No need to read COC etc to know its bull.

by sleepy 17 Replies latest jw friends

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  sleepy

  Do you need to read COC or look on the interthingynet to know the "truth" is bull?

  I think not, but it will make it easier.
  Having more facts at your fingertips will help you make up your mind about the society , but really from reading the publictions yourself and looking at the congregations at what goes on should tell you its wrong.

  I think theres a problem that a lot of people don't meditate enought and don't give themselves a well rounded knowledge of the world in general.
  Its understandable given that so much time is taken up with other things, many people are too tired to read alot or think deeply.
  Yet if you don't you are missing out.
  You learn so much by reading rather than whatching TV or playing computer games.
  Reading a wide variety of books and meditating on things can help exercise you mind , helping it sort dodgy ideas from more sound ones.

  I think we should learn from our time as witnesses and try to read more, and meditate on things, become a more rounded person.
  It would be a shame if we had to rely soley on other people to mold the way we lead our lives.
• 

  gumby

  I've learned more things from watching informative shows on tv than I have reading books.
  I think watching tv makes you braindead thing, is a watchtower thought. Watching crap all day on tv probably is not good, but the same could be said for reading crappy books all day.

  I take NOTHING away from reading COC! Ask the thousands who have left upon reading this book thought they didn't need it.This was the only book of it's kind to expose the society's inner working structures.
• 

  alliwannadoislive

  sleepy - looking at people - dubs - tells only part of the story - the doublethink is to accept they have imperfections and will make mistakes - so for those only just exploring the idea of coming out of the borganisation, it's hard for them to shake off that doublethink ...

  COC is the final confirmation that the GB are only a bunch of corporate men going for the majority vote without so much as a meditative moment on the topic for decision - minor things such as whether the millions worldwide should continue to jeopordise their (and their children's) lives by refusing blood etc etc etc - this is what helped seal my decision for me ...
• 

  Gopher

  When I was a JW, there were small, nagging doubts that I suppresed, because I wrongly believed "the good outweighs the bad" and "JW"s are the only ones doing God's work of preaching the kingdom".

  After enough bad things happened to me inside the organization, and I found myself on the outside, then I had more time to think.

  The book Crisis of Conscience revealed things about the history of the organization and the inner workings of the upper echelons of the WT Society. I could not have known that information through ordinary sources.

  So because of the insights that Ray Franz had gained, it helped me reason things out and know for sure that I could never go back to an organization that treated people that way. The book helped me gain an overall perspective that I was missing before.

  J.R.Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
  Mark Twain (1835-1910)
• 

  sleepy

  Yes it helped me too.

  But its possible to work out its wrong without its help.
  Think about if it had never been written, would you be here now or on the ministry knocking doors?

  If we have to RELY on someone else telling us its wrong we need to check ourselves and ask "am I making an effort to work out what I believe?"We get help from over people and without over people we wouldn't learn much ourselves , but its the rlying on them thats not good.

  If I have to tell my parents to read Franz's book in order to leave the truth and they do and leave (not very likely) they havent learnt how to better themselves as people, the've just learnt from someone else they have been conned.They could learn some skills from the books he has written , but if they could work it out for themselves they will have learnt more and have greater skills.

  Having a well rounded education will help your to increase your reasoning skills and you will not have to rely on inside information inorder to see something is flawed.
• 

  sleepy

  Sorry about the spelling, Damn that no editing policy.
• 

  LDH

  Sleepy you might have a point there.

  I've never read any so-called 'apostate' literature. Only just started opening my eyes and seeing JWs the way others see them.

  At first it was innocent enough, but day-um, the more embarrasing it got to say I was JW the more I explored that path....and it was all uphill from there!

  However, there are others that I'm sure are just starting the process of self-doubt, and so reading something that may bolster their inner doubts could be a good thing.

  Me, the whole process took less than a year.

  Lisa
• 

  Dutchie

  You are right LDH - my reading COC made me realize that the doubts I was having were credible and that I was not alone. I remember the days when they taught that the WY was actually inspired by God just as the Bible was and I always wondered how inspiration from God could be so confusing and make so many mistakes. Then they changed that and admitted that the WT was just written by men who were chosen by God and so it was not actually inspired by God. One of the things that always had me puzzled was their insistence that JW had the only true religion, that only JW's would be saved at Armageddon and only JW's had God's approval. That dismissed a lot of strong, hard working, God fearing people. It just did not make sense.
• 

  sunscapes

  Then they changed that and admitted that the WT was just written by men who were chosen by God and so it was not actually inspired by God.

  Here it is again! Doublespeak at its finest. If God chose the men to write something, and they write stuff, it must follow that the men are inspired! Elsewise, the Bible is *NOT* inspired, and it's just written by *imperfect* men.
• 

  Nicolas

  If you have an Internet connection, you will have enough information to get the real truth and you won't need Crisis of conscience. This is my opinion.

  We become more attuned to the human condition when we recognize that God is not going to fix our problems.