The Watchtower—Logically Wrong But Emotionally Right?

by The wanderer 25 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  OnTheWayOut

  You defend the WTS because of the individuals within it.
  I don't say that the individuals are evil or bad-intentioned.
  It is the organization, itself, that I have problems with.

  As Ray Franz said in ISOCF (I won't quote him, just the gist),
  The Pharisees placed heavy burdens upon the people and
  thought that was God's will. Jesus said that was not God's
  will, yet a group of people in Brooklyn now places heavy
  burdens upon a sincere, God-fearing group of people while they
  do not have time to go door-to-door, they don't pay a mortgage
  or rent, they don't have to do the cooking and laundry for the
  family.

  These same men tell sincere worshippers that they are
  spiritually weak if they get less than 10 hours of service in, if they
  miss any meetings because they needed overtime at work, if they
  use their vacation for VACATION. THEY (GB) miss service and meetings
  saying they had important work to do, they travel around the world
  seeing things that we can't afford to see- they give a talk and allow
  the organization to foot the bill. You may see nothing wrong with
  their actions, but stop letting people who don't know your
  circumstances to dictate how YOU should live.

  As they invited new recruits to do, test them out. Examine their
  beliefs, teachings. THINK FOR YOURSELF.
• 

  The wanderer

  Dear Friends:
  
  Really exceptional comments regarding
  this issue.
  
  Thank you all once again.
  
  Respectfully,
  
  The Wanderer
• 

  LongHairGal

  Rich,

  I think the issue is the very name of "Jehovah". This is what keeps people hanging on. People there must think that because this name is attached to the religion that he is compelled to back it and also because he hasn't reached down to strike them off the face of the earth that they must therefore be "right" and have his "blessing". From what I recall, they TOOK this name. But, if anybody can tell me otherwise and name the person who Jehovah actually spoke to and said "..you are my witnesses..." please tell me who this person is.

  Otherwise, all I can say is that they are no better than any other christian religion. They just have a new theology.

  LHG
• 

  Terry

  How would you reason with a man that logically knows the Watchtower is
  deceptive but still emotionally “supports” it because of his experiences while
  in the organization?

  Emotions begin with values.

  What we value results in an involuntary response (emotion) that reflects viscerally the value we hold.

  Easy example. If you hate cats and you see one run over what do you think your emotional response will be? If you love cats, what is your response. The cat is just as dead either way. Right?

  People who actively filter their thinking and consciously decide on what values they hold not only make decisions with awareness but experience emotions fully informed by that awareness. Meaning what?

  We realize WHY we feel what we feel when we've CHOSEN our value while on alert. Contrast that with the person who is lazy about thinking. What means of information SUBconsciously gets fed? Rumor, innuendo, urban myth, social norms, legends, lies and half-truths. This sort of person doesn't KNOW why they suddenly experience emotional attachments that seem AT ODDs with CONSCIOUS knowledge. Passive thinking programs us unaware that we are feeding our emotions at the same time.

  You see?

  There is a disconnect.

  When we disconnect from our emotional reservoir because of passive thinking we may embrace what we know to be poisonous!

  A JW is programmed to be passive. You must accept what you are told and what you read as Absolute Truth. The filter is shut off. The skepticism is gone. The active awareness goes dark and you are spoon fed VALUES constantly that go deep inside you without YOU individually putting an active stamp of conscious approval on them. Your automatic emotional reflexes act accordingly.

  This is how a person can consciously KNOW something is false and yet be emotionally stuck FEELING a warmth and attachment to the false belief.

  The only cure for outright stupidity and hypocracy is an active and rational mind willing to go outside the comfort zone!

  JW's as a group are intellectually dishonest, consciously confused and emotionally warped.

  Your friend is no exception.
• 

  peggy

  That was a BRILLIANT response Terry!
• 

  Finally-Free

  However, he still seeks to excuse, justify, and explain away the
  Society's actions because he feels that God’s spirit was with him while
  he was in the organization.

  Just because he felt God's spirit was with him while he was in the organization does not mean that it was with him because he was in the organization. Some JWs have trouble understanding that they and the Watchtower corporation are seperate entities. They mistakenly perceive criticizm of the Watchtower as an attack on them personally. If there is a God who is omnipotent, wouldn't it be possible for him to like your friend but dislike the watchtower organization? It's kind of like my relationship with my neice. I love my neice, but I hate the company she works for. Our relationship is great, and the subject of her idiot employer never enters our conversation.

  There is nothing in the bible to support the idea that an affiliation with a corporate entity is a pre-requisite to having a relationship with God.

  W