Is Watchtowerism "Boolean"?

by metatron 6 Replies latest jw friends

  • metatron
    metatron

    OK, a little odd, but how else do you articulate it?

    Let me explain: I spent some time with some Catholics who are very loyal to their church. Nevertheless, they openly agree that priests

    should be allowed to marry. Their disagreement is no big deal.

    Contrast this with the average Witness , these days, who appears to accept every doctrine, "leading" or hint from the Watchtower

    as absolute truth. They may reason to themselves that they are imperfect and often unable to do whatever is demanded of them,

    but nonetheless see the Society as infallible, in a practical sense, with any "mistakes" transformed into Divinely Ordained

    tests of faithfulness.

    Unlike most people, Witnesses seem to exist in only Boolean states - "On" or "Off"! Even slackers often pay lip service to the thought

    that "it's still the truth", though they may miss meetings for years.

    As you try to reason with your Witness relatives and "friends", it often seems like they will believe anything the Watchtower says,

    uncritically and absolutely, no matter how foolish it is. Given the emotion associated with this, I'm inclined to think that most

    of them aren't kidding. You swallow all of it - or none.

    My dear departed mother noticed this and commented that it wasn't always so. In the past, when Witnesses actually knew something

    about the Bible, they often had discrete disagreements with various aspects of the "truth".

    In summary, I suppose the above is simply the strongest evidence available that we dealing with a cult - in that it demands

    an absolute- unmerited - subjugation of one's power of reason.

    metatron

  • Terry
    Terry

    The real issue is this:

    You are out in the middle of the Sahara with no water for miles. You find an oasis. When you arrive there are all manner of disgusting people and animals gurgling the water to quench their thirst. You look around and see only sand for miles and miles. What do you do? Why, you get down on your hands and knees and gurgle with the donkeys and camels and hairy-legged humans with bad teeth and gum disease.

    The above is an actual analogy given to me by a "strong" JW overseer in 1969 as to why we don't leave Jehovah's Organization when we encounter things that are repugnant to reason or outright contradictions!

    The lie that is sold to JW's is this: There is no place else to go.

    How can they say that? Easy!

    This is the genius of the contrarian lifestyle doctrines and policies begun by J.F. Rutherford and they work!

    JW's are made so weird and out of step with everybody else on planet Earth that they will not fit in anyplace but a Kingdom Hall where they are suddenly "normal".

    It works.

  • VM44
    VM44

    The Jehovah's Witnesses are viewed and teated as employees (or slaves) of The Watchtower Corporation(s). Thus if an individual JW does not follow and adhere to the corporate policies he will be censored (shunned) or fired (disfellowshipped).

    The conclusion of the matter is this:

    If one does not want to believe EVERYTHING that The Watchtower teaches, then DO NOT become a Jehovah's Witness.

    --VM44

  • under_believer
    under_believer

    Real live quote from a JW friend of mine I tried reasoning with on this subject:

    "Why do you think that you know better than the Governing Body, who does nothing but study the scriptures for a living? Don't you think that they've already thought of whatever you are bringing up, and would have told us about it if it was important?"

    They are willing to put complete trust in the Society, and assume that everything they are telling them is true. They are willing to delegate their conscience and their real study of the Bible to others.

    There are many motivations for this... in this particular friend's case, it is laziness (I know him well.) For other people, though, there are other reasons... fear, conservatism, tradition.

  • r51785
    r51785

    I recently finished a fascinating book called "The Cold War : A New History" by John Lewis Gaddis. Gaddis is the Robert A. Lovett Professor of History of Yale University. Once again I cannot help but be struck by the incredible similarity between the Soviet Union and the Watchtower Society. Metatron and VM44, I highly recommend this book, I think you will really enjoy it.

  • BizzyBee
    BizzyBee

    In some respects, Yes.

    In other respects, No.

    I will explain. Insofar as a mathematical approach to doctrine, the WTS is on-track. Dogmatic and unbending. However, they also "spin" for personal leverage, so are not strictly mathematical in their philosophy. They are opportunists.

    Terry's illustration was chilling and accurate. Surprising that this came from an elder......................but, in a way, not really..............

  • jwfacts
    jwfacts

    It surprises scares me how convinced JWs are, despite knowing the wrongs. The mind so easily justifies anything that it wants to.

    I was shocked by my aunties reply when I told her about the WTS saying organ transplants were acceptable in the 60's, a mortal sin in the 70's, and then acceptable again from the 80's, as to me that was fairly clear evidence they just have know idea. Her instantaneous answer was, "The WTS was protecting us, transplants were dangerous in the 70's, but once they were safe in the 80's we were allowed to have them."

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