Why all the venom?

by lynnmelo 175 Replies latest members adult

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  lynnmelo

  Let me start by stating that I'm not here to criticize anyone. I'm just genuinely baffled with all the venom shown to JW's by not only the folks on this board but also folks on other Internet sites. I'm been studying with the JW's for a little over two years now. I probably will not end up being baptized because I'm sort of a coward. I work in an academic environment where everyone there is pretty progressive minded, and I'd have greater legitimacy in their eyes if I told them I was an alien from Mars than if I told them I am a JW. Besides this, I have an unbelieving spouse, and joining the JW's with all the required meetings and such (not to mention the embarrassment of me going door to door) would really take a toll on our marriage.

  As you may have noticed, these are selfish reasons, but I feel as if they are my true reasons. Sure, I can (and have) nitpick over things that annoy me about the Witnesses. I can belabor a scripture and try to somehow justify why I shouldn't join the Witnesses, but this would be lying. The truth is that I just don't have the guts to joint them.

  All that said, I just don't understand the venom against them either. It seems to me that this vitriol could be some folks' way of justifying why they just don't want to be Witnesses. If you can convince yourself that the Witnesses are somehow bad and you can get others to support you, maybe it will mean that you're right and the Witnesses are wrong. I know how tempting that can be. I SO don't want the Witnesses to be "the truth," but I think they are. Think about some of the things that people get angry about: disfellowshipping, shunning, blood issue, going door to door, etc. All of these have a scriptural basis, no matter how much any of us wishes it didn't. The Witnesses aren't making this stuff up. The facts are that God does require much from us, and many of us are not prepared to meet those requirements because we don't want to give up the things in our life that make us so much a part of this world, something that the Bible tells us we shouldn't be. I don't know the specific scripture, but I know that in the Gospels somewhere Jesus says something like if anyone loves his own life more than he loves Jesus that person cannot be saved. These are the facts. We can't get angry at the Witnesses for pointing those out. What we choose to do with them is up to us. I hope that I'll one day not be such a coward, but I know that I'll be in a worse quagmire if I don't at least admit that the fault lies with me and not with the Witnesses.

  I hope I haven't offended anyone.
• 

  Lady Lee

  Welcome to the board

  You aren't alone in wondering about our "venom". Except that it isn't venom. It is justifiable anger. If you take some time to read our stories you will see that our anger and hurt is very justified. Many of us have been abused, hurt, shut out, kicked out and labeled because we could not agree with all the WT doctrines and beliefs.

  Most of us have family who are still "in". We miss them. We wish things were different and that we could have our families back. But the WTS won't allow that. We don't blame all JWs for our hurts. We fully realize our families and friends are acting out of fear for what will befall them if they have real relationships with us. Granted some of us are angry at abuses by specific individuals. But we tend to hold the WTS far more responsible for hurting families and individuals.

  I'm glad to hear you won't jump into a full-fledged JW life. The life you save may be your own
• 

  tetrapod.sapien

  hey lynn,

  I hope I haven't offended anyone.

  no. it's cool. i know where you are coming from. welcome to the board. :)

  the only question i would ask you at this point is...

  The facts are that God does require much from us,

  who? who?
• 

  Golf

  I admire people expressing their opinions with an open mind. For me, it doesn't bother me what people believe, it you believe Donald Duck or Bugs Bunny is God, so be it.
  
  My time is precious to me and my family. I've known this organization since 1948. The scriptures tells us to take care our familys, take 1 Timothy 5:8, which says,
  
  "Certainly, if anyone does not provide for those who are his own, and especially for those who are members of his household, he has disowned the faith and is worse than a person without faith."
  
  This taking care of your family members includes "emotional' well being. On a scale of 1 to 10, the witnesses as a whole would be 0 in this dept. I have fleshly relatives and others to prove my point.
  
  I've said enough, others will express their opinions. Anyways, stick around there's plenty of food for thought on this forum.
  
  Take care.
  
  Golf
• 

  skyman

  
  Let me put it this way. I found out about them going the NGO's and they DF'd my dad because he told others in the hall about the Society joining the NGO's.

  I found out that 607 was not the correct date which might not mean anything to you but EVERYTHING DOWN TO THE SMALLEST DETAIL is then thrown out the window because the entire foundation they claim they were chosen by GOD is then not true.

  I almost let my Girl die because of blood transfusion. Then later doing research finding out it is not against the Bible so I showied five fellow Elders and two C.O. the information all of them said I was correct but I needed to wait on Jehovah. I even sent the reasearch to the Society they responded "do not share this infromation with others", but did not tell me the information was wrong. If you want a copy of my research about blood please email me and I will send it to you or to anyone else reading this. It will blown you away and so simple to prove.

  If you want any other reasons why the JW's are dangerous let me know I send you all sorts of proof.
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  MegaDude

  You are right there is some venom demonstrated by former Jehovah's Witnesses. But it's only because of the intense hatred and persecution former members have suffered at the hands of the Watchtower. Few religions in the world produce the kind of ex-members that the Watchtower does, except for other cults that operate in a similar punitive manner.

  Do former Catholics, Baptists, Lutherans make their own websites or post on websites to tell their story or to get support for what they have gone through? Hardly. I would suggest you read a few of the personal stories on this website to get a feel for why some of us are former members and the terrible price we have paid for exercising our religious freedom.

  You may have studied a bit with the JW's but you hardly know anything about the environment unless you've lived it, believed it, practiced it and worked hard sharing it. In this case your cowardice has saved you. Good for you.
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  theinfamousone

  hey, thanks for the post and welcome to the board!!! i also understand your questions, and your concern, for i was once in a situation very similar to yours... the only difference is i didnt have the choice to be or not to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses...

  the venom??? well, much of it is just a reflection of that venom shown to us by our believing family and friends... those that told us they would be there for us, and that they would always, always take care of us.... until of course we thought for ourselves and decided that this religion was not for us... i am shunned by my own parents... when JWs see me, they tend to cross the road... i have been confronted many times, with spit flying because these people decided that they are better than me now...

  the truth is, the whole time we were there, we were not allowed to criticize anyone or believe anything for ourselves... so now that we are out, we kinda feel the need to vent... i really do believe that the fat cats at the top are monsters... im sorry, but for them to tell me going to university is bad because it promotes free thought... well, u can see where im going, its just messed up!!!

  i must tell you, alot of the venom is merited... they deserve it... read some of the stories people have to tell and u might understand what alot of us went through.....

  the infamous one
• 

  Seeker4

  lynnmelo,

  It certainly seems as though the Witnesses are simply presenting all these "truths" from the Bible, and we should just have the guts to accept them. Like you say.

  But as a JW for 35 years, including serving as an elder for about 15 years, PLEASE give it a little time. Time to research these ideas that you're so sure the Witnesses are right on. Give the other side a sincere, open-minded look. I think you'll begin to see that your certainty that the problem is your lack of guts and not the Witnesses' lack of logic, scriptural backing and scientific proof, is really lopsided. There is a damned good reason you're struggling with this.

  Tens of thousands of us are leaving the Witnesses every year, and we have some really good reasons. You need to subject the Witnesses to the forum of debate (which is what this forum is), and then exam the results of that debate. The Witnesses will do all within their power to prevent you from doing that. An open discussion of their ideas, where critics and debaters have no fear of being disfellowshipped and shunned, is a huge fear of the Witnesses. But that is exactly what this forum provides.

  Hang in here for a while, and you'll be so happy you did!! Don't make the biggest mistake of your life.

  Now, why are you here instead of getting baptized this weekend at a circuit assembly? It seems you've got your own serious doubts about all this. Hey - trust your instincts on this. Thousands of us here have been in your shoes. We can help you.

  S4
• 

  ozziepost

  G'day lynn and welcome aboard!

  As Lee and tetra have already pointed out, the anger you observe is th natural result of the abuse upon so many. as one who was a committed dub for many years, I know that the dubs can appear all 'sweetness and light'. But I assure you, that is only on the surface. Look below the surface and you will find untold horrors await you. That's the way it is with cults.

  You said:

  The facts are that God does require much from us,

  Like tetra I will take issue with this, but for a different reason. You see, the God of the Witnesses is a god that is the exclusive preserve of the WTS - in short, they made him up! Oh yes, they will say they are "Bible based" but it's just like statistics, you can play any old tune on it and claim it's from the Bible.

  The question: What does God Require of Us? is the title of a WT brochure. You'd think it would give the 'right' answers but what does the Bible say?

  Every instance of the word "require" in the Bible is OT and Mosaic Law based. Christ came to fulfill the Law, so that now we under the "law of love". Does God require anything from us? No works are necessary, eternal life is a "free gift" and just like any gift you can't earn it. Please read the Bible book of Romans, and do it without referring to WT publications, and preferably read it in a different translation to the NWT. It'll amaze you!

  Cheers from downunder,

  Ozzie
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  serendipity

  Hi LynnMelo,
  Welcome to the forum! When you tell your study conductor that you don't want to get baptized and give the reasons, see what happens. It will give you an inkling of JW love and may help you understand the feelings many have against JW's.
  Though I don't feel that JWs are a cult, they are a high control religion. It's not obvious as a Bible study how much control is involved. But it's there. While you're here, follow the thread "It seems my children are not trained." http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/103022/1.ashx That will give you some insight in the life of a JW family.
  JWs take Biblical principles and add rules upon rules, just like the Pharisees did. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for those actions. What must he think about JW leadership?