How have our views changed on tolerance?

by Phantom Stranger 15 Replies latest jw friends

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  BluesBrother

  My views have changed drastically. I mean , not so much on the behavioral issues as doctrinal ones .

  As JWs, we were taught that we had all the answers - that we knew the truth and no one else did. We were taught that no one knew as much as we did.

  I now cringe when I think back to some of the statements that I made to my work mates in the old days, and since I still work there it is a good thing they are a forgiving bunch.

  Once, a man expressed a wish to attend a Bible education course in Texas. "Oh no", I told him, "You could study with us and we would teach you all there is to know about the Bible". As I recall, he and the others just looked at me.....

  The point was that that is what we were taught by the WTBTS , that no other religion understood the Bible, that to "Christendom" it is a closed book , and other religions never read it. I now know that statement to be false
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  Surreptitious

  We shouldn't discriminate based on color or sexual preference!

  Just a side note, it is not sexual preference, it is sexual orientation. Don't want to get into an argument about this, but usually those who use that terminology do it because they believe we have some choice in the matter. And yes, I am oriented gay.

  Gretchen,

  I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend. Phantom referred to "black and white gaze" and I was just making an off-the-cuff pun.

  Syrup
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  CC Ryder

  I have definately become more tolerant and considerate to others since leaving the Borg. The WTS taught us not to donate to worldly causes. Since leaving I have been donating blood on a regular basis and Tink has been volunteering at the Red Cross. It feels good to help others who are not JW's. I have to say however, I would bend the rules alot while I was a JW. I contirbuted to worthy causes all the time. I hated not being able to tell the other Dub's how I was trying to help people in other ways than cramming religion down their throats.

  CC
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  Phantom Stranger

  Thanks for the great responses.

  Now, how many of us know XJWs that seem to operate the same way they did when they were JWs?
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  Phantom Stranger

  By the way, Gretchen, I prefer the term "acceptance" to "tolerance", but I don't think it's common usage, so I went for the cheap route.
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  76crash

  I grew up as a JW and one of the reasons I knew I didn't belong there was that I didn't think in black and white terms. I too cringe when I think of some of the intolorant viewpoints that I repeated to others growing up- it never felt right but I did it because I thought that was what I was "supposed" to do...

  The hardest lesson that I have had to learn is that "truth" is not black and white - and I think that that applies to all aspects of life not just religious beliefs.