by jwfacts 59 Replies latest jw experiences
Well done Paul.
**sigh**
I'm sure you left an impression with them. Maybe someday, when they are sitting in a meeting hearing once again "Yay!!! All the billions of wicked people are going to be destroyed (one of my fave terms) soon!" their heart will tug, and your words will come to mind and maybe they will think a little longer on what that means.
00dad said:
WT "Theology" is an incoherent, incomprehensible, illogical mess of contradictory, self-serving doctrines, policies, platitudes, rules and regulations.
And what usually happens is JWs will find some tenet hard to understand, and thus blame themselves for being stupid. Instead, they should realize that it's not that the concept is particularly difficult to understand, per se, but that the concept IS goofy and unsound, and should be dismissed as illogical (i.e. internally inconsistent).
Of course, they never get that far, as they look around the hall and see a bunch of heads bobbing in agreement without thinking, all falling victim to a psychological phenomenon termed pluralistic ignorance, resulting from having entered a spiral of silence. The last one pretty much nails JW (cultic) group dynamics to a tee; it's worth a look, as it's not just JWs: any group tends to fall into this trap (including online forums).
Ksol- Thanks for the ''spiral of silence" link. (At first I thought I was going to a "Get Smart" site and then I realized they had a cone and not a spiral!!! LOL
“An answer when mild turns away rage, but a word causing pain makes anger to come up.” “By patience a commander is induced, and a mild tongue itself can break a bone.” —Proverbs 15:1; 25:15
Paul, your encounter with the Witness family at your door proved the truth of those ancient proverbs. I really enjoyed reading about it. I don’t know what effect your conversation will have upon them, but for a short while at least it gave them food for thought.
You raised an important point which will become a focus for further study and investigation for me personally and that is the canonicity of the Bible. What criteria were used to select the different books; who were involved in compiling the different catalogues now in vogue; and how should that knowledge impact a Bible reader and believer today? I am looking forward to this study.
Quendi
I enjoyed your experience with this family. What I found interesting was that they didn't run away when you had mentioned your Bethel experience.
They chose to stay and listen to you, they shared their beliefs with you. It didn't end in a heated debate, just a disagreement.
Enjoy your new home, and territory.
10 out of 10 for your total honesty. Paul you are a man of utmost integrity.
You were in a difficult situation because JWs often do impress as having a superficial appearance of composure and even intelligence; but a little scratching here and there reveals they have a pretty thin skinned grasp of the uncomfortable facts. I suspect that the sheer scope of what you managed to disclose may have led to "spiritual indigestion" on their part. I'd also wonder about any JWs ability to accurately recall a householder's criticisms of the Biblical canon. JWs tend to collapse thoughtful arguments into simplistic headlines. For example, if the couple were to talk later about your comments, I'd suspect they'd say something like, "Look what happens when you leave the truth; you end up questioning that the Bible is the inspired word of God. Tsk! Tsk".
Still, you can hardly be held responsibile for the ease with which JWs mishear or misinterpret information.
I ran into some seven day aventists doing street work last week. I told them I'm a jw historian and they agreed that the wt are false prophets. As soon as I said Ellen G White. being a false prophet coming from the Willam Miller camp with 1844.they went into JW Zombie mode. HE insisted White is a true prophet of god. I kept it short as I don't recall all the false teaching of the SDA. but i made it very clear if he reads Ellen White from the late 1800's he would see what I was talking about...
That was a good read , I enjoy an encounter with jw`s though it never happens very often,maybe a seed was planted in one of them,you never know.
smiddy
Thanks for sharing Paul, I don't know if I would say I was a jw, but your experience shows that honesty is best.
Etna
Thanks for all the great comments.
Junkyarddog, I have done the same when talking to Mormons and SDAs. When you criticise the JWs they are all ears. Then when you turn the conversation and compare how they are very similar they go into exactly the same mental shut down that a JW does.
