'Apostate'

by lfcviking 8 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  lfcviking

  Definition from the American Heritage Dictionary:

  'One who has abandoned ones religious faith, a political party, ones principles or a cause'

  Thousands of people leave the Watchtower Org every year, some become atheist, some agnostic, some choose to follow another religion and some develop their own beliefs, yet according to this dictionary definition ALL are apostate. So then CT Russell was an apostate since he was formerly an Adventist. Paul was an apostate because he was formerly a Pharisee. Thousands of active JW's are apostates because they followed a different religion prior to their JW conversion.

  So why is it that the WT society is selective where it applies this 'Apostate' description? Why is it that it pins this label on people who openly discuss and give informed & well reasoned criticisms against the WT Org? Take this website for example, most of us here are ex JW's and as soon as we post a criticising comment about the WT, according to them that instantly make us an apostate.

  So it seems the WT has given its own slant on this 'Apostate' term, they seem to have given this word a certain stigma to which any active JW believer when hearing it automatically assumes it is something really bad and must be avoided when in reality it is just a word used to describe a former believer.

  Any opinions on this anyone?

  LFCv
• 

  Princess Daisy Boo

  Growing up as a JW, I alsways heard the term Apostate and was taught to associate it with bad evil people... that only exited to print bad things about the witnessed and if read, would automatically poison my mind. Imagine my surprise when after a little thought, I read the dictionary defintion, and found it meant something altogether less sinister!
• 

  tfjw

  Apostate: 'One who has abandoned ones religious faith, a political party, ones principles or a cause'
  
  I like this definition.
  
  One who has abandoned:
  
  1. ones religious faith = I abandoned having religious faith in the wt, thus, I am an apostate.
  
  2. a political party = I have abandoned the party of "me v/s you", "i am better than you" religio-political party, thus, I am an apostate
  
  3. ones principles = If the principles of the Society and many JW's in general include child sexual abuse, spousal abuse, Nazi politics, racism, lying in court, beating children, etc., then I have nothing to do with that, thus, I am an apostate
  
  4. or a cause = the only "cause" I can see for the wt is making slaves/drones to rake in cash on many different levels for the society, and I have abandoned that, thus, I am an apostate.
• 

  oompa

  Great post and replies. All "raised in's" probably hate word, and yeah we are scared to death of it. We even have the term "active apostate" for those busy at slamming WT.

  hard to change JW slant on things....oompa
• 

  ex-nj-jw

  *waving* Apostate here!!!

  nj
• 

  worldtraveller

  Can someone who was never a Witness be considered an apostate? Never baptized either.
• 

  freyd

  Bishop warns that Muslims who convert risk being killed
  
  
  Jamie Doward, home affairs editor The Observer
  Sunday September 16, 2007
  http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2170160,00.html
  
  One of the Church of England's most senior bishops is warning that people will die unless Muslim leaders in Britain speak out in defence of the right to change faith.
  
  Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, whose father converted from Islam to Christianity in Pakistan, says he is looking to Muslim leaders in Britain to 'uphold basic civil liberties, including the right for people to believe what they wish to believe and to even change their beliefs if they wish to do so'.
  
  Some Islamic texts brand Muslims who convert to other faiths as 'apostates' and call for them to be punished. Seven of the world's 57 Islamic states - including Iran - impose the death penalty for conversion.
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  The WTS breaks things down to simple terms and demonizes the term.
  That promotes fear.

  apostate
  worldly
  spiritually weak
  independent thinking
  unbelieving mate
  irregular
  inactive
  low-hours publisher
  marked
  doubt
  Christendom
  Babylon
  goat

  The average witness lumps them all together and just avoids them like a good little drone.
• 

  RollerDave

  I think that is exactly right, by loading the term and using it selectively, fear is created.

  Might as well call us bogeymen, it's the same principle.

  RD