Frightened That JW's May Be Right?

by Englishman 8 Replies latest jw friends

  • Englishman
    Englishman

    Is the WTBTS qualified to run your life for you? Lets take a look.

    I was just musing over the threads that relate to disciplining children by means of physical punishment. There is plenty of material in the societies magazines that advocate hitting children, in the 60’s publications there is even a picture of a man spanking a child. Yet, even back then, though there was plenty of information around that showed that this sort of punishment was damaging to children, the society chose to ignore the works of people such as Spock and stuck firmly to their own harsh agenda and promulgated corporal punishment of minors. (Quite how they deduced that hitting a kid was to be approved of, yet one could be DF’d for hitting an adult is quite beyond me). We cant trust the WTBTS’s in that regard.

    Still sticking with kids, how many parents have taken the Society’s instructions to heart and denied their child a chance of life by refusing blood? Now we find that certain blood fractions are allowed and that these fractions that are allowed simply make up ordinary blood when added together. So the WTBTS are wrong there.

    Adult people don’t seem to fare much better. Many are now estranged from their loved one’s because of the Society’s mistaken application of shunning. Careful Biblical research shows that Paul advocated shunning of a man who was having repeated sex with his fathers wife and would not cease to do so. Hardly the same thing when 2 single people fall in love and choose to sleep together! WTBTS wrong again.

    Older people have a rough time too. Few have made any provision for old age or medical care. They chose to believe the Society when they were told that Armageddon would be here around about 1975 and that this was no time to be accumulating wealth –they did say it too, I was there – so now they have to rely on the State for the minimal support to which they are all entitled. Another WTBTS error.

    Now we find that the Society has been in bed with the UN for the last 10 years, a bed which they belatedly leapt out of when discovered in flagrante delicto. Major WTBTS faux pas!

    So, on the basis of the foregoing, would it not seem to be very reasonable that intelligent people are now choosing to listen to their own understanding of how they should conduct their lives, rather than that of an organisation that has made errors of such an incredible magnitude? When you think of how, say, a banking institution chooses what persons it will lend its money to, is it not so that their lending criteria is based on that persons reputation for reliability? Would we willingly buy a car with a poor performance history? That being the case, how can anyone possibly trust the WTBTS to have any input into life at all?

    I maintain that JW’s are perfectly entitled to be thinking of leaving the organisation, and that, far from being a wilful act, is simply a sensible thing to be considering. The Society has shown by its many, many mistakes that it is simply not at all qualified to be instructing its adherents as to how they should be conducting their lives.

    As the Society’s previous deeds come more and more to light, many people will be weighing their own judgements along with that of the WTBTS. My guess is that the scales will bang down heavily in favour of freedom of individual choice.

    Truly, the WTBTS have been weighed in the scales and found wanting!

    Englishman.

    Nostalgia isn't what it used to be....

  • Bang
    Bang

    "Avoid Independent Thinking .. How is such independent thinking manifested? A common way is by questioning the counsel that is provided by God's visible organization." {WT Jan 15 1983 22}

    Bang

  • Thirdson
    Thirdson

    E'man,

    Well said and a good review of the WTS. They can't get their prophetic expctations right and they can't provide guidance for living without screwing up (themselves and us).

    For those JWs who claim to follow the Bible only and not men it is time to follow the Bible and not men.

    Thirdson

    'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

  • ashitaka
    ashitaka

    "Avoid Independent Thinking .. How is such independent thinking manifested? A common way is by questioning the counsel that is provided by God's visible organization." {WT Jan 15 1983 22}

    Thanks for the quote Bang. Asses glaore wrote those things. And you know what? I lost my youth because of them. My father was one of the people who wouldn't even allow association with people in the congregation for fear of 'contamination'. He took words like those above, and when I questioned him on anything, such as everyone dying on Armageddon....

    A CONVERSATION BETWEEN MY FATHER AND I AT 6 YEARS OLD-

    "So you see why you can't play with Anthony, (the kid next door) because he will be destroyed in the Great Tribulation."

    "No he wont. He's a good kid. He doesn't do anything bad. Jehovah wont hurt him."

    "(Ashi), of course he will, unless he is a Jehovah's Witness."

    "No, I talked to Jehovah yesterday and he told me that Anthony would be OK. HE said so."

    ...and so on. This normally resulted in many spankings, with me NEVER backing down. Every single family study. The ROD meant anything...for anything...anywhere...for any reason. And all because I wouldn't accept the fact that my best friend was going to be killed by God for not distributing Watchtowers.

    ashi

  • celebrate
    celebrate

    Englishman: After years of being a JW and leaving and listening to people talk about religion, I have come to a conclusion for my life that no words, no teaching, no preachers ever supercede my responsibility to act with intelligence and dignity. There are simply no excuses. If I listen to someone who tells me scripture says I have to bow to a man because he is my husband, and I allow this man to mistreat me, I am at fault. To bow before scripture in the face of something that is wrong or that robs me or my child of dignity, for me, is wrong. Scripture is not an excuse for brains, common sense, common decency or the responsibility to act.

    Unfortunately, such independent thinking does not make many friends! Thank you for your thred, it makes me feel much better!

    celebrate

  • gumby
    gumby

    Ashitaka: I also before becoming an elder and being young was told by the co not to allow my child to play with the neighborhood kids. She had played with them since she was 4 years old and she was 12 when he told us this. He said if we let her socialize with these girls then when she gets older and the boy thing starts, how could we stop her from associating with these WORLDLY kids. It was embarrasing for her and us to come up with excuses as to why we all the sudden had to stop her association. She was confused and so were we......but we listened.

  • ChimpGirl
    ChimpGirl

    Nice bit of logical reasoning, thanks for that. I for one would not buy a used car from the WTBTS.

  • siegswife
    siegswife

    (((As the Society’s previous deeds come more and more to light, many people will be weighing their own judgements along with that of the WTBTS. My guess is that the scales will bang down heavily in favour of freedom of individual choice.)))

    I hope that happens! Unfortunately, one of the things the Society is accomplished at is causing people to doubt their own judgements. They are constantly taught not to trust their own view of anything. Let's hope that some people will realize that their own perception can't be any worse than the Watchtower's. It's all uphill from there.

  • Missie Eff
    Missie Eff

    Really good essay Englishman. Really struck a chord with me, especially the subject title. I suppose, if we are all brutally honest, it is all likely that we will have a small doubt somewhere at the back of the mind about whether we should have left. Doesn't seem logical but it instead comes from years of conditioning.
    The reasoning the WT uses is so pursuasive and preys on the vunerable, making THEIR teachings, THEIR interpretations and THEIR opinions seem to be common sense, and above all, truth. The whole fear factor enters and logic goes out of the window.
    There's a fine line between being brainwashed and having faith.

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