The GB really do not want us to think for ourselves Mar 15th WT

by life is to short 30 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • life is to short
    life is to short

    I know that some of you might think that I really should be reading the WT but with a husband still in and being that I am still very tied to the religion though him I want to know what is up with them in some ways.

    The March 15 th WT made me feel sick. On page 5 it was talking about how we need to wait on Jehovah. It was really the same old stuff but I feel with a different twist. It starts with telling us we need to "keep alert. And it used Jesus illustration of a thief Matt: 43, 44. I know it is the same old same old but there was something else there that really bothered me.

    It says "Why the repeated warnings? Such reminders are needed when as a result of waiting over what seems to be an extended period, people are at risk of losing their sense of urgency." Then with Jesus illustration of the thief it says "That illustration shows the need for being prepared to wait, even for a considerable length of time. No, we should not be overly concerned that this wicked system may have lasted longer than we expected. We should not deceive ourselves by falsely reasoning that 'Jehovah's time has not come.' Such thinking would dull our desire to preach the good news of the Kingdom. Rom 12:11." "If we do not arouse our clear thinking faculties, false reasonings can take root in our minds, For example , we might tell ourselves, 'Jehovah's day is undoubtedly coming-but not immediately,' It goes on to say the same old same old about "study, prayers, faithful meeting attendance, and preaching." But the page ends with "Now is certainly not the time to allow false reasoning to deceive us into thinking that Jehovah's day has been postponed. Rather, it is the time to make our hearts firm, for Jehovah's day has drawn close.

    I know it is what they have been saying since I was a baby but how long can they keep this up. How long can they keep pushing and pushing and pushing for us to do more, more, more. I was not supposed to go to school, not to get married, I never had kids but if I did I could easily be a grandmother now. I was not supposed to save for old age as I would never grow old.

    Many are in my place, now they are pushing our grandkids to be stupid like we were. How seriously how long can this go on?

    Then this WT gets even worse I feel on page 15 on a study article looking forward to Blondie's comments it talks about "Richard and Ruth, parents of three young children. "My heart was telling me that I could do more for Jehovah," says Richard. "I had a comfortable life but felt that I was just giving God my surplus, as it were. After praying about the matter and counting the cost, Ruth and I agreed that I would ask by supervisor for a reduced work schedule of four days a week-even though the country was in the middle of an economic crisis. My request ws approved, and I started the new schedule within one month." How dose Richard feel now? "I get 20 percent less pay then before," he says, "but now I have an extra 50 days a year to be with my family and train my children. I have been able to double my time in field service, triple my number of Bible studies, and take a grated lead in the congregation. And because I am available to help with the children, Ruth has been able to auxiliary pioneer from time to time. I am determined to maintain this schedule for as long as possible."

    It then goes on to relate Roy and Petina, "who have a daughter still at home, they were able to cut back their secular work so as to share in the ministry fulltime. "I work three days a week," says Roy, "and Petina works two. Also we moved from a house to an apartment, which is much easier to care for. We pioneered before we had our son and daughter, and we never lost the desire to pioneer. So when our children had grown up, we got back into the full-time ministry. No amount of money can compare with the blessings we have recived.

    Par 18 even talks about the blood issue it sites one sister saying "A surgeon repeatedly tried to intimidate me into accepting a blood transfusion. 'What's this nonsense about blood?' was one of his first greetings.' Then and at other times, I prayed silently to Jehovah, and his peace came over me I felt like a rock." The study ends with theses words "During the rapidly approaching "day of Jehovah's fury," everything in which Satan's world puts its trust in will come crashing down. Gold, silver, and other valuable things will provide so security whatsoever. The only refuge will be our "Rock of times indefinite, "So let us demonstrate our full trust in Jehovah now by walking obediently in his righteous ways, by proclaiming his Kingdom message despite our having to face apathy or opposition.

    Maybe it is the fact that I have stopped going to the meetings and am not getting the dose of brainwashing every week but it just seems scarier and scarier to me.

    LITS

  • life is to short
    life is to short

    Sorry I meant to say not be reading the WT. My husband was home and I was trying to do this without his knowing. Sorry for any misplace or misspelled words too.

    LITS

  • heathen
    heathen

    The problem with their reasoning is that there is also a scripture that states , expectations unrealised make the heart grow sick. They're still trying to distort the facts on the generation fiasco . It's like somebody getting caught telling the same lie over and over and being told by many it's not realistic to begin with

    so what's the point ? OHH that's right it's about urgency .

  • Soldier77
    Soldier77

    LITS! Stop reading that garbage! ((((LITS))))

    Honestly though, it's the same thing they've been saying forever. Nothing new, it's all recycled bullshit. I think the only difference is, is that you have become aware of their bullshit. So it is magnified when you read it.

  • Pistoff
    Pistoff

    The longer one is out, the more shocking the rhetoric is when you hear it or read it.

    No matter what the economic climate, they want MORE MORE MORE.

    Bad economy? Do MORE.

    Risk your full time job, ask for time off to preach to people who won't listen, leaving books they won't read.

    Send more money; stop thinking, stop doubting. And REFUSE blood, and ridicule doctors who want to save you from yourself.

    Ugh.

  • SlipnSlide
    SlipnSlide

    This is same ole same ole. I have been hearing these types of illustrations for years. It's just that the names change. We can never do enough in the preaching work. I used to get the guilt trip from several sisters who thought that I just could walk up to my boss and demand some days off. They tried to present several ways that this could be done. It was always those sisters who did not work for themselves and had husbands at home. In the real world, you don't do that and especially now that the economy sucks and many are out of work. And if I were to take them up on their suggestions, would I just rely on Jehovah to take care of me, or for that matter, rely on the good graces of the congregation. I would be called lazy and they would be unwilling to come to my aid.

  • Mad Sweeney
    Mad Sweeney

    I think Pistoff is right. As the programming loses its grip on our minds the reality of just how much of a cult it is becomes shockingly obvious.

    I don't think they've come up with any original rhetoric for decades. But it seems worse both because we've been freed and because they've been at it SO LONG.

    Then with Jesus illustration of the thief it says "That illustration shows the need for being prepared to wait, even for a considerable length of time. No, we should not be overly concerned that this wicked system may have lasted longer than we expected. We should not deceive ourselves by falsely reasoning that 'Jehovah's time has not come.' Such thinking would dull our desire to preach the good news of the Kingdom

    A couple points here, based on the parts I bolded.

    One, Jesus' illustration of the thief was based on ONE NIGHT, not one and a half CENTURIES of waiting.

    Two, they show their colors in the last sentence. It isn't about salvation. It isn't about pleasing God. It is about going out in service hawking the publications.

  • cult classic
    cult classic

    When your family is in it's hard to put the religion down. When I pick up some litterature and start reading, I cannot stop myself. I get piping hot mad and still won't put it down.... rofl.

    Pistoff is right. Now that you're out their BS is crystal clear. It's so obvious you just want to scream. Whenever I want to get my blood boiling (and sometimes I want to do just that), I just pick up some WT piece of crap and start scanning. Works everytime.

  • designs
    designs

    The Watchtower Leaders have played on the sentiment of the character in Isaiah known as The Man of Sorrows. Christianity seems to wallow in the suffering servant image. Catholics praying while scooting along on their knees till they bleed is thought to somehow appeal to Jesus. Other Denominations have their forms of anguish and angst believing mournful and glazed looks to heaven make God's heart happy.

    For us lucky enough to spend a chunk of our lives in the JW world we did our own versions of suffering such as Pioneering and regular Field Service etc..

  • JeffT
    JeffT

    I had this sudden vision of how my own experience would look (as written by the Watchtower) had I stayed in.

    "Jeff had been accepted to graduate school and might have gone on to a pointless career as a teacher. But knowing that the end of this system was coming soon he dropped out of college. He now has the thrill of knowing that he has spent 37 years serving Jehovah. 'Sure it gets hard somethimes' he says, 'it can be hard to keep going after you've spent the last six months calling on not at homes, but that sure beats trying to teach Shakespeare to a bunch of brats that are just going to die at Armageddon."

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit