Independent Thinking

by Jeffro 34 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Lady Liberty

  Dear Jeffro,

  Thank you for the post!! Does the words "FLIP FLOP" ring a bell to anyone?? Once again a perfect example of either Jesus getting things screwed up or self appointed MEN!

  Sincerely,

  Lady Liberty
• 

  clarity

  *

  Just wanted to bump Jeffro's excellent thread... and I'll tell you why.

  >

  Last night I committed a serious terrible uncouth spelling error!

  Yes yes ..... I did.

  >

  To make up for the distress this must have caused to Jeffro,

  I want to make up for it by writing out nuclear nuclearnuclear...a 1000times,

  and to bring back this great information!

  >

  your new freind friend...

  clarity
• 

  BroMac

  love this from alamb's above post, I get the drinker>thinker. very very clever

  The Recovering Thinker

  Hi, my name is Bob, and I am a recovering thinker….

  It started out innocently enough: I began thinking at meetings now and then to loosen up. Inevitably though, one thought led to another and soon I was more than just a theocratic thinker. I began to think alone, you know, “to relax,” I told myself, but I knew it wasn’t true.

  Thinking became more and more important, and finally I was thinking all the time. I even thought at the Kingdom Hall. I knew thinking and my position in the congregatin didn’t mix, but I couldn’t stop. I began avoiding the friends at lunchtime so I could read Crisis of Conscience and other works that challenged my thought processes. I returned to the Kingdom Hall dizzied and confused, asking, “What exactly are we doing here?”

  Things weren’t great at home either. One evening I turned off the TV and asked my wife about the meaning of life guided by the FDS—she spent the night at her mother’s.

  I soon had a reputation as a heavy thinker. One day the PO called me into the back room and said, “Bob, I like you, and it hurts me to say this, but your thinking is a real problem. If you don’t stop thinking, I’ll have to recommend you be disfellowshipped.” This gave me a lot to think about.

  I went home early after my conversation with the elder. “Honey,” I confessed, “I’ve been thinking.”

  “I know you’ve been thinking,” she said, “and I want a divorce.”

  “But Honey, surely it’s not that serious.”

  “It is serious,” she said, lower lip quivering. “You have been a fine window washer all your life and your service to Jehovah comes before the children and I having health insurance or educations.”

  “That’s faulty syllogism,” I said impatiently, and she began to cry. I’d had enough. “I’m going to the library to look up what really happened in 607/587,” I snarled and stomped out the door. I headed to the library in the mood for enlightenment, roared into the parking lot, and ran up to the big glass doors—they didn’t open. The library was closed.

  To this day I believe Jehovah was looking out for me that night. As I sank to the ground clawing at the unfeeling glass, whimpering for a computer with an internet connection to feed my starving mind, a magazine caught my eye; a Watchtower left in a laundromat. The words “Friend, is heavy thinking ruining your life?” stood out in large letters. You may recognize the line: it comes from the standard issue “Thinkers Anonymous” poster.

  Today, I am a recovering thinker. I never miss a meeting . At each meeting we listen to a non-educational, self congratulatory public talk. I am again training my mind to be numb. Then we share experiences about how we avoided thinking since the last meeting. I still have my family and things are a lot better at home. Life just got easier, somehow, once I stopped thinking.

  Soon, I’ll be able to be an elder again….

  Thanks, Bob
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  Splash

  Inspired by the earlier posts I compiled this list:

  INDEPENDENT THINKING

  Is Bad - w52 8/15 p. 501 Individual Bible study, certainly! Independent Bible study, beware!
  Is Good - w57 8/1 p.469 par.7 "Moreover, people today are developing an aversion to thinking. Their thinking must be channeled for them, ready-made by propagandists. This suits Satan’s purpose."

  Is Good - w58 8/1 p.460 "Irish people do very little independent thinking. They are victims of the clergy and fear"

  Is Bad - w60 2/15 p.106 par.6 "it follows that one should reject the goal of independent thinking"

  Is Good - w72 3/15 P.170 par.7 "independent thinking ... is why you are capable of exercising the fine qualities of love and loyalty, of devotion and integrity. That is why you are also capable of understanding what God has revealed in his Word "

  Is Bad - w77 10/1 p.605 "Adam’s selfish thinking and action distorted his way. He set out his own independent course, becoming an enemy of God, and brought his own way and that of his family “to ruin.” Yes, with sin and imperfection ruling, and with each going his independent way, no one knows what may befall him,"

  Is Good - Awake! 78 8/22 p.4 " Proverbs 14:15 states: “A simple man believes every word he hears; a clever man understands the need for proof.” (TheNewEnglishBible) So each individual must choose what he will feed his mind. Whatever you read or watch or listen to, test whether it is propaganda or whether it is the truth. Will you let others think for you, or will you do your own thinking? Do your own, and “thinking ability itself will keep guard over you.”"

  Is Bad - w79 2/15 p.20 par.18 " Jehovah’s people need to be stable, full-grown Christians. Their position must be steadfast, not shifting quickly because of independent thinking "

  Is Good - Awake! 80 1/8 p.13 " The person most easily brainwashed is the “normal,” average individual. Such a one is already conditioned to accept opinions of others rather than to form strong convictions of his own. On the other hand, those hardest to brainwash are ones with unconventional ideas and strong convictions and who are not afraid of what others think."

  Is Bad - w83 p.27 section heading " Fight Against I ndependent Thinking " par.22 says it's "demonic"

  Is Good - KM 3/95 p.6 par.17 "it is highly valuable to learn how to think. The Bible commends thinking ability and practical wisdom. (Prov. 1:4; 3:21) Learning how to think and retain information enables you to acquire knowledge and skills that will be useful to you and to Jehovah’s worldwide organization. "

  Is Bad - w98 5/15 p.26 "Perhaps we are overly sensitive. We may be nursing a grievance, or we may be placing too much emphasis on independence. Thus, our Christian progress may be limited."

  Is Good - Awake! 99 1/8 p.11 "The magazine UNESCOCourier suggests that instead of fostering rejection of religious movements, “education for tolerance should aim at countering influences that lead to fear and exclusion of others, and should help young people to develop capacities for independent judgement, critical thinking and ethical reasoning.”"

  Is Bad - w06 7/15 P.22 Par.14 "Pride may play a role, and some fall into the trap of independent thinking"

  - It seems the Watchtower doesn't like independent thinking whereas the Awake! does !

  Splash
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  Phizzy

  Thanks for reviving a brilliant thread Clarity !

  Also, your bit, Splash, about the Awake versus The Watchtower on Independant Thinking, set me to thinking does the Writing Department work on a kind of cell/team system ?

  The heavy doctrine and heavy mind control is done by the Watchtower teams, the soft-core stuff done by Brothers Bland and Unthinking for the Awake, and yet these Bros B&U&Co are actually partially awake, so they slip stuff in , that gets past the Heavy Brigade, even the Righthink Team (in charge of inserting all the mind control stuff).

  Sound plausible ?