How does "spirit directed" not equal "possessed"?

by Simon 8 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Simon

  Religious people in general and the JWs in particular often make claims of being "spirit directed".

  Normally it's thrown out as a rather glib claim of being inspired by god / jehovah and to justify any decisions they make via an appeal to authority.

  But think about it for a moment - suppose it were true ... how would it actually work? When they talk about elders appointments and decisions being "spirit directed" what exactly does the mechanism consist of? Does some unseen force make hem raise their hand when they otherwise wouldn't? Does something make them say words that are not really theirs? You either have free will or you don't - if you're going to make the wrong decision then how does some spirit change it to the right one?

  However you try to explain it, it's difficult to come to any other explanation other than "possession".

  Really, if someone is going to make the wrong decision and the 'spirit' corrects them then how does it do this other than possessing them? How else does it influence people's decisions or actions?

  So why don't they proudly claim that they are spirit possessed? Well, as soon as you read those words you know/

  FRUITCAKE !

  It screams nutter and mentally unbalanced. Suddenly it's a million miles away from noble and righteous sounding and is in the realms of The Exorcist and Hammer House of Horror B Movies.

  So remember, every time you read the words "spirit directed" just substitute the word "supernaturally possessed" and then decide if it sounds quite so impressive, quite so worthy of respect, quite so noble and demanding of respect and reverence. They are claiming spirit possession after all.
• 

  stuckinarut2

  Yes indeed Simon...

  If someone claims to hear voices, or claims to be guided by a spirit power, the term DELUSIONAL is appropriately used....
• 

  prologos

  JWs should understand this, because before baptism do they not agree that they become part of that spirit directed, somehow ' possessed' organisation? so, is it true that

  Only when you show all the signs of that 'spirit direction' can it be said that you are 'possessed', that wt really owns you, you are truly their possession?
• 

  Xanthippe

  Yes I've said this before, if they are directed by God how does this happen. Do they hear a voice, does a GB member do automatic writing directed by a spirit. What happens? It sounds like they are saying GB meetings are nothing more than a seance.

  I wanted to ask someone of the anointed about this when they still taught that all the remnant were part of the faithful and discreet slave but it wasn't the done thing. When you think that people literally live or die according to what these seven men are supposed to receive from Jehovah but nobody dares ask how they receive it, it seems crazy.
• 

  DesirousOfChange

  One person's god is another person's demon.

  Doc
  
• 

  Hairtrigger

  It craws up their legs and enters through a secret vent carried between the cheeks and up ..up their spiral staircase to the fountainhead of revelation where it manifests itself in an enunciation of futuristic, cataclasmic abomination. This is followed by a renunciation of their annunciation in the glow of new light amplification. The resulting pronounciation is a confused cultivation of bogus pontification which causes much trepidation in the congregation leaving all in a state of consternation.This fantastic repudation of their former conviction via divine inspiration is an obfuscation of their primary intention of indoctrination with premeditation towards more monetary gratification.

  Of course this only occurs at dead of night while wearing pyjamas. The spirit direction cannot enter constrictive lower bodywear- hence the avertion to"Spanx and Tight pants".
• 

  Finkelstein

  And to make things even more absurd is that all of these religious leaders in Christendom including the JWS, say they are being spirit directed but they all say different things as in doctrines.
  

  Something fishy is gong on here ?
  
• 

  Oubliette

  Well, since there are no such things as "demons," there can be no such thing as a "possession."

  It is generally recognized today that what in the past was often attributed in ignorance to "demon possession," can now be diagnosed as one of a variety of mental illnesses. These are often--thankfully--very treatable with modern medicines and/or cognitive therapy.

  How nice to have left the dark ages of superstition and fear and entered the modern scientific age.

  The WTBTS however is still firmly stuck in the dark. When they call people that disagree with their delusional world-view "mentally diseased" apostates, they project their own mental illness on others and openly expose their own fears and doubts.

  Let's review: It's a cult!
  
• 

  Oubliette

  If you talk to God, you are praying; If God talks to you, you have schizophrenia. - Thomas Szasz