by Big Jim 46 Replies latest jw friends
I was at a client's home. He happened to be Jewish. When in his basement I noticed a Jewish timeline, and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians was dated as 586 BC. I knew that was wrong, but in case I ever had to defend the correct date of 607, I thought I'd better do some research.
Big, bang, BOOM!
Definitely the myth re the "Faithful and discreet slave".
Absolutely no way that this parable can be linked to anything else, hence the whole facade just sort of folds up. No 144000, no earthly org. brothers and sisters we regret to announce:
Englishman.
..... fanaticism masquerading beneath a cloak of reasoned logic.
As I've written before, the first crack came while browsing in the Kingdom Hall library when I stumbled across a copy of Russell's _Studies in the Scriptures_ complete with the pyramid chart fold-out. I then checked other older WTBTS literature and it became obvious that the WTBTS had a long history of crank output, and their later attempts at cover-ups further showed that they had no connection with God whatsoever.
Other things:
1) The WTBTS stated (and still states) that the entire world must first have a chance at WTBTS "truth" before the Big A comes. At the time (early 1973), mainland China had about 750 million people and there was no way that that China and some other countries could be covered within the 1975 time frame. I asked about this and got no answer except something like "communal responsibility" that justified the destruction of hundreds of millions of peasants. I was told that this was just a large scale version of "parental responsibility" where children of non-believing parents had only a few months to live unless they somehow came into the WTBTS on their own. I guess that this is still "current truth". How can people believe this?
2) The claim that the entire anointed remnant was providing "spiritual food in due season" where none of thousands of anointed except for a dozen or so in Brooklyn had any input into the WTBTS. Also "current light", I suppose.
3) The many ways, both subtle and overt, in which the WTBTS took upon itself the role of "God's True Channel" and expected all its pronouncements to be obeyed without question.
4) The hypocrisy, cliques, and the complete lack of humility among the elders and most of the ministerial servants; also, the general ass-kissing among those who wanted better position and status in the congregation.
My doubt was not about trivial things like 1914, the generation, 1975, etc. Yes in the grand scheme of life these are NOT important issues.....belive how you want we all worship the same God in the end, some of us will have had the right answers some will be wrong!
For me its the blood issue. Read the bible you can come away with 2 possible positions 1) Don't take blood period, or 2) don't eat animal blood. There is no grey area's here its black and white. So why then does the WTS policy allow any blood fractions at all? Its totally not scriptural!
In the early 1900's this was the policy. Slowly this has changed over time to the confusing policy that now exists. Did God change his mind about this? No the WTS has the wrong policy....pick one policy and stick with it. Its either OK to take blood or not.
Here's the real dilema, if as a publisher you decide that taking blood is OK and you take blood you will be booted from the org forever!!!! Why forever? Because the only way to get back in is to "repent" and tell them you were wrong. If you in made the decision to take blood because you belive its NOT wrong then you would have to lie to get back in.
As a publisher, you are required to go out and preach this doctrine to others. Your whole life revolves around being able to convince others your religion is the only true one. Many JW's are very skilled at it. If you convince someone else to not take blood and they die....you led them to it! I would personally feel somewhat responsible for their death. Also knowing that the WTS "stacks the deck" in their favor when it comes to the facts about blood. Also knowing that there is a world of info about blood that you can not show an interested one (without getting DF'ed) is just something I could not see myself doing.
Its WRONG to teach someone something as "Gods word" when you know you are only teaching one side of the story.
Its like teaching someone the belief that you should never change the oil in your car. You can show all sorts of info about the pollution waste oil causes. You can show that touching oil may cause cancer. You can show statistics about how many people die each year changing oil. You can tell stores about the Jiffy lube tech that drove a car into the pit. You will convince some people never to change the oil in their car! If one day you get a report from FORD that they recommed changing your oil every 3000 miles and you learn that your engine will last 100,000 miles if you do, how could you possibly teach anyone that not changing your oil is right? The only fair thing to do is tell all the facts and let each person decide if oil changes are ok or not.
The same for blood transfusions...its for each person to decide....there should be no pressure from the elders....no one should care. Thats not the way it is so thats why I left.
jj
For me it was the 1914- dogma
all my life i was told i would never get old and have to die
then they changed it- soon after that they changed the separating work of sheep and goat
i recall i was standing in the back of the hall when another former bethelite walked up to me right after that paragraph was dicussed and asked me:
"Well what the He!! are we doing then just walking around the block"
today the bro is our also- smile
i guess the biggest hit was the alternative service change
when i was in bethel i had an couple i used to spend the weekend with when i wanted to get away from bethel they lived in Upper Bronx
he was an elder and had went to jail during the 60's --now i nerver
asked him hat happened to him in prison, but according to everything i have heard and (due to his reaction to the change)
i understand that he was raped repeatedly while in jail as a 19/20 yr old
when they changed their position he called me up literally in tears
you see when he got his draft letter - he and hia mama went to the elders to see if there was anything he could do- they went to the Society's letters and literature for the answer- they had the CO in a few weeks so they decided to wait and see if the CO had any new info from the society- so when the co rolled in town they addressed it with him
the co called up to Service and asked if there was anything new on this matter and he was told WHAT DOES THE SLAVE SAY
so the bro had to go to jail- Fast forward 35YRS And the wt tells these men that the reason you went to jail is due to having a "SUPER STRICT CONSCIENCE" we never told you that you could not take the job at the hospital, roadwork, etc
man he just kept saying THEY ARE LYING THEY ARE LYING
well today he is no longer and elder and is just a BROKEN MAN
it is so sad to see all the lives that wt has destoyed trying to play Mouth PC of God how sad
James
Great comments everyone. Many of them mirrored my experiences exactly.
Big Jim:
: As I got older another thing that bothered me was the beard issue. It may sound pretty trivial however the Society has always refused to make a good arguement as to why they would give you the old cold shoulder if you were to grow one.
It was old Joe (Da "Grudge") Rutherford who is responsible for that one. Chuck Russell was revered by many and many men grew beards just like him out of their reverance for him. When Chuck died, Rutherford began a slow plan of getting Russell out of the collective consciences of the Bible Students. After some years, he banned beards in the Bethels, not because they weren't in style, but because men with beards would remind the flock of Russell. My only source for this is William Schnell, but it all makes sense. If you look at all the society's pictures of Jesus before and during the Rutherford era you will see that before Jesus had a beard, but during Rutherford Jesus had shaved it off. In fact we used to speculate all the time about whether Jesus had a beard or not. Adam didn't have a beard in Rutherford's illustrations. (I wonder where he found a razor in the garden of eden?)
For years the stigma of a beard stuck. Even in the late 1960's and early 1970's when beards were seen everyone, dubs could not wear them. I know. I asked for "permission" to grow a short moustache in about 1970 and was told I would lose my servant privileges and be considered "weak" if I did. Beards were out-of-the-question. The society faced some flak from cultures where beards and moustaches were quite normal and had been for hundreds of years. The Latin American Countries are a good example. So the society said it was "Ok", but only in those cultures to have a mousetache and/or a beard. What hypocrites.
Francoise:
: It started for me with reading "Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose." It's a sort of JW Apologia.
I was fortunate enough to get a copy of that classic from a friend of mine in the last year or so. I had given away my original copy decades ago. BTW, I've seen this book offered for ninety bucks a copy on JW antique book sites! As I re-read it I remembered studying it in 1959-1960. What a pile of dog doo. It is the biggest whitewash and pack of lies the society could have ever written about their history. It should be a thorough embarrassment for the society. In fact it must have been, because the Proclaimer's book is far superior to it. (Still has lots of shit, but much less than before.)
What makes the JP book so tacky is that it uses that nauseating approach Joe Rutherford used in his last book, "Children." It reads like a screenplay:
Tom: "What happened next?"
John: "Well, here comes the exciting part, Tom."
Lois: "Would anyone like some cookies?"
Maria (to herself): "My husband John is such a weenie. I wished this damn study would get over with. I'm bored to tears and John and Lois are such morons to believe any of this crap we are telling them."
JT:
I'm sure you know I am also very bitter about the alternative military service thing: I was convicted of a felony but did not have to do prison time. I still lost two very precious years of my young life working as an unpaid volunteer 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. That would have been 1/2 of a college education, or many, many days at the beach surfing or practicing the piano, whatever.
Those bastards never even apologized to loyal dubs like me. I did have friends just a year or two old who did prison time over the same issue. When the society backed down, they calmly stated that it was a matter of conscience, and never apologized, admitted they had their heads up their asses and were sorry for the many tens of thousands of young lives they damaged. Yet, month after month their Watchtower literature demands humility from all of their followers. Hypocrites.
Aguest:
: In addition, Carey Barber stated to me... PERSONALLY... and to the sister with me... that, and I QUOTE: "the Governing Body hasn't had anything to do with the Watchtower since 1972." If it's a lie, dear ones, he told it.
That directly contradicts what Ray Franz said about the GB's involvement in the WT in the 1970's. Did I loan you a copy of COC? I forget. I've got a number of my books loaned out and I haven't kept track of who-has-what. If I did, check out how Ray discusses their discussions over forthcoming WT articles. I'm not denying that Barber said that, but I'm questioning whether what he said was true or not.
(Haven't heard any voices yet my dear, but I'm still "shakin' the bush, Boss. Shakin' the bush.")
Farkel
I know this is going to sound rather incredulous to some, but I was born into the WTBTS cult and yet from a very young age sensed it was not right.
As I grew older I even sensed evil in it. I made a point of speaking to all DFD or DA'D persons......my family were not impressed to say the least.
La Donna Ana
What Caused Your First Doubt ?
My older sister has suffered, since childhood, from a severe inferiority complex that causes her to be excruciatingly, socially backward. I have my own theory of how she came to be this way and it indirectly includes the WTBTS, but that’s a separate issue.
Early photographs depict her as a beautiful, cheerful and athletic kid, as a teenager however and now being extremely introverted, my sister was at a disadvantage when it came to fashion and makeup. She always appeared dowdy, and socially inept especially when compared to any female peers attending Witness assemblies.
During our teens a member of our congregation was to be baptized at a convention and my Dad, Mom, my sister and I arranged to catch a school bus that was chartered to take JW’s from the convention parking lot to a nearby hotel swimming pool for the plunge.
In the rush to get on the bus our family became separated. I was on the bus first and was sitting at a window seat near the rear and could see Jehovah’s Witnesses lined up outside to get on the bus, my sister included. I also happened to recognize the very popular teenage son of a prominent PO from another congregation and another sharp “brother” buddy who both were obviously cruising Witness chicks, as is the hormonal custom during Jehovah’s extended gatherings.
I watched through the bus window as the PO’s son made a move to check out my sister who happened to be the only female teenager within range. Once his target was acquired he quickly wheeled and laughing hysterically returned to his friend while bending forward he made gagging gestures by sticking his finger down his throat.
Innocence was lost from me at that moment…Jehovah’s Witnesses were not special, we were like everyone else, sometimes better, sometimes worse. Not only would I have to contend with the heartless perspective of the “worldly”, I would also need to deal with heartlessness of some Jehovah’s Witnesses as well. I could expect no respite if I chose reality.
Jehovah’s Witnesses will say I was stumbled by a remote and unfortunate incident instigated and witnessed by the immature. But in retrospect I was offered a visual “grip” that would one day pull me out of a pit of darkness my parents were talked into putting us, and thus I began to see the redundancy of the WTBTS effectiveness for other than perpetuating its own interests.
Flip
sitting in book study listening to the party line on the Eden story, I remember holding my baby boy and thinking how cruel and horrible a father big J was in that story: the whole thing lit up in this neon-yellow light in my head, how unfair to stack the deck that way! I was HORRIFIED by my own 'lack of appreciation' and squelched that little dangerous voice of reason so hard, it squeaked on the way down to my subconscious!
It kept coming back over the next few years, though. During one of those studies featuring the goofy chronology, common sense would rear its scary head and snicker at me for being such a gullible sucker. Ditto when I would read the nonsense about some piddly JW convention being fulfillment of some prophecy. I kept telling myself that I was a wrongheaded weak sinner, and trying to make myself feel grateful for all that 'spiritual food'.
When petty elder politicking in our cong became public, that little voice became more insistent. When an elder made a habit of tweaking me from the platform for knowing 'big words' ,it mocked me. When the donation arrangement kicked in, it started screaming at me.
Meetings were torture. I got a migraine every time I tried to sit and gratefully accept that hypocritical crap as spiritual food. I found it increasingly difficult to stay respectful of those horrible self-righteous 'shepherds' who were busy stabbing one another in the back.
When I got horribly ill with a systemic infection, it was too much effort to subject myself to those injections of poisonous thought while I was so sick. I quit even trying to go to the meetings. The fact that not one JW ever called or stopped by for any reason than to try to take some of my livelihood away, the fact that an elder in our cong was calling my bridge club ladies trying to solicit my cleaning jobs for other JWs behind my back, helped a lot in prying my eyes open to the reality of JWdom.
I slid out knowing it wasn't the truth, that it was in fact probably a crackpot cult, but I had no proof and no support. My suspicions about doctrine, hierarchy, and mind control were still just suspicions and conclusions drawn from direct observation. And I was on my own in a world I'd been taught all my life to fear and hate!
Years later, when hubby wired us up, I found search engines, and from there I found enough facts to verify my every suspicion and more. More importantly, I found other decent rational folks who had followed the exact same thought train out of the cult tunnel and into the light of reasonable thinking. It was very validating, and liberating, to know I am in such good company.
And every time I see what JW defenders have to say online, my gratitude for my own freedom increases. That slavery to fear and hatred was exhausting. I never found refreshment until I got out of their clutches. Now every breath is sweet.
MOMMY SAYS
I slid out knowing it wasn't the truth, that it was in fact probably a crackpot cult, but I had no proof and no support. My suspicions about doctrine, hierarchy, and mind control were still just suspicions and conclusions drawn from direct observation. And I was on my own in a world I'd been taught all my life to fear and hate!
######### a very powerful point about the need of a CONFIRMATION
without it one never really is free- only after the confirmation will it all make sense- you know something is wrong but you can't put ones finger on it cause you are being told the "King has on Clothes"
all the while you are standing there looking at his little short "Charlie Horse" saying to yourself "he needs to cover that little thing"
smile
James
