im sure that many on this forum will be aware of the thought-stopping techniques that are taught by jws/wts to suppress difficult thoughts and overcome cognitive dissonance in favour of reverting back to belief in wts.. often in conversation these will be clear verbal cues that can sound unnatural during the course of a conversation, as though an individual is temporarily reading a script to overcome a difficult point.. my question to you all is this:.
are there any methods or resources that people are aware of that can help to break through a thought stopping mechanism when it is noticeably in effect?
a question perhaps, or technique that will encourage the individual to think the thought through in its entirety?.
How can you call it "The Truth" when much of the belief system is based on the opinions of 8 men (aka: Bible based principles are still not Biblical and are man made rules) or it can change or flip flop (aka "New light")?
Truth does not change. It is a constant. New understanding makes old understanding false in the present just as much as it was in the past. Calling it "The Truth" is the antonym of what it truly is - a belief and a belief is just a nice way of saying opinion.
hello all, first post so a whistle stop of who i am first!.
’unbelieving husband’ here married to pimi wife living in uk.
anyway on with the post.... i attend the kh this weekend with pimi wife, i’ve been a handful of times before.
Growing up as a Witness my father gave Sunday Public Talks all over the place. It was common to visit a different congregation/Kingdom Hall at least once a month. Back in the 80s I remember visiting one congregation that had wireless mics on booms as you described. I also remember the sound was awful as a result and the wireless system occasionally picked up radio signals from some other devices.
just wondering..my step-grandfather, (he eventually persuaded my widowed jw grand-mother to marry him and he was already well into his 80's but had lusted after her for some time, she being an incredibly bonny woman)..i digress..he eventually converted to the jw religion, but because of health issues was baptised at home in the bath..
what are the thoughts on the changes made by the society in the 1996 watchtower [new light] where one can then accept alternate army service where before you would have to be sentenced to do this.
i feel many were sent to prison needlessly or even executed.
this was not a matter of conscience as the watchtower claims..
This was the first thing that caused me to question my beliefs. It was also how I experienced learning this change.
I was a young twenty-something year old ministerial servant working in the Accounts Department at a Circuit Assembly. Our circuit contained a major university and one particular congregation that had many former students of that university in it. The Elder in charge of Accounts was attending that university during the Vietnam War. This was before he became a Witness. When he was called before the draft board he elected alternate service and was placed in the US Post Office where he continued to work at the time of this assembly.
I remember we were in the upstairs Accounts office watching the program. When this topic came up I could see this Elder develop a 1000 yard stare. He became still and quiet. I don't recall his exact words, but he said something along the lines of "How many brothers needlessly went to prison over this?"
It struck a deep chord with me.
remember when we were jws and all loved to hear demon stories?
and then there was always that paranoid person that would shut us up "in case they're listening"?
and the resident crazy every congregation seems to have that claims to have been possessed at some point?.
Obviously if you were really serious about summoning demons you would have bought some Smurfs for the house. Then it would look like a scene out of Poltergeist in your living room.
i was wondering whether anyone observed this point in the previous week's wt study, in paragraph 17: "jehovah’s spirit moves “the faithful steward” to keep giving his servants their food supply.".
i see this as a subtle move away from earlier claims to be channel for spiritual food.
the gb earlier said that they weren't inspired or infallible.
The only thing being moved are the goal posts and the Watchtower is doing the moving.
Good catch Blankspace!
i was doing some browsing today on http://watchtowerletters.com and discovered a very thought provoking point.
the fact is that the flood of noah's day does not stand up to scientific scrutiny or common sense.
this becomes all the more apparent when considering an ancient story like the epic of gilgamesh.
Although I do believe that the biblical Jesus did not exist, the reasoning given involving the Jesus speaking about the flood of Noah's day lacks reason.
The bigger clue is that the Epistles of Paul were written decades before the gospel accounts. There is some serious "cart before the horse" issues with this. Not to mention that there is no other record of Jesus outside the gospels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehsw_8xe7zq.
This made as much sense as an Overlapping Generation.
i have read extensively about the origins of birthdays, and i still don't get it.
but it's not what it means today.. even wedding veils were used to ward off the "evil eye".
but it's not what it means today.
Like so many of the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses, their explanation of their beliefs held in regards to celebrating birthdays crumbles quickly.
1) They immediately admit there is no Biblical prohibition against it.
2) They then draw a conclusion based on the only two birthday party stories in the Bible where a person was essentially murdered.
3) They make the claim that celebrating a person's birthday is in fact theft of glory belonging to Jehovah.
So, it's just an opinion with little evidence to support it. Just like so many other non-biblical self adopted prohibitions.
i know i already created a post about this a week or so ago, but i have a little more to add to it.
i was watching it again and taking some notes this time.
the speaker lists these reasons for people having anxieties:.
Items 1, 2, and 3 viewed from another perspective.
1. Rely on Spider-Man
2. Pour your hear out to Spider-Man in earnest prayer.
3. Read "The Amazing Spider-Man" and meditate on it.
No addressing #4 -
Share your feelings with a trusted Witness. Just kidding! There are no trusted Witnesses. They'll all rat you out to the elders and you risk being shunned.
