they just released a "simplified english" version of the watchtower... "it is very important that everyone understands.
the information that we study.
in thewatchtower each week.
Online definition of "apostate": "A person who renounces a religious or political belief or principle."
JW Simplified WT defiinition: "People who rebel against true worship and abandon it." (page 11)
The dictionary definition would mean that anyone leaving another religion to become a JW is an apostate. The JW definition boils it down to anyone who leaves Jehovah's Witnesses because they disagree with that religion's teachings.
this is one of the most aggressive watchtowers i think i have ever read.. four study articles on not "following the crowd" not following unrealities(page 13) not following false teachers, meaning apostates of course(p 15).
avoiding false teachers means "refusing to read their literature, watch tv programs that feature them, examine their web sites, or add comments to their blogs.
(para 7, pg 16).
Page 18-19: "Show personal interest in others, but do so in ways that respect their privacy and that do not take away their dignity. Remember, too, that we should not impose our own views on others regarding matters that they need to decide for themselves."
From an organisation that has the highest regard for individual dignity and is very respectful of a healthy divergence of viewpoints within Christianity.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/former-witness-taking-on-watch-tower/story-fn6bfmgc-1226036543156.
former witness taking on watch tower graeme hammond from: sunday herald sun april 10, 201112:00ama former jehovah's witness is to launch a private criminal prosecution against the religion's world headquarters.
his action is in protest at its refusal to require church elders to submit to working with children police checks in victoria.
I don't think references to Steven Unthank as a "lunatic" are terribly helpful. The experiences we've all gone through as victims of a religious cult prompt us to deal with it in different ways. He clearly has a lot of anger bottled up over what he sees as injustices and he is grasping at anything to resolve it. I agree that a much simpler submission to the court of just a page or two dealing with the specific issue would have been better (and accepting that no Victorian court is in a position to right the wrongs of the past in his life), but it's his action, not mine.
I personally don't see that there's much to be gained by his appearing as a sideshow on Rick Fearon's circus; I fear that in trying to use that medium of publicity he is simply going to be used himself, but again that's his call, not mine.
In a way we're all troubled souls, all damaged goods to a degree and we gain support from one another by being here. I wish Steven well, and I wish people would back off in their denigration and ridicule of him.
i had my "awakening" about a year ago, after spending my entire adolescent life feeling as if i was the only one among my associates with my head screwed on straight.
i was appalled by the nearly universal ignorance and deplorable close-mindedness and stupidty of the jws, the arbitrary dismissal of all scientific evidence as mere "human speculation", etc.
the 2008 change in the definition of the "generation" (at age 18) is what made me seriously commit to an investigation of my long held beliefs, a belief system and world view that had been permanently graphed onto my still developing brain as an infant.. some things the bee hive subscribe to are so irrational, yet i still held firmly to the belief that they must have the "truth", since i still believed in the bible as the inerrant, completely inspired word of god, and jws were the religion that most stringently adhered to actual bible teachings in a majority of cases - ie - no hellfire, no immortal soul, no trinity, etc... after an exhaustive study of the organization's origins in the russell and rutherford eras, and their history of constantly revised doctrines, failed predictions, and absurd beliefs subsequently abandoned and revised only after the passing of time deemed them impossible, i came to the conclusion that they were not "god's channel", and they certainly had no claim to exclusivity as "god's only chosen people who would survive destruction".... so that lead me to the next logical assumption..if not even the jws have the truth, and all the other christian denominations grossly misrepresent biblical teachings and distort the teachings of christ, and compromise on the principles he taughts us to abide by...then god has no earthly organization..he has abandoned us to our own devices...he has left us all alone, and he has left us in this state of affairs for at least the last 2,000 years... after moving beyond the the typical jw dismisal of all science that could possibly contradict the bible and their beliefs, i took up an objective, unbiased, study of science...and what i discovered is that without any presupositional limitations to one's critical analysis of the fact...science's theory of evolution is the best explanation for the diversity and nature of biological life around us...i also discovered that although there is dispute among scientists as to the explanation for evolution or the origin of life itself...that there is no dispute as to the validity of evolution.. the fact that evolution happened and continues to happen before our very eyes is incontrovertible...absolutely indisputable when objectively evaluating all the mountains of evidence..multiple lines of evidence that all converge at one point...common descent..as but one example - the anatomical distinction between homo sapiens sapiens and homo sapien neanderthalis emerge at a certain point in the fossil record..and not coincidentally the mapping of the neanderthal and modern human genomes point to a genetic divergence at the exact same time as the fossil record indicates!.
What 3Mozzies said. Another month, another year in that organization is a waste of your precious life. Why pretend, why suck up to those people, bow down to that organization, when you can plainly see it's a lie? I came to many of the same realisations as you did, but fortunately I didn't have the terrible dilemma of losing friends and family. But you CANNOT, must not, sacrifice your own honesty, peace of mind and future prospects for the sake of people who are trapped in a cult. That's their choice to stay, their choice to shut out your explanations.
Be assured that you will find much better friends OUTSIDE the organisation. You will enjoy a sense of freedom you've never had.In years to come you will be greatly relieved you too this step now.
My wife went to some counselling sessions after we left (it was three years ago this month) and benefited greatly. Her counsellor was very familiar with issues arising from the JWs; she said her clients included current and former JWs.
All the best for the future. It will be much, much better.
this highly explosive six screens of the watchtower april 9-2011 conference call is now up loaded and ready to be heard.
concerned people from all over the world were calling in to get the latest news on what is going on in the world of the watchtower.. our first guest was barbara anderson and she brought us up to speed on the criminal complaint the watchtower organization is facing in australia.
barbara as always wants the facts straight and delivers her information in a very professional,competent manner.. steve guziec a former j.w.
Is there any way to fast forward through this stuff? I find the "old time radio show" style really tedious and self-indulgent. After hearing that Barb won't be on for 45 minutes I try to fast forward it, but it starts playing the same crap all over again. I really don't have the time.
i know that in religions, they do what they do because it is about politics and money.
those are the motives behind why religions are the way they are and do what they do.
but can someone tell me what would be the motive(s) of jw's lieing and controling their participants (for lack of a better word)?
AS Ray Franz wrote, they are captives of a concept. They have a 100% conviction that they are God's people and while they wait for him to use them to perform miracles, they do what they can to show followers and non-believers alike they have his "blessing" and endorsement and are his agency to mete out his justice. If that involves stretching the truth a bit, they know he won't mind: the end justifies the means.
i have found some powerful reinforcements when people have stated their " epiphany moment "... please share some.. my turning pointing began when i was badly hurt by a person i had always viewed as a literal brother.
i realized that if his.
love was conditional.... if it was the case with him , then how about those i had less affection for and trust in ?.
I hated it for years, but made the actual decision to never return after reading the first few chapters of Crisis of Conscience and reading what an utterly manmade religion it is, not at all averse to lying, and just how baseless its claim to be God's organisation. God bless Ray Franz! How many lives did that man save?
please bear with me... i am deep into reading 'crisis of conscience' but i came across the name 'greelees' and i was wondering if someone could tell me a quick version of the official story on both chitty and greenlees.
i was trying to research it here but i don't have hours to spend wading through the threads... .
someone?
James Penton referred to the scandal briefly in the footnotes in his "Apocalypse Delayed book.
though i no longer believe the fds is indeed appointed by god, i guess because of what has been taught to me all these years through the wtbts, i still make an effort to try and look at both sides.
and then i come across this number below, which is how i arrived at my title for this thread.
***w81 2/15 p.19 do we need help to understand the bible?***.
Jehovah's view on the need to examine one's religion evidently changed in the years betwen 1969 and 1981.
W69 1/15: "Faith, to be like a rock-mass, must be based on truth. It must be clearly defined in one’s mind, solidly established on accurate knowledge and facts. Such a faith will stand up to questions and opposing viewpoints. Our faith should be a God-given faith. But how can we be sure? As 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Keep testing whether you are in the faith, keep proving what you yourselves are.” Yes, we have to keep testing and examining our faith: Is it logical, is it reasonable, does it harmonize with the book of faith, the Bible?"
W69 3/15: "We need to examine, not only what we personally believe, but also what is taught by any religious organization with which we may be associated. Are its teachings in full harmony with God’s Word, or are they based on the traditions of men? If we are lovers of the truth, there is nothing to fear from such an examination."
3 as jesus was sitting on the mount of olives, the disciples came to him privately.
tell us, they said, when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?
4 jesus answered: watch out that no one deceives you.
WontLeave, that's brilliant.
