Keep telling yourself that!

by Lost in the fog 21 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • under the radar
    under the radar

    Back in the late 70s or early 80s, I was a member of Mensa, a loose association for those who score above a certain point on standard IQ tests. I'm living proof that they're not all geniuses and high-brows, or even deep thinkers. Anyway, membership allowed you to join various special interest groups. I don't recall their exact terminology. One such group was for JWs, and since I was a believer at the time, I signed up. Turns out it was a discussion group led by a guy who got way, way deep into the meaning of the original languages of the Bible and their modern interpretations. Some of the members' opinions and ideas were pretty far out there, but none had any tinges of apostasy. They published a newsletter that basically summarized their discussions. All that back and forth was over my head, and frankly, not that interesting.

    I showed some of those newsletters to a visiting Circuit Overseer one time. He frowned and said good JWs shouldn't be wasting time doing that kind of research and theorizing. It could lead to misunderstandings or questioning the Society. He strongly discouraged it. Those newsletters and the very few Mensa meetings I attended were above my head and rather dull anyway, so I soon let my membership lapse.

    I am no longer a believer at all, but it does seem that the Borg ignores Jesus' statement about "...where two or three are gathered...". It does not say, "...where two or three are gathered, if organized by the older men of Jerusalem...".

  • blondie
    blondie
    The independent study groups were formally ended by the WTS in 1980/1981 when the WTS connected it to the "apostasy" problem at Bethel. The WTS hunted down this people and invited some to leave and others were eventually df'd. Even social occasions were limited by the number of people who attend. The WTS did allow 2 families could meet together for a "pre-study" of the WTS, but only 2 single people were implied. It caused a lot of unhappiness among the members and shutdown many occasions that promoted people getting to know each other outside of "field service" and meetings.

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