by MichaelM 105 Replies latest jw friends
There are things the Witnesses have gotten right (No trinity, no hell fire).
As Michael is obviously new to Bible study I think he should be encouraged to come to his own conclusions.
And be allowed to see all the different perspectives.
The above is purely your own opinion (to which you are perfectly entitled) but you know that many here do not agree with you.
Lets not be guilty of the same mistakes as the WT
Hi Michael and welcome to JWD - please do lots of research and browse around JWD before committing to this religion!!
I was born and raised as JW - it was a horrible childhood, this religion has no provision for being a child, preteen, teen, young adult - from the moment you are born you are a miniture JW. Child abuse is rampant in the origanization, and they are notorious for sheltering child molesters from police and prosecution!
When I was 18 years old, I left he originization - I've had to deal with some shunning from my parents initially but now I do have some communication with them although very little. Most on the forum have lost all family contact as well as friends and lifestyle as they new it, simply because they realized that this religion was not for them. Once you committ there is no turning back without severe consequences.
Hope you hang around to find out more about the truth lie.
nj
Good points pubsinger.
Some have reached different conclusions about those matters.
Some of us do not believe in God.
Some enjoy what they describe to be "a satisfying personal relationship with Jesus Christ".
In the end, the vast majority of posters here respect one another and wish to learn from one another.
We don't always agree on what's true. But we do agree on what isn't. That's a good place to start.
Prior to finding JWD, I had been unfamiliar with unconditional love.
Welcome to the forum,
I used to be a witness but I left because I discovered that someone who has admitted to molesting a child can still have a position of responsiblity in the congregation. I think that that is wrong.
Unfortunatly you will be advised not to look up any other beliefs or ways of looking at things. The JW's believe that their organisation (aka the borg to us on JWD) is the only one to have god's approval and therefore everything that you need to know is in their publications, and you are really restricted to those when it comes to research.
Apparently their greek interlinear is quite good as it shows the original greek and you can see what words have been inserted to make their beliefs look correct.
I have just finished reading crisis of conscience (i borrowed it from my local library) it's very good, I would recommend it to you. It's written by someone who was a member of the governing body in NY and is very well written, gives you an idea of how things work and the history of the religion too. I never realised that the workings to get the date 1914 was from the Seventh Day Adventists?? (not too sure on the name) or other religious group.
We don't always agree on what's true. But we do agree on what isn't. That's a good place to start.
So true.
I never realised that the workings to get the date 1914 was from the Seventh Day Adventists??
The Second Adventists. But we get the point bluebell. Well done. And it was 1844 before it was 1914.
But that's nothing a pencil and eraser couldn't fix.
William Miller to be exact. Think Russell was an original thinker? Check this out- Adventist Chart 1843.
Like I've said before, I may not know the "one true religion" or the "one true church" but I sure as heck know one that isn't.
Some more food for thought...
Unlike what your are experiencing here, if you become a JW you will never be able to question any teaching. You will be asked to stay quiet and wait on Jah for the answers. Imagine not believing in something and then being asked to promote it door to door! You wonder why there are so many mental health issues in the "Truth".
Acts 17:11
Eccl 12:12
Mike, the JW's seem smart because they have rigged the game ahead of time. I could look like the smartest Jeopardy player ever, if only I had the list of topics ahead of time and could look up all the answers. JW's have a carefully scripted game plan rehearsed many times over to make them look like real Bible students. Their arguments seem so-oo logical. Like birthdays- Herod chopped off John the Baptist's head at a Birthday party, that should be reason enough to avoid birthdays according to the WT reasoning. But let's substitute a wedding for a birthday. Had this been a wedding feast that got John's head cut off, would JW's also say that weddings are bad?- just look what happened to John the Baptist at a wedding feast. OF COURSE NOT! I can pick apart their study book chapter by chapter the same way. It is all based on faulty facts and reasoning.
Mike, did you ever watch 'Who wants to be a Millionaire'? remember the lifelines? Suppose the tough question was "what is the true religion". You decide to ask the audience for help. Now did you ever see a contestant go with the answer that less than 1% of the audience picked? Of Course not! There are reasons why over 99.8% of the World has rejected the Watchtower version of Christianity. Don't be suckered by them.
This site is PRO-THINKER.
If that means ANTI-JW, you'll have to decide.
