@outlaw: you're really into Anthony, aren't you?
New to The Jehovahs Witness Faith and need some help
by jnjburkett 171 Replies latest jw friends
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Frazzled UBM
DCMS, Outlaw and LL - you might be correct about Ms Burkett being a troll. I notice another thread about how to start a bible study which seems disingenuous and was probably started by a troll. However, what if Ms Burkett was not a troll. As AA pointed out she was acused of being a trol just because she didn't accept certain things she was told when she first joined. Luckily she stuck around. Just because Ms Burkett did not readily accept information being given to her and argued back does not necessarily make her a troll. It is also consistent with someone in the grip of cognitive dissonance and as we know trying to reason with such a person is unlikley to be succesful and can also be counter-proiductive if we overreact to the fact that they don't reasdikly accept what we are telling them. Cheers Fraz
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punkofnice
I would have welcomed JNJ but I think they're is out of this thread now.
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Fernando
Welcome jnjburkett.
Nothing feeds and nourishes our faith and spirituality like "the truth of the Good News".
It can be found in the Watchtower library but not in the hearts nor on the lips of the followers of the Watchtower.
This is not an accident.
Religion is designed to carefully keep us from the full Good News, especially according to Paul (particularly as described in Romans and Galatians).
I would recommend that you research the 5 solas (of the reformation) and summarise them in a single sentence, and keep checking carefully if you are being led in another (dangerous) direction (instead).
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AndDontCallMeShirley
DCMS, Outlaw and LL - you might be correct about Ms Burkett being a troll
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Just for the record, I never said JNJ was a troll. I simply pointed out that this person was given some great advice by experienced JWs and he/she summarily dismissed it as invalid.
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jnjburkett
Hello there no i did not "run away" i was dealing with a very sick family member and have not had time to check in... I have read all of your responses and appreciate them dearly! If you felt i was being argumentative i do apologize that was not what i was going for... I was mearly asking questions the same as i have done with my friends i am studying with... I was by no means trying to turn you against each other. and I apologize if you felt thats what i was doing.
Honestly when i "stumbled" across this site i thought it was a "support group" for witnesses i did not realize that it was an ex-JW site... so yes you could say that i was quite "taken aback" and felt kind of threatned or intimitated by the responses... Although i do appreciate the concern i am by no means RUSHING to get baptized. At this time my husband and I are enjoying the bible studies and are getting alot from them.
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jnjburkett
Oh yes and there was one other post i did want to comment on.. as far as my financial status... my husband and i are by NO means financially stable... My husband is a rig hand for an oil company and is in the national guard. I do not work and we are just barely making it by. So whomever suggested i was "recruted" for financial status. as much as i would LOVE to say that it was a possibility it most certainly is not.
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ABibleStudent
Welcome jnjburkett, As long as you continue your Bible Studies (indoctrination sessions), your JW friends will continue to associate with you. If you start to ask too many difficult questions of them, your JW bible conductor and JW friends will either stop visiting with you or start to use unhealthy influence techniques to unduly influence you. If you want unconditional friendships, go meet non-JWs. The WTBTS indoctinates JWs to only conditionally love people, including their family members.
Before continuing your Bible Studies (indoctrination sessions) with a JW, independently research the WTBTS as much as you can by visiting reputable websites like www.jwfacts.com and www.freedomodmind.com. After you are baptized a JW, you will be considered "Spiritually Weak" (still thinking) if you start to independently research the WTBTS, which is an example of an unhealthy influence technique that the WTBTS teaches JWs.
If you want to learn more about unhealth influence techniques or more about Steve Hassan's BITE model, please watch the following three short videos by Steve Hassan: How Big is the Phenomenon of Undue Influence? (2:01), The BITE Model (Behavior Information Thought Emotion) (5:03), Strategic Interactive Approach explained 2003 (1:23:23).
I was once a friend to a "Spiritually Strong" (non-thinking) JW who encouraged me to accept a bible study with an elder and later with a brother. She stopped seeing me, I beleive, because I started asking too many difficult questions from the study conductors.
Peace be with you and everyone, who you love,
Robert
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jgnat
I went back and checked if the advice early in my thread still stands. I think it does. To get a full perspective, I think a short holiday would help. I think more intensive, independent bible study on your own will help. I think insisting on reading individual bible verses in context before and after will help. And I do think you will eventually hit a hard question they don't want to answer and will defer to a "convenient" time, hopefully after baptism.
The WT recrutiment technique is quite invovled, taking at least six months of study. By then, the student is feeling obliged and may be unwilling to step away.
And, repetition for emphasis, there are plenty of military examples in the bible.
http://www.operationwearehere.com/MilitaryBibleStudies.html#anchor_263
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SAHS
To “jnjburkett”:
Glad to see that you have stepped back into the sparring ring (or perhaps the UFC octagon ring), so to speak. I was a bit worried that you might have been scared off by some of the more feisty folks here.
One thing I would suggest is that you jot down and familiarize yourself with a list of some of the more notable and blatant discrepancies and flip-flops of the Watchtower Society (which you can easily obtain from the Web sites already suggested to you). Once you have adequately prepared yourself, mustered up sufficient courage, and discerned the opportune time and favorable circumstances to briefly enumerate that list of major discrepancies and flip-flops, then simply ask whoever is studying with you this question: “How can the supposedly one-and-only true prophet and mouthpiece for Almighty God which is supposedly led by God’s holy spirit, which the Governing Body of the Watchtower organization claims to be itself, have such an extensively and consistently abysmal record such as it does?”
Then ask them, “I know the Watchtower Society keeps using the scripture at Proverbs 4:18, which says, ‘But the path of the righteous is like the bright morning light that grows brighter and brighter until full daylight’ (RNWT), but how can that be used to justify how a corporate society like the Watchtower can actually keep reversing its doctrines and policy, sometimes several times?” (Some good examples of this are their teachings on whether or not those killed in Sodom and Gomorrah will get a resurrection, and whether alternative military service, organ transplants, or vaccinations are allowed.)
Finally, ask them these two personal questions, “Do you honestly believe that this sounds like it would fit any group or organization which claims to be the absolute one-and-only true prophet and mouthpiece for Almighty God on earth today?,” and “How can the Governing Body of the Watchtower corporation in Brooklyn, New York rightly claim to actually be the sole mediator between God and an anointed remnant on earth today?”
Those above questions are far from trivial! They are, in fact, extremely important. And I believe that they most succinctly and poignantly put all of this in perspective.
Take care, “jnjburkett.” I wish you the very best in your search for real truth.