by Hopscotch 216 Replies latest watchtower bible
Guys, do we need to turn this into another "bash Jesus" thread? It gets really boring and I'm sure there are internet forums set up for that very purpose.
Some love the shock value. Nicolau's besides-the-point expletives are the forum equivalent of him walking out of the house naked beneath his trenchcoat and opening it up in front of bunch of teenage girls.
BTS
Some love the shock value. Nicolau's besides-the-point expletives are the forum equivalent of him walking out of the house naked beneath his trenchcoat and opening it up in front of bunch of teenage girls.
BTS
Well put!
>hopscotch
Thanks for the comments and thank you for flagging the article up in the first place.
I share the view of some that this article will probably not cause a revolution in the wts and how the "friends" treat ex members, but I hope as you rightly point out in your post that the barrier might just take a battering with this one.
It's a bigger one than they might expect. To the Governing Body ,we who have left ,ostensibly DO NOT EXIST. That however is their biggest mistake, they underestimate the force of the human spirit and will. They forget that the sense of injustice is one of the strongest emotions we can experience.
They have obviously written this article in a mealy-mouthed attempt at fooling the public at large into thinking they are decent Christian folk with no extremes in their behaviour or doctrines. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Thing is this is probably THE most emotive issue that affects ALL who are no longer jws , ACROSS THE BOARD no matter what you are doing with your life/beliefs. Sure they are not even thinking of it applying to ex-members who are "outside the city licking their own vomit", but that is their achilles , they don't think about us so haven't considered us when writing and approving this article.
I hope that it seriously disturbs the sensibilities of those who still posess the ability to think for themselves within the wts.
>suspicious minds
Thanks again and the anger you feel is sharedd by me too. We can't miss the hypocrisy in their literature while some like my brother has never even registered that it's staring you in the face in the policies and publications.
I'll let you know if I get anywhere.
H.K.
"blatant in their misleading double-speak"
What we seem to forget is that the Org. can write two different versions and convince us that this is perfectly correct.
They do it by writing one version with their left hand,
The other version with their right,
(do not let your left hand know what the right hand is doing)
Simple
KT
bts;
Some love the shock value.
Shock can have value. From an older topic of mine;
"I remember well the uncomfortable sensation of having my long held and deeply ingrained thought habits shaken. I found that by reading stuff that was shocking to me my opinions - whether or not I changed them - were no longer based on habits of thought that had never been questioned. My opinions became something stronger and better, the reasoned convictions of a free mind.
Jehovah's Witnesses who see apostate literature as subversive and something to be suppressed show little faith in the resonableness of the beliefs they are so anxious to protect. Psychiatrists use a very ordinary word to describe the feelings that are aroused in us when something presented to us breaks across cherished mental habits. They say we are shocked.
Most people resent being shocked. They don't like it and avoid going to certain websites, reading books or keeping the company of those whose speech would shock them when really all these things are doing us a service by forcing us to confront old and long held beliefs so that we can freely and intelligently choose what is sound and reject the rest.
Being shocked prepares our minds for seeing new and unfamiliar truths - even uncomfortable truths. Most people do not need protection from being shocked, they need to be shocked a great deal more than they are."
Nicolau's besides-the-point expletives . . . .
Beside the point? Hardly. This topic is discussing a duplicitous and hypocritical control tactic by a manipulative cult claiming that it's Leader/King is none other than JESUS f***ing CHRIST! Now you can argue all you like as to whether Jehovah's Witnesses are Christian or not but this liar from 2000 years ago is hardly beside the point.
are the forum equivalent of him walking out of the house naked beneath his trenchcoat and opening it up in front of bunch of teenage girls.
whatever
Hobo Ken - that is so true what you say about shunning probably being the most emotive issue affecting ex JWs accross the board. I was thinking that a youtube video using this article and comparing it to say the new 'bookstudy' book (can't remember the name of it at the moment) that has pretty straight guidlines in the appendix about shunning family members who leave the WT and also some of the watchtower magazines that have it in black and white what the real policy of the WT is on this issue, might be quite effective. I know password protected has made some videos and also there is the watchtower comments videos and there are no doubt a few others, so maybe someone might be able to do this. Just thought the more people know about this cruel policy the better.
Hopscotch
I have read through the thread and I just noticed that no one has yet posted on paragraph 6's last sentence:-
"since our creator wants us to search for truth ,it CANNOT be wrong to act on the evidence that we find even if that means CHANGING OUR RELIGION"
I realise they will say that it's talking about people becoming jws and not the other way round. But I wonder if someone on the writing committe that knows the deal with the wts has deliberatley put this in. Look closely at the terminology :- the evidence that WE find!!! It is speaking to the reader yes, but usually it would read that one would find not "we".
This is saying it is not wrong to act on what we find in relation to the start of the sentence, i.e. "the search for truth". Is it any co-incidence that JWs call their religion the "truth". I'm sure the writer of this article is using a careful semaphore here.
What is the evidence regarding the wts?
Is the writer aware of the evidence against them, and thus trying to shake things up?
If you were in such a position ,which one of the publications would you be able to slip it in to with the least amount of checks?
The Awake!
Is the title of the mag just a coincidence?
Thoughts?
H.K.
Good point Hobo Ken! I wonder how jw will react when ex jw family members point that out!
Don't read too much into that quote H.K, they've been at it for decades;
1968"We need to examine, not only what we personally believe, but also what is taught by any religious organization with which we may be associated. Are its teachings in full harmony with Gods Word, or are they based on the traditions of men? If we are lovers of the truth, there is nothing to fear from such an examination. It should be the sincere desire of every one of us to learn what Gods will is for us, and then to do it." John 8:32
(The Truth That Leads To Eternal Life, 1968, p. 13)
Oh, that's right nicolaou, forgot about those quotes from the past.
My jw stopped giving me a hard time for being 'apostate like' when I would repeat this quote "It is not a form of religious persecution for anyone to say & show that another religion is false. It is not religious persecution for an informed person to expose publicly a certain religion is false, thus allowing persons to see the difference between false religion and true religion. WT 11-15-63 p688
Using their own quotes seems to be the only way to make headway at times even if you have to repeat it ad nauseum.
