perplexed

by thewiz 3 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  thewiz

  I must say that the teaching of the generation has ultimately floored me. It has affected me much more deeply than any other doctrinal teaching that the WTBS has presented.

  I think the blood fractions once I delve into it may affect me equally. Before, it wasn't to big of a concern, but now that I have four kids, I don't need a bunch of old men trivalizing with my kid's lives. You can take this-but-not-that

  I figure this is a result of someone in bethel needing fractions; therfore, the new enlightened teaching.

  Anyway the point of my thread is that when I think back on all the things I knew/learned/and presented with by the WTBS in the last 40 years or so, all of it made very much sense, at the time it was presented. I believed nearly everything at the time. Right now the teaching of the generation makes complete sense and I agree with it. But then I agreed with the 1914-generation link the way it was presented before too.

  I guess the same way with blood, it makes sense, although again, I have not studied in depth. But the drift, as I see it, it now seems to be I.E. If I want to get salt from blood, then yeah, it's not blood but salt; therefore, I CAN take it. I'm not trying to be facetious I am just using exaggeration to make might point.

  I first learned the current generation thinking from a newspaper in Los Angeles, CA, USA, I believe. That was when I was an active memeber! Maybe I just wasn't reading the mags, but I missed it. I picked up the WT and A! and examined it more closely and sure enough the paper was basically correct.

  After I started really thinking about it I somehow felt violated in that I could be so well manipulated. I guess it is at a depth that I cannot deeply or really explain. It's something that must be felt. It's intangible really. Many, I'm sure, understand what I'm talking about.

  My basic question is, if I really know how to ask it is, How can this dichotomy exist? It's like, don't believe what you really know now, because what you know now, may not be what you know then...

  How is it, that within the context/realm of knowing something, for right NOW, makes complete and absolute sense, but later will/can be found not to make any sense at all, and the new one, that is NOW/NEW makes complete sense, and yet tomorrow we know it can change?

  I'm mean doesn't our outlook on the physical laws of nature and the universe in the scientitfic world change just as much or at times just as radically.? Or is it unfair to compare these two different worlds?

  What is the psyhcology or rational for such a dilemma?

  I wish the amazing Randy were here. He must understand to some degree how people can be dupped into believeing things that defy the imagination. That little bald bastard is a genius! Sorry Randy, if it makes it any better, I'm a short bald bastard myself. I'm using it loosely as a term of affection.
• 

  joelbear

  If the Beverly Hillbillies were introduced as a new series on TV right now it would still be a hit.

  Truth does not change.

  Joel
• 

  Dogpatch

  Short perhaps, but not bald. :-))

  To me its mostly a matter of the matrices we use in order to understand the images we process. As children, we are taught the matrices of our parents' worldview. As we get older, we are subject to the matrices (filters) of our young peers, which forces us to struggle, and often create a few of our own unique views of life. Each time you add a key matrix to your thinking abilities, you get smarter, and are able to see a bigger picture, sometimes with alarming clarity. Sometimes the reward is exponential. When the reward comes without the usual accompanying pride that goes with such wisdom, it is even of much greater value.

  Christianity, or the 66 books we call the Bible, can only help us with some of the matrices we need in life. The rest comes from experience and exposure. Don't be afraid of life. Don't be afraid of God. If he's such a good chap, he'll give you a vacation from your guilt trips and fears. Take a vacation, get your mind off of religion and the Watchtower. If the Bible is your source of fear, get your mind off of it for awhile. Mingle with life!

  The events that transpired for me in 1979-1980 while at Bethel added another whole set of matrices to my mind, so that although I perfectly understood why people needed the Watchtower, and could not fault them at that time, I suddenly had been given a new prize, worth more than gold. It was a new matrix, one that explained most everything else I had questions on regarding Christianity. Not the rest of life, mind you, but just the one set of matrices. I'm still working on the rest of the meaning of life. :-))

  That new matrix was the understanding of grace versus law; a topic that almost nobody seems to be interested in. But WE were at Bethel back then. That's what brought Ray and Cynthia Franz out. That's what brought Tom and Gloria Cabeen out. That's what brought Cris and Norma Sanchez out, and many, many more of us at Bethel. It is all about Romans and Galatians. My comments on this are at:
  http://www.freeminds.org/doctrine/rules.htm

  Even for the atheists that frequent this board, it would be good to understand this matrix, at least because it gives you a clearcut distinction between Witnesses and most of waht it calls, "Babylon the Great." The thinking is often world's apart, just as with Jesus versus the Pharisees. You would have to attend a good church to see it in action in my opinion.

  Basically, it is the strongest basis in Christian thought for a radical freedom from guilt and fear.

  I joined the Witnesses at a time when I was very afraid of nuclear war. We are talking the early 70s, with the frightening events surrounding the missile crisis and the Cold War with the Soviets and China. I NEEDED security, and in times like that you look for something to hold onto. People can shut the door on "security salesmen" a hundred times, then in a rare moment of weakness, you listen to their dogma and accept their matrices if it feels right to you. All the books and magazines suddenly seem to make sense, and you reach the next step, akin to religious conversion, where THEIR world suddenly seems more real and more exciting than your own world. Then you make your decision, and convince the rest of your mind to DROP THE MATTER PLEASE and then you are instructed (though you would probably do it anyway) to to practice thought-stopping techniques, or STOPTHINK. That is to prevent any small crisis of conscience from making you feel guilty or in error over your coming new lifestyle. You have voluntarily limited your number of matrices, and perhaps even attempting to destroy old ones from your mind through some type of purging.

  One of the only things I have found to release the stranglehold on the matrices allowed by the individual is a retreat from fear. How that happens in most cases is still a mystery to me. It can be manually kick-started through merely learning to entertain others' views without moral judgment. I have found it is always better to objectively and without emotion UNDERSTAND your neighbor or your enemy. Take your time, spend time with or around them. Look at their reasons for believing what they do.

  The final stage in the wisdom transformation that comes through the use of increased matrices seems to be the adoption of a new worldview of life and others. Perhaps you have been influenced heavily by someone else's world view, or perhaps just a few of their matrices that have helped you grow in smarts.

  I have never met a person who was empathetic to people and without religious prejudice who entertained that he himself was part of the one true religion. Pop that bubble, and you can be empathetic with most of the world.

  (end of part one)
  Randy Watters
• 

  Dogpatch

  By the way, I'm sorry to take your spot for the Amazing Randy to use, but in his absence I'll post. :-))
  I like him too, often watch his shows and saw him perform in Berkeley years ago at a conference on Evil, Deception and Discernment. Cult Awareness Network stuff (pre Scientology owned)