by Gladring 138 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
wannabefree: good comment, but apparently you have dyslexic tendencies and no "Spell-Check" feature enabled. Allow me to help with the spelling errors in the last phrase of your post. What I believe you meant to type was:
FUCKING MIND CONTROL CULT
There, isn't that better?
We wnat to suer to be udnersootd.
One thing the WT has done to me is to mistaken the word of God as a book of rules to be used to lord over others. I forgot that it's a gift that contains gems like Galations 5:22-23
I watched a National Geographic Channel presentation Friday night called "The Most Hated Family in America". It was about members of the despicable Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas. For those of you unfamiliar with this church (which has been rejected by all mainstream Baptist Church organs), this congregation denounces all gay people as being worthy of hellfire and pickets the funerals of American servicemen saying their deaths are an adverse judgment from God because they were serving a nation that condones the breaking of God's law as they see it.
The program focused on this church's practice of excommunicating and subsequent shunning. As I listened to church members discuss the practice, I couldn't help but compare their attitudes and actions with hardline Witnesses. The language and rationale used by both groups are eerily similar. Their tactics are practically the same. Both professed love of God and neighbor but saw no contradiction between their beliefs and actions and the Christianity that Jesus taught. Had the program's presenter chosen to interview members of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, I think he would have gotten an identical response to his questions which he put to the Westboro fundamentalists.
I can only think the reason the WTS has chosen to restate its policy toward the disfellowshipped in this latest edition of The Watchtower is because the Governing Body is receiving reports that their directions given in the 15 July 2011 Watchtower are being blatantly ignored. There must be many Witnesses who cannot bring themselves to shun family members. I can't see them doing otherwise, but the Governing Body has decided that this crackdown will continue without letup until they get full compliance from the rank-and-file.
We all know the real reason this hardline is being taken. This religion has a veneer of Christiantiy but in reality is a mind-control cult. This effort to kill off natural human affection is just one more evidence of this. The defiance on the part of many ordinary Witnesses must be extremely worrying to the ruling clique in Brooklyn and they are acting in the same way that threatened despots have in the past. All of this makes me wonder if the end result might not be a "Watchtower Spring". Wouldn't that be grand? As unlikely as such a development seems now, it may be only a matter of time before we see it.
Quendi
I was getting an Xray and met someone who lived in the town where the Westbro Baptist Church resides. He said no one supports them and the city has tried to run them out of town but got hit with civil rights suits, etc. They are not taken seriously, they are a joke & a huge problem. He says the family is brothers who are lawyers and they make their living suing folks for civil rights violations. So the more we hate on them, the more money they make. I think some reverse shunning might help them.
I still don't understand how they can disfellowship someone for questioning or testing doctrine to see whether it is true and whether those in charge are false apostles in light of approval and commendation found at Rev. 2:2, "I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.
New Living Translation(©2007)
"I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don't tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars.
English Standard Version(©2001)
“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.
New American Standard Bible(©1995)
I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;
King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
International Standard Version(©2008)
'I know you've been doing, your toil, and your endurance. I also know that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles, but are not, and have found them to be false.
Aramaic Bible in Plain English (©2010)
“I know your works, your toil and your patience, and that you cannot tolerate The Evil One, and you have tested those who claim to be Apostles, and they are not, and you have found them false.”
GOD'S WORD® Translation(©1995)
I know what you have done-how hard you have worked and how you have endured. I also know that you cannot tolerate wicked people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles but are not apostles. You have discovered that they are liars.
King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
I know your works, and your labor, and your patience, and how you can not bear them who are evil: and you have tried them who say they are apostles, and are not, and have found them liars:
American King James Version
I know your works, and your labor, and your patience, and how you can not bear them which are evil: and you have tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and have found them liars:
American Standard Version
I know thy works, and thy toil and patience, and that thou canst not bear evil men, and didst try them that call themselves apostles, and they are not, and didst find them false;
Douay-Rheims Bible
I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them that are evil, and thou hast tried them, who say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
Darby Bible Translation
I know thy works and thy labour, and thine endurance, and that thou canst not bear evil men; and thou hast tried them who say that themselves are apostles and are not, and hast found them liars;
English Revised Version
I know thy works, and thy toil and patience, and that thou canst not bear evil men, and didst try them which call themselves apostles, and they are not, and didst find them false;
Webster's Bible Translation
I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and that thou canst not bear them who are evil; and thou hast tried them who say they are apostles, and are not; and hast found them liars:
Weymouth New Testament
I know your doings and your toil and patient suffering. And I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, but have put to the test those who say that they themselves are Apostles but are not, and you have found them to be liars.
World English Bible
"I know your works, and your toil and perseverance, and that you can't tolerate evil men, and have tested those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and found them false.
Young's Literal Translation
I have known thy works, and thy labour, and thy endurance, and that thou art not able to bear evil ones, and that thou hast tried those saying themselves to be apostles and are not, and hast found them liars,
wannabefree - stop, you're scaring me. And you're giving the GB ideas.
2 Corinthians 2
1 For I made up my mind not to make you another painful visit. 2 For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? 3 And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. 4 For I wrote you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you. 5 But if any one has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure--not to put it too severely--to you all. 6 For such a one this punishment by the majority is enough; 7 so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. 10 Any one whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 to keep Satan from gaining the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his designs
The GB of the WTBTS come nowhere close to practicing the kind of love Jesus commands his true disciples to display. And if the GB fall short of showing true love then it stands to reason that the rank and file have the same flaw as their leadership & likewise fail miserably in showing Christ like love. As the old expression goes …..”the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”
Jesus himself said… “All will know you are my disciples if you have love among yourselves” (John 13:34,35).
All the world knows of the JWs’ staunch hate filled stand on disfellowshipping and shunning and all the pain and suffering it causes. What a fine witness to all the world the JWs give! What glory and honor to Jehovah’s name this disfellowshipping, shunning and hate must bring!
But, he admitted, had the family associated
with him even a little, that small
dose would have satisfied him. However,
because he did not receive even
the slightest communication from any
of his family , the burning desire to be
with them became one motivating factor
in his restoring his relationship with
Jehovah.
If that is a real experience, that guy needs to see a doctor, (as does the person that wrote the article). How is it supposed to encourage anyone when a person admits they only came back to the cult so they could speak to family? I am sure the person will feel incredibly guilty when in a couple of years back he comes to realise it is a cult, and that his experience is leading to thousands of children being emotionally destroyed because their parents are using his experience as justification for completely cutting of their children.
However,
because he did not receive even
the slightest communication from any
of his family,
I totally agree. How that would "encourage" someone to go back puzzles me. Surely it would be like the last straw and convince the person that it was not worth going back. It sounds very fabricated.
