Very much to the point

by InquiryMan 5 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  InquiryMan

  I wholeheartedly agree with this statement made in another web site:

  "By far the majority of Jehovah's Witnesses are good and honest people and, from the outside, it would be easy to understand the appeal of their way of life. They support each other and share common goals and values. The danger exists when one wishes to leave. A quiet and dignified exit which maintains family relationships and ties of friendship is simply not possible. "

  And every convert, albeit those born in the "truth", is a person that abandons their faith. Being an apostate to their previous beliefs. And if they are loosing friends over it, is it purely a test of loyalty to be expected... Double standards all the way.
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  trevor

  inquiry man

  You have had no replies to your thread yet. To avoid you concluding that you are being shunned I have added a comment taken from notes I have written (English spelling):

  Elders can never be sure that someone guilty of their idea of apostasy has really had a change of heart. More than this, there is the risk of doubt spreading through the congregation and for this reason offenders are kept on ice for as long as possible.

  The Society claims that the purpose of disfellowshipping is to bring the erring one to their senses but there is another motive. As the offenders are often guilty of apostasy, there is a need to keep others from speaking to them and actually finding that they may be speaking the truth. For this reason anyone who leaves by choice because they disagree with the Society, or has resigned out of principle, is labelled as an “evil one” and given the same treatment.

  There is little chance of such a person wanting to return. The sole reason for refusing to see or speak to such a rebel is to stop the members hearing his or her viewpoint. The members left behind have to rely on a single statement announced by the elders to ascertain what has happened. Whether a member loses his or her friends as a result of resignation or disfellowshipping, the emotional cost can be high.
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  InquiryMan

  True, it is all a matter of control and fear. Funny though to be at the other side of the fence, having been an elder myself for more than a decade. Life goes on ;-)
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  The Dragon

  That is pretty much it.....THEY alone have the gift of understanding...if you want it as well and it happens to stray from their view....you are a rebel that threatens open mindness as an example..and you introduce another view to be considered by people who are used to only hearing and obeying one view.

  You have a book with a blueprint for how things should be run..and what we should be doing...problem is..the author is absent to fully explain it and insure that people do not stray away from the main message, or twist it to support their own desires and adgendas.

  They can justify intellectual slavery by using this book to support themselves against anyone who has questions they cannot answer or do not wish to pursue...and if you persist...the punishment disfellowshipping is justified by their twisted definitions of the words.

  At least that is what I have come up with so far.
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  fullofdoubtnow

  The sole reason for refusing to see or speak to such a rebel is to stop the members hearing his or her viewpoint. The members left behind have to rely on a single statement announced by the elders to ascertain what has happened.

  That's the unwritten reason for shunning those who leaved, a kind of security measure that the org takes to prevent any of the flock from finding out the reason someone has left.

  In my old kh, whenever someone was announced as being no longer a jw, rumours would start within days that they left because they didn't want to live up to jehovahs standards, or had committed some offense and their conscience was bothering them. It was never admitted that they had left because they had researched jw doctrine and found it to be false. That was the reason I left, but the only ones to hear that apart from the elders who received my da letter were people I sent a personal letter to, and knowing how much power the elders have, they might not believe my reasons anyway.
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  The Dragon

  can they justify shunning for asking questions?