Here is a question for you. I'll give a little back ground. I was raised in the witness organization however in about 1993 I encountered much hypocrisy and left for about 3 years. After about 3 years I developed a serious drug and alcohol problem. One day I decided I was on the wrong path and proceeded to research about religion. I would smoke a fatty and go to the local library and read all day about religion. I figured to be fair I would also research the witnesses. (understand at this time there was almost nothing in the library about witnesses, i didnt even know crisis of conscience existed.)
So I proceeded to talk and study with a witness. I was very turned off to organized religion and people who proclaimed authority in the name of God. (Looking back on this is kind of funny) Anyway, I wanted to study the Bible and not any publications. The witness agreed and we would have very good Bible discussions. After doing research on Bible prophecy like the fall of Babylon, to me I felt there was a good chance the Bible was inspired and I always believed in God. I then proceeded to go to meetings. I kid you all not, not once was anything about obedience to the Governing Body mentioned. The GB was explained to me as a group of men doing the best they can to provide learning tools about the Bible. The person who told me this, believed it herself because she is just as surprised as I am about all the facts I have discovered.
anyway, the hypocrisy i realized was separate from God and the Bible, and so i did not hold the relgion responsible for people who did not do the right thing, so I went from 1 meeting a week to baptism, eventually to pioneering. throughout all this, if you would have told me the GB demands obedience, I would have laughed. Maybe it was the congregation I was in. In this hall they had almost all of the old publications, in fact I would read them and have discussions about old predictions, etc. (Again, this was a different time with different people, its not until now that I realize how insane that is) They would simply say they were wrong, but honest hearted, etc. That was enough for me. Now, if I knew that these men demanded obedience and referred to the WT as a letter from Jehovah, I would have not bought this. But since they thought of them as a group of honest hearted men doing the best they can, I was very forgiving. All of the council from the GB was considered that, council, not law, simply suggestions. In fact there were WT articles to back that up. (Obviously I didnt see the ones that proclaimed them the mouth piece of God, lol)
Anyway, time passes and in 2001 I change halls. Now, this is when I started to see a difference in attitude. From 2001-2007 I noticed that the subject of obedience to the GB was being taught over and over again. I thought to myself, wow, whoever is running Bethel has kind of lost their way. No man can demand obedience, only Christ can. No man has authority to demand obedience. I also noticed that the Bible was being used less and less and WT publications were beginning to take the place of the Bible, especially at the School and service meeting. Finally, at one of the conventions a light went off during one of the talks. it was the one where they made the statement "Jehovah and Jesus trust the governing body and so should we". I almost fell off my chair. What the hell is going on here?
so now we are up to the present, I have read Crisis of Conscienc and in search of Christian Freedom and the one thing that was made clear, in the societies own publications is that they always wanted obedience and declared Divine authority.
so my question to you guys is this: Was I the only one? Did you all know that the GB proclaimed Divine authority and wanted obedience from us when you became a witness? Am I crazy? Its crazy that something so obviously unscriptual could be in the literature and I missed it all these years.
Am I the only one that didnt realize about the GB?
by yourmomma 31 Replies latest jw friends
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yourmomma
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Open mind
I think the obedience to the GB issue is so obviously unscriptural that plenty of JWs, my parents included, soft-pedal it the way it sounds like the JWs in your first congo did.
Nice to see you again yourmomma.
Hope you stick around.
Open Mind
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Maddie
When I become a JW I had no idea what their regime was really like. Does anyone? It's concealed with all the talk about it being Jehovah' loving arrangement.
Maddie
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R.F.
Interesting experience you had there.
Yes, I did know all along that the GB demanded obedience. Of course, I always noticed that instead of saying "Governing Body" they would say the "faithful and discreet slave", and that we should obey that group. We all knew what it meant though since the GB is supposed to be the representative of the FDS. Then again, some congregations can be a bit different. You were guaranteed to hear that concept at every meeting here in the congro I attended.
Good thing you've realized that and are out of the org now.
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Robert7
You are wise indeed :)
It was THIS topic that made me snap, and broke me out of the faith. I saw SO much talk on trusting the GB 100%, but they are men, are imperfect and can make errors. Completely illogical.
Plus it was bothering me how much devotion the FDS was expecting. Almost wanted as much praise as Jesus or God himself. With this, they turned me Atheist :)
You are not crazy, you are a wise independant thinker. We need more thinkers like this in our society. -
Nathan Natas
Yourmomma said,
...(understand at this time there was almost nothing in the library about witnesses, i didnt even know crisis of conscience existed.)
How SMALL a library was this? Any larger library might have had
"The Jehovah's Witnesses" by sociologist H. H. Stroup,
"A People For His Name" by Timothy White
or "Visions of Glory" by Barbara G. Harrison,
not to mention the aposta-classic "Thirty Years A Watchtower Slave" by Snell.
Today the Stroup book is long out of print, but the University that owns the copyright says it *might* make it available again as a print-on-demand title. Timothy White's book has been re-published with his real name (Tony Wills) on it (See Lulu.com or Amazon.com), Barbara Harrison's book is available for FREE at http://www.exjws.net/vg.htm, and Snell's book is still in print with lots of used copies available.
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Meeting Junkie No More
No, you're not the only one. I also vividly remember that comment about 'Jehovah God and Jesus Christ trusting the GB and so should we', now that you mention it. But, and I know this sounds crazy, it didn't even make an impact on me at the time that I heard it. I accepted it. How crazy is that?
I think there are different triggers for each person that leads them to start thinking on their own. For me it was other comments not related to the GB, but I think the triggers are multiplying so fast that inevitably, more and more mental light bulbs will go off, and the Tower will implode!
Great post!
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strawberry cake
When I got baptized in 1995 I believed I was dedicating my life to Jehovah, not to old men in Bethel. I thought these men were humble seekers of truth..nothing more.
xxx Strawberry Cake -
sir82
Incidentally, 2001 is dead on - that's when the tide shifted into the current hard-liner outlook on so many things.
My theory?
The GB got spooked by 9/11. They viewed it as a "shot across the bow" from Jehovah, that they were getting too liberal (well, relatively liberal, for them, anyway).
In the decade prior to 9/11/2001: All "minor" blood fractions are deemed OK, stance on college education was loosened, joined UN-DPI as an NGO
Primary study book then: "Knowledge" book glosses over blood, holidays, 1914, stake vs. cross
Since 9/11: "Obey the FDS" articles run every 3-4 months, college is condemned with a fervor not seen since the 1960's, dropped out of UN-DPI, blood stance muddled as much as possible (can't get that genie back in the bottle easily), internet demonized, independent thought condemned.
Primary study book now: "Bible Teach" book comes right back & hits blood, holidays, 1914, cross, etc.
I'm quite sure they view last year's 3% increase (likely a statistical blip) as a "blessing from Jehovah" on their hard-line stance. Expect the screws to continue to tighten.
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cognac
I thought that for awhile also... I was always told, "You can make your own decision of whether or not this is the truth." Little did I know that meant "as long as I decide that this is the truth"...
I always tried to tell myself that I followed the society because it just so happens to fall in line with what Jehovah wants... THEN I STARTED READING THE BIBLE!!! Not just the specific 1 or 2 verses in different chapters that can be twisted to fit there doctrine...