I Believe Jehovah's Witnesses do the best they can

by zgborn 6 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • zgborn
    zgborn

    I really believe that Jehovah's Witnesses do the best they can considering the deity they worship. For starters, they Witnesses talk much more about the value of fearing god than the value of loving him. As a result, they are always on the lookout for any little thing that might piss him off. Little children hunting Easter eggs, for example, or opening Christmas presents. They are afraid that those activities will bring the practicioners thereof under divine judgement, so they avoid them. The same can be said for the celebration of countless local festivals and cultural activities, if they contain so much as a shred of religious derivation from any group not Biblically approved by the WTS, then Jehovah hates them. It is also interesting to see what makes him happy. Certainly the WTS would say that Jehovah derives pleasure from the grief of someone who has suffered loss of life due to the acceptance of a blood transfusion. He would be well pleased that his commandment was obeyed. Whereas someone who "compromised their integrity" and accepted a transfusion would be the object of Jehovah's fury at armegaddon because they didn't obey the rules.

    In short, they do not believe that the creator is a loving entity, but consider him tough to please, demanding and jealous. Their motivation for virtually everything is avoiding his wrath.

    Not long ago I read the most interesting book, "Ask, and it is Given", by Esther Hicks. This woman describes the most loving god imaginable, and goes into lengthy detail to explain why god loves us, what we bring to the table individually that god finds so worthy of adoration and appreciation. She tells the story that all beliefs are acceptable to god, but the criteria she uses to recommend the best of the lot are these;

    First, your beliefs should make you love god, the creator of this experience, with as much zest as possible. And the best way to accomplish that is to look for things to love everyday. Look for things and people that make you feel love, joyfulness, kindness, hope, peacefulness, in short, look for things that make you feel good and glad to be alive. Appreciate your beingness.

    The next criteria is simple too. Look for reasons to love your neighbor, and everyone on this planet is your neighbor. Love your enemies. If you want to love your enemies, you get to know them first, and then find reasons to love them. Sometimes, it is necessary to use the tool of forgiveness to get to love, but it is always worth it. Pay attention to how you feel, and strive to feel good.

    Now this stands in fairly sharp contrast to the attitude of Jehovah's Witnesses to outsiders. They claim to be loving people, but really that could hardly be farther from the truth. Oh it is true, they are willing to spend their time out preaching the message of the wrath of their god to "worldlings", but their feelings toward them are far from loving. I would describe them as tolerant of outsiders where necessary, but overall afraid of "worldly contamination", so unbelievers are avoided. Love and fear are polar opposites, and you can tell in your gut which is the most active.

    I do think the JW's do the best they can, they just worship a fictional god.

    If any are interested in a story of creation that will make your heart sing, check out Esther's material at the library, on the web, or look at their videos on youtube. It is very interesting material. If you are a lover of freedom and a lover of life, you will not be disappointed.

    zg

  • sabastious
    sabastious
    They are afraid that those activities will bring the practicioners thereof under divine judgement, so they avoid them.

    Welcome to the forum zgborn!

    I think the Witnesses tendencies to err on the side of caution, which I believe is the theme of your post, is an exuse that can only be taken so far. I agree with you in the fact that you can't blame a parent for protecting their children from their own delusional and paranoid scenarios, but only in the moment. I do blame them, in the end, for not recognizing the very apparent side effects of erring on the side of caution too much. Risks must be taken for real growth to happen, the ones that choose to avoid those risks are ultimately hurting themselves and possibly the people around them.

    -Sab

  • A Paduan
    A Paduan

    Choosing subjection to fear instead of brevity, isn't really synonymous with the general human view of 'doing the best you can' - it just isn't

  • NomadSoul
    NomadSoul

    I used to do the best.... at being an f' moron!

  • Satanus
    Satanus

    I agree, most of them do the best they can. I know, i did. Some of them are users, though.

    S

  • Mad Sweeney
    Mad Sweeney

    Until you get out and realize true satisfaction and happiness you think being a JW is what happiness is. It's really sad how twisted they are by the organization.

  • moshe
    moshe

    They do a good job of lying to themselves- we're happy JWs, oh, yes we are, because the WT says so.

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