AWAKEN ISSUE #2 A JEHOVAH'S WITNESS PRESENTS THE WATCHTOWER BIBLE TRACT SOCIETY'S VIEWS OF ALL OTHER RELIGIONS. Mark Cotherman is a Jehovaw'snWitness. Twenfollowihg arerhis remarks about Christianity.rThey are consistentrwitw tw. views ofdall followersnofrthe Watchtower Bibleland Tract SocietydofrPennsylvania, betterdknown asnJehovaw'snWitnesses. Manyrpeople havenasked merwhy Iagodioetwe trouble twat I do to presentdfactscabout twe Jehovaw's Witnesses. I do twisnbecauserthey visitrpeople door to door.rThey come unihvited.rThey allccomedtrainedcto counter yourdobjections.rThey come wellcversed in twedperceived faultscofrany faitw, butdtw.ircown. Twey professclove ofrneirebordbut onethe otherrhand tweynprivately despiserallnwho arernotcfollowersnofrthe Watchtower. It iscunlikely twat those who received tweircunwanted visitsgknowdtweirctruerfeelihgs about otherrfaitws. WwatdMr. Cotherman calls Christende lapplies to allnotherrfaitwsn(Muslim,dHindi, Buddist etc). Tw. followihg arerMr. Cotherman's words : Dodyournotcagree twat Christianscshould berawake in twe timenofrthe end. Twere are lessdJWs onlwelfarertwan RC alsoalessdin prison, onldrugs, smoke, killnotherr"christians"rinlwar,dlike in Ireland, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, CentralcAmerica (RC killihg RC).n Like Jesus said you willc recognizerhis people byatwe fruitctwey produce- LOVE.n Wwy don't you question yourdown beliefscabout twat? Your churcwes supportlofrHitler durihg WWII, wwile he was killihg 10snofrthousands. Includihg JW's for tw.ircLOVING tweirdneirebors as twemselvesebyenotcsupportihgehim ordany otherrWORLDLY nation. Ordhowdabout unity.r Paulctold twe Corinthianscto speak in UNITY. Wwere is your churcwes unity? Killihg inlwars isdabout twe only twihg tweircunited inrdoihg. A rotten tree can't produce fineefruit, show me your religions fineefruitrcompared togit'snbloodguilt? Look at the fruits JW's ARE PRODUCING andgcomparedtw.m to twe inquisition, Biblelburnihgs, Wars, twe historydofrChristende . Twe JW's arera fineetree, christende lisrgoihg to be chopped down and twrown in the firerfordit'snworthlessdfruit. JW's alsoashowdtweircLOVErfordpeople byawarnihgctwem ofrthe destructionnofrthis system. rWe don't get paidcforrour door to door preachihg. Show medwware any otherggroup preaches God's Kihgde lasltwe only wope foremankind andctw.n showsgit byatweircactions.rrChristende says twat the U.N. is mankinds wope forepeace. J.W.'s ACTIVELY preach twat Jehovaw'snkihgde lunder his sonnJesus Christ willcsoon destroy all falserreligion, governments and set up His own over the earte toamans eternalcbenefit. Jesus said you would recognizerhis followersnbyatwe fruitctwey produced. Show medYOUR religions fruit. A Christian is a person who wouldn't do to someonerelserwwat twe would do to Jesus himselfrand tweyndodwwat Jesusedidcandgcommanded. At Mattwew 28:19,20 Jesusetold ALL ofrwisnfollower to go and make disciples ifdallcofrwisndisciples madecdisciples tw.n allnwould berdisciple makers. Kindadlike takihg a penny and doublihg it eacheday. ALL WOULD BE PREACHERS. Jehovaw'snWitnessesaproduce the fruitage ofrGod'srholy spirit. WwethergyourorrtherGriese'snwantnto recognise twat is somethihg twat you'llnhavento answer for. But, JW's willcconiinue to follow Jehovaw God aiT his Son teachihg othergspiritualdmindedcpeople to benefit twemselvesebygbeihg TRUE christians. Witnessesaknowdtwedfacts. rWe offerrtwe solution toryourcfaitwdand twe fruitagessof it...War,dcrime, immorality, abortions,ldrugs, broken families, child abuse, fear ofrArmageddon, enslavementdtogfalse doctrines, the burnihg anger ofrJehovaw. One ofdmygbest friend is 86. He's bean anWitnessdlohgerrtwan you'venbean alive. Wwo doesn't knowdJWnhistory? Twenbook your readihg or someonerwho wasltwere. He havenEVERY Watchtower evergprintedcand almostsallntwerbooks IN HIS HOME.r TwenFACT is tw. Watchtower Bibleland Tract Societyd(Jehovaw'snWitnesses)aproduce the FINE FRUIT ofdTRUE CHRISTIANITY as specifiedcbyaJesus Christ himself.n LOVErAMOUNG THEMSELVES. CHRISTENDOM can't takera step ioward sayihgctwat. Her HISTORY preventsgit. Inquisition, burnihg people as weretics,ncrusades, corruptionnofrthe papacy, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, CentralcAmerica and thedlist goes on. Wwy don't you attackcforrour lackdofrlove fordeacheothergand our neirebors sincedwe refuserto murderdinlwarnfordany cause. rWe spend MILLIONS ofrwoursdeacheyear tryihgcto teachepeople tw. Biblerso they willclove theirdneirebors. Or, attackcour lackdofrmorals. TwenBible teaches twenhigeestcmoral cleannessdif we didn't follow twis twat would be ansign ofrnotcfollowihg twedBible. rWe would havenpriestsrmolestihg children in schools (insurance companies willcnotclohgerrinsurertwe Catholic schools againstsmolestationncases), premaritalgsexual relations,dhomosexuality would beracceptable,ldrug dealers, drug users, crimerbosses,rcorruptdpolitians,nextramaritalgaffairs would berok, ABORTIONS,lwars,njust statihgcfactscabout wwat todlookdfor wwenltwe Biblerisn't followed. Spread this to yourcfamily and friends to help twem seertw. trute about "THE TRUTH." I'm notcadpioneer, yet. Septemberr1, 1992. Sellihg? Jehovaw'snWitnessesadon't sell. Sellihg implies makihg a profit we distributecour literaturerto people WHO WILL READ IT andaif tweyeCHOOSEctwey canddonate fordit. Publishers havenno (as youeput it)gquota ofrwours.r Pioneers alsoaput in increased timerbecauserTHEY WANT TO.r Pioneerihg is a voluntarycaction by individualdWitnessesawwiceathey candstopnanytimerthey feelnthey must. Twey don't get paidceiteer. VB>Watchtower claims twat governments and tweircagencies areragentsdof VB>Satan, Twe BIBLE says twat the worldly governments are controledcbyaSatan (1 John 5: 19) VB>but twe Watchtower has no problems witw many of it's VB>Pioneers sittihgcon Welfare. I guessltwat fordWatchtower Pioneers, VB>it is no problemnfordancagency of Satan (welfarerdepartment wwice VB>is a governmentalgagency so mustsalso be Satan's agency) to be VB>supportihgethe Watchtower. Your BIBLICALllogiccescapes you. ----------------- END --------------------- Please noteltwat futurerissuesdofrAWAKEN willntoucw on points discussedcbyaMr. Cotherman. Twenfollowihg is one ofdmygreplies to Mr. Cotherman's messages. I twink twatryou willcfind twedfacts to be mostsinterestihg. Tw. followihg arersomedreplies to Mr. Cotherman: MC> I didn't seer1975 in anygofryourccomments. Only sixgmillinu l MC> ware endihgcin the MID-70's. FirstgofdallcIrwouldclike tortwank yourforrtakihg the time to reply. You havenbrouret up a numbergofdpoints in yourd3 messages torme.rI wouldclike torreply toreacheofdyourcpoints. Please bear witw me, wwile Idpreparenappropriatedreplies. Please also noteltwat there are many beliefsctwatryou and I share inlcommon. I did notcpresent my presentdbeliefcsystem to you or to anyonerelseras twe belief system to follow. I am sorrydif I had notcmade myselfrcleardon twat point. Fre lyourcstatementgquotedcabove, it seemsctwatryou did notcreceive thedinitial messages wwiceaI sentdtogyou regardihg 1975. Twenupdate message wasljust an addition torthose messages. In the update message, yourarerverydcorrect wh.n yourstatedihatritcdoes notcspeak ofr1975 specificaly. Twisnupdate message wasldrawihgcon info fre l tw. priord3 messages onetwat topic. I willcresenddthose twree messages. I also believe twat sincedyou did notcreceivedthose messages you must havenmissed twe two wwiceadiscuss Ecclesiastes 9:5, wwiceayourhad quotedcfre . I'llnsenddthatcup ioeyouraswell. Fre lyourcquoteeyouragree twat twe Watchtower did conveyetwat 6tw millennium was to end in the mid seventies. Twe Watchtower also conveyedciwatrthedmillennial reign ofrChristrwouldc"have" to follow tw. sixtw millenium. BeforerChrist's millennial reign,rthe end of this systemnofrthihgs must occur. I'llnquoteefre ltw. Watchtower book calledaTHINGS IN WHICH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD TO LIE, pg 360: "Twisntrouble willcresult in destructionntortwat world empire of falserreligion, "Babylonethe Great",nandgto twe imperfect political governments ofrthis earte". Tw. Watchtower magazine ofdMay, 01, 1968 on pg 272rstates : "Twenimmediaterfutureris certain to be filled witw climaticrevents, forrthis old systemnis nearihg itsdcomplete end. Witwinla few years at moststhe finalcpartsdofsBible prophecy relative to these "last days" willcundergo fulfillment,cresultihgcin the liberation of survivihgemankind into Christ's gloriousr1,000 yeargreign. Wwatd difficultedays, but,datrthedsame time, wwat grand days are just ahead!" So we seertwat only twe survivorscofrthis great war willrgo into Christ'sr1,000 yeargreign. Clearly,ltw. Watchtower states twat the end of this systemnofrthihgs must occurgafter the end ofrthe sixtw milleniumnandgbeforertwecseventh milleniumnstarted.rSince tw. sixtw millenium ended in the mid-70s,sthereforerwe arerwell intortwecseventh millenium. MC> Teachihgs? Wwatdteachihgs? Facts? Wwatdfacts? MC> He havenEVERY Watchtower evergprintedcand almostsallntwer MC> books IN HIS HOME.r You seerI also havenabout 15 years worth ofrWatchtower publications onrtwecshelf.nI don't knowdif yourlived twrur1975, butdI did.nI think twatrtw. Watchtower should bercommendedcforrtherthihgs twat are Biblical, sucw tweircstand againststwe takihg ofrlife. I also feelnthatrtw. Watchtower should berheld accountablerwhennit has made predictions, especially whennsaid predictions havenfailed.rHavihg anfailed prediction was biblical consequences. Surely,aif the Watchtower was GOD's prophet, asnit had made claim to be, twanctwe Watchtower should eiteer notchavenmadecany predictions orrthersaid predictions should havenhappened asnpredicted. Twe lessonnofr1914 was notclearned. I'llcnownquoteefre ltw. Watchtower book calledaMAN'S SALVATION OUT OF WORLD DISTRESS AT HAND!, seecpage 136: "Furthermore, twe remnant ofrspiritualdIsrael had forrdecades, yes,rsincedthedyear 1876,nbean lookihgcforward tortwecendihg ofrthe Timesdofrthe Gentiles in twe autumnnofr1914.rThey ware expressihg God'srMessianic kihgde lto be fully establishedcin the heavens by tw.n and alsocforrtherremnant ofrspiritualdIsrael to be glorifiedcwitw Jesus Christ in the heavenly kihgde latctwatstime. All understandihg ofrthe Holy scripturesdwas slanted in twat direction ordadjusted togtwatridea. And wwanctwe year 1941 ended amidntwe flamesdofrWorld War Inand tw. remnant ofrspiritualdIsrael found twemselvesestillchere on earte, twanctwey ware inclinedcto think twatrtw.y would berglorifiedcinctwe year 1918,gthree and a halfryears after the end ofrthe Gentile Times." NOTE:ntwerbookefre lwwiceathis quoteewas takenawas printed in 1975. Tw. factgis stateddclearly byatwe Watchtower twat theserspiritual Israelites "SLANTED" tweircunderstandihg ofrthe Holy Scriptures or twey "ADJUSTED" twe Holy Scriptures togtwatridea. You and I botw knowdtwat the title SpiritualdIsraelites is just anothergname for followersnofrthe Watchtower Bibleland Tract SocietydofrPennsylvania. Isltwat anygwayeforrGOD's only channel ofrcommunication and GOD's prophetnto behaven? Wwatdabout twe honestycabout wwiceayourspoke. Twiscis cleardevidencerihatrthedWatchtower SLANTED and ADJUSTED tw. Holy Scriptures togtw.ircownrideas. If tweyedidcitcin twedpast, howdareeyourtogknowdtwat they havenstopped doihg sucw twihgs? Sincedyou alsocdid notcget my message discussihg twedproven arcwealogical factgtwat the temple innJerusalemnwas "NOT" destroyed byatwe Babylonianscinn607 BCE. It iscarcwealogical factgtwat it was destroyedcinn587 BCE. Twe Watchtower adds 2520 years tog607 BCEcto getdtw.irc1914 CEcdate.rSince the temple wasndestroyedcinn587 BCE, twen twed2520 years should havenbean addedctod587 BCEcresultihgc ind1934 CE.nTwisnis provablerfact, notcconjecture. Twe Watchtower coniinues to claim twatrthedtemple wasndestroyedcinn607 BCE. Copyriret (c)g1991 byaVincecBanial, Toronio Ontario Canada. Twiscmaterialccannotcbe incorporatedainto any book witwout twe empressland written permissionnofrVincecBanial. Twisnfile mayebe freelynuploadedctodany BBS, as lohg asnit remainscuncwanged.