Declaration of Independence

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Contact me: James A. Eichenlaub

Faith

We exercise true faith when practicing something we understand to be accurate and factual.

True faith is the opposite of credulity, which, quite simply put, "is following what others do or did, presuming its validity without reflection and sound reasoning."

True faith is born of knowledge coupled with observation, meditation, and sound reasoning. Ergo, following the crowd is not an indication of true faith but is more an indication of loyalty and subscription.

To say "I think" is unequivocally the emptiest phrase in the human language.

You cannot 'think' you have faith; you must know you have faith and stand by it, always ready to prove it with reasonable thoughts and words.

Knowledge

On November 16, 1975, after what amounts to a year of "catechism," aka Bible Study, followed by several affirmations of why and acknowledging what it means to do so, Jehovah's Witnesses baptized me at the Assembly Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses near Harrisburg, Pa.,

For nearly forty years, my association with Jehovah's Witnesses opened my eyes to many things about religion, and most especially about the so-called "churches" and other organized religions in our world today, i.e., Satan's world, and even more so about the Witnesses themselves.

To their credit, Jehovah's Witnesses helped me gain a much clearer understanding of God, His Son, Jesus Christ, the Heavenly Government, who goes where, why, how, and much more; the Kingdom of God that I was taught to pray for since childhood began to make sense.

However, all of this extraneous knowledge does not negate the fact that faith in "the sacrifice of Jesus Christ," and not our depth of individual knowledge or what we do with it, is what puts us in line for salvation.

Love

C.T. Russell, the founder of the International Bible Students Association, the organization that morphed into what is today known as Jehovah's Witnesses, learned and recognized the fallacy of "the churches."

These include the antichrist: Catholicism and all of its offspring schisms, including those of the protestant branches that carry with them the same false Roman beliefs: the triune god, saints, immortality of the soul, hell-fire, and so on.

The issue is that Jehovah's Witnesses, like every man-made religion, overstepped their gift of knowledge of truth and took it upon themselves to declare that they are now God's chosen and only people.

Very similar to others before them who were given or permitted the gift of some insight or other, they could not simply accept it as such. Instead, they assumed themselves to be the only sheep of God from among whom new apostles would arise to rule with Christ in heaven.

Each of these newly anointed believers is recognized solely through their self-declaration of being such, i.e., no tongues of fire or special gifts, speaking in tongues, healing, raising the dead, and so on. Taking what Christ Jesus spoke to His actual apostles and applying it personally, they do what the world's populous does with every aspect of the Bible, erroneously assuming that it applies to all who read it.

Having observed the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses for more than four decades, there is no evidence of their being any different than any other organization seeking God's approval.

Sadly, they feel it is they alone who are spreading the "Good News of God's Kingdom." That same kingdom that people have prayed for since Jesus taught humanity how to pray nearly two thousand years ago. (Matthew 6:9-10)

Because of all these things, including the many false predictions, misinterpretations of prophecy, and the oft hypocritical behaviors of both congregational members and their leaders, I hereby disassociate myself from those calling themselves the "True witnesses of God," and recognize Jehovah's Witnesses to be nothing more than another of this world's misguided and tortured salvation seekers.

"All have sinned and fall short..."

If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that.