I am highly considering becoming a Jehovah's Witness. I have been raised in the congregration, but left it when I was a child because my mom left too, but we still retatined the core belifs including the ressurection and the blasphemous pagan influence on mainstream churches. My mom has recently returned to the congregation, and it has helped her a lot. She used to be very erratic and had bouts of severe depression and even suicidal thoughts, she is in much better control of herself now. I am also looking at my secular practices that have developed over the years and wondering if Jehovah dissaproves with them. It is nothing truely bad, but still.
But why did I come here? Of course before I make a decision, I must always look at both sides of the issue, because there will always be bias if I look on one side only.
However stumbling in this forum has not convinced me not to go, many of your reasons to reject the congregation don't hold water.
-So what if C.T Russel was a freemason and dabbled in the occult? Studying the bible may have made him change his ways. Afterall lots of changes to rid the congregation of pagan influence have continued past his death. Jehovah's Witnessses used to use the cross as a symbol, and celebrate holidays and birthdays. But upon discovering that holidays and birthdays originated as pagan celebrations to honor certain false dieties have stopped. The cross is also a pagan derived symbol, and so is the "Holy" Trinity which can be traced from ancient Egyptian and Chinese cults. The only thing that would concern me, is if occult dabbling has effected his interpretation of the Bible.
-Watchtower is a pagan symbol? Please. Watchtowers were used by the Isrealites to watch out for incoming enemies. Similarly, the Watchtower magazine helps strengthen the faith of those who find the truth against it's enimies.
-The idea that the ressurection is "too good to be true" or is "nonsense" is a mere opinion. For one thing Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe that only they would be saved. Other mainstream churches think they are the only ones that will be saved. Most of the moral restrictions are on the 144,000.
-The true religion does not preach hate, only hate to what is bad, but not who is bad. Other mainstream churches preach hate toward muslims and gays. Don't forget the Spanish Inquisition and the Crusades. They did not listen to "Thou shall not murder".
-If people are going to go to heaven and hell when they die, how come even mainstream church bibles always speak of a ressurection too? How come even Jews and Muslims recognize that a new paradise will come to Earth?
-How can Jesus be god if even he himself said he was the Son of God?
-Jehovah's Witnesses use an edition of the Bible that is translated directly from Hebrew and Greek to modern English. Other churches use one that has been courrupted through centuries of Catholic papacy and censorship.
-Jehovah's Witnesses always quote the Bible to back of their belifs.
-Much of Jehovah's morals can have secular benifits, for they are his wisdom. For example, it has been discovered that condoms aren't very effective when it comes to AIDS.
-The congregation is supposed to be based off the the pre-Catholic Christians.
-Even my Catholic relatives recognize that the last days are comming, since a day for God can be a very long time for humans, it may be centuries till the New System comes. The signs are there, the feet of clay and iron that is the last empire. That last empire being the US, and Republicans being iron and Democrats being clay. The blashpemous unity of church and state being represented by the whore that rides the wild beast. And a grea tribulation that may come, and think that maybe the Bush Administration may have something to do with it. Also that in 1914 WWI started, and an event in the middle east there was triggered whose effects still occur today with the constant chaos of the middle east.
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However I also have my own doubts:
-I do not think that humans have been here a mere 6,000 years. I think for example that Noah's flood may have happened 10-18,000 years ago and have triggered the ice age.
-During a convention when I was about eight years old, I heard about a brother whose mother was sick in the hospital. He and his wife prayed to Jehovah God, and later on his mother got better. Is this a miracle? If so then the congregation has stated before that miracles would no longer happen and any such "miracles" are works of demons and Satan to misguide people from the truth. But Jehovah may have just given his mother the strength to get better.
-I think that, just the way that children can make up wild fantasies and superstions, pagan cults and belifs may not have been entirely inspired by satan. Though they may have been perpetuated by satan to stray the practitioners from the truth. Rather such beliefs were formed by people searching for explanations and spirituality.
-Sometimes my faith in a creation is sometimes blurred when I see the similarities between monkeys and humans. For one I may be a girl but I am also quite hairy. My cousin has a pet monkey and when I went to visit him I almost viewed the monkey as not just looking but behaving very human like.
-The greek words may be misinterpreted or "lost in translation"
-I think that my secular experiences by themselves have made me a better person. And that suffering can indeed improve some and thier outlook in life. Though many people have been reforned by becoming Jehovah's Witnesses, so have people in mainstream churches and even spiritual organizations like Kabbalah.
-If I keep fearing Jehovah all the time, I don't think I will be happy. I have been told that Satan wants us to see God as a totalitarian dictator, but isn't the congregation's constant injection of fear just this?
-The congregation says that homosexuality is unatural. But then why do animals do it too? But then again animals don't always mate for life either.
-I have heard rumors about a "cult of Mithras". That the story of Jesus was inspired by a greek sun god named Mirthras who also raised the dead, healed the sick, and "walked on water" like the sun, and was "the light of the world". But some say that it was many years after Jesus and was inspired by Jesus instead of the other way around. The Jehovah's Witness publication of "Mankind's search for God" says that "Why would people risk their lives and stand firm against something false?" in response to this speculation.
-What defines a marriage? Isn't a commited relationship enough? Doesn't legally married mean getting a marraige licesce from of all organizations...the GOVERNEMENT?
-Why can't I love Jehovah my own way? I want to become a psycology researcher\fiction writer\illustrator when I grow odler and get out of college. But I think my work will promote love toward God and his wisdom.
Heh.
Convince me
by Liza 116 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Liza
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What-A-Coincidence
I am highly considering becoming a Jehovah's Witness
O realllllllllllllllllllllllllllly?
Well...what more can be said if you haven't been convinced of the what has been posted for the past, what 5 years?
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carla
You really need to research before you commit your life to this ungodly, deadly cult. Here you go, this is only about a 1/4 of the way through my favorites. Please research before rejoining this cult that destorys families, kills people due to the blood policy, hides pedophiles, is unscriptural, etc...etc...etc....
http://www.reexamine.org/quotes/
http://www.jwfiles.com/index.htm
http://www.premier1.net/~raines/mental.html
http://www.towerwatch.com/Witnesses/New_World_Translation/mantey_discussion.htm
http://forananswer.org/Top_JW/Scholars%20and%20NWT.htm
http://www.randytv.com/secret/unitednations.htm
http://members.aol.com/carol2180/treform.htm
http://www.bibletopics.com/biblestudy/88.htm
http://user.tninet.se/%7Eoof408u/fkf/english/epage.htm
http://www.macgregorministries.org/jehovahs_witnesses/jehovah_witness_index.html
http://www.csj.org/studyindex/studymindctr/study_mindctr_lifton.htm
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DanTheMan
The true religion does not preach hate, only hate to what is bad, but not who is bad. Other mainstream churches preach hate toward muslims and gays. Don't forget the Spanish Inquisition and the Crusades. They did not listen to "Thou shall not murder".
But, to be a JW, you have to believe that any day now Jesus is going to kill every man, woman, and child on the earth that isn't a JW!
This is the CORE belief!
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Pahpa
Liza
You may want to consider whether or not Jehovah's Witnesses want you in view of your doubts about the some of their beliefs. The Watchtower Society demands absolute loyalty to its organization. It means you have to accept the idea that only JWs will be saved at Armageddon while billions of people will be destroyed. It means that you will have to shun former members who have rejected the Watchtower. It means that you can not even express doubts about the Watchtower and its teachings. Are you willing to do these things?
Before making any decisions, I would recommend that you read Ray Franz's books, Crisis of Conscience and In Search of Christian Freedom along with James Penton's book, Apocalypse Delayed. These books will give you a clearer view of the history of the Watchtower Society and the internal workings of its organization.
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OUTLAW
If you want to become a Jehovah`s Witness,go for it!..Do some research first though..Like..Find out who owns 50% of the Rand Cam Engine Corp.....And remember..You can`t believe some of the things JW`s used to believe..Because..They don`t believe them anymore..Like.."1914 the Generation that will not pass away"..Well..Thier dieing off like flys,probably just to make the WBT$ look bad..So..Jw`s don`t believe that anymore....."Armageddon by 1975"..JW`s are not even allowed to remember that.....Whatever you do..Don`t make a big deal about the WBT$ association with the United Nations-Ngo..You`ll be disfellowed shipped faster than you were baptized,if you want to make a big deal about that..Good Luck!..LOL!!...OUTLAW
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AK - Jeff
liza -
There is of course, far too much here to discuss in a single sitting. Let it be stated that practically all of your 'proofs' are faulty, and most of them can be laid to devastation with the WTS's own literature.
As for your mom's sudden improvement in health due to association with Jehovah's witnesses - I believe that is possible, perhaps even to be expected. Religion gives hope and direction, especially to those who are unable to develop a direction of their own easily. But that is not true simply of Jw's. Virtually any religious organization might point to the same benefits to it's membership.
It is incumbant on you to do the work - trust me, as a forty year veteran of that organization who is just now healing from it's effects after having left three years back - you do not want to leap into this fire of lies and misapplication without such investigation, and a damn deep one.
That said, allow me to 'touch on' just a couple points of error in your post. You said;
For one thing Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe that only they would be saved. Other mainstream churches think they are the only ones that will be saved.
O' contrar. From the horses own mouth;
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Only Jehovah’s Witnesses, those of the anointed remnant and the "great crowd," as a united organization under the protection of the Supreme Organizer, have any Scriptural hope of surviving the impending end of this doomed system dominated by Satan the Devil. (Revelation 7:9-17; 2 Corinthians 4:4) They will make up the "flesh" that Jesus Christ said would be saved through the worst tribulation of all human history. As it was in the days of Noah, said Jesus, so it would be in the day when He would be revealed. Inside the ark that took many years of organized effort to complete, only eight human souls survived the global Deluge. They survived as a united family group. (Matthew 24:22, 37-39; Luke 17:26-30) Noah’s wife corresponds to the bride of Christ, and his sons and daughters-in-law to Jesus’ present-day "other sheep," who have grown into an increasing great crowd, the final proportions of which we do not now know. (John 10:16) For survival into the Millennium under the Greater Noah, Jesus Christ, they have to remain organized with the anointed remnant, "the chosen ones" on account of whom the days of the "great tribulation" will be cut short.—Matthew 24:21, 22. Watchtower 9/01/1989 page 19
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What-A-Coincidence
Good Gawd!! Her IP address ends in JW! I think L. is destined to be a JW
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AK - Jeff
Sorry about that - had trouble finishing the post.
You said:
The true religion does not preach hate, only hate to what is bad, but not who is bad. Other mainstream churches preach hate toward muslims and gays. Don't forget the Spanish Inquisition and the Crusades.
Please explain to me why, then, 120 members of the local congregation of Jehovah's witnesses refuse to speak to my wife and I in public after having been members in association with them for 40+ years? Our sin? Daring to leave over the lies and false doctrines we uncovered. Nothing more. We just left. Most on these boards can attest to similar treatment for similar 'sins'. They hate all right - they are taught that hate is proper. And BTW, Jehovah's witnesses preach plenty of hatred against those of other religions, and gays also. Look it up.
Jehovah's Witnesses use an edition of the Bible that is translated directly from Hebrew and Greek to modern English. Other churches use one that has been courrupted through centuries of Catholic papacy and censorship.
Whoa! Take a look at what scholars of the Bible say about the NWT. You will be surprised. Besides - most all modern english Bible translations use the Greek and Hebrew texts as basis for translation. I have 17 translations in English on my shelves, all of them have used texts similar to the Wescott and Hort texts used by the NWT. One significant difference though - they all willingly provide the names and credentials of the translation committees that did the work. The NIT lists 80 individuals - all well founded in Greek and/or Hebrew. It is a fact that the NWT was done by a committee of 4 men - NOT ONE OF WHOM HAD A DEGREE IN BIBLICAL LANGUAGE.
I do hope you take a better look and get your facts better than you have them now - otherwise you are prime candidate for this cult.
Spoken frankly because you need to look deeply into this - or you will be the one writing these words to others in 40 years, that is, if you ever escape.
Most traps look nice from the outside dear.
Jeff
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horrible life
My dad is a very intelligent man. I truly feel, that if he would just come here, and and the many other web sites, within a very short time, he would find the "real truth". But alas, he does not have the ability. If I even spoke of him looking here, he would turn and run away.
So much for freedom. JW's rob you of everything.
If you believe in some of the jw's teachings, embrace them, not the religion. Your mom is doing better, because she is in a HIGHLY structured enviroment. Find her another enviroment, and she will be the same. Find yourself a better one, and you will grow old happier.