"What is happening at the United Nations? "
It seems that the first detectable shift in attitude towards the UN came in 1985. That is when the Watchtower began to call attention to the United Nations’ upcoming “International Year of Peace” in 1986. Jehovah’s Witnesses naturally took an interest in the International Year of Peace because we felt it may lead into the fulfillment of biblical prophesy. So, at the time it did not seem out of place when the Watchtower praised the United Nations’ noble (but futile) efforts to bring peace. Needless to say, the International Year of Peace passed uneventfully.
However, in 1991, the very year the Watchtower originally applied to become an associate NGO, the Awake magazine published a baffling piece that seemed intended to give the unwary reader the impression that Jehovah’s Witnesses actually endorsed the political objectives of the United Nations.
The September 8th, 1991, Awake, article was entitled: “What is happening at the United Nations?” The opening sentence stated:
“Something is happening at the United Nations. Startling developments are taking place that are going to affect your future. World leaders are very optimistic about them.”
To what “startling developments” was the Awake referring? The article went on to cite how the nations began to promote the UN after the end of the Cold War in the optimistic belief that it might finally live up to its own ideals. Indeed, the Awake seemed to lend credibility to the notion that the reason the UN had failed to bring world peace was because individual nations had not fully cooperated with the United Nations. The Awake also seemed to echo the call for the UN to be given more power in order to enforce its edicts.
What was noticeably missing from the three-part series, however, was any reference to the United Nations being the symbolic scarlet-colored wild beast of Revelation or the “disgusting thing that causes desolation.” Absent, too, was any mention of the UN being a modern idol or a counterfeit of Christ’s kingdom. In fact, there was not even a single word about how God’s kingdom is going to replace all existing kingdoms on earth. Instead, the Awake spoke hopefully of the possibility that a retooled UN might actually succeed in bringing a measure of peace and security to a war-weary world. Praising their “noble aims” and sincere efforts, the Awake informed the reading public concerning the preamble to the UN charter:
“THE preamble to the United Nations Charter expresses these noble aims: “We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, . . . and [desiring] to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, . . . have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims.”
Did the UN “accomplish these aims”? Did it get the nations to unite their strength and maintain peace and security? No, not so far, although the UN has sincerely tried to be a significantly better way than the League of Nations. However, the generation that saw its establishment in 1945 has since been scourged by wars, revolutions, invasions, coups, and aggression in many parts of the earth. And this violence involved many of the nations that had resolved to “maintain international peace and security.”
Unquestionably, the September 8th, 1991, Awake was a noticeable departure from the Society’s previous writings on the UN. The concluding paragraph on page 10 typifies the ambiguous double-speak, which was obviously cleverly crafted to leave uninformed readers with the impression that Jehovah’s Witnesses believe, perhaps like the UN-promoting Bahai faith, that the United Nations is an instrumentality of God to bring peace. Carefully note in the following quotation how the unfamiliar reader could easily form the impression that the United Nations might accomplish political objectives other than what Jehovah’s Witnesses have come to expect.
“Jehovah’s Witnesses firmly believe that the United Nations is going to play a major role in world events in the very near future. No doubt these developments will be very exciting. And the results will have a far-reaching impact on your life. We urge you to ask Jehovah’s Witnesses in your neighborhood for more details on this matter. The Bible clearly paints a picture showing that the United Nations will very shortly be given power and authority. The UN will then do some very astonishing things that may well amaze you. And you will be thrilled to learn that there is yet a better way near at hand that will surely bring eternal peace and security!”
If the reader were to actually follow the Awake magazine’s suggestion and ask one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in their neighborhood “for more details on this matter,” surely they would find out that the exciting developments we except have to do with the United Nations fulfilling its role as the prophetic 8th king of Revelation the 17th and 18th chapters. The Watchtower has in the past written reams about how the UN will soon be empowered by the nations to become a militarized tyrant, and thereafter, it will initiate a horrific holocaust that will annihilate all organized religion from the earth—including Christendom. Those are the “astonishing things” Jehovah’s Witnesses are anticipating in the future! But why didn’t the Awake writerssimply say that?
The Awake article is only comprehensible in light of the necessity for applying NGOs to submit samples of their commitment to the ideals of the United Nations. In that knowledge it becomes abundantly clear why the concluding paragraph was ambiguously worded to appear to Jehovah’s Witnesses one way, while adroitly giving unfamiliar readers (such as DPI reviewers) an entirely different impression.
