Why has e-watchman devoted a considerable amount of time and effort to make a case against the Watchtower’s former registration as an NGO with the United Nations? In a circular letter dated November 1, 2001, the Watchtower stated the following concerning its disassociation with the U.N.:
“...the Criteria for Association of NGOs—at least in their latest version—contain language that we cannot subscribe to. When we realized this, we immediately withdrew our registration…”
It appears that they were not aware of the “latest” version for association of NGOs. After which, they withdrew their registration, being “grateful that this matter was brought to [their] attention.” In what way have “opposers” attempted to “discredit” the Watchtower in this regard as stated in this circular letter? Since the Watchtower operates under a cloak of theocracy, Jehovah’s Witnesses will likely leave this matter in God’s hand. Has this matter been satisfactorily resolved in the minds of Jehovah's Witnesses, so that they bear no community guilt before God?
The Watchtower is lying.
The Criteria of Association of NGOs has always been the same. Apparently there was some minor rewording of the application, but according to the UN’s Department of Public Information (DPI) approved NGOs enter into a partnership with the United Nations. According to the UN the present working arrangement has been in place since 1968. Here is a quote from the DPI website addressing this point:
“In 1968, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), by resolution 1297 (XLIV) of 27 May, called on DPI to associate NGOs, bearing in mind the letter and spirit of its resolution 1296 (XLIV) of 23 May 1968, which stated that an NGO “...shall undertake to support the work of the UN and to promote knowledge of its principles and activities, in accordance with its own aims and purposes and the nature and scope of its competence and activities.”
When the story of the Watchtower’s involvement with the UN first broke in October of 2001, the UN headquarters was inundated with inquiries from Jehovah’s Witnesses. The DPI received so many emails and calls that they posted their official response on their website in which they clearly stated that the Watchtower agreed to support the United Nations in accord with the established criteria. (Click here and navigate to the link that says Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York. PDF file)
Interestingly, the letter also states that it is the UN’s policy to keep all correspondence between the UN and their associate NGOs confidential, which is a backhanded sort of way of stating that there was an ongoing interchange between the UN and the Watchtower.
Indeed, it is the obligation of all NGOs to keep the UN apprised of the progress of their particular information campaign in behalf of the DPI. Did the Watchtower comply with the DPI’s requirement to conduct an effective information campaign and to inform the UN of it? Undoubtedly it did, otherwise they probably would have been disqualified for serving as an NGO.
E-watchman has painstakingly documented the extent to which Bethel went to comply with the requirements of the DPI, which involved using the Watchtower and Awake magazines to inform the public and present in a positive light the UN's many agencies and programs. (See articles Strange Bedfellows, Plumbing the Depths of the Watchtower’s Prostitution, and The Watchtower and the UN: What is the Truth? )
The UN’s human rights website even lists the November 22nd, 1998, Awake Magazine, which was written specifically to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights. Evidently the Watchtower sent the UN a copy of that particular issue as proof of their compliance with the requirements for NGOs. (The Watchtower apparently was initially oblivious to the power of the Internet)
Does the mere fact that the Watchtower withdrew its NGO membership after it was exposed mean that all is well now? Take the case of a husband and wife relationship: What if one mate committed adultery over a long period of time and refused to admit it but merely secretly broke off the adulterous affair? Would that make everything right? Doesn’t the innocent mate deserve to know the truth?
In order to be resolved of guilt the Watchtower must first admit its guilt. It has not done so yet. The Watchtower's brief mention of their NGO affair in their letter to the branches merely blamed the UN for supposedly changing the wording of the NGO application -- leaving one the impression that all the Watchtower had to do to become an NGO was sign an application. The Watchtower’s response has actually added more guilt to their already considerable guilt of spiritual prostitution.
In fact, the Watchtower has never publicly admitted it was ever an NGO. It has only done so in private correspondence. To this day the vast majority of Jehovah’s Witnesses have no inkling of the affair. The comparative few who have heard of it are duped into imagining that it was something entirely fabricated by boogiemen apostates and opposers. Millions of publishers and hundreds of thousands of pioneers have no idea they were betrayed by the Watchtower and used like dumb pack-mules to disseminate subtle UN propaganda to the public.
From Jehovah's standpoint, until the Watchtower comes clean and admits that it knowingly and willingly engaged in a collaborative partnership with the United Nations there can be no forgiveness.
Link to additional article http://www.globalpolicy.org/ngos/ngo-un/rest-un/2001/1030j.htm
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5 comments:
The prevailing mindset among Jehovah's Witnesses is that all is well in "spiritual paradise," as insightfully brought out on e-watchman. For Watchtower officials to admit that they knowingly were in a political association with the U.N. for ten years as an NGO, would be tantamount to disclaiming that we are privy to a "spiritual paradise." In other words, there would be no need for the Watchtower to have entered into a political partnership with the U.N. if their spiritual estate could be truly construed as a "spiritual paradise." They will go on pretending that such is our present condition, until we are rudely awakened from our deep state of somnolence. --Isaiah 29:10.
It may be that the Watchtower is unwilling to come clean on this issue. To do so would likely mean that Christ did not establish the faithful and discreet slave over all his belongings following the First World War. If Christ came into his spiritual temple nearly a century ago to refine the remnant and establish the faithful and discreet slave over all of his belongings back then, certainly they could do no wrong from that point onward. It is no wonder that they kept their liaison with the U.N. a secret until the affair was made public by the London's Guardian Post. Evidently the Society’s operation of error is growing louder, resonating in God’s sanctuary were Christ is now serving as a High Priest. Thus the question: “But who will be putting up with the day of his coming, and who will be the one standing when he appears?” begs to be answered within the context of Jehovah’s judgment and Christ’s future revelation. “For he will be like the fire of a refiner and like the lye of laundrymen. And he must sit as a refiner and cleanser of silver and must cleanse the sons of Le'vi; and he must clarify them like gold and like silver, and they will certainly become to Jehovah people presenting a gift offering in righteousness. –Malachi 3:2-3.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Achan’s Cover-Up and the Watchtower’s 10-Year Secret NGO Association
As an organization dedicated to doing Jehovah's will, the Watchtower often reminds Jehovah's Witnesses about the importance of being truthful. The Society recognizes that God may withdraw his blessings from his congregation if even some among his people are involved in covering up serious wrongdoings. That is why they encourage their members to report bad conducts to the elders. This is all in keeping with the emphasis placed on keeping the organization clean. So in principle, we do not want to become sharers in the wicked works of others, in harmony with the Scriptures. –Leviticus 5:1; 1Timothy 5:22.
From this we have developed some elaborate rules, citing Achan’s transgression against clear divine directives. We recalled that when God gave Jericho over to the Israelites, Achan found some costly apparels and treasures, which he secretly hid beneath his tent contrary to Jehovah instruction that all the silver and the gold and the articles of copper and iron were considered something holy to Jehovah and that they should go into the treasure of Jehovah. (Joshua 6:19)
Because of this incident, Jehovah withdrew his support to the nation, as indicated by the fact that they suffered defeat when they went up against the Canaanite city of Ai. The matter with Achan had to be corrected before God could again support the Israelites with their ongoing effort to claim the Promised Land. If it were not for Achan’s misdeed and lack of consideration for his family and fellow countrymen, the Israelites would not have been defeated in this instance. From this we learn that God may withdraw his blessing or protection from his people if they are not in lockstep with his instructions.
To illustrate, one elaborate rule that we have relates to the preaching of the good news. Before someone becomes a publisher, they would meet with at least two elders, who would question them concerning their readiness to engage in this work. This may present an opportunity for elders to learn more about interested ones in our congregation in terms of determining how they can further assist them to develop or to “put on the new personality,” before they can formally take part in the congregation’s activities, so the saying goes. –Ephesians 4:22-24.
Presumably, these rules are in place to help build up individuals so that their lives may reflect well on the congregation and so that we do not bring reproach on God’s name. However, this may seem more like a trade-off between acquiring and maintaining God’s blessing, than truly being concerned about the spiritual health of individuals. Rather, we should have the faith and the conviction that as we preach about Christ and his kingdom to others and set the right example, others will model their lives after our own as we model ours after Christ. The end result will be that they too will want to glorify God in their bodies. –1 Peter 2:23; 1Corinthians 6:19-20.
So it is by our first putting on the new personality and doing our best as humanly possible to keep it on that we may truly help others. Jesus elaborated on this principle by his illustrative use of “salt” for flavoring and “light” for dispelling the darkness. (Matthew 5:13-16) Jesus gave us many other illustrations along those lines. However, are we letting our light shine by covering over our involvement with the U.N., passing it off as a mere oversight of some requirements that conflict with our Christian neutral? If so why did Bethel keep this association a secret from Jehovah’s Witnesses in general? Was it such an inconsequential matter?
Achan very well knew Jehovah’s instruction on the subject that got him, his family and the whole nation in trouble with God. That is why he hid the goods under his tent, and God had to forcibly bring the matter out in the open. Is the Watchtower guilty as Achan was before Jehovah? How does that affect Jehovah’s Witnesses as a whole? By our lack of honesty in this regard are we plastering our congregational wall with whitewash as we have grown accustomed to doing?
In any event and in the case of those plastering with whitewash, here is Jehovah’s scathing rebuke as recorded in Ezekiel 13:11-16:
“Say to those plastering with whitewash that it will fall. A flooding downpour will certainly occur, and YOU, O hailstones, will fall, and a blast of windstorms itself will cause a splitting. And, look! the wall must fall. Will it not be said to YOU men, ‘Where is the coating with which YOU did the plastering?’
“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said, ‘I will also cause a blast of windstorms to burst forth in my rage, and in my anger there will occur a flooding downpour, and in rage there will be hailstones for an extermination. And I will tear down the wall that YOU men have plastered with whitewash and bring it into contact with the earth, and its foundation must be exposed. And she will certainly fall, and YOU must come to an end in the midst of her; and YOU will have to know that I am Jehovah.’
“‘And I will bring my rage to its finish upon the wall and upon those plastering it with whitewash, and I shall say to YOU men: “The wall is no more, and those plastering it are no more, the prophets of Israel that are prophesying to Jerusalem and that are visioning for her a vision of peace, when there is no peace,”’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.
As individual Christians we often go to Jehovah in prayer sincerely asking him to forgive us of our sins on the basis of Christ’s ransom sacrifice. Why do we have trouble doing that as an organization, but instead our leading men in Bethel write letters explaining away the Society’s political association with the U.N. as a mere oversight on their part?
At this juncture we would be wise to take note of Daniel’s confessional to God for the whole nation, prior to their deliverance from captivity to Babylon. Could it be that the Watchtower’s reluctance in this regard is an indication that God’s people await a future captivity to a modern day tyrant, the 8th and final king of Bible prophecy? Like Daniel, will we then see the need to confess our sins before God as an organization? –Daniel 9:3, 4; Revelation 11:1-4; 17:11.
isreal was taken into captivity because the nation as a whole were sinful not just a few. also it is likely that not all (or any) of the governing body were aware of the extent of there joining the UN and what that entailed. they probably reproved those who were involved. further since probably only a few even knew about it at all you can hardly say that the organization committed spiritual adultery. there have been members of the governing body that have turned apostates, however no one ever accused the organization of spiritual adultery then.
while this is sad, its hardly a reason to be stumbled or lose faith.
Monday, November 20, 2006
More on the Society’s NGO affair with the UN--
It appears that the Society has not yet come clean on this issue. To do so will likely invalidate our teaching, among other things, that Christ has already established the faithful and discreet slave over all of his belongings nearly a century ago. So the governing body has resorted to a vigorous campaign of plastering with whitewash its organizational wall. Jehovah squarely confronted his nation concerning Achan's misdeed of hiding the goods which were to be brought to his treasury. As was the case with Achan, the governing body had concealed its spiritual misdeed concerning its NGO affair with the UN under their tents for ten years. When the matter came out in the open, they resorted to covering it up with whitewash. Thus, until full confession is made, “a thing devoted to destruction” remains in our midst. (Joshua 7:13) Therefore, Jehovah’s judgment against faithless ones within his spiritual nation is inevitable.--Ezekiel 13:9-15; Matthew 8:11, 12.
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