"Are the rules that hard to follow?"

by rebel8 34 Replies latest jw friends

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  rebel8

  Often I hear jws claim that people leave the borg because they cannot follow the rules, implying that anyone who leaves lacks character, self control, and/or moral values.

  Often I hear JWD posters--me included--say the myriad of rules in the borg is one of (not the only) reason they would not follow the org. VirgoChick said it well in the "How do you feel about the name J----?" thread:

  I perceive "Jehovah" as an entity of endless rules, punishment and difficult to please. Surely God isn't like that, but loving and forgiving? I get confused about how "Jehovah" and this disciplinarian personna could be the real God, who loves us so much.

  That hits the nail right on the head.

  What I think jws fail to acknowledge or even comprehend is that the complaints about all the rules does not stem from some internal fault or bad choice on our part. What it is is that we know anyone who makes so many rules about pretty much everything you do, say, and think cannot possibly be worthy of worship. It is the very promulgation of an endless amount of rules which demonstrates the lack of guidance from a loving God. It is evidence of a high control group--a cult who is trying to keep you in by controlling your every waking moment. If it was not a cult, there would be no need to control people. People would follow the rules because they're right. They would not need to be micromanaged.

  It reminds me of the tv shows you see about creepy control freak husbands who make rules about what their wives can wear, say, and do....and take away their bank accounts and cars so they cannot do anything of their own volition. We can say the same thing about those wives that we can say about the jws--they are free to leave. Except that's not really true--they fear punishment and have been brainwashed to believe they can't make it on their own. That is a very unhealthy relationship--why would God be that way?

  And no, for the record, I am not talking about basic moral principles. I am talking about dumb things such as not listening to disco, playing with Smurfs, and the new rules about what type of fabric the degrading head covers must be made of.

  Didn't the Pharisees or some other group get condemned by the wts because of their endless amount of rules?

  Thoughts?
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  material BOY

  i never saw it form this point of view! did god not say my love is not burdensome and my load is light or something like that.

  being in the org was very burdensome.
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  crazyblondeb

  I was such a "rule breaker" I made the elder's work, and I mean work for their titles!!Their rules allowed for the elders and fathers to make their own rules. Made me crazy!!
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  carla

  If they allow their members to grow and mature they may find they no longer need the mentally unstable gb and elders. Can't have that now can you? The members may actually find that 'freedom in Christ' and come to see the hogwash the wt really is.

  It is strange to me that some ex jw's finally leave when they develop the attitude of, 'I don't care anymore, jah can kill me if he wants to, I just can't take this religion/rules/etc.. anymore'. Like the battered wife who finally makes her getaway, she knows the husband may kill her but even that would be an end the hell she is living now and takes her chances and hopes for the best.

  To purposely keep someone so dependent upon you and not allow you to grow and mature, even in Christianity, is abuse in my opinion. A goal in life is to help our children grow and learn to care for themselves, to help our friends and cheer them on with accomplishments that further their financial/intelllectual/spiritual/and whatever may help them in living life life to the fullest. The wt org itself is so mentally unhealthy it is frightening.
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  blondie

  Remember that one way cults and other abusive groups control their members is keeping them off balance with written and unwritten rules. The WTS does the same with rules that cannot be found in their publications and are designed and implemented by individual elders or elder bodies and can be different from congregation to congregation.

  Blondie
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  AuldSoul

  For myself, it wasn't about whether the rules "make sense," or whether the rules had some arguably good effects, or even whether a specific rule was hard. It was a smiple question of whether GOD requires what the Watchtower Society requires. If not, they don't speak for God. Plain and simple.

  Blondie, my research monster machine is under the weather right now. I wonder if you would please look up "the leaven of the Pharisees" on the WT CD-ROM and paste paragraph 2 of the first Watchtower article that includes that exact phrase. If I remember right, the quoted phrase appears in the question for paragraph 2, so you have to scroll up for the paragraph that discusses what the leaven is.

  Basically, the point of the paragraph is that extra rules constitute the leaven of the Pharisees, according to their own doctrine. So, it doesn't matter whether any specific rule or tradition is hard to do. It isn't hard to wash your hands and arms up to your elbows either. But the combination of all the little ritualistic rules and traditions constitutes a religion that is characterized by Pharisaical attributes moreso than by Christian attributes.

  Respectfully,
  AuldSoul
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  lawrence

  They say they follow a Master who stated, "My load is kindly and light." What a contrast from the mechanisms of governing, promoted by these vicious dog-men, mean spirited, and controlling as hell. "Kindly and light." What a contrast!
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  greendawn

  That's why they emphasise the old testament because the god image from that part of the Bibles better suits their purposes to intimidate and oppress their members. It has completely gone over them that the God in the New Testament appears very differently due to the protecting or reconciling effect of Jesus.

  Whether you are exposed to the hot summer sun or sitting under the thick shade of a tree, the sun is one and the same but its effects on you will be different. For the JWs the shading tree does not exist.
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  daystar

  Yes, they are, because they are unnatural.

  I can remember one argument in JW literature to support the everlasting life proposition. We don't want to die! They appealed to our natural instinct to evade death as one possible proof that immortality is our birthright.

  Well, I want to have sex... all the time. I wanted to before I was married. It's a natural instinct. Based upon the logic used for the above, sexual freedom is a birthright.
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  fokyc

  Impossible to follow! The rules change from day to day, from Elder to Elder and from Cong to Cong. It's rather like walking on a Jelly (Jello)!!

  I gave up in 1994 after a big blow up over who can read at the book study!! Never been to a meeting since!!

  Fokyc