Apostates are narrow-minded victims of brainwashing who believe everything they read

by cedars 45 Replies latest jw friends

  • cedars
    cedars

    Or so says the person who left this comment on JWsurvey.org...

    What just amazes me is how people can pass judgement on others, make vast sweeping statements and make out that they know best. This isn’t just based on this page, but other pages I’ve read on this website. While you’re at it why not just say all black people are criminals, all asians are rapists and all white people molest their children. If someone has a faith, no matter what it is, allow them to do so. Just like people put their faith in clearly corrupt governments, some people look to a god or gods to help them through.

    I am not promoting cults or religions that encourage things are clearly legally, morally and ethically wrong. But do you not see the world that we live in? Are you completely blind to the atrocities that go around the world and even in your own town? Are you one of these people that because of Al-Qaeda now look at any Asian wearing a turban and label them as a terrorist, not even knowing what religion they belong to? No doubt many Witnesses have done wrong, perhaps they don’t even believe in Jehovah and want to make others think all Witnesses are like that. Is that not what Al-Qaeda have managed to achieve on a vast scale?

    There is still a huge amount of racism and prejudice in this world and it is sickening. It disgusts me, not because I am a Jehovah’s Witness, but because I am human. People seem to find nothing better than to highlight the negatives of everything. All the news is just propaganda; newspapers don’t sell when they write about happiness and success. Failure, murderers, extremists, death, devastation among other negative things sells. Things that scare people and about other people. This only leads to more prejudice and discrimination. People are so narrow minded that they believe whatever they read and whatever they hear.

    Why not think for yourselves? Why do you take everything on face value? Why not question what is being told to you? Why not be different rather than follow the crowd? From what I know JWs are told to question everything and not blindly believe what they are told. So if after they question it and they want to believe in a god called Jehovah, leave them to it. There are clearly many of you who don’t question, don’t look at both sides and just believe in any hype. You get on the hate bandwagon and ride it all the way along. Yes we have freedom of speech, but why use it to hate others? You think JWs have been brainwashed? You make me laugh.

    Have a good look in the mirror and consider yourselves. You are brainwashed by governments, by news, by media, by advertisements, by your family, by your peers. Everyone has an opinion and they all want you to believe it. But it is your choice what you want to believe. Get some compassion, get some humanity and stop believing in everything you hear/read. Some people do wrong, a lot of people do wrong, but I’m sure that you would not wanted to tarred with the same brush as other people, so don’t do it others. You should think about improving your own life, bettering yourself, rather than being petty and focusing on the flaws of others. Trust me, you have a heck of lot of flaws that people could write a bible about.

    Comments like the above demonstrate perfectly why I simply have no time for trolls anymore. They are beyond reasoning with. It's best to just delete their comments and block the person from posting more, which is exactly what I've done in this case. I won't let people dilute carefully researched articles with their ignorance.

    Heavy handed? Yes.

    Necessary? Absolutely.

    Cedars

  • vivalavida
    vivalavida
    Why not think for yourselves? Why do you take everything on face value? Why not question what is being told to you? Why not be different rather than follow the crowd? From what I know JWs are told to question everything and not blindly believe what they are told. So if after they question it and they want to believe in a god called Jehovah, leave them to it. There are clearly many of you who don’t question, don’t look at both sides and just believe in any hype. You get on the hate bandwagon and ride it all the way along. Yes we have freedom of speech, but why use it to hate others? You think JWs have been brainwashed? You make me laugh.

    This really made me laugh. Unbelievable... JWs question everything, maybe, and don't believe blindly what they are told, maybe, except if it comes from the GB. It really proves they ARE brainwashed.

    Vivalavida

  • happy@last
    happy@last

    "From what I know JWs are told to question everything and not blindly believe what they are told."

    And this is one of the reasons why I left, I thought I had researched everything, turns out I had only been researching their own propaganda, believing that the quotes given in their literature were correct and not taken out of context. How wrong I was.

  • Phizzy
    Phizzy

    He/she is not " encouraging things that are ethically or morally wrong " ?????

    Blood Transfusions are condemned by Jehovah's Witnesses on no sound basis whatsoever. (The Biblical suport they claim is deeply flawed, in fact is fraudulent.)

    That is ethically and morally wrong. It also kills (murders) many people.

  • besty
    besty

    i wouldnt say that was a troll - if your site is open for comments you should allow other perspectives

    IMHO

  • jhine
    jhine

    Cedars , I have to reply to your post , I just am not sure what to say so that you can understand my meaning . Many years ago becuse of circumstances in my life I did genuinley wonder if God was saying that I should become a witness . I had come to Christ with the help of some Baptists and had always had a Trinitarian belief . I then moved home and as I said through personal circumstances the people that I had most "religious" contact with were witnesses and a lot of what they said made some sense and they could always seemingly back up their teaching with scripture .They gave me a copy of the "Should You Believe In The Trinity ? book and it shocked me . Quotes were given from the ante -nicene fathers (among others ) which agreed with the witness stance that the idea of Trinity was a late addition to church theology and part of the false teaching which was predicted in the Bible. It upset me that my church had lied to me by telling me that Trinity was part of the original theology of the early church . So I did some digging and read some of the writings of the early church fathers mentioned Tertullian ect. Then I was shocked to find that all of these people were in fact totally pro Trinity and the quotes given were taken out of context or altered to make the people quoted "say " the opposite to what they actually were saying . This made me check more and I , as well as many others have found that the Watchtower society has a track record of mis - quotes . I had to ask how can a group that calls it self the truth deliberatley mis- quote or misrepresent peoples views to back its own up . It must be deliberate because they take great care cherry picking bits to print to prove their point . THis also indicated to me that they must know that their theology is wrong when they have to resort to such tactics . You say that witnesses are encouraged to check things out for themselves , but they (you) only check against other Watchtower sources , as far as I know . I have literally begged witnesses that I know to look at the original documents , which are readily available online to see for themselves , but they won't and it really is beyond me why not . If every word that comes from the Watchtower Society is trustworthy and true then simply by reading even just the original works of the early church fathers would indeed show that to be so and they could tell me to shut up and but out . Can you explain to me why witnesses think that checking teaching facts given by one group with other facts by that same group is considered sufficient . I am sooo glad that I did my own independant fact finding . I really do not mean to give offence to you , I am genuinley baffled that I cannot engage with my witness friends on a level playing field , only on a playing field defined by Watchtower markings . This is an honest account of my experiences , please accept it as such , I cannot say any differently .

  • Tiktaalik
    Tiktaalik

    Errr, jhine -I think you got the wrong end of the stick regarding Cedars' post.

    He is not agreeing with JWs - quite the opposite in fact.

    Maybe re re-read the post?

    And for the love of god - use the bloody return key a few times! Paragraphs are your friend.

  • cedars
    cedars

    besty

    i wouldnt say that was a troll - if your site is open for comments you should allow other perspectives

    If people can share their perspective without pointing the finger, that's great. However, I put a lot of work into my site in order to make it a place that is reasoned and factual. Comments like the one I've shared are borne of an ignorant mindset that seeks to dictate rather than debate.

    As always, though, I appreciate your perspective.

    Cedars

  • irondork
    irondork

    Cedars: If people can share their perspective without pointing the finger, that's great. However, I put a lot of work into my site in order to make it a place that is reasoned and factual. Comments like the one I've shared are borne of an ignorant mindset that seeks to dictate rather than debate.

    I can't imagine the amount of time you spend maintaining your website, along with all the other projects you seem to have your fingers in. We all appreciate it, BTW. But I agree with Besty in that allowing an opposing point of view on your site is very telling. It would set an example of what it is like NOT to be afraid of people who disagree with you. My opinion is that it would serve the legitimacy of your hard work. (Are you listening, WTS?) You could use the oppurtunity to dissect the flaws in it and THEN, perhaps, delete any subsequent attempt to argue.

    All of this takes time, of course.

  • punkofnice
    punkofnice

    Everyone should have an opinion about stuff. I don't know if this bright spark is a troll or not. Sometimes it only becomes apparent after several comments.

    However, whoever this is, I'd consider the following an 'ad hominem' were it levelled at me:

    Have a good look in the mirror and consider yourselves. You are brainwashed by governments, by news, by media, by advertisements, by your family, by your peers. Everyone has an opinion and they all want you to believe it. But it is your choice what you want to believe. Get some compassion, get some humanity and stop believing in everything you hear/read. Some people do wrong, a lot of people do wrong, but I’m sure that you would not wanted to tarred with the same brush as other people, so don’t do it others. You should think about improving your own life, bettering yourself, rather than being petty and focusing on the flaws of others. Trust me, you have a heck of lot of flaws that people could write a bible about.

    This passage reads like an intentional insult. Whatever this comment is meant to be, it's a load of codswallop!

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