DO JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES REFUSE TO TAKE THE ARMS AND TAKE PART IN WARS INDEED?

 

Translated from the original by Chris Tsilikas

 

The heresy that is known today as Jehovah’s Witnesses, issues two magazines which mostly contain the doctrine of the heresy. These are the fortnightly “Watchtower” and the monthly “Awake”. Well, in the “Watchtower” of November 1st, 1964, pages 652 – 653, the Society claims that Jehovah’s Witnesses (the Kingdom ambassadors as they are mentioned in the text) in contrast to the rest of the world refused to take the arms in World War I, and for this neutrality they became objects of hatred and persecution:

THE JERUSALEM OF THE FULFILLMENT

26 At that time the religious clergymen of Christendom actively joined in supporting both sides in World War I in the enormous spilling of blood. However, the Kingdom ambassadors conscientiously refused to be combatants in the international war over political world domination. For this they became objects of hatred among all the nations, as Matthew 24:9 had foretold.

The “Watchtower” of November 1st, 1964, p.p. 652 – 653: Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse to combat in World War I (https://www.jw.org/en/)

You may wonder what the need is for quoting the above document since it is well-known to everybody that Jehovah’s Witnesses love peace and are thus neutral to wars, a fact that they are very proud of. And the price they have paid for this neutrality is imprisonment and persecution, and in some cases they have paid with their own lives when they refused to do their military service and take the arms.

All the above mentioned facts raise some questions which need to be answered immediately, and these answers will certainly justify the reason for the current article:

1. Is the Society “Watchtower” and by extension are Jehovah’s Witnesses in favour of peace and against war?
2. Is it in favour of or against the existence of weapons?
3. Why is the Society in favour of neutrality in war times?
4. Is it true that Jehovah’s Witnesses didn’t take part in World War I, as the "Watchtower" of November the 1st, 1964 claims?

In order to avoid being accused for empathy against Jehovah’s Witnesses we are going to use the following method, while we’re giving convincing answers to the questions posted above: Instead of answering the questions ourselves we’ll let the Society itself answer them through the texts of its publications.

 

So, in the leaflet of the Society “Awake!” of May 8th, 1997, page 23, all the doubts we might have about what is in favour of peace and what is against war are dispelled by Society itself, since it overtly claims that Jehovah’s Witnesses are not pacifists; on the contrary they happily await God’s war.

 

Totally Opposed to War?

True Christians love peace. They stay completely neutral in the world’s military, political, and ethnic conflicts. But, strictly speaking, they are not pacifists. Why? Because they welcome God’s war that will finally enforce his will on earth—a war that will settle the great issue of universal sovereignty and rid the earth of all enemies of peace once and for all.—Jeremiah 25:31-33; Daniel 2:44; Matthew 6:9, 10.

“Awake” 8th May, 1997 p. 23: Jehovah’s Witnesses are not pacifists! (https://www.jw.org/en/)

In the same article we read something that is highly worrying. What is that? The fact that the heresy of Jehovah’s Witnesses recognizes God’s right to wage war. And as He did in the past by authorizing Israel to fight for Him, who was his sole instrument on earth, he can also do the same today authorizing someone else. And who can really be that someone who could actually take the place of ancient Israel and wage God’s war? Who else but “the sole conductor of Jehovah”, the “faithful and decent servant of God” (note: these are the characteristics that the heresy of Jehovah’s Witnesses attributes to itself), meaning of course the Society “Watchtower”.

 

Totally Opposed to War?

Were ‘the ancient Christian doctrine and the whole spirit of the Gospel’ really pacifist, however? Could early Christians truly be described as pacifists, as defined previously? No! Why not? For one thing, they recognized God’s right to wage war. (Exodus 14:13, 14; 15:1-4; Joshua 10:14; Isaiah 30:30-32) Besides that, they never disputed God’s right to authorize ancient Israel to fight for him when that nation served as his sole instrument on earth.—Psalm 144:1; Acts 7:45; Hebrews 11:32-34.

“Awake” 8th May, 1997 p. 23: God fights trough ancient Israel! (https://www.jw.org/en/)

For those of you who haven’t realized the threat hidden behind the words of the above document we’re here to make it clear: the heresy of Jehovah’s Witnesses has been entitled to the right to order the masses to start a war whenever it is ‘notified’, that is whenever it decides, and the means and the methods of this war are up to the Society to decide upon.

And don’t think that it will be difficult for the Society to convince them. Its followers blindly obey it and they will not hesitate at the least, since they will believe that this way they will serve Jehovah’s plans for eliminating evil and for the prevalence of good, with the annihiliation of all evil people, meaning of course those who do not belong to the Society! The first messages for the blind submission of its followers have already been sent, since as we know, they are not allowed to transfuse blood whenever it is cosidered necessary by the doctors, and as a result a lot of them have lost their life while they could be alive today if they had accepted blood transfusion, especially victims of car accidents.

There might be an objection to all the above for the contradiction emerging, which leads directly to the second question we have posed. How will Jehovah’s Witnesses fight in a war since as we have claimed they consciously refuse to take the arms and as a result they have suffered quite a few times?

The answer is simple and it comes from the “Watchtower” of December 15th, 1973, page 127. There we find out that the heresy is not against the arms, since it claims that in the Holy Scriptures there is no objection to carrying weapons (thus, neither in using them) for people who defend property/people or try to impose the law. So, if it is legitimate for policemen etc. to carry arms as a defence means, it is rather sure that it will be legitimate for Jehovah’s Witnesses to carry and use weapons – whenever of course this is ordered by the Society – for the defence of the greatest goal for them, meaning Jehovah’s interest:

 

Jehovah God himself allowed human governments to exercise authority for law enforcement, by means of arms if necessary. Regarding such governmental authority we read: “It is not without purpose that it bears the sword; for it is God’s minister, an avenger to express wrath upon the one practicing what is bad.” (Rom. 13:4) Hence no Scriptural objection can be raised against the existence of armed law-enforcement agencies nor against a government’s authorizing certain men to carry weapons when protecting property and/or people.

The “Watchtower” of December 15th, 1973, p. 127: Jehovahs’ Witnesses are not against arms! (https://www.jw.org/en/)

Besides, it is obvious in the leaflets of the Society that the heresy is not against the use of arms, since it allows Jehovah’s Witnesses to decide on their own if they will become policemen, guards or night watchmen, and therefore both carry a gun and use it if it is needed.
So if this is how things are, how it occurs that Jehovah’s Witnesses are neutral during war time, a question we have posed in our third question?

Well, the issue of neutrality came up while Joseph Rutherford was the second president of the Society. His book “Enemies” written in 1937 split the world in two. On the one hand there are the people and the armies that belong to the organisation of Devil, and on the other hand there is “the holy Society of Jehovah”. So every Jehovah’s Witness is called to decide which side he wants to take; either devil’s by accepting to do military service or God’s by refusing to do military service, or else find a neutral position in between. So, Jehovah’s Witnesses stay neutral not because they are pacifists and against the arms but because they believe that if they do military service they actually serve the devil. Then if Armageddon happens (it’s a place in Israel where the symbolic battle between good and evil will occur before the Second Coming, which battle Jehovah’s Witnesses take literally, though) they will come before God with the result of their own annihiltion and their non-resurrection.

 

THE MENACING “TRAP” OF THE “BIRDCATCHER”

20 Notably from the year 1922 onward it was pointed out from the inspired Scriptures that Jehovah God has an organization, including his organized “remnant” on earth, and that there is an enemy organization, Satan’s organization, with an invisible demonic part and a visible earthly part. It was pointed out that, if one does not belong to Jehovah’s visible organization, then one belongs to the Adversary’s organization.

The “Watchtower” of December 1st, 1974, p.p. 732 – 733: If one is not a Jehovah’s Witness he is with Satan! (https://www.jw.org/en/)

 

Let’s deal now with the fourth and last question we have posed, whether Jehovah’s Witnesses took part in World War I or not. While we are exposing the documents regarding this issue, we would like you to pay attention to the mastery with which the Society tries to draw back, as this is one of its ‘trues’, the ones we have been used to. And its mastery reminds us of the way a cat tries to cover up its mess by opening a pit to bury its dung and covers it with soil so that nobody can see it. Unfortunately for the heresy of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the others can actually see their ‘dung’ – besides, it’s the Society who has published it and made it known – and they really hold it up to ridicule, that’s why it is forced to draw back and not because it wants to put things right and restore the truth.

So, on page 119 of a leaflet of the Society entitled ‘Book of the Year’ and refers to the year 1975, resembling a young boy who has been caught telling lies for some mischief, the Society starts telling some truths, but only half of these truths as it has been used to, about the participation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in World War I. While in the magazine ‘Watchtower’ of November 1st we saw above the Society supported that no Jehovah’s Witness ever took part or took weapon in World War I, now it veers a little and claims that there were some Jehovah’s Witnesses (Bible Students in the text) who took part in that war but they didn’t take any arms because they accepted noncombatant service:

 

A NEW OUTLOOK

During World War I questions arose among the Bible Students as to the position they should take regarding military service. Some refused to participate in any way, whereas others accepted noncombatant service. Related questions arose about whether to buy war bonds and stamps. Failure to do so sometimes resulted in persecution, even brutal treatment.

Book of the Year 1975, p. 119: Jehovah’s Witnesses accept noncombatant service in World War I, (https://www.jw.org/en/)

Will we forgive the Society of the “Watchtower” for this white lie, since anyway its followers did not take arms? We’d love to do so if we weren’t bowled over by another leaflet of the Society entitled “The Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom”. As it is obvious the Society hasn’t taken the Latin wise words “Scripta manent” into consideration, which means: words fly away, while writings remain. These ‘tricky’ written words which force the ‘Watchtower” to make a new statement (not even a government spokesman makes so many statements) about the issue of whether Jehovah’s Witnesses took the arms in World War I or not, since the mockery and the irony from its opponents seem to be endless. 

Therefore, in the “Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom” on page 119 it is forced to make a complete volte-face and admit that not only its followers took the arms but they also went to the front line and fought. However, in order to ‘sugar the pill’ and not sound totally inconsistent with what it had claimed so far, it does not hesitate to blurt another stupid remark: that although Jehovah’s Witnesses (Bible Students in the text) went to the front line and fought, they didn’t really kill anyone because – get ready – they either fired into the air or they fired....the opponent’s weapon to knock it from their hands!

 

When the World Went to War

During the war years, the circumstances into which individual Bible Students were thrust varied. The way they dealt with these situations also varied. Feeling obligated to obey “the powers that be,” as they referred to the secular rulers, some went into the trenches at the front with guns and bayonets. But having in mind the scripture, “Thou shalt not kill,” they would fire their weapons into the air or try simply to knock the weapon from the hands of an opponent. (Ex. 20:13, KJ)

Book "Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom" p 191: Jehovah’s Witnesses fire their opponent’s gun to knock it from their hands! (https://www.jw.org/en/)

So, after all these we think that we should award Jehovah’s Witnesses the first prize for commiting the most blunders of first order ever. We think that you will agree they really deserve this prize.

 

Writer Christos Pal