Ever wondered

by NoIdeaWhatToBelieve 33 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • NoIdeaWhatToBelieve
    NoIdeaWhatToBelieve

    Thanks all for your answers.

    Yeah I did start with the premise that "they had it once but lost it" especially because if they never had it ... well it's more than a couple of years that I lead my life according to the idea they had it... so probably it's still hard to embrace that idea. Thanks @Vidiot for the encouragements.

    However because until now I took things as they were told (even though I always said I was very convinced in what I believed and researched it - the research was confined only to WT publications) right now I am not gonna make the same mistake. And it seems like I don't have enough time to research and read all the books and all the articles and everything I find regarding JW/prophecies/changes/etc.

    @StarTrekAngel I get your ideas. As blessings they keep saying the number of newcomers, the extension of preaching... But as I started to see, other religions/religious organisations can pretend to have the same blessings and by extension God's approval.

    @StrongHaiku Yeah I did see Inception and I liked it... And yeah so many things I took for granted... I am amazed now how did I ever believe them to be true...


  • cappytan
    cappytan
    That is why when I started researching I considered that if what I believe is true, nothing can shake that, research would just convince me even more. However I found reasons to doubt and question even those things I once firmly believed and wholeheartedly defended in front of many of my non-JW friends/colleagues.

    You are on the right path.

    At a certain point, you're going to have to be okay with not knowing all of the answers to life's big questions. The organization tells us that all the existential questions we come up with have answers in their teachings. Unfortunately, this means that if you find out there are flaws in their teachings, you can have some really upsetting and panicky thoughts.

    I remember a switch flipping where I was okay with having some questions unanswered.

    When you get to that point, it's easier to examine evidence objectively.

  • LisaRose
    LisaRose

    That particular line of thought, that God does use imperfect humans to accomplish his will, is one that is often used by the Watchtower, or at least by those defending the Watchtower. The problem is that the Watchtower is very vocal about emphasizing the faults of other religions, but when it comes to their own.......*crickets*. They have never actually admitted they have made any mistakes.

    For example, the 1975 fiasco. They led their followers to believe Armageddon would come in 1975 or very shortly thereafter. For example, the Awake said that young people had to face the fact that they would never have time for a career in this system of things, so don't bother with college. When 1975 came and went with no end, the Watchtower said that SOME "went ahead", as if some nebulous third party made those statements, when it was directly coming from Watchtower leadership. That is not a mistake, it's a shameless and blatant lie.

    Of course they were careful to make their predictions of doom verbally in most cases, they count on the fact that people forget who said what. But I was around then, every JW believed Armageddon would come in 1975 or very shortly therafter. Of course they still say it's "very soon", "just around the corner", etc.

    And this is was their not the first time they made a failed date prediction, even though the bible says no one knows the day or the hour. They predicted Armageddon would come in 1914. When that didn't happen they invented the invisible presence nonsense and pretended they predicted the last days would instead start in 1914. All of that based on an incorrect date for the fall of Jerusalem and using chronology taken from another religion.

    So yes, organizations can make mistakes, but if they are so blatantly dishonest and wrong about everything, why would God be using them? And if the Watchtower is God's sole channel of communication with mankind, why doesn't he give them a little better direction? Some of these mistakes were downright embarrassing. For example, Beth Sarin, a house built for the soon to be ressurected bible prophets and leaders. They never got to use it, but Rutherford found it handy to stash his mistress and have his drinking parties.

    God will overlook protecting pedophiles, failed date predictions, people driven to suicide because of shunning, broken families, intellectual dishonesty, lack of love or shepherding in the congregations, lies, deceptions, etc., all because they got a few doctrines right? I don't know about you, but that is not a God worthy of my worship.


  • Vidiot
    Vidiot

    NoIdea - "...Thanks @Vidiot..."

    Any time, kiddo. :wink:

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