Bible Study Student With A Ton of Questions

by AddaGirl 48 Replies latest jw friends

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  AddaGirl

  Hi All,

  I am both new to this forum and new to the Jehovah's Witness Organization. I am currently about half way through the 'What Does The Bible Really Teach?" and have been attending both Sunday Services and Ministerial School for 3 months.

  My biggest problem is that, being a researcher by nature, "verifying that all things are true," I have also been researching the Organization which has stumbled me greatly. I am aware and have read the Guardian expose of the Witnesses dated October 8, 2001, http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,4272231-103690,00.html, the followup dated October 15, 2001, Paul Gillies reply of October 22, 2001 and the letter sent out to the congregations should anyone inquire dated November 1, 2001. http://www.randytv.com/secret/fordecades.htm

  Coming forward, I have found UN involvement with 20 sister related NGOs as current as Sept-Oct 2007 which indicates that there is still UN activity and have found evidence that there association as an NGO dates back to 1972. If I am understanding the statutes right, the NGO option was not available until 1968. Everything presented or in archive at the UN is being done for an excellent reason--remove religious persecution, make gov'ts aware of the mistreatment of the Witnesses, and allow religious teaching in areas where banned.

  When I inquired to my teacher the things I was finding, she would not look at them, reiterited that I should not have gone looking on the internet for information, that it is all apostate and I should trust in the teachings of the Bible and Watchtower. When I got real upset with her for passing my concerns off she has now brought another book over to my lessons that talk about Satan being involved in every organization, the Witnesses included. I should clarify here that when I first inquired about the UN involvement, 2 teachers, both long-timers in the truth denied that it existed. And as of last night, my husband started Bible classes, expressed his concern for me, over the info I was finding and was also told there was no UN involvement.

  Now that I have vented, my question is Why?? Why do they keep information from their members? Why do they lie about it and try to cover it up? If they are beating Satan at his own game using his instruments, the UN, to be able to proclaim the good news world wide, why do they feel they have to hide it? When is it ever right for a teacher to lie, knowing or unknowing, to their student?

  Thanks for listening. Any insight is greatly appreciated.
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  Gopher

  Hi AddaGirl, and welcome to JWD. You came to the right place -- many of us have or had associated with the JW's for a long time, and have seen things from both sides of the fence and can give you a fair answer.

  The reason the WTS is not open about its affiliation as a UN/NGO is because such affiliation contradicts its teachings about the UN being the "image of the wild beast" in opposition to God's Kingdom, in the book of Revelation.

  It's also interesting that as soon as the Guardian article came out, the WTS quickly withdrew its affiliation as an NGO, as if it got its hand caught in the cookie jar.

  Those who said there was no UN involvement or that it's apostate lies are not telling you the truth. There's even a page on the un.org website itself that shows the WTS was an NGO for a period of time. Here's that link: http://www.un.org/dpi/ngosection/pdfs/watchtower.pdf

  It's not right for a teacher to lie to their student. If they would lie about this, believe me, they will lie about many other things.

  Good you caught them!
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  megsmomma

  As you yourself have seen....they are not what they seem...or claim to be. Most members do not feel free to research the things they are taught useing any information outside of what the Watchtower society provides. This leaves many in the dark as to things that are going on behind closed doors. Some may even say the research you have done and things you have found are just lies...even with proof that they are true.

  That is why a majority of people here are no longer JW's...and many of us are not to be talked to by our own families.
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  Nosferatu

  The less you know about the world outside the JWs, the easier it is to keep you on the inside where you'll donate money so they can pay for all the child abuse settlements.
  
  They try to scare you with the whole Satan The Devil bit and Armageddon. I'm in "Satan's World" and I'm not a druggie, murderer, rapist, nor any of the other things they'll have you believe.
  
  If you want a real good laugh, check out how many times they predicted Armageddon (and failed).
  
  http://www.freeminds.org/history/history.htm
  
  I lived through the whole "Armageddon will come before the Generation of 1914 dies". Now they're all dead, and they changed that "prophecy" back in 1995. And don't get me started on Armageddon coming in 1975!
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  nomoreguilt

  Addagirl!!! WELCOME! Boy have you come to the right store! One stop shopping is what we offer here. If you are the researcher that you claim to be, your next reading should be Crisis of Conscience, By Raymond Franz. He is a former member of the governing body of JWs. He speaks the truth and volumes of it. If you are seriously considering being involved with this religion, you need to do it with your eyes WIDE OPEN!! Head knowledge is what you need before entering into a formal relationship with witnesses. Once you become a member, baptized, you will not be able to ask the right questions of anyone with out severe repercussions. I was a witness for 44 years, and I KNOW!

  You have come to the right place though, be assured of that. Stick around a few days.

  NMG
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  beksbks

  I hope this does not sound ridiculous, I urge you to check it out if you can. Research has shown that statistically JW's suffer from mental problems more than the average. Depression is one of the most common problems among them. I hope you rethink your studying, particularly if you have children. My happiest achievement in life, is that neither one of my two children ever knew a day as a witness.
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  Wasanelder Once

  Welcome. Drop your studies right away, trust your intellect. They don't want you to know because you'll quit. So, don't disappoint them, quit now! W.Once
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  AddaGirl

  Boy, I didn't expect responses so quickly. I have the UN post of March 2004. Thank You.

  I had a terrible feeling when I read "1914 and 'This Generation'" in Crisis of Conscience. (I only printed out the one chapter) I was believing that as you got smarter scriptually, things would change, the "new light" as it is said. I didn't have a problem with that pholosphy until in the "1914" chapter. Aside from their philosophy definately sounding "not inspired by God," there was a sentence that read on page 266 "But if the phrase 'this generation' could be unlinked from 1914 and be applied to some future period of unknown date, then the passage of time, the arrival of the third millenium in the year 2000, and even the approach of the year 2014, might not prove too difficult to rationalize, particularly with a membership trained to accept whatever the 'faithful and discreet slave class' and its Governing body may offer them."

  That really did not set well. Are we suppose to not use our minds? To blindly follow a group of men? My lessons have taught me to trust in Jehovah and in the ransom sacrifice of his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, give whole hearted and whole souled to Jehovah, not to men.

  Also in that chapter, the date that Babylon took over Jeruselem, 587 BCE, confirmed with 5 different history books and encyclopedias, changes things dramatically. I did ask about the date. That is suppose to be in this weeks lesson.

  Are viewpoints like these what get you disfellowshipped? Are questions really not allowed? Jehovah told Habakkuk differently. They'll throw me out before I even get in. Do any of you think scriptually there is a better teacher though?
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  Nathan Natas

  If you pick up the telephone and call the WTB&TS directly, they will TELL YOU that YES, they were associated with the UN for about ten years.

  So who is lying? The local Dubs or the Headquarters?

  Patterson, NY number: 845-306-1000

  phone number in Brooklyn is (718) 560-5000 or (718) 625-3600

  J. R. Brown, telephone: (718) 560-5600

  phone calls are recorded. You can use a fake name and the real name of the congregation you've been attending. They are not omniscient - they don't know who you are.
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  JK666

  AddaGirl,

  Welcome to JWD!

  As a researcher, check out many of their quotations. Many are taken out of context, and they are never cited correctly so that a person can verify the information. That is a very telling sign of the lack of honesty of the JW religion.

  JK