that evacuation plans were put into operation at circuit overseer-level.
When you consider these claims carefully, it makes the information conveyed in the remainder of the film simply astounding.
Below is a map showing the locations of the three congregations that are featured in the video, all of which are in or near the path of Haiyan.
As the map indicates, if the story were to be presented chronologically the events befalling the congregation in Guiuan would be shown first. However, the filmmakers have a clear agenda, and they need to get some extremely bad news out of the way early on in the film in order to achieve a sufficiently cheery end. And so they first must tell us the story of what happened in Tacloban.
Or at least some of the story.
Killed at the kingdom hall
We are taken into the home of a family living in Tacloban City. The father tells of his struggle in trying to hold the roof down before finally surrendering it to the typhoon.
An excited young girl shows viewers the family’s refrigerator, in which various publications are crammed – including the dreadful Become Jehovah’s Friend DVD. Pride is taken in the fact that mass-produced books were deemed more important than provisions in a time of crisis.
Then we behold the Tacloban kingdom hall – or what is left of it. Walls are non-existent, as though an unstoppable force has bulldozed through. Only the tattered roof remains, held aloft by battered columns.
The narrator tells us that 22 Witnesses perished in this kingdom hall alone – swept away by a 5-meter-high tidal surge.
Driving home the human cost of this tragedy is the story of 13-year-old Sheryl Gariando – one of only 38 survivors of the devastated kingdom hall. Her entire family, apart from her little brother, succumbed to the raging waters. The fact that her little brother was reunited with her one day before the district convention is somehow deemed to be of significance.
At this point you think back to Hubertus and his map, and wonder – “what were these people doing in a kingdom hall during a typhoon?”
If the Branch Office had advance warning that Haiyan was approaching, was it really wise for a congregation to be cowering in a coastal kingdom hall in the path of a typhoon rather than scrambling for safer ground?
Two congregations that survived
But we are not given much time to dwell on such questions. Instead, we are whisked 9 miles down the coast to Tanauan, where 44 Witnesses survived despite being in a kingdom hall that was uprooted by the wind and high waters before being dumped 15 meters from its foundations.
One of the extremely fortunate survivors tells us that he gained strength from looking up at the yeartext above the platform, with its words “Jehovah your God is with you.”
Little thought is given to the fact that the exact same words looked down on the man’s ill-fated brothers in Tacloban. It seems the filmmakers would rather we focus on the thought that the “solid structures” of kingdom halls saved lives in at least some places.
Conducting a meeting in the face of a typhoon
And so we are finally taken to Guiuan, where the typhoon first made landfall. Similar to the congregation in Tanauan, the congregation sought shelter in their kingdom hall and somehow survived despite their lives being endangered – in this case by a collapsed ceiling.
But as the story of Guiuan is being related, an intriguing detail slips from the mouth of a local brother as he is interviewed (bold is mine).
“When the typhoon struck we are inside the kingdom hall. After the meeting, some of the brothers stayed in the Kingdom Hall and other half of the group went to the sister’s house, especially the children.”
There is no sign here of a carefully coordinated and diligently executed evacuation effort. Instead, at least in Guiuan there seems to have been a free-for-all as to whether local brothers sheltered in the kingdom hall or in nearby homes.
But more disturbing is this brother’s revelation that a meeting had been in progress on the same night the storm hit.
At the risk of boring you, I will remind you once again of Hubertus and his map back at the branch office in Manilla, and his all-too understated words, “we knew it was going to do tremendous damage.”
How did the authorities respond?
It was at this point that I felt more information was required. Precisely what would Hubertus and his colleagues have known before the typhoon struck? What warnings were issued by the authorities?
A quick search on Wikipedia yielded the answers.
Under the heading “Preparations” in the article for Typhoon Haiyan, we are told: “By the evening of November 7, PSWS No. 4, the highest level of warning which indicates winds in excess of 185 km/h (115 mph) are expected, was raised for… Eastern Samar, [and] Leyte” (Samar being the island where Guiuan is located, while Tacloban and Tanauan are both on the island of Leyte).
And so we have the highest possible state of alert issued on the evening of Thursday, November 7th for all three congregations featured in the video. But what measures were taken by local authorities?
“In the provinces of Samar and Leyte, classes were canceled, and residents in flood- and landslide-prone areas were required to evacuate.”
When I read the above words, my heart sank.
Guiuan is precariously situated on a narrow peninsula surrounded by ocean, and both the Tanauan and Tacloban kingdom halls had been clearly inundated by floodwaters. These were unquestionably flood-prone areas. It seems inconceivable that the three kingdom halls in question were not in the area that was earmarked for evacuation by the authorities.
Could it be that the 22 who perished in the Tacloban congregation, and possibly others, were as much victims of Watchtower’s incompetence as the typhoon itself?
If this turns out to be true, the concluding minutes of the JW.org video are especially hard to watch. Mark Sanderson is seen flying to the rescue to impart words of encouragement to the typhoon survivors and oversee rebuilding efforts – or at least that is the impression the filmmakers aim to give us.
Especially disquieting is the footage showing Sanderson consoling young Sheryl and her brother. Sheryl is seen smiling, at one point even being hugged by Sanderson as she is shamelessly exploited for PR purposes.
There is every chance Sheryl will never know for sure whether she was embraced by a representative of the very organization that might be at least partly responsible for her being orphaned.
An apology long overdue
At this point you might be thinking that I am jumping the gun with my implications as to Watchtower’s liability. These are, after all, serious matters and details are scarce. But I would welcome the opportunity to set the record straight following a full explanation from the Governing Body as to why they are blameless in this apparent scandal.
If such an explanation were to be offered, I would happily recant – and do so publicly. But the required evidence would need to come in the form of (1) some kind of proof that the brothers in the featured congregations (especially Tacloban) were advised to evacuate the area but ignored this advice, or (2) that the claims made by Watchtower in its own video about the state of preparedness of the Philippines branch office were false or misleading.
Until such information surfaces, the evidence against Watchtower is very damning indeed. We have a situation where three congregations were cowering in their kingdom halls despite these being in the direct path of a typhoon, of which the local branch had advance knowledge, and on account of which local evacuation had been ordered by the authorities.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that kingdom halls, despite being “solid structures,” are not built with typhoons in mind – unless of course you are under the delusion that Jehovah’s hand is involved in manipulating the weather.
Which brings us to another small matter.
Irrespective of their liability (or lack thereof) in this disaster, the Governing Body owes an apology to the brothers and sisters of the Philippines, especially those who lost loved ones. Only a month before Haiyan hit, Geoffrey Jackson had the astonishing stupidity to stand on the platform at the 129th Annual Meeting and utter down his microphone the following words (bold is mine)…
“It’s interesting when we think about the production of this [Bible] we truly have seen Jehovah’s hand in helping the project. Just one example. The brothers in the Wallkill printery mentioned to us that normally the worst time of the year to print Bibles is summertime, because of the humidity, the heat. Oftentimes they have to stop the presses. But they told us this year when they had to do a lot of extra overtime to get these Bibles ready for us, and as you can see there’s one for each person here attending our program, this year there was no stoppage of Bible production! We had the mildest summer for many many years and we thank Jehovah for that.”
It shouldn’t take a typhoon sweeping through a kingdom hall and killing 22 Witnesses one month later for Geoffrey Jackson to realize that the above words were incredibly ill-judged and insensitive. Jehovah clearly does NOT manipulate the weather, either for the saving of human lives or for the printing of bibles.
An unequivocal apology by Geoffrey to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, not to mention the victims of all natural disasters regardless of denomination, is thus urgently called for.
Of course, the saddest part of all of this is that the very ones who most deserve an explanation and apology are those who will likely never ask for it.
Witnesses like Sheryl will likely continue to serve the Watchtower in a mistaken belief that doing so will make them worthy to greet their loved ones in the resurrection. The grieving process is thus commandeered as a tool for indoctrination in the most appalling and opportunistic way.
An explanation to be demanded
For all Watchtower’s slick PR and heart-tugging propaganda, let the records show that a religion that proudly boasts of its preparedness for Typhoon Haiyan suffered losses of 33 confirmed dead in that disaster, with 10 more missing presumed dead.
According to the 2014 Yearbook, the population of the Philippines is 97,701,745. And according to this new video (and official figures), Typhoon Haiyan claimed the lives of 6,200. That is a mortality rate of 0.0063% for the country.
By comparison, Watchtower claims to have 185,000 Witnesses in the Philippines. When we include all those presumed dead with the confirmed figures, this gives us a mortality rate of 0.024% among Witnesses for Typhoon Haiyan – nearly four times the previously stated figure.
I understand that these figures are wide open to dispute, not least because the exact concentration of Witnesses in the typhoon-hit region is unknown compared to the local non-Witness population. Even so, serious questions must be asked and answered as to precisely why so many Witnesses died, with 22 in one congregation alone.
If the Governing Body stays silent on the question of whether Watchtower’s incompetence cost lives, as they no doubt will, their silence will speak volumes. But the question must still be asked, if only to honor the memory of those whose mistaken belief that a kingdom hall might withstand a typhoon cost them their lives.
Further reading…
- JW.org video “Philippines Typhoon – Faith Conquers Adversity“
- Wikipedia article for Typhoon Haiyan, sub-heading “Preparations”
Related video…
Oh boy! I saw the video, but never thought of it in these terms until I saw your comments. At worst, I just thought it rather callous to see Sanderson glad handing impoverished Witnesses after they lost everything. I never crunched the numbers as you did! :(
Has the Governing Body, or its predecessors, the Four Presidents, ever apologised for anything at all?
Those better versed than me in Watchtower history may have an answer.
The governing body have always been the same. As Ray Franz so well explained everything is geared up to further the growth of the organisation. They are not concerned about individuals. They showed that with their ban on vaccinations, transplants and blood in past decades. They show the same attitude now. They will do whatever it takes to cover their shortcomings, or to make the organisation look good.
We should just all be thankful that we have separated from this evil cult.
Geoffry Jackson’s comments show that the Watchtower’s deity sees more value in preventing the delay of a new publication than that of 22 human lives. The Watchtower does NOT value human life as their consistent track record clearly evidences.
Forget the food! Save the self-righteous video of Caleb’s emotionally unstable mother teaching her son that Jehovah’s is an angry, tight-fisted god who is always mad at you! Of course, a bible could have been squeezed into the refrigerator with the food, but notice they never mention saving one of those. Who cares about the word of god when you need to save the word of the governing body?
Apparently evacuation instructions by governmental authorities Rom 13:1-5 are overruled by Heb 10:24-25, therefore the witnesses had to “obey God (sorry governing body) as ruler rather than men”. Acts 5:29
In response to Rowland’s comment. I have never been aware at anytime of the Governing body making a formal reply through their printed pages of any type of apology in regard to a ill fated mistake in thinking, and or doctrine they expected their members to follow.
Even with such a debacle of predicting that 1975 would be a pivotal year for all man they instead blamed the unrealistic expectations as their members fault after pumping them up previously through printed articles and assembly talks.
It is clearly impossible for a organization that is so delusional in their thinking that they are Gods anointed true servant to EVER admit they were or are wrong.
There conscience’s have become so seared to the point of self proclaiming that they are the faithful and discreet slave themselves.
And when one denotes such power upon themselves, then the sky’s the limit at what they can get away with under that guise with their members.
There is enough information through their own writings that clearly self condemns them to begin with.
Any logical honest hearted person can clearly see that.
More then the 22 lives lost, how about the countless ones losing their lives upholding a manmade command not gods when it comes to a blood transfusion.
They will always spin every situation or tragedy towards furthering their own agenda of getting more converts which in turn brings them more money.
One day hopefully in my time something really scandalous is going to erupt that will take this religion down. Its only a matter of time!
John Cedars, Thank You Again for a fine Article.
As someone who has been to JW special conventions in third world countries, the mentality of the brother there is so different. I’ve had the opportunity to be in locations that had their first GB visit. They are so trusting of the organization and almost worship the Governing Body members. I wouldn’t be surprised if these brothers had an almost superstitious view of the protection of the Kingdom Hall. These brothers would never blame the organization for giving them bad advice. They are trusting and loving. And despite being poor were willing to give any guest the shirt off their backs.
Here in the west we would listen to the local authorities before listening to the elders, or maybe that’s just the way it is in my area. Heck, we aren’t even obeying the rules about attending the international conventions and have received very stern letters from the branch. If it came to a life or death situation many would not obey the GB. In fact, many JWs actually get blood transfusions secretly.
GB did apologize for 1975–let’s see how that apology went again, “We’re sorry that some of you made assumptions based on your reading too much into the printed matter coming from the Watchtower and jumped to conclusions regarding the import of 1975.”
Feel better, old chum?
@Fading – Not Jesus, Jehovah…
The sad point of this tale of catastrophe and death is that it reflects what truly are “the perils of obedience” and thought-stopping behaviors in this group. By blind obedience and no “sound reasoning” (whatever happened to that Watchtower phrase nugget?)–thinking–individuals CHOSE to perish. (yeah, I said it!)
Going back to the great pill debate–these individuals were faced with the choice of obeying elders who expected them to show at a meeting and meeting place versus heading for high ground like rational beings (or rats). Still believe you’ll make the life-saving choice?
Think about it.
I just finished watching this video and can’t even imagine going through what these poor people are dealing with.
How is it possible for WT to make a video showing the desolation of their so-called brothers’ homes, while at the same time making millions on their New York real estate sales? I’m sure the cost to build a house there wouldn’t even put a dent in their wallets.
Why does the portion that talks about the relief work only mention Witnesses helping other Witnesses? I’m not a religious person, but I can’t imagine a Catholic organization only helping Catholics.
Why are they wasting time with a convention when there are homeless people in attendance, and many more outside in the same situation?
I hope Sanderson didn’t get any peasant dirt on his nice clean shirt.
@John(headless?)Baptist
“One day hopefully in my time something really scandalous is going to erupt that will take this religion down. Its only a matter of time!”
one day? I guarantee the pedophile cases building up will make a dent, but one only has to look at the “cousins” in the Adventism family-tree to note the life-cycle of a typical millenialism group, whether it has a strong charismatic leader, or doctrinal polychotomy, it disintegrates gradually into small fragmented sects/groups. I can’t tell all here, but the seeds of discontent have been sown and growing for decades.
Exactly. I don’t remember Jesus handing out tracts. It’s been a while since I’ve done any bible study, but if memory serves me, he gave out fish and health care.
Doesn’t the organisation look great:-) Wow what leadership. Hold your meetings in the front of an oncoming 5 meter storm surge and 150 mph winds. Marvelous idea & if some of you survive we’ll make a video of it because obviously you had God’s protection (with deepest sympathy to the family’s and the 22 that died). WHY weren’t these people advised to get the hell out of there and seek higher ground if, as the society admitted, knew it was coming instead of holding meetings? ( the shrewd one has seen the calamity and proceeds to conceal himself) Thank you for the article John. It is clearly propaganda designed to elevate the Supermen in Brooklyn who come rushing in to save the day.
Great post Ceders well done, it gives me more impetus. To continue working to expose this satanic GB.
With over a billion pocketed from real estate deals, the Watchtower Society would hardly miss a few million dollars donated to the Filippinos who lost their homes, and to those societies need to rebuild their infrastructures.
That would be far more beneficial than making a video!!!
Note these excerpts from WT propaganda at JW.org:
“The branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Manila formed five disaster relief committees to expedite assistance to victims. More than 190 tons of supplies have been sent to the central Philippines. Witnesses from at least ten countries offered to assist with the relief effort. Volunteers are helping to rebuild and repair over 2,000 homes or provide medical support….
“The Philippines branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Manila now confirms that 33 Witnesses have died and 10 are missing and presumed dead…
“Beginning on December 7, 2013, Mark Sanderson, a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, visited five provinces in the affected region over the course of seven days.
FEBRUARY 17, 2014 | PHILIPPINES
Update: After Super Typhoon Haiyan, Jehovah’s Witnesses Mobilize Relief Effort
“assistance to victim…”
Where in this apparent ‘objective’ news report is there an indication that any of the WT supplies went to people OTHER than Witnesses? Isn’t this what justifies being a non-profit organisation and ‘doing good to others.” Jesus said, ‘Of what benefit is it if you do good to those already loving you?’
You have to give it to them, they know how to write an effective article. Note, too, the result of the obvious photo-op is clearly emblazoned too.
Frank
Let’s wait to hear the GB response to this question. Did you advise those people in those congregations to evacuate and if so when considering you had advanced knowledge?
Hi John, again thanks for the article as saddening as it was:-(
My question is this. Could you forward this information to the newspapers I.e. here in England to the Daily Mail e.t.c.? Perhaps they could get a response. Cheers & thanks.
Oh, I thought Mark Sanderson was going there to give a hand to rebuild a few of destroyed homes …
This is just typical of the Governing Body putting a propaganda spin on a tragedy. It makes me sick to my stomach, I got very angry reading this as it reminded me of how I used to believe this rhetoric until a tragedy happened in my life and where was the help I sorely needed – nowhere. Putting such false hope and expectations into the lives of their members is despicable.
Kind of reminds me of the Wizard of Oz…..the big voice and powerful works ect but once you pull the curtain back its just a bloke kidding every one..that’s how I see the GB body now but with this properganda stunt on the Philippines its a sick one,even Noah warned his people for many years before the flood,and as far as the charity thing abut supporting only the org I remember that,and can actually say I knew of someone who went to the manchester assembley (only for tax reasons that is as we no)hall in northenden just after the society was classed as a charity and ask for help and he was told they don’t just hand out things and directed him to other charitys in the area,I no he did it for a bit ofdare but also to prove a point to,and why would you put publications in the fridge?????? Yes its all a stunt to show how people are grateful of this sess pit ridden man constructed governing body who feel they are the porthole to god,when in fact there nothing but a corporate compony bleeding of those who feel its the next thing to the holy spirit and Jehovah,I wonder if that scripture will hit the GB one day”didn’t we perform works in your name,get away from me you workers of lawlessness”as this jw.org video takes the biscuit on this one,and sick as well…..thing is most of the videos ate done in one lace to start of with so its all staged as most of us no,same as the photos in certain magazines no different than catalogue poses ………
The only reason the org was classed as a charity was because of tax I remember when it came in and also the assembly to which said this,wonder how many who suffer hear in uk and if people watch the news hear we have food banks opening up all the time now due to certain governments stgmatiseing people, so how cme the org does not help people every other religion as a food bank,or church to a point and even non religious organizations do but not the JW,S,so its ok to talk about how bad the system is and how people struggle in poverty but not to help them,this annoys me in fact I will be honest on this one now my wife still goes to meetings,and her friend struggles so hard, she struggles and people no this in her hall and my wife and my self are helping her,thing is I,am dissfellowshiped,so what does that say of others so were is the so called help and charity there……this gets me on one but I would do that even if it was not a jw or not,I feel if you have struggled in life no matter what you would not let others suffer if you can help,no matter what faith you are…..
Wow, just wow. I’ve been through a cyclone myself and listened to the authorities’ warnings and all that so I know what it’s like to wait and wait for it to come. The kingdom hall might have been used because it is sturdier than poverty stricken Philippines houses, but why wasn’t it, with all the society’s resources, built to typhoon specifications? Where I lived in cyclone territory it was compulsory, but in the Philippines it may not be. Still, the society is rich enough to spend extra for safety.
Another thought I have is that for the size of this storm and population density, not that many people died, say compared to cyclone Nargis which ripped through Myanmar in 2009 and over 100 000 people died. In that case, the Myanmar govt did not warn the people. So the Philippines govt did warn and evacuate the people and way fewer died. It appears most of the jws died in the storm surge that carried away the kingdom hall. Authorities who we can see did a good job of warning the population would not have been to blame for jws camping out in a known flood zone.
I was told by some ignoramus elder I could go to the kh for protection when I was in the cyclone path in 2006. the kh was located at the edge of swamp/wetlands with mangroves nearby. I knew that was a stupid idea. These Philippinos at have been told by the elders, like me, the hall was safe refuge even though it was in a flood zone. They were obedient and paid the ultimate price.
I hope the contrast between those small skinny and wiry Philippinos and that cushiony overfed American was not lost on many people. There is this fat, idle American man telling people who’ve lost homes, possessions and loved ones to go and be well fed. He deigned to come among the plebs. Stuff like this helped me wake up.
Your percentages need correcting.
Mortality due to the typhoon should be 0.0063% amongst general population and 0.024% amongst JWs.
Thank you, I’ll fix that!
It is clear is it not. GB sends a member with a film crew to SHOW jw’s & the world how loving they are. .huggy huggy kiss kiss. What they do they do to be observed by men. V SAD.
Where was this convention held? I never vowed to anything so ludicrous , and I do donate to causes…
Thing is I feel a lot are going away from the real reasons of love,compassion and empathy,its sad really as I no very many genuine witnesses but who ate also scarred to hold the hand of kindness out to there fellow human because of what the GB says and forget what the Bible says,when I was doing my health training I spent some voluntary work in Kenya for 6 months I met the bro@sis and also stayed with people who were kenyans but not JW,S and no matter what faith you were everyone helped each other as they depended on each other when times were hard,but were the branch office was it was all cut of by 8 foot bushes so you could not see in side and when in there it was like a five star exclusive hotel complex….something did not seem right about it,all this talk about contributions for the world wide work and brothers struggling, and now this video on the philipines hear in uk we have had bad floods and the same in the states with cold weather but I have heard nothing about support from any branches and if so would they just help there own,sorry tosay just another publicity stunt from the GB to put them self up there……….
It is sad Jesus (Present Invisible King from 1914 ) did not intervene to stop the Typhoon.
(Matthew 8:26, 27) . . .he said to them: “Why are you so afraid, you with little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and a great calm set in. 27 So the men were amazed and said: “What sort of person is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him.”
Did Jesus fail to calm the Typhoon? Did the Typhoon rebel against him? There is need of a JUDICIAL COMMITTEE to investigate the problem!!
Try John Prine some humans ain’t human………
Dean Smith,
“some humans ain’t human………”, Who did you mean? Who are they? Are they Half Humans and Half gods like Jesus. He could and still can. . .”rebuke the winds and the sea” (Matthew 8:26, 27) THOUGH this time he has OPTED not to rebuke the Typhoon to allow the Watchtower to publicize itself!!
Reminds me of that song called holy smoke by Iron Maiden.
Of course they are Mike, that’s why they must be stopped now and brought into account!
The thing that makes me the maddest is to see Sanderson in his nice pressed clothes and these people running around WITH NOTHING.No donations, clothes, no cans of someting.. NOTHING. He will go back to his high living and all this was to “look good”. Makes me sick.
I asked an elder one time if it was more important to give someone food or a magazine and he said the magazine. Why? because the food was only temporary…….
Thanks For doing the numbers cedars! More stories need to get out like this.
Hi Carol, how can they be stopped when they are totally guarded to any criticism ? I have tried talking about a wide range of other issues to my parents, who have been in the truth since 1957. Their response ? “Where did you read that? That’s apostate and we are warned against apostate websites!”. It’s a case of “If you don’t know the answers and don’t have the facts, blame the source.”
(Ps sorry about the deleted outburst – it just boils my ****)
Using a child to promote any belief system is an emotive tactic. Does this sound familiar?
Covert emotional manipulation tactics are underhanded methods of control. Emotional manipulation methodically wears down your sense of self-worth, self-confidence, self-concept and trust in your own perceptions. At its worse, you can lose all sense of self and your personal values.
It is all part of love bombing.
http://psychopathsandlove.com/covert-emotional-manipulation-tactics/
Thank you, Cedars. Very well written. And just whose side are the Governing Body on? Hmmmm.
I noticed the part where the girl who lost her whole family said that the elders told her it was okay to cry. She had to get permission from the elders to cry!! As you know, it has always been propounded that witnesses don’t grieve like those of the world do, so they think it’s wrong to cry if someone cries, and this poor girl was feeling guilty because she had cried until the elders told her it was okay to do so. What a noose the society has over people that they have to get permission to cry if they lose their whole family! And with Hurricane Katrina, the society was critical of the witnesses who had not taken the warnings the hurricane was coming and didn’t flee and had to be rescued by brothers. They had an article about it, and criticized them for not heeding the warning and not evacuating. Why the different tone here, saying they were holding their meeting during the strongest storm to hit the earth ever!! What nuts!
Dead on dude!!!!!!!!!!! Love that song. Every time I hear it I ALWAYS think of this hyppocritical org…..I had been in the borg for 30 yrs, yet everyone once in a while I would get a moment of clarity….that song kicked open the door for sure.
meant to direct this to Gary for his comment on Iron Maidens song Holy Smoke