by HappyBlessedFree 36 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
1: If he mentions all the bad things Israel did, point out that God rejected them as a whole because of it.
2: As for disfellowshipping, there's some great info here:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/disfellowship-shunning.php&ved=2ahUKEwjYoNi6o-7gAhXhmuAKHfOoBtUQFjAAegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw0nhYmwG8UG64W--oSTwCSs
so his response was that the nation of Israel had times when they weren’t doing the right thing, but it was still Gods chosen organization.
Ok..and the leaders of the nation when they were like this...how were they viewed be Jehoover?
Pharisees and kings who deviated were removed from position...so on that basis is your husband assuming the GB are to be punished and removed like the leaders who taught wrong things in the bible times who professed to be Jehoovers leaders?
Even if a man was thrown out of the congregation for sleeping with his step mother no where does it say if he stopped and repented would he still need to be shunned and punished for a year or more.
But we know there is a limit to god's patience with the nation of Israel, when they rejected Jesus as the Messiah, god abandoned them and chose new people to represent him, Christians, and the nation of Israel was destroyed in 70 CE and the remaining living jews carted off as slaves (per WTS dogma). The WTS shoves Jesus off in the corner and views him as only a tool that god uses. As I have said in Blondie's Comments over the years as I read WTS publications, where is Jesus?
Sure they were Gods People even when doing wrong. And they also got destroyd att the end. Nothing has change.
Happy Blessed Free, you have been given here some good reasons for things to reply to your husband's arguments but I would like to suggest another approach which might be worth considering.
All Jehovah's Witnesses have been radicalised. Their beliefs ARE their life.
That means that logic is not their guiding force and however rational you are in answering criticisms, the mind of a radicalised person has been immunised against reason and the meaning of evidence.
A radicalised person has decided that whatever the cost or consequences of their belief, as a matter of personal pride and achievement, they are sticking with it. They are hoping for the future benefits of their belief and will only look for confirmation in the words of the governing body and the apparently united beliefs and conduct of their fellow Witnesses.
What is the antidote? Wouldn't we all like to know!-- but understanding why a person is leaning on whimsical beliefs as a substitute for a normal evidence based world view is a start.
The average-- but by no means all JWs-- are humble people with poor education and little of the worlds wealth and means. This is of course the ideal follower mentality cultivated by the GB.
SO, these things might work
1 Get to know why his life is so emotionally or psychologically precarious that he resorts to JW fantasy teachings. For example, a fear of death is often an unspoken motive for religious belief.
2 Demonstrate by your own considerate and thoughtful dealings with him so that he will recognise in time that he has a precious partner worth listening to and that the JW promises are not as good as his marriage.
In other words refuting a wrong belief is not necessarily the way forward with a radicalised fundamentalist. To contradict their viewpoint is like telling them that their whole life is a waste of time.
HAPPY:
I remember hearing this or a similar excuse comparing themselves to ancient Israel.
Do they imagine people should be sitting there suffering for several hundred years with corruption and injustice stinking to high heaven until God supposedly will step in and make it right?? I wasn’t buying it. Yeah, the JW religion would just LOVE that. They would be set for the next several hundred years just like the Catholic Church they are so jealous of.
