Anti-JW Cult: Why did you enslave yourself to new doctrines without fully investigating their validity first?

by Change Name 29 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • Change Name
    Change Name

    I saw this on Yahoo Answers and wondered about your reaction to it.

    http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AszTevcfHe4RUMQ8w.94GlXq1KIX;_ylv=3?qid=20130226115907AAlQJSP

    Here are some of your deceptive doctrines:

    1 - C.T. Russell was a Freemason & Pyramidologist
    This is false. Both he & the Masons deny his membership, & they are known to freely admit all their former members. The cross & crown symbol isn't Masonic, but was & still is used by a number of Protestant sects. The Masons borrowed it from them. The Masonic lodge across the street from the Bethel graveyard was built in the 1990's & isn't on the same property. Russell isn't buried under a pyramid, but has a normal headstone. The pyramid monument is a directory for those buried in the lot. The theory that the pyramid of Giza was prophetic wasn't Russell's idea, & he didn't do any direct research on it. It was written about by several authors of his time, & in the one chapter of one book that Russell talked alot about it, he made extensive use of direct copies from these other authors, giving them due credit.

    2 - The Watchtower Society joined the United Nations
    Again, a lie. The agreement they signed in the early '90s clearly stated that this did not make them a member of the UN, & it allowed them to have access to the UN's research materials. A few years later, the UN changed it's requirements for NGO's, (Non-Government Organizations), wanting them to be more politically involved, & soon after the WTS resigned.

    3 - Johannas Grieber, priest & spiritist, translated the New World Translation
    Absurd. In HIS translation, he translated TWO, count them TWO verses in a similar way, & the WTS quoted these 2 verses in the past as support for the way they chose to render them. (Which a number of other translations did too, by the way.)

    4 - JW's are false prophets
    Twisted. JW's have never originated prophecies, they've merely tried to interpret PRE-EXISTING prophecies found in the Bible, most with accuracy, some without. From the absolute beginning, even before any so-called 'failures', they've denied being inspired prophets, but only 'prophets' in the sense some Bible verses use, that of proclaiming or preaching, rather than predicting.

    5 - They protect child-abusers
    A cheap attempt to draw peoples anger at the expence of a horrible crime. A little research reveals that JW's have the strongest abuse policies in the whole religious community & victims are not hindered from doing everything legally possible. ( A fascinating expose of this can be found at www.thirdwitness.com .)

    The list goes on & on . . .

    Did you learn anything new? Be honest. How concerned with truth are you really?"

    What is your reaction?

  • Satanus
    Satanus

    ' What is your reaction?'

    I laugh. Its the standard way the wt argues.

    S

  • Resistance is Futile
    Resistance is Futile

    I'll actually give you a response starting with #1

    I've never claimed Russell was a Freemason, mostly because there doesn't appear to be any substantial evidence that he was one. How do you define "pyramidologist", because based on the actual writings of Russell, I'd have to say that he was a pyramidologist.

    The argument that he can't be a pyramidologist because he borrowed the idea from someone else is quite absurd once you stop and think about it.

    Change Name, don't try and hit and run with this thread.

    In your opinion, on what basis could someone be called a pyramidologist?

    The pyramid monument is a directory for those buried in the lot.

    I believe this is false, is there any evidence to support this claim?

  • Satanus
    Satanus

    That russel quoted others on the pyramid, and was thus free of pyramidology, is a standard ploy of the wt, when they make a mistake. They say they were just quoting someone else. I have seen them do this before.

    S

  • Aussie Oz
    Aussie Oz

    1. Free mason?, there is no hard evidence to say he was. The pyramid was not erected as a directory for those buried in the lot, it is a monument to the laodecian messager, Russell.

    2. the WT did join the UN as an NGO, the paper work clearly shows they knew the rules, they were outed and quit

    3. Can't comment myself, never looked at it. Dont care.

    4 They are false prophets as far as my own research shows.

    5. child abuse and the WT? As true as it is in the catholic church, and as hidden. I have seen the policy of protection in action.

    Personally, not one of these things bothers me true or false. There are so many other things that just add up to amountain of proof that the WT, the JWs are among the most evil groups on the planet. I am extremely interested in truth. MY own journey was one of discovery of the true and the not true stories in Ex JW land. It took me a year, how long will it take you?

    If you keep cut and pasting the Watchtower society's answers you will never learn anything Change Name

    ox

  • smiddy
    smiddy

    Change name , I hope you keep coming here with your questions and challenges , it is something that the WTB&TS doesnt tolerate , doesn`t that tell you something ? Their is freedom of thought, expression, and ideas here,where you can expand your thinking , if you truly beleive in GOD isn`t that why he gave each and every individual a brain to use ? Unlike the watchtower society who wants to stifle independent thinking and higher education because they know only too well they will lose control and their power over their flock.

    By the way welcome

    smiddy

  • Julia Orwell
    Julia Orwell

    When we become a JW we're told that anything contrary is lies and Satan will use our family and friends to try to get us to stop studying. I was in my teens and I really believed that. They use fear.

    That was in the late 90's before the internet was very prevalent. Now, I suppose people would do research. A lot of people who've become witnesses though are not academically inclined and wouldn't even think to do research. Couple that with being told that anything outside the WT is Satan trying to steal your shot at Paradise, and you get paranoia squashing the tiniest inclination to look more deeply into it.

    That and, if you respond to the JW message, you're usually excited about it and wouldn't dream of destroying that infatuation: new friends, not having to spend money on Xmas etc: I've heard the new convert likened to a busted fire hydrant in its intensity. Some people also feel a need to follow someone, or hit a rough patch in their life, and the JWs came at the right time.

    These are the reasons why we never did independent research.

  • LouBelle
    LouBelle

    I do not enslave myself to any new doctrines. I was encouraged by the Jehovahs' Witnesses faith to research and do personal study. I took this to heart and I threw myself into reading the bible, researching, using actual Greek and Hebrew bibles, praying, meditating - that at the age of 17. I discovered many things that didn't make sense and put those in my reserve bank and proceeded with my life in the ""truth"". Eventually at 29 years of age those questions resurfaced, but this time I faced them head on.

    I didn't like what the religion was about even though I had given 29 years of my life to it. I knew that there was so much more to life, to the picture that was being painted by that faith. I had given up my dreams and aspirations for a joke of a life. I didn't want that anymore.

    I took responsibility of my life and left.

  • Mum
    Mum

    Hello, Change Name.

    I must say that you are good at convincing yourself of what you want to believe. I disagree with your responses to the "objections," but I believe in your right to express them; i.e., I believe in freedom of thought and expression.

    Why did I enslave myself to those "new doctrines without fully . . ." Here goes.

    My family started studying with the JW's when I was 9 years old. The JW's were nice and had answers for everything. I come from an uneducated family in which there is mental illness and criminal behavior. My father was narcissistic, and my mother was what I consider borderline. I was told quite often, even as a small child, what a so-and-so they considered me to be.

    Once I had a job working with a co-worker/supervisor who had narcissistic personality disorder. She was very much like my dad, criticizing me, changing her mind constantly about the "right" way to do things, lecturing me, trying to make me feel inferior to her. I went to a therapist. The therapist told me that most people would not have taken the job, that an alarm would have gone off in their heads the first time they met my co-worker. She said that, because of my family's pathology, these people seemed normal to me.

    So the JW mindset seemed "normal" to me because I had experienced living in an environment of high control and repression. I knew nothing of "fully investigating" anything. The person who could scream the loudest or beat up the other was "right."

    Once I realized that my life was not what I wanted it to be, I could take back some of the control and begin to take responsibility for my own happiness and be proud of who I am and what I have to offer the world.

    Thanks for "listening."

  • BlindersOff1
    BlindersOff1

    I answered it . Did you read my reply? I'm "?"

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit