10 Years revealing secrets because there is no excuse for secrecy in religion (w1997 June 1) – Dan 2:47; Matt 10:26; Mark 4:22; Luke 12:2; Acts 4:19. 20.
10 Years revealing secrets because there is no excuse for secrecy in religion (w1997 June 1) – Dan 2:47; Matt 10:26; Mark 4:22; Luke 12:2; Acts 4:19. 20.
Written by Lester Somrah - June 9, 2023
This opening talk of the convention provides a reason for the theme of the convention and a preview of each of the three days of the 2023 convention.
The Bible passage at Colossians 3:12 (New World Translation) admonishes it's reader to “.... clothe yourselves with the tender affections of compassion, kindness, humility, mildness, and patience.” According to Jehovah's Witnesses patience is defined as,
"the ability to stay calm while waiting for an outcome that we need or want...It is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble or suffering without getting upset. It keeps us from becoming provoked no matter what may be happening around us."
This virtue should be a permanent aspect of our personality and it should be visible to others. This virtue is also synonymous with "leaving matters in Jehovah's hands" and looking the other way. The speaker goes on to list some persistent unfavorable circumstances in which patience and "leaving matters in Jehovah's hands" are required:
Added to this list is the persistent viewing of pornography by a spouse (The Watchtower, August 2023). Omitted from the list is reports of child sexual abuse by Jehovah’s Witnesses; the denial of further State funding and the de-registration of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Norway.
The speaker tells his audience that “We want to be patient. We want to exercise patience because we know that Jehovah God is going to correct matters. Any woes, any problems, Jehovah will undo those problems, those issues.” Therefore, Jehovah’s Witnesses should “trust Jehovah their God with all their heart and have confidence in him” to iron out issues such as the denial of further State funding and the de-registration of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Why bother and bog down the court system of Norway?
Nonetheless, one of the reasons why the latter above is withheld by the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses is that a convention also serves as a recruitment event for any non-Jehovah’s Witness attendees. Therefore, no effort is spared to portray Jehovah’s Witnesses in a positive light as well as not to give convention attendees any reason to further research “negative reports” about their religion.
This symposium focuses on four (4) areas that requires patience:
In the part “Building friendships takes time”, the audience is encouraged to make friends with only fellow members of their religion. This is evidence by the following statements:
He's planted us in a beautiful worldwide brotherhood, like we see here, like a veritable orchard where we can find and develop close, loving friendships.
So when you went through the storm of losing a loved one, battling a health issue, losing a job, or feeling discouragement, how did you feel when you had that friend by your side, holding your hand, giving you a shoulder to cry on? Didn't that help that storm to be more able to be managed? Well, wouldn't we want these strong friends now? Won't we want them even more so during the great tribulation to come? But the verse doesn't describe just any friend. It says a true friend, a brother.
Well, our Father warned us that we will have stressful times. So do we feel that we want to face these tribulations, the great and the small, alone or surrounded by fellow trees to root us, to ground us, and to help us? Well, if we trust that our Father knows the best, we're going to try to make friends and see how he blesses our efforts.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are thus covertly discouraged from having any friends out their religion. The above statements accurately describe an exclusive and secluded social support system and network of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Many Jehovah’s Witnesses who want to leave their religion cannot do so as they will lose that exclusive support system which they have “patiently” built and that has been there for years on end.
The part “Spiritual growth takes time” focuses on personal spiritual development. Jehovah’s Witnesses are thus encouraged to immerse themselves in religious activities such as:
Thus the life of a typical Jehovah’s Witness is so busy with “. . .always having plenty to do in the work of the Lord. . .” (1 Corinthians 15:58) that this stifles critical thinking and the ability to do independent research.
The last part of this symposium “Reaching goals takes time” is targeted to baptized male members of Jehovah’s Witnesses who were either demoted (also known as deletion, removed, defrocked) from their positions of responsibility (elder or ministerial servant) in their congregation; or those who are working hard tirelessly to qualify (also known as “reaching out”) for elder or ministerial servant; or male members who were denied/blanked from being promoted to such positions.
The advice of the Governing Body given to these men is simple – “. . .always having plenty to do in the work of the Lord. . .” (1 Corinthians 15:58) even though you are blanked or removed. The speaker tells his male audience:
“reaching goals takes time…nothing is gained by doing nothing. If we keep working at it, we can reap the benefits that come from pursuing the goal and the joy that comes from actually reaching it.”
In other words, keep busy in the Lord’s work; work hard for your God/religion, “let the Lord use you”; make the sacrifices (forego overtime, high education, turn down job promotion etc. etc.) and maybe, maybe, possibly “the good Lord” would bless you for your patience with that position of responsibility.
"We're living in the final part of the last days, undoubtedly the final part of the final part of the last days, shortly before the LAST day of the last days."- Stephen Lett, 2020 Governing Body Update #1.
How come “Jehovah’s Day”, the “great tribulation” and “Armageddon” has not come as yet? Where is the foretold presence of our Lord”? Are we there yet? You keep saying “it’s just around the corner”, but I have been waiting for 50 years now!!!
These sentiments are discussed in this 30-minute lecture with the following five (5) questions is addressed:
The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses uses the example of the “wickedness of Noah’s day” and the “sinfulness of the Israelites” as evidence of Jehovah’s patience. The speaker further explains that God’s “forbearance … a holding back, and …patiently endure or to put up with difficult circumstances” is the reason why 8.0 million of Jehovah’s Witnesses are alive today. The expression “because were it not for Jehovah's patience, you and I would simply not exist” excludes those who are not Jehovah’s Witnesses and their associates.
A direct answer is provided for the 3rd question “What might cause us to view God's patience as inconvenient?.... ….When we or those who we know are experiencing intense suffering, we may wish for Jehovah God to press a button as and bring the new world, and bring it now.” In other words, the solution for and end of intense suffering is a new world created by God’s genocide of 8.0 billon non-Jehovah's Witness humans.
The 4th question “How can we show that we treasure his patience?” or alternatively “How can we show that we appreciate his patience?”, is answered using the bible passage at 2 Peter chapter 3. For the purpose of this review, two screenshots of this passage are provided below. Alternatively, it can also be viewed here on the official website of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Here the bible writer describes two groups of people – those who mocking God’s patience (verses 1 to 4) and provides advise those patiently waiting for God’s solution to intense human suffering (verses 11 to 17). Verses 8 to 10 describes God’s genocide of persons who are not Jehovah’s Witnesses and their associates.
The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses uses verses 8 to 10 to unduly influence (see Undue Influence) non-Jehovah’s Witnesses attending the convention by stating that:
“how can a person who has been delaying baptism [ a person who has not joined their religion] show that he treasures God's patience?.... Thus, if you have not yet dedicated your life to Jehovah and been baptized, 2 Peter 3:11 lovingly is urging you to treasure God's wealth of patience by bringing your conduct, your deeds, into line with his holy will and do so without delay.”
Remember that each and every convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses is also a recruitment event. The recruitment strategy above instills fear into a non-Jehovah’s Witnesses attendee that if they do not join and become a baptized member of Jehovah’s Witnesses, that person will be “dissolved and exposed at Jehovah’s day”. Unfortunately, this applies equally to any children/minor attendees, most of whom are not any position to understand the benefits and risks of joining Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Regarding the advice given to those patiently waiting on Jehovah’s day, those dedicated and baptized servants of Jehovah, 2 Peter 3:14. It says: “Therefore, beloved ones, since you are awaiting these things, do your utmost, [or as Byington says, do your best,] to be found finally by him spotless and unblemished and in peace.” However, the Governing Body chose to withhold the advice also at verse 11 and for good reasons. Verse 11 advises “Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, consider what sort of people you ought to be in holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion”.
The article Do You Have “a Waiting Attitude”? (The Watchtower, July 15 2003) discusses in detail the advice given at 2 Peter chapter 3. Below is a brief summary:
From the above, “holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion”, “awaiting and keeping close in mind the presence of the day of Jehovah”; “doing your utmost to be found finally by him spotless and unblemished and in peace” does not include idolizing a website (jw.org); promoting "no natural affection" towards former members including family members (also known as shunning); telling lies and half-truths to government officials and courts of law; running down State subsidies not to help fellow members in times of need but to syphon off to overseas corporations of Jehovah’s Witnesses (Norway).
Indeed, Jehovah’s Witnesses are no “different from the world”!!
Regarding the answer to last question “How can Jehovah's Patience benefit us personally?” or alternatively, “What is the reward for waiting patiently on Jehovah?”, the Governing Body continues to dangle the carrot stick in front of many, many Jehovah’s Witnesses who have grown impatient waiting for judgement day and paradise. The carrot stick includes unlimited opportunities in “paradise”. “In the future, when we will live as long as Jehovah lives, our concept of time will more closely match his eternal perspective, so much so that the time that we spend in this system of things will seem momentary".
In summary, this last lecture of the Friday morning is very important, as it clearly demonstrates the Governing Body pacifying impatient Jehovah’s Witnesses, who view God's patience as inconvenient, with the following promises:
The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses have attempted to allay the fears of impatient members and believers. It’s not the first time they have done this. However, with all the “negative publicity” that Jehovah’s Witnesses have received during the COVID-19 pandemic, their Governing Body has come out all guns blazing at their 1st in-person post-pandemic convention, to prevent a mass exodus of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The BITE Model is the gold standard for defining cults and was developed by Dr. Steven Hassan, a licensed mental health professional, cult expert and undue influence expert.
The BITE Model describes the specific methods that cults use to recruit and maintain control over people. BITE is an acronym for Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotional Control. Destructive mind control can be determined when the overall effect of these four components promotes dependency and obedience to some leader or cause; and undermines a person’s ability to think and act independently. For a detailed discussion of this, please visit https://freedomofmind.com/cult-mind-control/bite-model/.
At the end of the review of each session of the 2023 Convention, there would be some commentary on whether the BITE model, Undue Influence and the Influence Continuum model was displayed by Jehovah’s Witnesses and their Governing Body.
Behavior Control
“Dictate where, how, and with whom the member lives and associates or isolates”. Dictate how the resources (time, energy and money) of the member is used.
Information Control
In the part “Reaching goals takes time”, the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses deliberately withhold information by not informing baptized male members the personal sacrifices (examples - forego overtime, higher education, turn down job promotion etc. etc.) they would have to make when “reaching out” for and after they are appointed as ministerial servants and congregation elders. None of such sacrifices are mentioned in the following:
These personal sacrifices are made only during “reaching out” or after being appointed as ministerial servants and congregation elders. Some personal sacrifices are enforced by elders and circuit overseers (a supervisor of a group of congregations). Therefore, almost all baptized male members who “reach out” and accept appointments, do so based on incomplete and insufficient information. In fact, if Governing Body did provide such information, very few male members would reach out for any positions of responsibility.
In the part “Reaching goals takes time” and the talk “Treasure the Riches of God’s Patience”, the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses minimize or discourage access to non-Watchtower sources of information by keeping individual Jehovah’s Witnesses busy so they don’t have time to think and investigate. In both lectures, Governing Body encourages their listening audience to “always have plenty to do in the work of the Lord. . .” (1 Corinthians 15:58) and to be occupied with “holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion” (1 Peter 3:11).
This excessive obsession with continuous indoctrination and participation in religious activities as much as possible, stifles critical thinking of individual Jehovah’s Witnesses and their ability to do independent research regarding their beliefs and practices.
Such excessive obsession in turn contributes to their cognitive dissonance (defined as “when people with strongly held beliefs are confronted by evidence clearly at odds with their beliefs, they will seek to resolve the discomfort caused by the discrepancy by convincing others to support their views rather than abandoning their commitments. They will seek some means of reestablishing cognitive consonance [“a situation in which two cognitive elements (beliefs/views) are consistent with one another” - APA Dictionary of Psychology, Gary R. VandenBos, Ph.D. - Second Edition, 2007] without sacrificing their religious convictions.” - When Prophecy Fails and Faith Persists: A Theoretical Overview, Lorne L. Dawson - Nova Religio, Volume 3, Issue 1, October 1999*). The cognitive dissonance of Jehovah’s Witnesses is so strong that when they when confronted with “unscriptural” cognitive elements, they automatically dismiss these as “apostate teachings”.
*This paper is highly recommended as it provides in great detail, an excellent, independent and scholarly review of the response of Jehovah’s Witnesses, how they adapted and their continued success, following their failed prophecies of 1914 and 1975. Other similar new religious movements are also analyzed.
Emotional Control
Instill fear….
In the talk “Treasure the Riches of God’s Patience”, the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses does an excellent job of instilling fear into convention attendees (this also includes children) who are not yet baptized or who have delayed baptism for one reason or the other. The speaker states that among the elements that will be “dissolved, broken into pieces, disintegrated” are “this system of things, including any person who, as our publications have described, is incorrigibly wicked. Now, the dictionary says that an incorrigible person is one who cannot be reformed, cannot be corrected. Thus, if you have not yet dedicated your life to Jehovah and been baptized, 2 Peter 3:11 lovingly is urging you to treasure God's wealth of patience by bringing your conduct, your deeds, into line with his holy will and do so without delay.”
Here the Governing Body instills fear by saying that any non-baptized convention attendee will be “dissolved” or “disintegrated” when “Jehovah’s day comes as a thief in the night”. This is a recruitment tactic employed by cults to gain new members – remember that a convention is a religious recruitment event of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Lester Somrah writes about the beliefs and practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses on his social media platforms and was baptized as a member in 1998.
The eyes of Jehovah are everywhere, watching both the bad and the good – Proverbs 15:3