Dont blame the witnesses, its the Bible...

by sleepy 43 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  sleepy

  Dont blame the witnesses, its the Bible's fault.

  Well you can blame them for trying to stick to the thing, but belief in the bible is the main problem.
  I've heard the GB and witnesses be called evil by some, as though they have gone out to hurt people on purpose.
  But I doubt that this is true, at least in recent times.
  No the problem comes from believing the bible is God's word and trying to interpret it and follow it.
  What happens when you do so?
  You get the Catholic inquisition,people burnt at the stake,you get Jews fighting for a promised land, religious groups who let their children die and a host of other problems.

  I ask a question.If you were God and were going to have a book written on how man should live, would you do it in such a way that if misinterpeted or taken too literaly or mistranslated slightly , could result in the death and suffering of thousands of people,and would enslave people to false religious beliefs?

  Yes there are good points and principles in the bible, mainly the words of Jesus, who didn't write any of it himself.
  But a few good principles don,t outweight the bad done in the name of the bible through the past 2000 years.

  The society has tried to follow the bible, and take it for real .In doing so they have had to take on beliefs and ideas that can ultimatly cause harm.
  It is like me reading a instruction manuel for my car, that is a fake written by a non-expert.If I follow that manuel , although it may not be all wrong, some instuctions could be in error and cause damage to my car and risk injury to other people.
  If people then come along after and say "well its not the manuel thats wrong , you've just misunderstood it , look if you do it this way,that way.."
  Well if the manuel is a fake trying to interpret it in diffenrent ways isn't going to help.Those people will meke their own errors , just in different way to you.
  If something claims to be the word of God shouln't we pay , more than the usual attention in testing whether it is so?
• 

  You Know

  What happens when you do so? You get the Catholic inquisition,people burnt at the stake,you get Jews fighting for a promised land, religious groups who let their children die and a host of other problems.

  That's some of the most twisted and perverse reasoning that has ever emanated from a human mind.

  If you were God and were going to have a book written on how man should live, would you do it in such a way that if misinterpeted or taken too literaly or mistranslated slightly , could result in the death and suffering of thousands of people,and would enslave people to false religious beliefs?

  Your reasoning is absurd. Jehovah allows humans to pervert all of his gifts if they so chose. That doesn't mean that He is not the giver of those gifts. But, he kindly warns that it is a temporary indulgence. By your assinine reasoning you could say that God didn't endow humans with sexuality because some deviates chose to pervert their sexual organs. You should be grateful that Jehovah temporarily allows fools and perverts to twist his word and otherwise misuse every gift he has ever given mankind, otherwise your kind would have been exterminated long ago. / You Know
• 

  FreePeace

  sleepy,

  Good post. You made some very logical arguments. Of course not everyone agrees, which is fine. Don't let You Know's comments bother you. I personally believe that the Bible and the "God concept" as most people understands it, is the cause of much human suffering and exploitation.

  Keep up the good job of thinking for yourself!

  FreePeace
  "The World is my country, and to do good, my religion." --Thomas Paine
  TruthQuest: http://beam.to/truthquest
  Who Am I? -How to Reinvent Yourself After Leaving the WTS
• 

  patio34

  Hi Sleepy,

  If a person uses critical thinking only about the WTBS, she/he is missing the point, IMHO. The source of religion's teaching has to be analyzed also in order to arrive at an intelligent decision.

  The way it seems is that one must be circumspect about their investigation of the Bible. It's never a good idea to look at only one side of the issues. How could a court case ever be decided fairly by listening only to the defense and not the prosecution?

  The same would apply to the evolution/creation issue. Some will read only pro-creationist's writings. However, this does not give you a clear picture to base such an important decision on.

  Thanks for the thought-provoking thread.
  Pat

  

  WTBS: Quit peeing on my leg and telling me it's raining.
• 

  Axelspeed

  I believe that whenever you add up human opinion/ interpretation (no matter how well intentioned at first) and dogmatism, anything anyone ever has wriiten or will write could be misinterpreted...and even be used for harm.

  If I write a book and leave it for my descendants, I'm sure that years after I'm gone multiple interpretations will have arisen. This is not a problem really until someone decides it's time to get dogmatic about thier interpretation...and impose it on others in the name of what they believe to be right (at that moment)...because it is obviously right and so clear everyone else should see it too...right.
• 

  IslandWoman

  Sleepy,

  I agree with you. The main problem is the strict adherence to the Bible. It is from the Bible they get the shunning and most of the other sad practices and views they have had.

  Their second problem is making the "Organization" into a god for themselves.

  So, it's no wonder they have come to resemble the very people they claim to have replaced; ancient Israel. They have God's laws, the Oral law of the Governing Body, and the Golden Calf!

  Thanks for the post!
  IW
• 

  Undecided

  Hi YK,

  When you look at the record of his chosen Faithful and Discrete Slave's scriptual blunders your comments ring true.
  

  Jehovah temporarily allows fools and perverts to twist his word

  Who really gets the meaning of the bible right? It seems one person's opinion is about as reliable as another's, including yours.

  Ken P.
• 

  kenny2

  I personally believe the bible was written in the manner it was, inspired by God, knowing there would be multitudes of interpretations for a purpose; the true test of humanity would be to see how we treated each other in regards to such.

  Kenny
• 

  sunscapes

  The problem seems to lie at 2Timothy 3:16 with the "all scripture is inspired and beneficial" edict.

  The Bible itself, though, is a microcosm and cross-section of the lunch-bucket society we now find ourselves in. In fact, you'll find Paul correcting his own viewpoints from one letter to the next. I'll also grant that it doesn't seek to cover up error and exposes it. With the exception of Jesus direct gospel, much of the Bible deals with how people coped with it and their foibles and tribulations. So by default, not every literal word of the Bible should be followed on it's every word, or one would be following error along with the Bible's human writers.
• 

  moman

  The problems arrise when they say, "God speaks through them."

  All religions say this in one form or another, some like the Dubs are a little more arrognant that others.