Comments You Will Not Hear at the WT Study (10/22 Merciful)

by WT Comments 28 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  WT Comments

  Soliciting your comments as well!
  Please take a moment to post a comment, even if brief. Share your experience and keep the topic active.
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  carla

  Thanks! Sorry, one of those days I cannot stomach the wt stuff and can only read the red!
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  marmot

  Thanks, that was a really good one.
  
  I get the "where else will I (you) go?" argument thrown at me whenever I try to explain to my parents that I don't believe the WT society is "the truth."
  
  It's really, really frustrating.
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  truthsetsonefree

  Actually I found this quite interesting since I gave the talk #7 Mercy-A Dominant Quality of True Christians as one of my main and most popular public talks. Funny how I strayed from the outline and their article looks like a cut and paste of my talk. (Which Bethelite was in the audience I wonder?)

  What struck me as I studied and spoke in many congregations on this topic of mercy (over ten years I gave that talk) was how if the WT was REALLY merciful they would encourage their people to address their own personal needs (remember the definition of mercy at the beginning of the article-filling a need). Why do Witnesses have to work so hard. Why when they try to fill their financial needs are they told not to go to college? Why are families not allowed to care for one another while they go out and supposedly help others? Where is the concern for the needs of disfellowshipped ones? In short WT and especially you Governing Body, why do you demand so much and give so little from your people? Where is YOUR mercy?

  Isaac Carmignani
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  Gopher

  Thanks, V -- for an excellent dissection of another Watchtower propaganda piece.

  They want you to believe that their God is merciful, and that anyone who attends their meetings is privileged to be associated with a merciful organization. Quite the opposite is true.

  Jehovah is clearly shown as vengeful in the Bible. Even Jesus, in the book of Revelation, is an avenging warrior against all non-believers. The Watchtower Society cruelly casts aside and casts aspersions on any member or ex-member who they feel opposes them. Their cruel practice of enforcing the shunning of family members hardly rates as 'loving your enemies' or 'merciful'.

  And as Blondie often highlighted when she posted these studies, the example of David is hardly a good one for the Society to keep trotting out. But they still do, they're so brain-dead in the Society's writing department.

  David was cruel, ready for vengeance at even the slightest provocation. A good example is found at 1 Samuel 25. After he guarded Nabal's flocks for a while, David expected some appreciation or hospitality. Instead, Nabal came out and insulted him and invited him to leave. So what would an emotionally secure, mature person do at this point? David reacted proudly -- "I'm the anointed one, how DARE he insult me. I'm going to kill him!" David had the people's favor (and supposedly Jehovah's favor), and he wanted to wipe out anybody who didn't bow down to him! (A fine example, copied by Watchtower leadership today.) Only the intervention of Nabal's lovely wife Abigail prevented homicide.

  Yes David, a fine example of restraint, maturity and mercy.
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  OnTheWayOut

  This week we study Cognitive Dissonance.
  
  

  Cognitive dissonance has been called "the mind controller's best friend" (Robert Levine). When a person invests their hope, emotion and faith into an incorrect idea, it can be too painful to admit it was a mistake. Instead people tend to relieve the tension by changing or adding to their cognitions or beliefs.

  An extremely important subject. Thanks for looking at it.

  The Watchtower (WT) loves to draw on Old Testament ... examples to prove their Christian New Testament ... principles.

  That's because they prefer their God to remain the war-monger with destructive goals of the OT.
  This makes it easier to demonize the evil world and scare the faithful from returning to it.

  Para. 5:
  

  ...when his worshippers were in bondage in Egypt... Jehovah conducted the first infanticide of Bible history (Exodus 12:29-30), arbitrarily killing every firstborn Egyptian and animal!. Was this action necessary, dare I say merciful?

  If it was possible for the Egyptians to spair themselves, they had to follow the instructions of the Hebrews about the blood
  and risk the wraith of the Egyptian Pharoah or his army. They had to believe Hebrews because they performed tricks that
  Satan allowed the Egyptians to reproduce in many cases. That's like today's Christians and non-Christians worldwide
  having to recognize that this strange group of people knocking on their doors are God's chosen ones because they are
  able to make it appear that everything they teach is correct. If people do believe them, they risk the wraith of the non-JW's
  in the government or in their non-Christian society.
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  OnTheWayOut

  Para. 9:
  

  While they did not escape all the consequences of their sin, their lives were spared. Let me articulate the "consequences":

  Jehovah took seven slow days to kill the newborn child of David and Bath-sheba (Samuel 12:15-18). Is that "mercy"? Is that "appropriate punishment"?

  The JW's have discussed this, but it never sits well:

  ***

  w05 5/15 pp.17-18 Highlights From the Book of Second Samuel***

  "Here I am raising up against you calamity out of your own house," Jehovah says to David, "and I will take your wives under your own eyes and give them to your fellowman, and he will certainly lie down with your wives under the eyes of this sun." (2 Samuel 12:11) What is the reason for this pronouncement? It is David’s sin with Bath-sheba. Though repentant David is forgiven, he is not spared the consequences of his sin.

  First the child that Bath-sheba gives birth to dies. Then David’s virgin daughter Tamar is raped by her half brother Amnon. Her full brother Absalom murders Amnon in revenge. Absalom conspires against his own father and proclaims himself king in Hebron. David is forced to flee Jerusalem. Absalom has relations with ten of his father’s concubines left behind to take care of the house. David returns to his kingship only after Absalom is killed. A revolt by the Benjaminite Sheba ends in Sheba’s death.

  ***

  w65 7/1 p. 413 Tempering Justice with Mercy***

  In the case of King David, the sentence of death was not carried out on him when he sinned with Uriah’s wife because of his sincere repentance. "David now said to Nathan: ‘I have sinned against Jehovah.’ At this Nathan said to David: ‘Jehovah, in turn, does let your sin pass by. You will not die.’" (2 Sam. 12:13) But he was punished by losing his infant son by Bathsheba.

  ***

  w05 5/15 p. 31 Questions From Readers***

  Some find it difficult to understand why the son had to die, since Deuteronomy 24:16 states: "Children should not be put to death on account of fathers." But we must remember that if the case had been handled by human judges, the parents as well as the unborn child in the womb would have lost their lives. The loss of the son might also have helped David to realize more keenly how displeased Jehovah was with his sin with Bath-sheba. We can be confident that Jehovah dealt with the matter justly, for "perfect is his way."—2 Samuel 22:31.

  When stuck with contradictions like this, the answer is that it happened, it is recorded in the Bible, Jehovah must have dealt
  with the matter justly, because he is just. Forget the unjust action and just know that Jehovah is just, so the action is just.
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  OnTheWayOut

  Para. 15:
  

  Can we explode the myth of Sodom here?

  • Lot's wife turned to salt while evacuating, just for looking back at the city.
  • Lot's daughters date-rape their father on two successive nights so they can bear children (Lot is the unwitting victim of course).
  • Lot somehow is proclaimed "righteous" despite the fact that his sons (and/or grandsons!) became the Ammonites and Moabites, hard-set enemies of Israel (see ethnic cleansing).

  The WT feels justified using this as an example because 2 Peter 2:7 says God " delivered righteous Lot, who was greatly distressed by the indulgence of the law-defying people in loose conduct." I guess that makes incest under the influence okay.

  This is another Bible example that WTS is stuck with. Instead of ignoring it, they exploit it.
  Lot was righteous, because the Bible says so.
  Lot's wife was wrong for looking back, because the Bible says so.
  You should do as the FDS says, because they are righteous and they say the Bible says so.
  Abandoning the righteous FDS no matter what the FDS appears to be doing, you have looked back at
  the world and are worthy of destruction. Don't worry that a Governing Body member was homosexual
  or that they want to regulate sex between a husband and wife. Just listen to them or turn to salt.
  If your sons don't listen to the FDS, don't let that stop you.
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  karvel

  wow. this is the best one of these in recent memory
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  cultswatter

  Blondie when will you do the study edition? Jan 15 2008