The Bible is full of violence.Why are JW's told to avoid anything related to it then?

by XPeterX 35 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • TDaze
    TDaze

    Another thing, the WT encourages a blood lust within JWs, and I remember being confused when I was younger because of this. On one hand JWs are taught that we love our neighbors, yet we can't wait for them to be destroyed. On top of that, the bloodlust is supported by handpicked scriptures.

    This is not at all unique to Jehovah's Witnesses. Pretty much all ~38,000 sects within Christianity will do this in order to prop their deity up.

    Who would, after all, cherry pick Numbers 15:32-36, which describes how a man was stoned to death for gathering some sticks on the Sabbath? Or who would cherry pick Joshua 6:21 which tells us how the Israelites conquered Jericho and didn't just kill combatants, but also civilians and animals, even having them plunge their swords into their babies? If a group of people would do this nowadays, Christians would be outraged (as they should), but when it's about, for example, homosexuality, these same Christians could very well turn around and spewthe most hateful vitriol. And why not? Using the bible and some mental gymnastics, you can excuse any crazy idea.

    It's not just violence either, it's also weakness. Which Christian would cherry pick Judges 1:19, which states that with the help of God Judah drove out all inhabitants from the mountain, but apparently God's help was not enough when certain inhabitants had chariots of iron. I think they'd much rather cherry pick the battles that their god has won. Without considering if these battles have taken place at all, obviously.

    So as you see, this is not a Jehovah's Witness thing. This is something that Christians do in general.

  • sd-7
    sd-7

    Well, I think some of the best moments in 'entertainment' are when the protagonist chooses NOT to use violence, or perhaps only to use it to a certain extent to stop something very wrong from happening. It's when there's no respect for life that I consider violence to be a problem. And frankly, the Bible contains plenty of violence that is senseless or graphic that doesn't necessarily teach anything. Must God order his people to kill women and children in order to defend Israel? What lesson does that teach? Cross any line, as long as God says so? I'll pass on that lesson.

    One could argue that it was necessary for Israel to stake a claim in the Promised Land so that the Messiah could be born as a pure Israelite, except given that the Messiah only really had to be in human form in order to balance the scales, he could've been Korean for all that it'd matter, so long as he died for our sins.

    I think the concept of sex in the Bible is the same kind of contradiction. I mean, am I supposed to not think about it if they say Adam had relations with Eve? I mean...it's there. I've got a mental picture. But then...I should leave that to my parodies since it's unrelated to this thread...

    --sd-7

    P.S. I noticed, in reading the NIV account of when Phinehas executes the couple that's fornicating, they don't mention him stabbing them both through their genitals like the New World Translation does. Seems odd that that detail was necessary; I just wonder if that's really how it translates from the original language. Curious. I'll have to look into that.

  • snowbird
    snowbird
    P.S. I noticed, in reading the NIV account of when Phinehas executes the couple that's fornicating, they don't mention him stabbing them both through their genitals like the New World Translation does. Seems odd that that detail was necessary; I just wonder if that's really how it translates from the original language. Curious. I'll have to look into that.

    http://bible.cc/numbers/25-8.htm

    Please note carefully the commentators' take on this.

    I was reading about this in The Book of Jasher last night; it didn't mention genitals, either, but the implication is there.

    Syl

  • pirata
    pirata

    Violence can be analyzed historically, or for entertainment, or both. JWs and Christians in general teach against enjoying violence as entertainment, at least paying lip service to the idea. Usually gets thrown out the window once a movie, game or show starts.

  • TDaze
    TDaze

    One could argue that it was necessary for Israel to stake a claim in the Promised Land so that the Messiah could be born as a pure Israelite, except given that the Messiah only really had to be in human form in order to balance the scales, he could've been Korean for all that it'd matter, so long as he died for our sins.

    Besides that, you'd think an all-powerful all-loving god could think of another way than beastly genocide.

  • eruption
    eruption

    One group of people who I would gladly get violent toward, are JW elders (and those ex elders here) I have never met so many cock sucking weak limp wristed individuals in my life, play the JW game to get on in JW land, and then present themselves here still boasting, the elder thing, and a lot of people on this forum, still fawning over the scum, wake up !!!

    I like being able to vent my frustrations here, its cathartic, also STOP giving these scum anymore credibilty, I dont see you all posting all that brown nosing shite when a single mum comes ON, but a fucking elder, appears here on this site, you all get a collective hardone, god i fucking hate it, instead of giving that prick who has just joined here, a huge round of applause, presumably because you want to entice more like him here, tell him like it is, I dont give a fuck that he can give a talk when he is drunk, and that he considered himself A GOOD SPEAKER,and lets face it until he renounced theJW shite most of you wouldnt have given him the time of day,

    HE,s a dick, like ME, and any status he had as a fuckwit, is gone dead, buried. I have no animosity to the man but people here, NEED to stop having their status barrometer set by the Watchtower.

  • No Room For George
  • wannabefree
    wannabefree
    TD said: all entertainment is for the sake of pleasure (As you allude to)

    I agree, I have gone up against elders who use the blanket condemnation of any kind of violence in entertainment, certainly the Bible has accounts of extreme violence, immorality and sensuality, yet it is approved reading. I was more on the line of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre type of entertainment as you mentioned ... or spectators going to the Roman coliseum to see lions or gladiators rip people to shreds. In the end, each person should have the freedom to decide using their own conscience.

  • Pika_Chu
    Pika_Chu

    This is one thing that got me, even while I was still in. The Bible MENTIONS violence, demons, magic, and all that. So why was watching movies with these things in them so bad? Seriously.

  • DagothUr
    DagothUr

    The Bible is also full of shit. But yet, we all try to avoid crap.

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