Posts by MrMonroe

217

Feb. 15th WT - WT Society says DFed Ones are Lawless- Just Like Demons

by flipper in

jw
friends

i would assume that some or a good number of us here as normal humans in this society - consider " lawless " actions to include murder , robbery, extortion, rape, child abuse, war , terrorism, etc.

the wt society has their own definition of what's considered " lawless ".

anything that's considered a disfellowshipping offense in the jehovah's witnesses is now considered " lawless ".

MrMonroe

Note how paragraph 2 of the article equates lawlessness with wickedness. The article says (paragraphs 15, 18) that those who disassociate are also to be shunned for their lawlessness.

What other religion declares that anyone who formally resigns is a wicked and lawless person?

Will anyone studying this Watchtower anywhere in the world stop to consider this? Or will they just nod their heads in agreement?

Shouldn't there be a legal requirement for the WTS to add a disclaimer at the time of baptism to add, as a third question, whether those joining this cult will be branded as wicked and shunned if they later choose to leave?

37

IS THE GOVERNING BODY NOW THE FAITHFUL AND DISCREET SLAVE?

by Vanderhoven7 in

jw
friends

.

i know the anointed never get consulted.

but is it true that the governing body has modified the definition of the faithful and discreet slave to exclusively apply to themselves and to not include the thousands of other anointed..

MrMonroe

Wonderful advice!

The Bible clearly shows that true Christians do not serve God under coercion.

Which is why so many Witnesses are abandoning the Watch Tower Society, which does insist on coercing its "brothers".

In this time of the end, Christ has appointed this slave “over all his belongings.” Its position therefore merits the respect of anyone claiming to be a Christian.

In other words, they tell Witnesses God "evidently" appointed them, and therefore everyone better f?@#ing respect them.

The purpose of headship is to preserve unity and ensure that “all things take place decently and by arrangement.” To achieve this in the first century, a number of anointed Christians from the faithful and discreet slave class were chosen to represent the entire group. As subsequent events proved, the supervision exercised by this first-century governing body had Jehovah’s approval and blessing. First-century Christians gladly accepted the arrangement. (Acts 15:1-32)

Unfortunately Acts chapter 15 nowhere suggests God had chosen a "class" to represent all Christians or that the apostolic council in Jerusalem was anything but a meeting there to sort out a doctrinal dispute that had arisen there.

Does the position of oversight that the Scriptures assign the Governing Body mean that each of Jehovah’s Witnesses must render to it an account of his works?

Yes, of course it does. But they always say otherwise. The justification for filing monthly reports of witnessing activity is a lie. If statistics were all they were after, why are those reports used as a basis for judging the spiritual maturity and health of Witnesses? Why are they used as a yardstick of whether they should be appointed to positions of authority? Why are Witnesses required to put their names on reports if it's just the overall numbers they want?
The Governing Body is a loving provision and an example of faith worthy of imitation.
Faith in what? It provides an example of bullying, intimidation, dogmatism and pharisaic rules ... exactly the sort of Christian oversight Christ warned his followers against.
By observing trends, the Governing Body draws attention to the benefits of heeding Bible counsel, offers suggestions about applying Bible laws and principles, warns of hidden dangers, and provides “fellow workers” needed encouragement. It thus discharges its Christian stewardship, helps them to maintain their joy, and builds them up in faith so that they can stand firm.
So they're just suggestions about applying Bible laws and principlesthey offer? Why do they punish those who ignore their suggestions? And where is the joy in this miserable, hateful, tightly controlled organization?

If a Witness makes decisions on the basis of Bible counsel offered by the Governing Body, he does so of his own volition because his own study of the Bible has convinced him that this is the proper course. Each Witness is influenced by God’s own Word to apply sound Scriptural counsel offered by the Governing Body, in full recognition that decisions he makes will affect his personal relationship with God, to whom he is dedicated.

And if they choose not to follow this "counsel", they will be expelled and shunned. Once inside the cult, they are prohibited from reading literature and websites that criticise their leaders.

19

Did having children make you a better or worse JW

by journey-on in

jw
friends

after i had children, i changed gradually in the way i thought about the religion i was raised in.

one day, it dawned on me that if my child was injured in an accident and needed blood to survive, there was no way in the world i would say "no" to a blood transfusion.

why continue the charade?

MrMonroe

Having the kids quiet at the meetings actually taught them a lot about obedience and respect. People have always said how good our kids are when we're at meals, restaurants, etc etc.

But having little kids gave us a good cover story to avoid meetings and it made us determined they wouldn't be freaks who would stand out among their friends because of what they couldn't do.

After we left, a friend said tearfully, "But what about the girls? Haven't you thought about them?" Answer: Yes, and that's one of the big reasons we did leave.

84

Being honest with yourself, could you have reasonably adjusted your attitude and continued on as a JW?

by miseryloveselders in

jw
friends

i ask this question in harmony with deedub's swan song thread which i linked below.. http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/members/private/205902/1/time-to-say-good-bye.

to some degree, i think i understand where she's coming from.

just speaking from my own experiences since stepping into the world of anonymous apostacy, i went through a few different phases of personal outlooks.

MrMonroe

I hated the place so much I wanted to leave. The only reason I remained so long was the belief that it was God's org and maintaining some contact with it was necessary to keep myself in God's favor, because I didn't want to die at Armageddon. Then I read Franz's Crisis of Conscience and I realised God didn't have an organization, there would probably be no Armageddon and there was no reason for me to maintain contact at all. They no longer had control over me.

So, no, I would never go back. And, as with NewChapter, I could never ever ever ever return to witnessing, knowing how much I hate it, how futile and fraudulent it is and the (remote) possibility that it could lure others to join this cult.

But as always, MLE, a wonderful post. Thank you for your thoughts.

24

Latest Big Love reaction at the undercover house...

by undercover in

jw
friends

so i dvrd the last couple of episodes of big love.

wasn't able to watch them at first broadcast the last couple of weeks.. we've watched this series from it's start and haven't missed an episode.

as the cultishness of the compound and even bill's family became more central to the story...and the off-hand criticisms of the 'real' mormon church are leveled, i sense mild anxiety at times while watching the show.

MrMonroe

My wife used to watch it while I was at work. We were edging out of the JWs at the time and she'd tell me after each episode about how struck she was with the similarities between that cult and our .... religion.

"The Truth" = "The Principle."

The disfellowshipping.

The judicial committee, at which no recording devices were permitted.

The prayers that began, "Heavenly Father".

The lifelong control.

The belief that only they had the one truth.

And perhaps most telling, the secrecy with which they carried on their lives, not daring to reveal their secret life ... like so many JWs (including us at the time) who would rather act normal and not tell people they're part of a cult unless they're really forced to.

53

2011 Yearbook - "Tracing All Things with Accuracy"

by pirata in

2011 yearbook - "tracing all things with accuracy", p.9-13.

jesus said that the faithful slave would be discreet in giving the domestics "their food at the proper time.

" christ thus indicated that those who dispense this "food" would be conscientious, prudent, and discerning in providing spiritual food for the household of faith.-matt.

MrMonroe

The Writing Department follows the pattern of 'tracing all things with accuracy'.

That means you don't need to read any books other than ours. In fact, please don't read any books other than ours. You're likely to start having independent thoughts.

For example, Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, warns that some articles on its own site "contain significant misinformation, unencyclopedic content, or vandalism," adding that "users need to be aware of this."

Er, except when it comes to articles about Jehovah's Witnesses. You'll read far more accurate information at Wikipedia about the "Faithful and discreet slave", the Governing Body, the history of Jehovah's Witnesses, Ray Franz, that messy business when Rutherford sacked the majority of the Governing Body, the history of our doctrinal flip-flops and the things people most hate about us than we'll ever tell you!

20

Who are the Pharisees today?

by dothemath in

i find many similiarities between the pharisees and witnesses today......... both used disfellowshipping as a weapon (john 12: 42........"because of the pharisees they would not confess.

him, in order not to be expelled from the synagogue").

both add endless rules, yet forget about the important ones, such as love, etc.

MrMonroe

They are haters. They hate religion, hate politics, hate "the world", hate "immorality", hate "materialism", hate criticism, hate success, hate fun, hate sentimentality, hate celebrations, and they particularly hate anyone who quits the religion because they're sick of the hatred.

82

3/15 WT " Do Not Deceive Yourself "- WT's Excuses for No Armageddon

by flipper in

jw
friends

with the new " overlap generation " theory that the wt society is pushing onto rank and file jehovah's witnesses since last year this article i found really heavy hitting in the jw version of the wt.

the wt society is leaking oil in that confidence is low among jw's in not really buying into the " generation overlap " theory as many younger jw's are exiting the organization.

so what better way to try reeling members back in by giving them an article entitled " do not deceive yourself with false reasoning " !

MrMonroe

In this case it was good ol' Charlie Russell who used a form of numerology (later confirmed by pyramidiology) to determine when the guest was going to come. He sent the invitations, set the places, lit the candles ... and for some strange reason the guest never arrived. Then Charlie died, Joe Rutherford stood there waiting by the door and he died, Nathan Knorr took over looking through the peephole and he died, then Fred and Milt took a turn and they died, and gradually the room starts filling with cobwebs and the other guests are just starting to get restless. They're just waiting for maybe a phonecall from this guest. And now, yeah, they're still sitting there, but a few are thinking about looking at where Charlie got his information.

20

Who are the Pharisees today?

by dothemath in

i find many similiarities between the pharisees and witnesses today......... both used disfellowshipping as a weapon (john 12: 42........"because of the pharisees they would not confess.

him, in order not to be expelled from the synagogue").

both add endless rules, yet forget about the important ones, such as love, etc.

MrMonroe

At Matthew 12:1-8 the Pharisees condemned Jesus' disciples for plucking and eating grain on the Sabbath. Jesus referred them back to the account in 1 Samuel 21 about David eating the showbread and said, "I want mercy, and not sacrifice." The sacrifices contained in the Jewish law were symbols of their debt to God and his provision for them, yet when it came to common sense and survival, God said, "Hey, forget the symbol, man, just eat! Don't die because of a symbolic ritual!"

Today the Governing Body says blood is a sacred symbol of life. They say it is better to die than to break what they see is God's "law" regarding a symbol, and accept a blood transfusion. What do you think Jesus would say when he saw medical science offering a provision to save a life, but the GB says, "Nope, there's a symbol involved here."

49

A rhetorical analysis of the Sept. KM Question Box

by Leolaia in

some have pursued an independent group study of biblical hebrew and greek so as to analyze the accuracy of the new world translation.

they have also held conferences and produced publications to present their findings and to supplement what is provided at our christian meetings and through our literature.. throughout the earth, jehovah's people are receiving ample spiritual instruction and encouragement at congregation meetings, assemblies, and conventions, as well as through the publications of jehovah's organization.

rather, the claim is implicit.

MrMonroe

By 2007 I was missing a lot of the Tuesday night meetings. Those I did attend I left during the halftime song, so I wouldn't have heard this part discussed anyway. I'd always figure, the service meeting is for people who go witnessing. I didn't go witnessing. I pretended to do RVs on Saturdays and put in a monthly report with a made-up figure. Which means, dammit, the figure they put in the 2007 annual report of "total hours spent in field" (1,488,658,249) was somewhat wrong. Should I tell them?