I need help/info on other religions vs the WTS

by Leander 25 Replies latest jw friends

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  Leander

  Over the past week since I've announced that I was stepping down I have had a few conversations with my family, and against my better judgement I mentioned that I was having doubts. Invariably almost every discussion about the JW religion eventually boils down to the argument that only witnesses are doing this or that. Unfortunately this is a weak part of my debate, I have only been associated with the JW religion so I have very little information on what other religions beleive and practice. So I was hoping that maybe a few of the people here might be able to help me out with a few answers.

  (I've asked some of these questions before but I did'nt get a lot of responses the first time)

  1. Are there other religions who put emphasis on preaching?

  2. Are there other religions who have similar beliefs, for example teachings such as the immortal soul, hellfire, earthly kingdom. etc? The favorite argument of witnesses is that they are the only ones who teach those things.

  Those are basically the main 2 questions I have, if I can think of more I'll add them later.

  thanks for any help
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  plmkrzy

  ALL organized religion is unscriptual. Why don't you start there?

  
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  SixofNine

  Honestly Leander, it is a non-issue. Think about it, the difference between you, now, and your witness relatives, is that you don't doubt the sincerity or potential for honest spirituality in all your neighbors around the globe. The witnesses think your neighbors should die if they don't believe-just-like-us.

  If you find a religion doing one thing that JW's say is right, that religion won't be doing another thing that witnesses, in all their anal retentive glory think is right. You can't really win this argument.
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  MoeJoJoJo

  Six is right, I've used the argument with JW family before that the Mormons also preach and they said "They will fight in wars".

  Have you read Ray Franz's books? They were quite helpful for me.

  -You can lead a fool to wisdom, but you can't make him think.
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  FRUSR8TD

  possibly the reason they are the only ones teaching these things is that there wrong? My dad has an expression that I think is relevent;

  If one person calls you and a##hole you can ingnore it. If 20 people call you an a##hole, well better start buying stock in a toilet paper company.

  I think it relates in this manner...if the WT is the only one teaching these things out of countless others...well how much stock are you willing to buy?
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  gsx1138

  What you are stuck in right now is the apples and oranges debate. They believe that everything they do is right. You cannot argue your way out of this no matter how hard you try. There are lots of religions that are different from one another. My question to you is, would you want to be apart of another religion like the WTS? Of course my advice is a bit hazy on this subject anyway because I don't believe the Bible is the word of God.
  By the way, I'm going through this exact same thing with my mother now. It is hard to argue with someone when you're not even on the same page. I could easilly show her all of the inconsistencies in the Bible and that there were books left out on purpose. This argument, however, will get me no where. Good luck. I would suggest a debate class/ or a critical thinking speech class. I'm learning now all of the different fallacies of argument. It has helped me a great deal in not getting caught in circular reasoning.
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  nancee park

  Jah Christians, Kingdom Christians etc are cooperating groups strongly defending the Christian freedom of belief as granted at Romans 14:1-5 but most, although dropping the bad stuff of the Watchtower Society, do continue:

  sharing the Good News, teaching the dead sleep instead of roast in literal hell, and are looking forward to Jah's Kingdom (when He wills it) coming upon earth as it is now in heaven.

  Just request your own free subscription of the Free Christians News from [email protected]. To us not being friends of the world means not being friends of the dark world of crime and similar wickedness, not cutting off all association or fellowship with those who are good decent people who may simply hold some different Bible views. We have set yearly times and places for first weekend of June and October of exJWs and Friends. Inquire also for a list of those.
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  Bona Dea

  I agree with what Six of Nine says. But I know what you're trying to do. Here are somethings that may be helpful knowing...

  1. Are there other religions who put emphasis on preaching?

  Most all churches do put emphasis on evangelism and missionary work. Most all have programs where certain members (on a voluntary basis...unlike the WTS who "coerce" their members into doing it) do some sort of ministry for bringing people into the church. Such as my old church. They had a Ministry called "the Superbus" which was a schoolbus that was painted with a pic of Jesus on it and scriptures, a cross, etc. What they did was go into the lower income areas (such as the projects) and hand out bread, they put on a puppet show, etc. Now, the witnesses (the ones I studied with) do make fun of this. But I know, when I went to this church, there was an enormous amount of young people who came into the church from this ministry. Anyhow, your answer is yes. The congregations are strongly encouraged to "spread the news of the gospel" but they are not in ANY way forced.

  You may want to note the following scriptures:
  Romans 12:4-7 (especially 6 and 7)
  1 Corinth 12:12-30
  Ephesians 4:11,12

  The key point here is that it is not everyone's "gift" to be an evangelizer or missionary. We all have our place in the "body of Christ"

  2. Are there other religions who have similar beliefs, for example teachings such as the immortal soul, hellfire, earthly kingdom. etc? The favorite argument of witnesses is that they are the only ones who teach those things.

  None that I have found...but it doesn't matter. Really, it doesn't. I have found that many of these doctrines are distorted anyway. I'm not saying you will come to this conclusion or you won't...point is, you can attend just about any church and still have the freedom to hold to these beliefs without fear of being disfellowshiped...and without the unscriptural bonds that the WTS places on it's members. (Galatians 5:1) Granted you can't go around saying "so-and-so something church believes there is no immortal soul"...BUT you can say "my church teaches this but I don't agree with it". That is a freedom you rightfully have and are denied by this organization. (Galatians 5:13,14).

  There are more "freedom in Christ" scriptures but I can't think of them off of the top of my head.

  Bona

  "Half the world is composed of idiots, the other half of people clever enough to take indecent advantage of them."
  -Walter Kerr
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  Brymichmom

  I think if you research hard enough, you will find that there is absolutely NOTHING exclusive about the WT Organization that some other religions don't already practice. You will find their doctrines in other churches no matter where you look. Each one of their doctrines that they think is so important, you will find another church that is teaching one of those doctrines. (The Jesus/Michael doctrine from the Adventists, and also the "soul sleep") As for their teaching that we are in the "last days" as well, you will find others that say the same thing. I call these churches "apocolyptic"; you will find some who will swear up and down that we are in the time of the end.

  Just because they have this combination of peculiar doctrines that they teach doesn't in anyway make them any more "truthful" than those churches who teach another combination of doctrines.

  Basically it does no good to argue with them or to show them scriptures because their minds are already made up. Their main problem is that they believe in their organization as their "savior" and not God as their savior. (So I believe this is basically "idolatry") They have no personal relationship with Christ. Everything is "organizational"; they even believe that the Bible is an "organizational" book and cannot be understood or interpreted by ANYONE except their leaders.

  My advice to you is just try to keep the channels of communication open.

  Cynthia
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  AuntieJane

  Don't let them draw you into these parrotted arguments. Follow the wisdom of those on this board. The debates will continue as long as you let them. Take charge of yourself and just tell them you are not going to be misled. You don't NEED to give them specific reasons.
  I would like to throw out some facts though. The JWs are the only ones who preach the ridiculous ban on blood. What does this tell you? They have also created their own Bible, much like the Mormons...what does that tell you? Can a Christian walk into a bookstore and pick up a NWT? If the "Good News" is to be spread, why is it NOT available to all?